John David Bidwell

"Spend some time down there and you might learn your lesson."

John David "Johnny" Bidwell is an abductor, vigilante, and indirect killer who appeared in Season Ten of Criminal Minds.

Background
Bidwell and his sister Sandra were frequently abused by their father Sam, who was a religious, fanatical alcoholic. Among other things, he would never allow them to go trick-or-treating on Halloween. Their mother Mary tried to stop the abuse, but always wound up being dominated by Sam, who she couldn't leave because she was frightened of him. On the Halloween of 2002, Bidwell threw eggs at another house and was caught in the act. When Sam found out, he became enraged, stuffed his son inside a trunk, and threatened to not let him out until next Halloween. Mary came home from work and found Sam yelling at the trunk. After realizing what he had done, she tried to let Bidwell out, but Sam attacked her, forcing her to bludgeon him to death with a fireplace poker. Mary then let Bidwell out of the trunk, and he spotted his father's body. He then had to help his mother bury Sam at a property belonging to his paternal grandfather. However, as a result of the incident, his mind became warped. He began torturing Sandra by smothering her repeatedly and locking her inside the closet. He also began killing animals and stuffing them inside boxes, as well as getting into fights with Mary. During the latter incidents, she called police on two separate occasions to get Bidwell kicked out of the house. However, she later dropped the charges on both occasions.

As an adult, he became a driver for a courier company. On May 9, 2011, he was scheduled to marry a wealthy woman, Sharlene Taylor, but the wedding was called off after she suddenly married another man, which caused him to snap. Wanting to feel the same power and domination his father felt during the abuse, Bidwell cut himself off from society and built a small underground box on his grandfather's property. On the Halloween night of 2012, in Los Angeles, Bidwell abducted a boy named Tommy Wilcox, who was vandalizing a house by throwing toilet paper all over it. Taking him over to his grandfather's property, he locked Tommy in the box and left him inside for almost a year, as a reference to Sam's threat that Bidwell would be kept locked inside the trunk until next Halloween. Bidwell then released Tommy in nearby Venice Beach on October 30, 2013, the day preceding Halloween, but the boy died of malnutrition after being discovered. On that Halloween, in San Diego, he next abducted another boy, Joshua Parker, who had behavioral issues, and locked him inside the same box. During the year-long period of Joshua's captivity, Bidwell kept him more nourished, not wanting the boy to die like Tommy did.

Boxed In
On October 30, 2014, Bidwell releases Joshua in a public pumpkin patch. Hours later, Joshua is discovered by a mother and her son while they are out shopping for pumpkins. The San Diego Police Department links the discovery of Joshua to Tommy's death due to the similar circumstances and calls in the BAU to investigate. At the time, they suspect Joshua's abductor of being a copycat or accomplice of Rodney Tanner, a pedophile who confessed to abducting Tommy, having desired attention, and was imprisoned for the crime. Meanwhile, as the team is being briefed on the case, Bidwell cleans the bloodied walls of the box. The next day, as Reid and JJ try to visit Joshua at the hospital, they realize from the details given to them by a nurse that the boy was most likely held in a homemade box. Morgan and Kate interrogate Rodney Tanner and realize he isn't responsible for Tommy's abduction, prompting the BAU to call for an increased police presence in San Diego during Halloween. Elsewhere in San Diego, the Olson family eats dinner as a press conference is held by the BAU, but they do not pay attention to the news report. Later on, the Olson son, Hunter, goes out with a group of friends as they egg random houses and cars. Hunter becomes separated from his friends as they flee from a man whose house they egged. When he gets out of his hiding place and tries to go home, he is ambushed by Bidwell, who abducts him.

The BAU learn of Hunter's abduction, and Hotch and Kate try to console his parents, but wind up being lashed at by the mother Ann, who mocks their concern and demands that they go out and find Hunter. Meanwhile, Bidwell drives to his grandfather's property and drags Hunter out of his car and over to the hatch leading into the box. Warning that he will beat him if he tries to run, Bidwell then cuts off Hunter's bonds, opens up the hatch, and forces the boy inside the box. He then instructs him where to go to the bathroom before saying that he might learn a lesson after spending his time in the box. When Hunter tries to protest, Bidwell shuts the hatch, locks it, places two water bottles inside the box through a slot, covers up the hatch with a metal sheet, and drives his car over the metal sheet. He then leaves the scene, all the while continuing to hear Hunter's protests and snarling to himself that the boy needs to shut up. At the scene of Hunter's abduction, the BAU interview his friends and the man who tried to pursue them, but are unable to get any reliable information. Then, Reid deduces from a transcript of an interview between police and Tommy's mother that Tommy took toilet paper to use it to vandalize houses during Halloween. That, along with Joshua's disciplinary problems and the fact that Hunter was out egging houses, causes the BAU to find the unsub's victimology, and they give out a profile to the police and press outlets. Bidwell watches the BAU giving the profile of him, angrily throws a soda can at his TV set, and switches it off.

