Caleb Rossmore

Caleb Rossmore was a copycat serial killer who mimicked the Zodiac Killer.

Background
As a child, Caleb was a child prodigy who loved chess. His best friend was Harvey Morell, who shared his love of the game and also his interest in Roman history, animal dissection and crime journalism; one of the crimes they obsessed over was the infamous Zodiac Killer. They kept a scrapbook filled with newspaper clippings about his murders and wrote about him in their junior high newspaper. They remained best friends until after high school, when they drifted apart and Harvey caught the attention of Marisa Devon, whom they both fell for in junior high. In 2000, while still in junior high, Caleb and Harvey killed a seven-year-old boy named Robbie Shaw together, taking him to the woods and strangling him. While Caleb was the one who killed Robbie, Harvey was the one who chose him to be murdered because his older brother had picked on him. They then buried the body in Harvey's backyard. Harvey and Marisa started going steady and eventually got engaged to be married. Caleb, still in love with Marisa and resentful that Harvey was leaving him, became enfuriated, culminating in 2012 when he began copycatting the Zodiac in a desperate attempt to become closer to Harvey again.

Modus Operandi
Caleb copied the real Zodiac's M.O. as minutely as he could, even wearing the same kind and size of shoes that the Zodiac wore as well as a hooded shirt identical to the one witnesses described. He also mimicked the Zodiac's overkill on his female victims. One difference between his murders and those of the Zodiac was that his female victims all were brunettes (as a surrogate for Marisa). He based the locations of his murders after a famous game of chess by Boris Spassky. Also, not unlike George Foyet (who was based on the Zodiac), Caleb sometimes took items from his crime scenes and left them on the next.

Profile
The UnSub is a physically fit white male in his 20s to 30s. Though he is highly intelligent, he has a menial or low-level job. He has few friends and fantasizes about a world where he can feel special. Unlike the real Zodiac, his goal isn't mass hysteria, but his issue is with an individual woman with whom he's obsessed. The woman he has killed have been surrogates for this woman; he has been rejected by her or simply believes he can't have her. Consequently, he hates her and every man she's with. His crimes may be an attempt to impress her or prove his love for her. He has chosen to copycat the Zodiac because he wants to feel the same kind of brilliance, power and fame the original felt. The fact that his breaks between murders are getting shorter suggests that he may be losing the woman with whom he's obsessed.

Known Victims

 * 2000: Robbie Shaw
 * 2012:
 * David Atley and Nicole Puli
 * Alec Wyseck and Tara Hanson
 * Unnamed cab driver
 * Marisa Devon
 * Harvey Morell

Appearance

 * Season Seven
 * "True Genius"