Justin Mills

"I didn't do any of this, you did this to me!"

Preacher Justin Mills (born Gordon Borell) was a suspect of a series of killings, and later an attempted murderer and unknowing accomplice. He appeared in Season Nine of Criminal Minds.

Background
Mills was born as Gordon Borell in Tees, Alberta, Canada, around 1974. In his adult life, he became involved in prostitution, becoming a pimp for several. On July 23, 2009, he attacked one of his own prostitutes, carving wounds on her back with a box knife. The attack was interrupted when police conducted a raid, and as a result, Mills was arrested. However, he claimed that the attack was consensual and that he was "marking his property", although the prostitute stated that he was punishing her for not making enough money from the previous night, according to the Canadian police report. He was never charged with attempted murder, since he intended to let the prostitute continue her work after being finished with her. Afterwards, Mills changed his name to his present one upon moving to the U.S. in order to continue his prostitution ring, his business having apparently been hindered by his arrest in Canada.

Eventually deciding to settle in Silverton, Texas, and pose as a Christian preacher (as no one in the town would dare question the authority of a man of God), Mills continued his services, this time operating under the alias of "The Man Upstairs". Never facing his prostitutes in person, he instead relied on a partner named Dinah Stidham, a bartender at Joe's Bar who would collect the money from his prostitutes for him. In addition, he started a cocaine-dealing business and presumably other small criminal enterprises. At some point on March 2013, some of his prostitutes witnessed the killing of the local Sheriff, which was orchestrated by a group of corrupt Deputies, who all saw the Sheriff as loose ends to their criminal activities. As a result of this, Mills was approached by the group's leader Owen McGregor, with whom he made a deal to keep his prostitutes silent of the killing. However, when Peter Coleman, a former Texas Ranger, took over the position of Sheriff, McGregor decided to take advantage of their deal to frame Mills for Coleman's planned murder.

Angels
"See...we walk through life pretending to be one thing when we're really another. And like the opposing sides, truth is a magnet and it sticks to you. There's no steering clear of His law."

Upon hearing of the third murder committed by the Deputies, Mills (unaware at the time of who is committing the murders) decides to insert himself into the investigation in order to find out if the authorities would be able to trace his secret past. He approaches the BAU inside the police station, offering them important information about the first victim, Lucas Wagner, whom he reveals to be a male prostitute. As he leaves the station, Mills spots Carrie Lawson, the sister of the latest victim, Abigail Jones. He offers her condolences and a place to stay in his church. The following morning, another one of his prostitutes, Belinda Clark, rushes into his church while he is consoling Carrie, exclaiming that "they" were coming to get her; Abigail Jones had stated the same words before her death. Mills promises Belinda sanctuary and declares that he will ask for more details from the authorities. However, he instead goes into Joe's Bar and attacks Dinah in her office, furiously demanding answers about who is attacking his prostitutes, even threatening her life. She tells him about any potential suspects, including a drug addict named Travis Henson, who once cut a prostitute on the back. Believing that he could be the one behind the killings, Mills confronts Travis at a crack house, attacking him and holding him at knifepoint. When Travis denies any involvement, Mills tells him to make sure that the real perpetrator shows himself before leaving.

While driving down a road, all the while sniffing some cocaine, he receives a call from Travis, who tells him that he found the killer and that they will meet at the local El Lobito's Diner. However, it is a ruse from McGregor, who murders Travis, while other Deputies kill Belinda Clark and another prostitute named Jesse Moore (who also worked for Mills); all three of the bodies are left at the bar for Mills to find. Simultaneously, the BAU find out about his secret businesses, but discern that he is being framed after finding out about his attack on the Canadian prostitute, citing that pimps never kill their prostitutes, who are their source of money. The following night, Mills arrives at the bar, still sniffing cocaine, and he stumbles upon the bodies, as well as a MAC-10 machine pistol, an M1911A1 semiautomatic pistol, and several magazines lying on a table. He then receives a call from McGregor, who taunts him and tells him that police are on their way. Mills tries to remind him of their deal, but then McGregor tells him that the deal has changed, that the police are on their way to the bar, and then wishes him good luck before hanging up, just as Mills notices police cars drive up in the parking lot, having been alerted to his position by Deputy Vicky Lorenzana.

Left with no other alternative (and unaware that the BAU already knows of his innocence), Mills equips himself with the guns and prepares to fire at the BAU and the Deputies when McGregor shoots and wounds Sheriff Coleman, forcing the Deputies to fire at Mills. In response, he fires repeatedly in a fan-like motion at Reid, Blake, Morgan, JJ, Sheriff Coleman, and several Deputies. A Deputy is hit by the gunfire, which is then quickly followed by Reid, who is shot in the neck when he tries to push Blake out of the way of the bullets. McGregor takes advantage of the shootout to then finish off Coleman. Mills then fires toward Morgan, JJ, Lorenzana, Deputy Marty Bennett, and another Deputy when they try to move in on the bar; the unnamed Deputy is hit. When Morgan and JJ successfully breach the bar, they find Mills trying to flee. He spots them and quickly shoots at them with the MAC-10, hitting Morgan twice, seconds before the episode abruptly ends.

Demons
Mills briefly reappeared in the episode, which began directly where "Angels" left off. It was revealed that the bullets that struck Morgan hit his bulletproof vest, protecting him. After briefly exchanging gunfire with JJ, he flees the bar through the back, all the while taking shots from her and Morgan. He is then pursued by the two throughout the nearby neighborhood. Eventually, he flees inside an abandoned building, followed by the two agents. In the cover of the darkness, Mills continues firing at them, pinning JJ down and grazing Morgan in the arm. Morgan fires back, although Mills is protected by a nearby wall. Eventually, he accidentally runs out of his cover while trying to avoid Morgan's gunfire, allowing the agent to shoot him repeatedly in the head and chest, killing him as he continues firing the MAC-10 wildly.

Profile
"If you can't make sure my bitches are safe, then what good are you?"

No profile was made of Mills, since it was more consistent with McGregor and his ring of corrupt Deputies. He was later described as a narcissistic sociopath who committed the shootout instead of surrendering because he believed that he could actually make a successful escape from the authorities.

Modus Operandi
Since Mills hadn't killed anyone, the term "M.O." is misused. In Canada, he tortured one of his prostitutes by carving ten wounds on her back with a box cutter, but left her alive and even intentionally released her. During the Spanish bar shootout, he shot at the BAU and Sheriff's Deputies with two .45-caliber firearms (a MAC-10 machine pistol and an M1911A1 pistol) that were both supplied to him by McGregor.

Known Victims

 * July 23, 2009, Tees, Alberta, Canada: Erica Setford
 * May 7, 2014, Silverton, Texas, U.S.:
 * Dinah Stidham
 * Travis Henson
 * The El Lobito's Diner shootout:
 * An unnamed Deputy
 * Spencer Reid
 * Alex Blake
 * Jennifer Jareau
 * Sheriff Peter Coleman
 * Deputy Marty Bennett
 * Deputy Vicky Lorenzana
 * Several unnamed Deputies
 * An unnamed Deputy
 * An unnamed Deputy
 * Derek Morgan
 * An unnamed man
 * The building shootout:
 * Jennifer Jareau
 * Derek Morgan

Appearances

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