The Rogue Deputies

The Rogue Deputies were an organization of corrupt Sheriff's Deputies who orchestrated a series of murders in Season Nine of Criminal Minds.

Background
The corrupt Deputies were organized after Owen McGregor became involved in a wide variety of criminal enterprises. At some point, in an effort to keep their activities a secret, they orchestrated the death of their Sheriff (whom they saw as a loose end) in a shootout during a drug raid. However, when that failed, they killed him on March 20, 2013, by administering medication he was allergic to instead. The entire conspiracy was witnessed by a group of prostitutes employed by local Christian preacher Justin Mills, with whom McGregor made a deal to keep himself and his prostitutes silent. As a result, the Deputies threatened Dinah Stidham, a bartender who collected the prostitutes' money for Mills, into compliance, warning her that they would kill her son Josh if she disobeyed their orders. When Peter Coleman took over the position of Sheriff, they began killing again, targeting prostitutes who were working for Mills, starting with a male prostitute named Lucas Wagner after he threatened to expose them. Six months later, they murdered a female prostitute, Hanna Kelly, dumping her body one jurisdiction over. For both victims, they carved wounds onto their backs as a reference to a detail of Mills's past (in 2009, he had carved wounds into the back of a Canadian prostitute before arriving in Texas to start over his prostitution ring).

Angels
Five months after their second murder, they tortured Abigail Jones, who is then killed by McGregor himself. As a result, the BAU is summoned after Coleman appeals to Cruz, whom he knew from their days as Texas Rangers. Two days into the BAU's investigation, during which Mills offers his assistance, the Deputies kill another one of Mills's prostitutes, Tabitha Ryerson, although their M.O. intentionally deviates greatly from that demonstrated on the last three victims in order to further set up Mills as the killer. However, when the BAU became convinced of Mills's innocence, the Deputies immediately changed their strategy, orchestrating a shootout between Mills and the BAU, during which McGregor is able to successfully kill Coleman before fleeing.

Demons
The shootout ends after Mills is forced out of the bar by Morgan and JJ and then shot and killed by the former. Reid, who was shot in the neck by Mills, witnesses McGregor escape the shootout before going to the hospital to recover. McGregor later orders Marty Bennett, Vicky Lorenzana, and the other corrupt Deputies to kill the BAU. He personally tries to kill Reid, but is cut off by Garcia, who heads into his room and shuts the door in his face, locking it. As a result, he orders Greg Baylor, one of his inferiors, to kill both of them. Bennett and Lorenza later pull over Rossi and Blake in a road in the middle of the woods. They approach their SUV and pull out their guns, but Rossi and Blake shoot both of them first and escape.

McGregor finds Bennett and Lorenza wounded and murders them. He then heads off to a junkyard he owns, where four of his colleagues are. At the hospital, Baylor tries to poison Reid, then pulls out a gun when he is unable to, but Garcia quickly pulls out Reid's gun and shoots him. He is then treated for his gunshot wound and is incarcerated. Hotch, JJ, and Morgan arrive at the junkyard and are engaged in a shootout. All four colleagues are shot and killed by JJ and Morgan, while McGregor attacks Hotch and tries to shoot him with his gun, but is shot and killed by him in return. Afterwards, the Texas Rangers took over the investigation after being called in by Cruz, and all of the remaining members of the ring were indefinitely incarcerated.

Modus Operandi
The Deputies initially targeted their own Sheriff, attempting to stage his death through a shootout during a drug raid. However, when that failed, they instead poisoned him with medication, provoking a fatal allergic reaction during his hospitalization. Starting in 2013, they targeted both male and female prostitutes working under Mills's employment, luring them in with the ruse of sex before binding them, abducting them, and torturing them by carving wounds into their back with a knife, all as part of a consensual S&M. The amount and the deepness of the carve wounds would always increase with each victim. Once they were done, they would then kill them by shooting them once in the back of the head execution-style using a handgun. In the case of Tabitha Ryerson, they shot her in the back of the neck before carving wounds onto her back, not after. Post-mortem, they washed her legs in lavender (as a reference to spikenard, which is mentioned in the Gospel as the ointment used for Jesus's feet) and posed her body; this deviation in their M.O. was to convince the BAU that Tabitha's murder was more religion-oriented than the previous ones and therefore lead to suspicion being placed on Mills.

During their killing of Sheriff Coleman, they would stage a shootout between Mills and law enforcement once the former began to feel the heat and was manipulated by McGregor to shoot his way out; McGregor would then kill Coleman under the cover of the shootout, which some other corrupt Deputies would also participate in. Later on, when the BAU began to catch onto their true intentions, they started targeting the entire team; how they intended to cover up the murders of the BAU is never known. Little else is known about their other crimes.

Profile
The ring was initially profiled to be a single unsub, described as a white male in his early 30s. While his M.O. is indicative to that of a sadist, it is believed that there is an underlying pathology to him, which is called a "wound collector", someone who uses a lifetime of slights, grievances, and wrongdoings as a justification for violence. He is low-key and almost submissive in public, something that he uses to attract a prostitute. However, once under the safety of isolation, his real nature will be revealed. This is the type of man who would anonymously express himself online, ranting on how prostitutes are filled with disease and filth, and therefore deserve what is coming to them, which is most likely to cover the rejection of a woman or a spouse who has wronged him in some way. The latter fact indicates that he has a working-class or part-time job, giving him time to plan and execute the murders. He is also strong and good with his hands, and probably drives a work-truck or a large vehicle, which allows him to move his victims' bodies and carry the tools he uses for posing them. Tabitha Ryerson's murder means that he is losing control; he killed her inside her home and transported her body to the woods so he could mutilate her post-mortem. The public nature of the display of Tabitha's corpse is a message to the authorities; he is showing them that he is smarter than them.

As the investigation progressed, it became clear that a group is responsible for the killings. There is one strong leader, identified as McGregor, and one lieutenant who appears trustworthy but has the access and skill set to do a lot of damage, identified as Bennett. The members of this group are willing to murder anyone (including their own Sheriffs and even FBI agents) to maintain the secrecy of their criminal activities. However, when it was clear that there would be no way out, the Deputies are willing to die rather than go to jail, but not before taking anyone with them. The original profile provided by the BAU (shown above) was still accurate (though only partially so) to McGregor: he was a strong white male in his early 30s who was good with his hands and drove a large vehicle.

Known Members

 * Leader: Owen McGregor . Portrayed by Michael Trucco.
 * Lieutenant: Marty Bennett . Portrayed by Brady Smith.
 * Followers:
 * Vicky Lorenzana . Portrayed by Romi Dias.
 * Greg Baylor . Portrayed by Potsch Boyd.
 * Everett . Portrayed by David Atkinson.
 * Several unnamed others . All portrayed by uncredited actors.

Mutual Victims

 * 2013:
 * March 20: The unnamed previous Sheriff
 * June 21 : Lucas Wagner
 * November 27: Hanna Kelly
 * 2014:
 * May 4: Abigail Jones
 * May 6: Tabitha Ryerson
 * May 7: Preacher Justin Mills
 * May 8:
 * The attempted shooting by Bennett and Lorenzana during the pullover:
 * David Rossi
 * Alex Blake
 * The attempted hospital shooting by Baylor:
 * Spencer Reid
 * Penelope Garcia
 * The junkyard shootout by McGregor and several other Deputies:
 * Aaron Hotchner
 * Jennifer Jareau
 * Derek Morgan

Appearances

 * Season Nine
 * Angels
 * Demons
 * Season Ten
 * Burn