At the police station, Hotch receives a visit from Sandra, who confesses that she believes her brother is behind the abductions. She had earlier hoped to call the FBI hotline, but instead, she thought that talking to Hotch in person would be better. Sandra tells him and Kate of the abuse she would receive from Bidwell as well as his acts of animal cruelty. Then, she informs them of what her father would do to the family and what happened in 2002, but as she was forced to go to her bedroom before Sam was killed, Sandra is unable to share that detail as well. She then points the BAU to Mary's direction, saying that while she haven't seen Bidwell in three years, her mother might have. During the drive to Mary's house, Hotch, JJ, and Rossi learn that Sam is nowhere to be found. Upon reaching Mary's home, they greet her at her doorway and ask about her son. When they tell her of their suspicions on Bidwell, Mary dismisses the claims and states that Sandra is being a bit dramatic. She then adds that Bidwell is a good person and that he isn't capable of committing his crimes. However, the agents tell her that they know about Bidwell's past and that what she is doing isn't the best way to keep him safe. At his grandfather's property, Bidwell sits in the car over the underground box, listening to loud music, drinking, and smoking. Hunter hears the music and begins banging on the hatch as he demands to be let out. Meanwhile, Rossi gets Mary to confess what she had done to Sam.

Hunter continues banging on the hatch and screaming, slowly agitating Bidwell, who tries to drown out the sounds with his music. However, Hunter's screaming induces a flashback to the time Sam locked Bidwell in the trunk. Finally, he snaps, reverses the car away from the metal sheet, uncovers it, and opens up the hatch. When Hunter apologizes to Bidwell, he responds by angrily beating him, all the while repeating the words his father yelled at him. After beating the boy to unconsciousness, he climbs out of the box, closes it again, and drives the car over the hatch. Bidwell is then confronted by the BAU and arrested by Hotch, who asks where Hunter is; he responds that they aren't going to find him. The police search the area, failing to notice the hatch underneath the car. Inside the house, Bidwell is interrogated by Hotch, JJ, and Rossi, who tell him about the inside of a prison cell resembling a box. Hotch then insults Bidwell and taunts to him that Sam was right about him, and although Bidwell boasts that he knows where Hunter is, he refuses to disclose the location. JJ then brings in Mary, whose presence surprises Bidwell. When she begs him to reveal where Hunter is, Bidwell refuses. Mary scolds him, telling him what he is doing is wrong and that Hunter is just like him when he was a boy. She then apologizes for not ending the abuse sooner and begs him to help Hunter, telling him to not make what she had done anymore worse. Touched, Bidwell reveals the location of the box, and Hunter is rescued in time. He is then taken into a police cruiser, but not before Mary hugs him goodbye. As they watch the car take him away, Hotch tells Mary that she cannot blame herself for what happened.

Modus Operandi
"You're not gonna find him."

Bidwell targeted Caucasian boys between the ages of ten and twelve who had committed some sort of trouble during Halloween night. Donning a skull mask and dark clothing, so he wouldn't be noticeable and instead mistaken as another trick-or-treater, he would grab the boy, restrain his arms and legs and cover his mouth with duct tape, and take him to his grandfather's property. There, he would force the boy inside the handmade box (as a reference to how his father forced him into a trunk as a child) at knifepoint and keep them there for almost a year. During that time, the boys would be starved, restrained, and punctured by rusty nails protruding from the box's walls. He would also occasionally beat them with a pipe. Every October 30 of the year following the abduction, Bidwell would release the boy after dressing him in a skeleton costume and leave him somewhere where he could be found. On the day after, Halloween, he would then move on to another boy. As his first victim, Tommy Wilcox, was not fed as much and subsequently died of starvation after being released, he would keep his later victims more nourished so they would survive.

Profile
Based on the details of the abductions, the unsub is a white male aged in his mid-20s to early 30s. He is fixated on Halloween, probably due to a traumatic event from his childhood. He is punishing his victims for vandalizing homes because it is that aspect of Halloween that agitates him. He is classified as a "fundamentalist vigilante", meaning that because Halloween traditions are rooted in Christianity, he may be some kind of religious zealot. He releases his victims on a consistent timeline, suggesting that he is mission-oriented. For him, it is all about the punishment itself, which is why he releases them; the point of the punishment is for them to learn from their mistakes. He may be from a broken home, likely involving violence and/or abuse, which may have also been exceedingly strict. Interpersonal relationships would still be a problem for him and he would snap when being rejected by someone. He needs some sort of space to hold his victims, but less than one might think. He has to work to eat and to subsidize that space, so he most likely has a blue-collar job, specifically one where he can work alone, such as a truck driver, a night watchman, a plumber, or possibly even an electrician.

Real-Life Comparison
Bidwell's crimes were likely inspired from the abduction of Paul Martin Andrews, who was held in a box underground until he was rescued eight days later. Like in Bidwell's first crime, the discovery of the victim was followed by a pedophile coming forward to the authorities, confessing and being imprisoned for the crime. Unlike in the episode, said pedophile (Richard Ausley) was the real perpetrator of Andrews's abduction.

Known Victims

 * Unspecified dates, San Diego, California: Sandra Bidwell
 * October 31, 2012, Los Angeles, California: Tommy Wilcox
 * October 31, 2013, San Diego, California: Joshua Parker
 * October 31, 2014, San Diego, California: Hunter Olson

Appearances

 * Season Ten
 * Boxed In