Earl Bulford

"You know, you've got...real pretty eyes."

Earl Bulford is a serial killer who appeared in The Eyes Have It.

History
Earl was the son of Lloyd Bulford, a taxidermist. His mother, who suffered from retinitis pigmentosa, a degenerative eye disease which eventually leads to blindness, died in a car crash when he was eight years old. After that, he was expelled from school for getting into a fight with another student and attempting to gouge his eyes out. From that point, his father educated him completely on his own and taught Earl hunting and taxidermy. He eventually racked up a petty crime record and three counts of animal cruelty. After Lloyd died of emphysema, Earl's life, which had been dependent on him, started to fall apart when he wasn't able to pay taxes and had an eviction imminent.

Four days prior to The Eyes Have It, Earl claimed his first victim, John O'Heron, a customer of the shop, when he complained about the way he had put eyes into a stuffed animal. He then bluntly removed his eyes and placed the body in the nearby wilderness. He later proceeded to kill Megan Chirtau and Bina Sukarto, two teenage girls, and removed their eyes more carefully. At this point, the BAU were called in. Earl then killed Tracy Copper and removed her eyes as well. On his next murder, Earl targeted a couple in a park, but got into a defensive struggle with the man which resulted in the man's left eye being damaged. As a result, Earl left the damaged eye as well as the other eye in its socket, but still took both of the woman's. This action caused the BAU to realize that they were dealing with a taxidermist, as they have the training required to cut through animal flesh and remove eyes. When they tracked down Earl, he was already following a lone woman on a walk and attempted to kill her, but ended up in a struggle with her. Hotch, who was nearby, rushed to the scene and arrested him. While awaiting booking at the police station, Earl notices JJ and, in a somewhat disturbing tone, tells her she has pretty eyes, prompting Morgan into moving him to another waiting area.

Modus Operandi
Apart from John O'Heron's murder, Earl would slash his victims so they bled to death instantly. As he kept killing, his murders became increasingly complex, involving traps and planning similar to that used by hunters. After each murder, he gouged the victims' eyes out using surgical instrument. They would then be placed in the eye sockets of stuffed animals. He searched for new victims whenever he made a home delivery by sticking around.

Profile
Earl was described as an enucleator, a type of offender who gouges his victims' eyes out. They usually have mental disorders, low social skills and kill sloppily, although Earl's murders were more controlled. The BAU suggest that he may have known his first victim since it was more spontaneous and violent. Since he sets up traps and kills his victims by a quick and efficient slash, he may have a hunting background. The reason for the short time between the murders is believed to be that he's on some type of mission requiring him to collect a certain amount of eyes in a certain amount of time. He is believed to be a white male, 27-35 years old, who drives a van or a pickup that's easy to clean. He may recently have applied for a hunting license and has some medical or surgical training, but not enough to make a career out of it. He may have been in a half-way house or a treatment facility, with his family having moved him away only for him to return.

The BAU later figured out that the killer worked as a taxidermist; they would also have the training required to cut through flesh and remove eyes from skulls. Additionally, he would require a perfect pair of eyes in order to make them worth bringing with him since just one eye wouldn't be enough to fill the sockets of the animals he stuffed. A taxidermist would also have the hunting skills necessary for such strategic kills.

Real-Life Comparison
Earl may have been loosely based on Charles Albright, a serial killer based in Dallas, Texas who also removed the eyes of his victims with near-surgical precision.

Known Victims

 * Unnamed student
 * John O'Heron
 * Megan Chertow and Bina Sukarto
 * Tracy Copper
 * Wes and Sandy
 * Jaime

Appearance

 * Season Five
 * The Eyes Have It

Trivia

 * Earl Fulford (similar to Bulford) is the name of a former US Army officer who was present at the Roswell crash site in 1947. He recently appeared on A&E's UFO Hunters to tell his story. The writer of "The Eyes Have It", Oanh Ly, was a writing assistant to Breen Frazier, who wrote several episodes of Roswell in the 1990s. The name of Earl Bulford may be a nod to The Roswell Incident.