Malcolm Ford

"What we have is a bond that you know nothing about."

Malcolm Ford is the stalker and killer who abducted Morgan's cousin Cindi Burns. He appeared in Season Seven of Criminal Minds.

Background
Very little is known about Malcolm's past, though it is mentioned that he was born on June 19, 1967, and has a criminal record for assaulting and harassing some of his former girlfriends and women that he had presumably stalked. What is known is that at some point in 2004, he met Cindi Burns and her family at their local church and began stalking her. The stalking became so severe that Cindi asked her cousin to make a profile of the stalker and track him down. In the end, Morgan advised Cindi to flee and she went to Charleston, South Carolina. This didn't stop Malcolm, as he managed to abduct her before purchasing a gun and murdering a man named John Hitchens, another churchgoer that was interested in Cindi and who he saw as competition, in order to frame him as her abductor. Over eight years, Malcolm abused Cindi sexually and psychologically, making her believe that 'The Company' would kill her and her family if she ever disobeyed him. This lie was maintained by a ring of twisted sadomasochists he apparently joined at some point in his life and also a contract that was the ring's tradition, in which the captives who signed were to become their captors' "slaves". Because of the threats and the slave contract that she was forced to sign, Cindi easily submitted to his abuse and eventually became impregnated with his son. The son, Anthony, was placed under the care of the ring, in a place called "The Cabin", which held other children brought about by this ring. This gave her extra incentive to obey his commands. Apparently, he would let Cindi see Anthony every Christmas.

The Company
Malcolm is first seen driving a truck in Chicago, with Cindi as the passenger. He stops at a traffic light, where the car of (coincidentally) Desiree Morgan, Cindi's cousin. Desiree sees and recognizes Cindi, calling out her name and causing Malcolm to panic. He drives off and manages to lose Desiree when she is accidentally hit by another car while chasing him. Desiree survives and tells Morgan of her discovery, prompting him to summon the rest of the BAU. As a result, Malcolm makes plans to leave, making Cindi pack a suitcase and apparently telling her that they are going to "the cabin". As he leaves, he attempts to burn the slave contract and several other documents in his fireplace in order to cover his tracks. Malcolm and Cindi arrive at the house of another sadomasochistic couple, the Maguires. They hide Malcolm's car and inform him that they can get them into Canada. Cindi questions about why they're not going to the cabin, but Malcolm doesn't answer. While Mrs. Maguire shows Cindi her "bedroom" (a basement filled with torture devices), Malcolm makes small talk with Mr. Maguire, who compliments Cindi's servitude. Mr. Maguire gives him a phone and the number of someone who can get him to Toronto that night.

The following night, Malcolm and Cindi stop at a convenience store to pick up Malcolm's dinner. Cindi begins to cry despite Malcolm's orders to stop, and he teaches her a "lesson" by strangling her with her seat belt and telling her to get the cabin out of her mind. Cindi then goes into the store to get food, taking only Malcolm's revolver, while Malcolm waits for his partner. Malcolm immediately learns that Cindi put the gun in her pocket and goes inside the store, where he stops Cindi and threatens her, telling her that he could have Morgan killed with one phone call. Cindi consequently returns his gun to him. When they walk out, a spaghetti package that Cindi had shoplifted sets off the alarm. The store manager tries to investigate, but Malcolm will have none of it, hastily paying the man, and realizes that the police would arrive soon. Morgan and Rossi catch him driving away from the store, but quickly discover Cindi isn't with him. Malcolm smiles and laughs when he learns Morgan's identity, even taunting the agent about it, and offers no resistance as he is taken into custody.

JJ and Prentiss enter the interrogation, discussing their marriage lives and ignoring Malcolm. Malcolm is amused by their tactics, knowing that they have nothing on him for John Hitchens's murder or Cindi's kidnapping. He taunts JJ for allowing her baby to be handled by someone she's not married to, and claims that he and Cindi have a bond far better than her bond with her partner because they never fight. Malcolm offers to tell them their "secret" if they'll ask permission, but they scoff at him and walk out. Morgan later enters the interrogation room, much to Malcolm's delight. He constantly asks for the time, claiming that it's around 10:00 or 10:15. When Morgan infers that Cindi sent a message to him and was waiting for a chance to escape, Malcolm, wanting to taunt the agent, remarks that "you don't know the love she had for me", knowing that Morgan would immediately assume Malcolm had killed her from this inference. As predicted, Morgan becomes enraged before realizing that Malcolm didn't have time to dump the body and that Cindi is still alive. When Hotch stops the interrogation, Malcolm laughs and announces it's 10:30, knowing that Cindi had called a lawyer.

Malcolm is released, but on his way out with Cindi, they encounter Yvonne, Cindi's mother. He allows Cindi to speak to her, confident that she wouldn't betray him. She doesn't, and Malcolm is pleased enough to take her to the cabin, where Cindi picks up Anthony. However, before Malcolm, Cindi, and Anthony can leave, the BAU and police arrive at the cabin, having received valuable information from the lawyer that Cindi called as he was a close acquaintance of Malcolm's. Feeling cornered, Malcolm takes Cindi and Anthony into the woods and waits for Morgan to come. When Morgan comes close, he ambushes him, attempting to strangle him to death with his belt, but fails and is punched several times by him, incapacitating him. Cindi stops the fight, brandishing Morgan's gun, which he had dropped, and she points it at Malcolm, intending to kill him. While Morgan stops her from shooting, Malcolm stands up and attempts to flee, only to be stopped by JJ and Prentiss. He is arrested by them, with JJ taunting him about "the secret". By the end of the episode, Cindi happily reunites with Yvonne and introduces her to Anthony as Morgan watches.

Modus Operandi
Since Malcolm only killed one person, the term "M.O." may be somewhat misused. After abducting Cindi, he shot and killed John Hitchens with a .44 Magnum revolver and made the death resemble a suicide. He also planted several altered photographs in order to throw authorities off his trail. While keeping Cindi captive, he would subject her to all kinds of abuse, either sexual or psychological. An example of the latter would be when he placed her head in a "head box" and lock it shut. When he tried to kill Morgan, he strangled him with his belt and bashed his body into a tree to subdue him.

Profile
Malcolm was not profiled by the BAU, as the group was more focused on Cindi, whom they suspected of having Stockholm syndrome. However, judging from the hints that were provided by the episode, he appears to be a sexual sadist, gaining pleasure from his absolute control over Cindi and also his mind-games with Morgan. He is also very intelligent, having a number of backup plans and strategies to employ whenever problems arose.

Real-Life Comparison
Malcolm is very similar to Cameron Hooker, one of the two perpetrators of the Colleen Stan abduction case. Like Malcolm, Hooker was a sexual sadist who tortured his slaves through similar methods and threatened them that "the company" would kill their family if they ever left them.

Known Victims

 * Stalked and non-fatally assaulted numerous unnamed women and former girlfriends prior to The Company
 * Possibly kept numerous other unnamed "slaves" prior to The Company
 * Unspecified dates in 2004:
 * Charleston, South Carolina: Cindi Burns
 * Chicago, Illinois: John Hitchens
 * April 11, 2012, Chicago, Illinois: Derek Morgan

Appearances

 * Season Six
 * "Big Sea"
 * Season Seven
 * "The Company"
 * Season Eight
 * "Brothers Hotchner"