Billy Flynn

"You think they'll remember me now?"

Billy Flynn is a serial rapist and killer who appeared in Season Five of Criminal Minds.

Background
Billy's mother, Nora, was a prostitute and drug addict in the suburbs of southern California who would put him in the bedroom closet whenever she had a client over, leaving him able to watch every encounter. She would also allow them to sexually assault him for money. In spite of this, Billy and his mother would sometimes dance together. In 1968, when Billy was 13, he used a gun to kill Nora and a client, (ironically named) John, making the latter beg for his life before killing him. He was arrested and incarcerated for the murders, but, since he was a juvenile offender, was released in 1973 when he turned 18, never telling anyone why he killed them. When he was 29, in 1984, he began performing burglaries in California (coinciding with the first known murders of real-life serial killer Richard Ramirez), quickly escalating to assaulting, raping and murdering the residents of the houses. After a few attacks, he obtained an RV, left the state, and began travelling around the U.S. (not including Alaska and Hawaii). At some point, he also started smoking cigarettes and possibly crystal meth or some similar drug in order to stay awake all night, an activity which stuck with him for decades. He apparently also became an avid radio listener. In 2010, after 26 years of killing, he returned to California, leading to the BAU being called in.

Season Five
Our Darkest Hour begins with a montage of Billy's RV in several U.S. locations, including New York City, Reno and The Golden Gate Bridge. Upon arriving in California, he lights a cigarette and turns on the radio. He is then outside a suburban house, lighting yet another cigarette before putting it out when the power goes out everywhere. Inside one of the houses, Gregory and Coleen Everson, who are lighting candles and preparing to go to bed, hear a noise outside. Gregory grabs a fire poker and they go to the ground floor. They figure the noise was the wind blowing down a trash can and go back into the bed room. Coleen notices that the window is closed, even though it was left open earlier due to the heat. Behind her, Billy knocks Gregory out with the fire poker and proceeds to rape Coleen and kill Gregory in front of her eyes.

The attack, in combination with one of Billy's previous home invasions during which he raped and killed two women, leads to the BAU being called in by the local police to assist. Over the course of the following days, Billy attacks two more houses; one in which he forced a young boy to watch him rape his mother and one in which he left a baby alive. When Garcia produces a list of his previous murders, they learn that Detective Matt Spicer, one of the case's lead investigators, was the survivor of one of Billy's earliest home invasions and that he was repeating his first set of killings as a way to taunt Matt, who had been seen a lot in the media. Realizing that Spicer's daughter, Ellie, and sister, Kristin, would be Billy's next targets, he and Derek went to her house. When they got there, Billy had already abducted them both and taken them to the Spicers' old home. They snuck in. Derek finds the house's current resident dead before being knocked out by Billy and tied up with duct tape by Ellie (presumably ordered to do so by Billy). Matt makes his way to the bedroom, where Billy's attack had taken place years earlier, and found Billy, who held Ellie in front of him and told him to drop his gun. Derek advised against it, but Matt eventually obliged when Billy began choking Ellie. He then forced Matt to his knees and made him admit that Billy was responsible for making him who he was. Matt asked Derek to promise him that Kristin and Ellie would be safe. Billy, clearly enjoying the situation, then shot Matt in the chest execution style and grabbed Ellie, saying "I usually don't take much to kids, but this one's just...special". Derek angrily tells Billy they will find him. Billy leaves with Ellie, asking mockingly: "Is that another promise?"

Season Six
After abducting Ellie, Billy attempts to make her an accomplice to his crimes. In the RV, he explains his motivations and also cuts Ellie's hair to change her appearance. They first stop by a house, at which Billy gives her a few pointers about choosing houses to attack. Once they enter, he shoots the father, sends Ellie to get his son, and goes up to rape and kill the mother. Upstairs, he spots a family photo showing that the family has two sons and hurries down to their room to get the other boy. Once there, he learns that Ellie used the other boy to alarm the neighborhood. Billy grabs Ellie, takes her to the house's attached garage, steals the car, and drives away with her. Back at Quantico, Garcia is able to figure out Billy's identity through his first murders. The BAU made contact with him through the city's emergency alert system, broadcasting over every single local radio channel. When JJ, using the system, reminded Billy that he was doing the same thing to Ellie that his mother did to him, he released her, broke into a couple's home, and took them hostage. Once police had gathered around the house, he made a phone call requesting that Derek come in alone. Inside, Billy had tied up and gagged the couple and sat on a bed with his gun ready for Derek's arrival. Derek declared that he is not afraid of Billy, who chuckles and asks if he really thinks that is so important to him. Billy recounts how he killed his mother and thought she looked relieved at having been set free, shedding a single tear while doing so. He then asks Derek whether he believes in heaven. Realizing what he is planning, Derek raises his gun. Billy asks if he will see his mother there and maybe get another chance. He then stands up, aims his gun at the wife, and is shot and killed by Derek.

