Vincent Rowlings

Vincent is a serial killer who appears in season four of Criminal Minds.

Background
Vincent, formerly a videographer, suffers from severe Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. Some of his rituals, with border on the extreme are:
 * Must open doors 3 times
 * Must wear different slippers in every room
 * Obsessive about color coordination
 * Brushes teeth in front of mirror covered in plastic
 * Sandwiches must be crustless and cut exactly diagonally
 * Steering wheel wrapped in plastic
 * Can't step on cracks
 * Must wash his hands after touching any foreign object and will use a bar of soap only once

Season Four
After performing his morning rituals, Vincent strolls down the street to an open house viewing, where Michelle Watson is speaking to her husband on her cell phone. Vincent approaches, and she asks if he is "Robert", a man who had an appointment around that time. Vincent steps forward, a knife appearing in his right hadn, and stabs her once. He drags her into the living room, and watches her die. He then goes back into the foyer and writes the number 29 in red, circling it twice.

The team is then viewing a video of Michelle's death, sent to them by the Unsub. After Michelle's death, the killer had written the words "HELP ME" in red (possibly blood).

Vincent is then seen looking over the death videos of several previous victims. He is using video editing software to cut and paste pieces together. These videos, some of them 20 years old are then reviewed by Garcia, who got them from the local police.

A woman appears at Vincent's door. She is Alice, possibly a co-worker or neighbor. Vincent becomes distressed but lets her in. She tells him she needs him to videotape a wedding, but Vincent explains he doesn't "do that anymore". A news broadcast appears on tv, with a sketch of the possible killer of Michelle. Alice recognizes him. Vincent kills her and later dumps her body.

The BAU believes that Alice was killed incidentally, as she does not fit the victimology.

Vincent is then shown talking to Stanley Wolcott, the son of Joyce, a previous victim. He is now in foster care. He has been blind since birth so didn't see Vincent when he killed his mother.

Rossi and Morgan later interview Stan, who offers to help catch his mother's killer. Stan describes the night his mother was killed. Stan had gone outside, finding her by following her moans. He sensed someone near her. Stan knows the killer saw him.

Vincent walks down street, is confronted by a punk. The punk threatens him, and Vincent kills him. He is then shot from behind by another punk, only to turn, expressionless.

Vincent is then shown at his home, tending to his wounds and changing clothes. He grabs the leftover half of a sandwich and tears a small piece of bread off, which he stuffs in his gunshot wound. He then wraps the wound in plastic wrap before hallucinating about his mother's death.

Morgan, Hotch, and Rossi are interviewing the gunman, who describes the unsub; including the clicking noises that he made (an imitation of Stan's echolocation technique). The team races to Stan's house to find him missing.

Vincent and Stan are riding in Vincent's car. Stan tells him that the FBI was at his house earlier. Vincent says that on the night Stan's mother was killed, the unsub may have saw something in Stan, and knew that he couldn't hurt him. Stan confesses that he wishes the killer had gotten him, too.

Stan's foster mother reveals the identity of the man who mentored her foster son; Vincent Raulings. The team tracks him down at a local fair.

Vincent and Stan approach a ferris wheel, getting into the basket. Vincent asks the attendant to stop the wheel when they reach the top. Stan asks Vincent if he can see the stars. Vincent asks Stan if he remembers saying that he wished the killer had killed him too. He explains that he saw his own Mom die too, and that Stan should never wish to die. Vincent tells Stan that he is special because he helped Vincent to "see". Vincent then asks Stan for forgiveness before bleeding to death on the way down. Morgan is there to greet Stan, carrying him away from Vincent's body.

Stan asks Derek if Vincent had killed his mom. Derek doesn't answer, but Stan knows.

Profile
Vincent had found his mother dead when he was 9. He sat by her body as she died, then later found a videotape of her being killed. This led to his OCD and his eventual pathology. He is obsessed with the number 29, as this was the day that his mother was killed. He finds a friend in Stan, who he left alive at the scene of Stan's mother's murder.

Modus Operandi
Vincent stabs his victims multiple times with a knife hidden in his coat sleeve, video taping their deaths with his camera glasses. He is obsessed with blondes and always kills in the spring time.

Known Victims

 * 11 confirmed previous female victims
 * Joyce Wolcott
 * Michelle Watson
 * Alice (out of character)
 * Unnamed street punk

Appearances

 * Season Four
 * The Big Wheel