Margaret Hallman

"We're gonna be a family, honey. Nothing can stop us now."

Margaret "Maggie" Hallman is a mentally unstable woman who went on a killing spree in Season Seven of Criminal Minds.

Background
"I love you, Johnny Lewis."

A teacher working at Lake Forest High School in Seattle, Margaret had a sexual relationship with one of her students, named Johnny Lewis, in 2007. His parents eventually found out and she was arrested for molestation, but the charges were dropped. Margaret eventually got a job at a different high school and, once again, slept with another student of hers, Thomas "Tommy" Brown, in 2010. Just like last time, her relationship with Tommy was found out, but not before she was impregnated with Tommy's son. She gave birth in jail and named the baby Johnny, after her first lover, but the baby was put into foster care. Margaret was later convicted of statutory rape, but was released early in 2012 due to prison overcrowding. At the same time, her sister bought Johnny Lewis's house and then transferred it into Margaret's name when she was released. She then began a killing spree in March, targeting foster parents that once had Johnny under their care, hoping to get him and Tommy back.

I Love You, Tommy Brown
After killing John and Heather Miller, her second set of victims, Margaret immediately breaks into the home of Brian and Gayle Gilbert hours afterward and coldly shoots both of them to death. The following morning, she calls Social Services and tries asking for an address, but the receiver puts her on a long hold and Margaret hangs up. Spotting a mother and her daughter, Margaret asks the mother if she can touch the girl before noticing the mother is pregnant, doting over that. The mother asks her to leave, which she does. Afterwards, Margaret approaches Sandra Montgomery, pretending to be a Social Service agent. Sandra invites her in, to which she holds her at gunpoint and forces her to find Johnny's file. She then forces Sandra to strip down and, after becoming enraged by the woman's praying, shoots her repeatedly. Using Sandra's file to find Karen Wilson, Johnny's next foster mother, she holds her and her baby, who is Johnny, at gunpoint in their car. Margaret forces Karen to drive off before calling Johnny by his name, only for Karen to state that the baby's name is Ben, possibly as means to protect him. Margaret isn't convinced, saying Karen changed the name, and gets her to pull over before shooting her. However, Karen survived and was taken to the hospital, while Margaret flees in another car with Johnny. It is revealed that at this point she is wearing Sandra Montgomery's dress and her necklace.

Margaret drives up to Tommy's home, greets him, and introduces him to Johnny. She then tells him that they will be leaving town, but Tommy is reluctant to do so, not wanting to leave his mother. Just then, Julie Parker, a neighbor and friend of Tommy's, arrives and Margaret, thinking Julie is a girlfriend, confronts her and non-fatally shoots her in the back when she attempts to call the police. However, she intentionally spares her and leaves with Tommy and Johnny. Tommy protests against Margaret's actions, and Margaret tries setting examples of relationships in which at least one person was underage. She then gives Tommy a chance to leave, but he doesn't and agrees to leave with her to the old Lewis house. The BAU, having found out that Margaret resides in the Lewis home, arrive and Margaret thinks Tommy called them, briefly holding him at gunpoint. However, Tommy proves his love for her by trying to convince Morgan and JJ to leave, armed, but the agents tell him about Johnny Lewis and he becomes angered. Margaret tries convincing Tommy that he was the only one, but he drops the gun. She immediately seizes the gun and tries to shoot Morgan and JJ, but Hotch non-fatally shoots her from behind. Shocked, Tommy comes to Margaret's side, to which Margaret calls him Johnny Lewis. Afterwards, Tommy is presumably arrested, Johnny is saved, and Margaret was either put back in jail or placed into an institution due to her mental instability.

Modus Operandi
Targeting foster parents who once had Johnny under their possession, Margaret would infiltrate their homes, but she would later use a ruse to gain entry. She would shoot her victims execution-style with a .22-caliber revolver after finding out that Johnny was relocated. Afterwards, she would be able to find the next foster family using her victims' files. She initially used a pillow, placing it on the back of the victims' heads and using it as a makeshift silencer, but after the Miller murders, Margaret abandoned the method. She would also shoot some of her victims in the legs as a means of controlling them and to prevent them from escaping. As soon as her killing spree began to progress, Margaret started to target other people as well.

Profile
The unsub is a white female, who, based on the organization level of the crimes, is aged in her late-30s to early-40s. Something in the last few days has triggered her to think that killing was the only way to obtain a child. Consequently, the foster family that did not have a child in their care when she visited became her victims. Because all of these families had recently children in their homes, it is believed that the unsub is motivated by maternal desires. Maternal desire is the profound emotional need to mother a baby. This stems from either the tragic loss of her own child, whether by tragic death or having the child forcibly removed from her care, or the inability to have one at all. The unsub may also fantasize that somebody else's baby was hers. This emotion is beyond her control. A woman who miscarries sometimes projects onto someone else's child and sets out to take that child. This may cause the unsub to do something drastic, like abducting a random child. The speed in which the kills were occurring suggests that the unsub is frustrated and devolving. This is causing her to go on a spree, which usually ends with a very high body count and suicide by cop. She may also be pregnant and suffering from postpartum psychosis, and has also worked for or had access to the local foster family system.

Real-Life Comparison
Margaret having a relationship with her students may be based on the case of Mary Kay Letourneau, a school teacher who had a sexual relationship with her 13-year-old student, Vili Fualaau, resulting in the pair having two children.

Known Victims

 * Unspecified date(s) in 2007: Johnny Lewis
 * Unspecified date(s) in 2010: Thomas Brown
 * 2012:
 * March 12: Mark Daniel and Ben Preesley
 * March 13: John and Heather Miller
 * March 13-14: Brian and Gayle Gilbert
 * March 14:
 * Sandra Montgomery
 * The carjacking and abduction:
 * Karen Wilson
 * Johnny Brown
 * Julie Parker
 * The standoff at the old Lewis house:
 * Thomas Brown
 * Derek Morgan and Jennifer Jareau

Appearances

 * Season Seven
 * I Love You, Tommy Brown