Michael Clark Thompson

Michael Clark Thompson is a serial rapist, abductor, and indirect killer who appeared in Season Eleven of Criminal Minds.

Background
Thompson's mother died in childbirth, and his father Nate remarried a total of five times. Nate was a misogynist who abused his wives, and these tendencies were passed on to his son. As an adult, Thompson became a repairman, founded his own business, and serviced several people. In his personal life, he developed severe obsessive-compulsive disorder and an obsession to start a family. One of his clients was an elderly woman named Clara Riggins, who was in frail health. Her condition led to her depending on him, and Thompson took advantage of her trustworthiness. When she died of natural causes, he buried her body in the backyard and took the house as his own, posing as Clara's grandson. In private, he converted Clara's basement into a torture chamber and began planning to abduct girls, being under the twisted belief that he would start a family. Thompson first started with Amelia Hawthorne, a girl in Indianapolis, in 2001. He physically and sexually abused her, and also managed to brainwash her into believing she was his daughter. Through her, he fathered two girls, who he named Lily and Jasmine. Thompson then abducted two more girls, Sheila Woods and Gina Bryant, over the next five years with Amelia's help, and abused them as well. He tried to father a child through Sheila, but she suffered a miscarriage.

Real-Life Comparison
Thompson is based on Ariel Castro, a man in Cleveland, Ohio, and was even compared to him by Rossi. Both abducted three females (one of whom was even named Gina) and held them captive in the basement of a home for the span of around a decade, during which time he physically and sexually abused them. One of their victims suffered at least one miscarriage, while another of their victims gave birth to at least one baby who was also held captive. Their crimes were eventually uncovered when one of the victims managed to escape, which led to the rescue of at least one other victim.

Known Victims

 * 2001, Indianapolis, Indiana: Amelia Hawthorne
 * 2001(?), St. Louis, Missouri: Lily and Jasmine Hawthorne
 * 2001-2006, St. Louis, Missouri: Sheila Woods
 * 2006, St. Louis, Missouri: Gina Bryant

Appearances

 * Season Eleven
 * "Hostage"