Peter Harper

"I couldn't have written it any better."

Peter Harper was a budding serial killer who appeared in The Gathering.

History
"Keep reading. You haven't gotten to the best part."

Not much is known about Peter's background, aside from the fact he worked in an office. He harbored murderous fantasies for years and took to writing therapy led by serial killer Mark Jackson in an effort to curb them. He also began stalking Tammy, a woman he encountered on social networks, who made him feel normal. Little did he know that the stories he submitted to Mark were used as a basis for Mark's murders. In "The Gathering", Peter is first seen hallucinating about stabbing his boss's hand with a pair of scissors when she scolds him for not being attentive to work. Later, he goes to watch Tammy as she swims at a local community pool, and hallucinates about drowning her in the pool. She texts him, and he texts her back. The next day, he sees a news report about Mark's victims, and he becomes horrified when he deduces that Mark had killed them. He goes on to tear down a board full of photos of Mark's victims.

The following night, he goes to the writing therapy group and submits a new story late to Mark. When Mark reads it, he stops halfway, shocked by its content, but Peter urges him to read on. When the meeting concludes, he confronts Mark about the killings, and Mark taunts him, saying he should be grateful. Peter then tells Mark that he never included the tongue removal in his stories before beating him to death. He then escapes, satisfied by his murder of Mark, and abducts Tammy, taking her to the community pool and tying her up. There, he tells Tammy to convince him not to kill her. She tries to play along with his delusions, even accepting a kiss from him, but when she tells him to turn himself in and get help, Peter immediately shoves Tammy into the pool just as the BAU arrive and hold him at gunpoint. He immediately holds a knife against his throat, intending to kill himself. Reid puts down his gun and tells him that all he has to do to fight his murderous urges is to try, while Morgan dives into the pool to rescue Tammy. Peter lowers the knife, but then he says that he appreciates Reid's honesty and immediately slashes his throat. His body falls into the pool, while Morgan is able to revive Tammy.

Modus Operandi
Peter beat Mark Jackson to death with his bare hands. When he attempted to kill Tammy, he bound her arms and legs and attempted to drown her, in order to emulate his fantasy.

Profile
No official profile was made of Peter, as the profile the BAU made of the unsub was more focused on Mark.

Known Victims

 * Mark Jackson
 * Tammy

Appearances

 * Season Eight
 * The Gathering