Gary Michaels

Gary Brendan Michaels was a pedophilic killer who appeared in Season Four of Criminal Minds.

Background
Living in a Las Vegas suburb, Gary was arrested in his youth for lewd behavior and trespassing on the grounds of a nursery school and later in life, was arrested yet again when he exposed himself to a child. In 1984, Gary spotted a six-year old boy named Riley Jenkins walking home alone from a t-ball game (due to his parents working late) and either offered him a lift to his house or merely followed him to the residence. After getting inside in the Jenkins house, Gary coaxed Riley into the basement, where he raped and murdered the boy, leaving his body stuffed behind a washing machine.

After murdering Riley, Gary began focusing on Spencer Reid, another neighborhood kid, watching his chess games in the park (even playing a round with him at one point). Sensing something was wrong, Reid's mother Diana told Riley Jenkins's father, Lou, about her suspicions. Two days after getting Diana's call, Lou, after looking into Gary's history and discovering his prior crimes, called Diana up and had her lead him to Gary's house, where he follows Gary inside after spotting him taking out the trash. Confronting his son's murderer, Lou beats him to death with an aluminum baseball bat. Discovering what Lou had done moments later, Diana slips in and becomes soaked in Gary's blood, prompting her husband William (who was told what had transpired and helped cover it up, fearing Diana could be charged as an accessory to the murder) into burning them. Lou disposed of Gary's body across state lines, burying it in the middle of the desert, where it was discovered by construction workers in 2001. Due to the body being in close proximity to the Barker Ranch, it was believed that it could have belonged to an unknown victim of the Manson Family, and DNA taken from the corpse was entered into the national database.

Memoriam
In 2008, while investigation child abductions in his hometown, Reid begins having nightmares about Riley Jenkins, which lead him to believe his father may have been the one who murdered him. Eventually, after reopening the case and investigating with help from Morgan and Rossi, Reid discovers Gary was the one who murdered Riley, with his mother and father (who he had managed to track down) telling him the rest.

Profile
Riley's killer was profiled as a white male in his late twenties to early thirties who likely knew Riley, implicating he may have been a neighbor. The crime was need based and sexual in nature, thus making the perpetrator a pedophile, while Riley's mouth being taped shut was symbolic; the unsub feared the boy would talk, panicked, weighed his options and killed him, make certain he'd never say another word.

Modus Operandi
Gary, after either following Riley home or after finding some way to enter the house, somehow coaxed the boy into the basement, where he raped him, taping his mouth shut either before or after doing so. The knife Gary stabbed Riley with was taken from the scene, being found by the killer among some fishing gear under the basement steps. As Gary watched Reid for some time, it is reasonable to assume he stalked Riley as well, to know when the perfect time to strike would be.

Known Victims

 * Riley Jenkins
 * Spencer Reid

Appearances

 * Season Four
 * "Memoriam"