Max Poole

"You called me impotent... I am not impotent."

Max Poole, dubbed "The Have-You-Seen-Me Murderer" by the press, was a budding serial killer and rapist who appeared in About Face.

Background
Very little is known about Max's past, other than that he worked in an office building located in Techco, an advanced communications technology company. In 2007, he snapped for some reason (most likely because he had felt neglected by other people, according to elements of his profile) and started killing, targeting women who were connected to his workplace in some way.

About Face
"You just signed Enid White's death warrant."

Max's first target, Michelle Colucci (an architect who had drawn blueprints from the Techco building), found a poster with her photo and the words "Have You Seen Me?" on her front door in Carrolton, a small suburb outside Dallas, Texas. A police officer, the husband of a friend, dismissed it as a prank for the upcoming Halloween and promised to come check on her later. When he did so, she had been abducted and a room of her house covered in the same wanted posters. Three days later, her body was found in a stream. The day after that, another woman, Enid White (who was employed by Techco for two months), found a collection of wanted posters put up in a row outside. Driven by fear, she purchased a shotgun to defend herself. Then she left her home, and traveled to a motel in Dallas. She then called the police department, but the call was bugged by Max, who abducted her and scattered posters around the room.

After the rest of the BAU delivered the profile, Rossi told the media that the masks Max left behind signified impotence in order to play on his anger and get him to call them. Max did so, instructing Rossi to take what he said back. Rossi then lied about his face being taped by a security camera and claiming that, when captured, he would simply be considered a loser, like he always had. After claiming that he would kill Enid in response to this insult and then hanging up, Max threw a tantrum in his office space. The call was quickly and successfully traced back at Techco. The BAU rushed there, and after locating Max in the building's lobby, Rossi and Hotch tried to talk him into surrendering. When Morgan suddenly arrived at the scene, Max drew a revolver and tried to shoot him, but was shot and killed by Rossi. Enid was then found alive in Max's residence. He would go on to be mentioned by Reid years later as an example of killers who warn their victims of their impending murders before actually killing them.

Modus Operandi
Max targeted women connected to his workplace at Techco in some way. Since he only killed one of his victims, Michelle Colucci, the term "M.O." may be somewhat misused, but when that victim was killed, Max abducted her, kept her captive, sexually assaulted her, and killed her by cutting her face off. Prior to both abductions, Max would place one or more wanted posters with a portrait photo and the phrase "Have You Seen Me?" on them and place them on the victims' houses. After the abductions, he would cover the interior of one of the rooms with more wanted posters along with a mask with a number of how many victims had been abducted at the time. When he tried to kill Morgan, Max tried to shoot him with a .357 Magnum Smith & Wesson Model 28 revolver.

Profile
The unsub is an "exceedingly average" white male in his mid-30s to 40s and about 5'11 in height and 165 pounds in weight based on his shoeprint size. There was a sophistication and patience in what he did that suggested a level of maturity. He would have access to some kind of house where he could keep his victims and be fairly competent when handling computer technology, being able to make the wanted posters with a computer and bug Enid White's phone. The fact that there is nothing remarkable about him would also be reflected in his work life, where he wouldn't stand out at all or make a mark. His lack of distinction is part of his psychopathy. Most people don't care about being ignored, but each oversight is intentional to him, especially when it comes from his object of sexual desire. He began to obsess over this object until she was all he could think about, and his rage at being ignored by her built up gradually until he attacked her. Being ignored daily was one of the things that drove the unsub to kill. The masks with the numbers 1 and 2 were about the women, while the "Have You Seen Me" text on the posters referred to him, not the victims. Removing the victims' faces transferred his feelings of being ignored into a mission and it gave him a sense of power, which could make him arrogant, but it did not make him noticeable. The crimes scenes showed that he wanted to deliver his message to the police and he wasn't going public.

Known Victims

 * 2007:
 * October 26-29: Michelle Colucci
 * October 31:
 * Enid White
 * Derek Morgan

Appearances

 * Season Three
 * About Face
 * Season Nine
 * Fatal