Anton Harris

"Glaubst du wirklich, dass sie jetzt kommen werden?" ["Do you really think they'll come now...?"]

Anton Harris is an abductor and killer from Germany, who appeared in To Bear Witness.

History
Born on January 18, 1984, in Germany, Anton grew up being disapproved by his father Aldor, a businessman who owned companies in several countries. His mother Nicolette, a doctor, died of unspecified causes. Anton became jealous of his younger sister Dana when she received more attention than he did. Apparently in an attempt to impress his father, he became a medical student, but Dana took the spotlight when she too became a student. In frustration, Anton formulated a revenge scheme in order to get himself noticed by not only Aldor, but by the rest of the world. On April 16, 2013, he murdered a man named Klaus Dietrich after experimenting with lobotomy on him. When Dana went to Baltimore, Maryland, U.S., Anton followed, entering the country on June 12. Biding his time, Anton carried out his plan on October 16, abducting Dana and her boyfriend Sam Carter, performing eye surgery as well as lobotomy on the latter, implanting a recording device into his pupil. He then allowed Sam to escape, and waited until he was taken to a hospital.

When Sam arrived at the hospital, unable to communicate with authorities due to the lobotomy scrambling his brain, Anton established an online connection with the BAU. He then performed eye surgery on Dana, implanting another recording device into her pupil, and then set up a live feed with the BAU and computers worldwide, recording himself as he tortured Dana with lobotomy. Using other communication methods with Sam, Morgan and Garcia were able to identify Sam and Dana as the missing victims. Garcia then traced the connection between Dana and Anton as siblings, and was able to track them down at an abandoned house near where Sam was found. The BAU and local authorities arrived at the house and rescued Dana. They then found and arrested Anton after Hotch tricks Anton by saying that Garcia canceled his live feed, meaning that people worldwide weren't seeing what he was recording. He was last seen being driven to the BAU headquarters in Quantico, where he met up with Aldor, who looked at him disapprovingly. Cruz later mentioned to Morgan that Aldor tried to have Anton extradited, but was unsuccessful.

Modus Operandi
When he killed Klaus Dietrich, Anton performed lobotomy on him, apparently to experiment, before killing him by applying blunt-force trauma to the head. When he abducted and tortured Dana and Sam, Anton performed eye surgery on them in order to implant miniature recording devices into their pupils. He would then activate these devices, so then people would view them from Dana and Sam's perspectives. He also tortured both of them with lobotomy, which left Sam unable to speak.

Profile
The unsub's escalation by placing cameras in the eyes of his victims could be part of his message that the eyes are windows to the soul. The fact that his first murder took place in Berlin means that he has a significant connection there, and he is likely visiting the U.S. He feels out of place, which is how he connected with the victims. His first victim was a student and he may have belonged in those circles. He is clearly bright and capable, and the experimental nature of his attacks could suggest that he is bored, and with his intelligence comes a dark side. If his victims represent him, he is telling the world that he feels essentially lobotomized and therefore powerless. He may have been raised in a strict home where he didn't have a voice of his own, and probably also medicated or institutionalized in the past. He wants his victims to suffer greatly, and being left without a voice is a kind of overkill. This occurrence suggests that there is a personal connection between him and the victim. He also wants to see what it is like to be the victims, giving him a front-row seat to his sadism.

Real-Life Comparison
Anton is partially similar to serial killer Jack Unterweger, a.k.a. "The Vienna Strangler". Both claimed victims in Germany and also committed crimes in the U.S. while visiting the country as tourists (Unterweger killed at least three women in Los Angeles, California, while Anton abducted and tortured two people in Baltimore, Maryland).

Known Victims

 * 2013:
 * April 16, Berlin, Germany: Klaus Dietrich
 * October 16, Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.: Sam Carter and Dana Harris :
 * Sam Carter
 * Dana Harris

Appearances

 * Season Nine
 * To Bear Witness