Caleb Dale Sheppard

Caleb Dale Sheppard was a bank robber and potential serial killer who appeared in Psychodrama.

History
Caleb’s father died when he was young. After that he and his sister were left alone with their mother, a painkiller addict, whose inebriation and loneliness caused her to abuse them. Eventually, Caleb’s sister killed herself. This drove him to start acting out, spending the next 12 years in and out of juvenile detention facilities and prisons for various crimes. In the 90s, he served time in the San Luis Obispo County Jail, at which a pilot program for psychodramas was performed at the time. When he was there, he was presumably subjected to that form of therapy and was also taught to rob banks.

Before Psychodrama, he committed three bank robberies in Los Angeles. He would force people at gunpoint to strip down to their underwear in order to make them less likely to fight back or chase after him, lock their clothes in the vault and take the money. At his fourth robbery, however, his crystal meth addiction had caused him to spiral out of control and the memories of the psychodrama therapy to return. He forced two couples at gunpoint to simulate sex with each other and beat a uniformed security guard to the brink of unconsciousness.

As the BAU’s investigation proceeded, Dale became less careful and kept spiraling. At his sixth bank robbery, he didn’t bother checking all rooms, parked his motorbike illegally and beat a man to death when he refused to take off his clothes. He then fled when he found that a bystander had called the police from his cell phone in a restroom, punching a ticket lady in the face on his way out. His next robbery took place at a small restaurant in which he forced a 14 year old boy to slap his mother in the face. When he refused to hit harder, Caleb shoved him to the floor and shot him. After that he held the attendants of a birthday party held near the motel he was staying at hostage, gave his gun to a young boy and held a knife to his throat, telling him to shoot his own mother. By then, the BAU had identified him and tracked him down the party. Unable to talk him down, Hotch shot him in the shoulder, making his arrest possible.

Modus Operandi
Caleb initial bank robberies were skillfully planned. He would enter wearing a mask, fire his MAC-10 at the ceiling, clear the rooms, talk down eventual security guards, force bystanders to strip down to their underwear in order to make them less likely to chase after him or fight back. He then placed their clothes in the bank's vault, took the money and fled. During his fourth murder, however, he placed the stripped bystanders in the middle of the bank and made some of them simulate sex with each other. On his fifth robbery, he forgot to clear all rooms, struck when more people were present and beat a man to death with his gun when he refused to undress. Caleb's sixth attack was on a restaurant, at which he forced a 14 years old boy to hit his mother. When he refused to hit harder, Caleb shoved him to the floor and shot him. During the attack on the birthday party, he tried to get a young boy to shoot his mother at knifepoint. The boy refused and Caleb was stopped when the BAU and local police arrived.

Profile
Caleb was estimated to have spent 5-10 years in prison and have been 18-23 years old at the time, which would put his present age at 23-35. His original M.O., which was made up for practical reasons, triggered a psychological response and made it compulsive for him to manipulate bystanders. He was at first believed to be a sexual sadist who forced his victims to simulate sex for the humiliation. The truth was that he was forcing them to perform psychodramas, a form of psychotherapy in which actors serve as surrogates for people in the subject’s life. His fantasies were usually about sons extracting revenge on their mothers.

Known Victims

 * Four bank robberies
 * Almost beat a security guard unconscious at the fourth robbery
 * Beat a man to death with his MAC-10 at the fifth robbery
 * An unnamed ticket lady (was punched in the face)
 * An unnamed 14 years old boy (was shot to death)
 * The attack on the birthday party

Appearance

 * Season Two
 * Psychodrama