Rodney Garrett

Rodney "Rod" Baines Garrett was a prolific serial killer who briefly appeared in Season Seven of Criminal Minds.

History
Little is specified about Garrett's early life, other than that he dropped out of school while in the sixth grade. How he received his murderous tendencies in the first place is also unknown. In his adult years, he married a woman named Helen, who became bald following a surgery for a brain tumor. He treated his wife with respect and their marriage seemed to be an averagely happy one. However, Garrett secretly began moonlighting as a serial killer, murdering young, short-haired, blonde women by stabbing them directly in the heart with an icepick, which was left there. After killing 25 victims this way, all within a span of years, Garrett was finally apprehended by authorities. Pitiful from what he did, he showed police were he buried the victims and confessed to his actions. Garrett was eventually sentenced to death-row, scheduled to be executed by a firing squad (at his own request), and received daily visits from Helen, who was the only one who continuously supported him despite what he did. In prison, he began receiving at least two letters from a mysterious "fan". On May 25, 2008, an inmate attempted to shank him; a similar incident with a second inmate followed in November 15, 2010. In both shankings, Garrett was able to gain the upper hand and kill his assailants with their own knives. Finally, on April 30, 2012, Garrett's execution proceeded just as planned. Minutes later, Dylan Kohler killed his first victim in the same style as Garrett's M.O. Throughout the episode, it is assumed by the BAU that Kohler, who was copycatting Garrett's murders, was the fan who sent the letters. By the end of the episode, it is implied that Helen might have written the letters sent to him.

Modus Operandi
Garrett targeted high-risk victims, such as prostitutes, drug addicts, and runaways, all of whom were young, short-haired, blonde women. He would break into their homes, ambush his victims, and tie them to their bed frames with duct tape. Garrett then killed them by a single stab with an icepick directed at the heart. Reid mentions that he showed the police where he buried two of his victims, suggesting that he tried to dispose of at least some of them.

Profile
Garrett wasn't directly profiled by the BAU, as they were more focused on Kohler, though their way of describing him makes him sound like a disorganized killer since he targeted high-risk victims and left mountains of evidence behind. His motivation is unspecified and there were no mentions of him raping any of his victims, suggesting that he may have been driven by something other than sex.

Known Victims

 * Unspecified dates: Twenty-five unnamed victims killed prior to his execution
 * May 25, 2008: Unnamed inmate
 * November 15, 2010: Unnamed inmate

Appearances

 * Season Seven
 * "Divining Rod"