Profile
Billy is a clear sadist who has been killing for a long time. He is a highly opportunistic offender, as he travels and kills at random, making him very difficult to predict. His way of making a child watch him rape its mother suggests that he may have experienced something similar himself. His flawed spelling ("HELLO THER") suggests that he has little to no education. He is, however, smart enough to successfully plan his home invasions, avoid leaving behind DNA evidence, and get away with the murders. He appears to have intimacy issues, as he can't even have personal photos facing him, meaning he probably never has been in any kind of relationship. He may also have some shortcoming, perceived or real, and this has led him to a life of solitude and caused him to develop an aggressive schizoid personality. The BAU profiled darkness as his signature.

Modus Operandi
Flynn randomly targeted families during electricity blackouts when they occurred or he would cut off the electricity of the house. He tortures his victims, rapes the women repeatedly, and kills every member of the family except one (unless more children are involved, as he never kills children). It was mentioned that he avoids leaving behind any DNA evidence by "covering up". The purpose of leaving one person left is so they develop emotional scarring due to being the only survivor of the murders and so that he won't be forgotten. He often used a .44 revolver to kill his victim(s).

Known Victims

 * 1968: Nora Flynn and John
 * August 28, 1984, Santa Monica, California: Joe and Sylvia Spicer
 * Over two-hundred other families over the course of twenty-six years (exact number of victims unknown), including:
 * July 7, 1984, San Diego, California: Ryan
 * July 19, 1984, Orange County, California: Harrison
 * July 22, 1984, Long Beach, California: Rogers
 * August 4, 1984, Santa Barbara, California: Campbell
 * August 13, 1985, Oakland, California: Rogers
 * August 22, 1985, Modesto, California: DeMarco
 * March 17, 1986, Las Vegas, Nevada: Finn
 * September 3, 1986, Albuquerque, New Mexico: Ramos
 * September 13, 1986, Tempe, Arizona: Wegener
 * July 15, 1987, Des Moines, Iowa: Stiller
 * July 30, 1987, Chicago, Illinois: Sparks
 * July 7, 1988, Minneapolis, Minnesota: Tyree
 * December 3, 1988, Sioux City, South Dakota: Barrow
 * December 28, 1988, Fargo, North Dakota: Weiss
 * February 17, 1989, Hartford, Connecticut: DeMaio
 * August 15, 1989, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Beaird
 * October 11, 1990, Jackson, Mississippi: Carroll
 * October 28, 1990, Montgomery, Alabama: Taylor
 * July 5, 1991, Milwaukee, Wisconsin: Joy
 * July 19, 1991, Kalamazoo, Michigan: Sampair
 * July 13, 1992, Memphis, Tennessee: Matulic
 * August 22, 1992, Charlotte, North Carolina: Powers
 * October 20, 1992: Lexington, Kentucky: Roberts
 * December 3, 1993: Salt Lake, Utah: Raymond
 * December 17, 1993: Cheyenne, Wyoming: Worthington
 * February 1, 1994, Albany, New York: Otepka
 * February 10, 1994, Burlington, Vermont: Walsh
 * Two unnamed women
 * Gregory Everson
 * Colleen Everson
 * Annie Danzi
 * An unnamed couple
 * An unnamed man
 * Kristin Spicer
 * Derek Morgan
 * Detective Matt Spicer
 * Ellie Spicer
 * Larry and Annette Simmons
 * An unnamed motorist
 * Paul Farraday and his unnamed wife
 * An unnamed couple

Quotes
Billy: [to Matt Spicer] Your sister grew up real pretty. Last I saw her, she was just an itty-bitty thing. Not as good as your mom, though. She squirms too much.

Matt Spicer: You destroyed me, is that what you want to hear?

Billy: [shrugs]: Well, it's... better...

Billy: [from The Longest Night promo] Why I kill people isn't the question. The question is why I don't kill everybody.

Billy: [from The Longest Night promo] I decide who dies, but mostly, I decide who lives.

Billy: [from The Longest Night promo, wiping a blood drop from Ellie's cheek] We're gonna make a great team.

Real-Life Comparison
Billy is very similar to Richard Ramirez. They were both serial killers/rapists who both committed their first murders in California in 1984 (except Ramirez stayed put while Billy traveled around the U.S.). They both did home invasions and usually killed their victims with handguns; Billy uses a .44, Ramirez used a .22. Also, they both had severely discolored teeth; Billy primarily due to smoking, Ramirez due to poor hygiene and a junk food diet.

Additionally, Billy's habit of killing people during blackouts is similar to that of Gordon Fredrick Cummins, aka The Blackout Ripper, a British serial killer active during World War II. He would take advantage of the regular blackouts done during the German Blitz, strangling lone women in the night and mutilating them post-mortem.

Appearance

 * Season Five
 * "Our Darkest Hour"
 * Season Six
 * "The Longest Night"