Ellen Russell

John Myers, a.k.a. "The Silencer", was a deaf serial killer who appeared in Season Eight of Criminal Minds.

Background
Myers was born on October 1, 1974 as the youngest child of an abusive Julie Myers; his two older siblings were named Mark and Greg. On October 30, 1988, while he was fourteen, Myers was given a cochlear implant, which Julie was paid $650 for at the medical trial. At the time, it was a highly experimental and controversial procedure tested only on humans. By then, he had already shown a high level of reading intelligence, suggesting that he grew up in isolation, which is most likely due to his deafness; his reading comprehension was high, but he had a lack of writing skills, supporting the isolationist idea, plus a lack of any major education. After the surgery, Myers developed an interest in foreign languages due to his mother's New Orleans-based origins, but became enraged by a buzzing noise that was a side-effect of the surgery. One day, he snapped and killed Julie, then killed two other women who resembled her; all three had their mouths sewn shut. This eventually earned him the nickname of "The Silencer". Authorities didn't suspect him of Julie's murder, and he and his brothers were put in foster care. Both of Myers's brothers eventually went off the grid, their current statuses unknown.

Myers's last known victim was in 2004, and the killings stopped after he was pulled over for a traffic violation, which was most likely intentional, as it would be revealed that he wanted to be caught. In this incident, he was reported as carrying no registration, no tags, and no means of identification, as well as illegally possessing a gun with a silencer (a reference to his nickname that went unnoticed) that was found in his car. Because there was no way to identify him, he was simply registered as a John Doe. He was then sentenced to life imprisonment without parole after he killed two other convicts. In the following eight years, he never said a word. During his time in solitary confinement as a result of the two murders of the inmates, he learns of a town well-known for its honey products from another inmate named Danny Tucker. The details of this town led to Myers believing it to be some sort of safe haven. He began a series of writings in prison and also developed an idea to flee to the town should he have the perfect chance.

The Silencer
Myers first appears in the episode, seen being strapped onto a stretcher by medics and prison officials as he convulses repeatedly due to a severe allergic reaction. He is wheeled onto an ambulance and is taken away. As the ambulance drives onto a lonely road, the prison guard onboard talks with the medic, telling him about Myers's homicidal tendencies, to which the medic asks him why they are saving his life. Just then, the driver spots a deer walking onto the road ahead and makes a sharp turn to avoid hitting it, but winds up driving the ambulance into a ditch and crashing into a tree. Everyone but Myers and the guard is killed in the crash; Myers revives, breaks free from one of the handcuffs restraining him onto the stretcher, grabs the guard's key and handgun, and uses the former to unlock the other set of handcuffs. The guard regains consciousness, but Myers holds him at gunpoint. The guard convinces him to put down the gun, and Myers kindly helps him up, but when the guard attempts to go for his gun, Myers knocks him back down. He then fatally asphyxiates him before escaping with the guard's gun and several ambulance supplies. Later, in the coroner's office, Morgan and JJ are shown a note Myers left behind in the guard's mouth, which says, "Gazing through to the other side." As the investigation proceeds, Myers goes on to kill two more victims, a gas station owner and a male civilian, leaving behind messages inside both of their sewn mouths.

The BAU soon realizes that Myers's messages are clues to where he intends to go. Meanwhile, he starts hallucinating about his abuse at the hands of Julie after finding the secluded spot in Sweetwater Tucker's had talked him about, only to find it mostly under reconstruction. Myers becomes scared by the loud buzzing noise that is brought by the heavy machinery sounds. The BAU later find out that Danny Tucker might be in serious danger, as Myers would become enraged at finding his supposed safe haven being under construction, and leave for his house, but Myers reaches him first, holding his wife and daughter hostage and knocking him out when he tries to fight back. He then puts him on a chair and attempts to sew his mouth, but Danny regains consciousness and Myers again asphyxiates him to the point of unconsciousness. Believing he is dead, he resumes his assault, but is cut short when the BAU burst into the house and hold him at gunpoint. Alex Blake, the team's newest member, tries to reason with Myers, communicating with him through sign-language. Myers argues that he doesn't want to return to prison, but Blake tells him that there is no other way. In defeat, Myers stands up, backs up against a wall, and commits suicide by shooting himself under the chin with the guard's gun.

Modus Operandi
Before his incarceration, Myers targeted brunette, working-class mothers in their 40s, all of whom resembled his mother Julie, his first victim. He attacked them at night and choked all of them to death with his bare hands and/or his arms. His signature was sewing their mouths shut with thread while they were still alive, using a unique double knot ligature. He also beat them and left their bodies in ditches. After his jailbreak, his M.O. evolved; in his second string of crimes, he targeted other victims and left a message in the mouths of the victims before sewing them shut. This message was written in a white sheet protected inside a plastic bag, and were meant as clues to find out where his last crime is going to be committed.

Profile
It could not be predicted where Myers was going, or what his state of mind was, but his actions would betray him eventually. At the gas station, he could've stolen money in the cash register, but he didn't. He was not planning a long road trip, but he was logical enough to be aware of survival skills. Sewing the mouths of his victims is a compulsion over which he has no control. He feels silenced. He has a speech impediment that makes him embarrassed to talk and therefore relentlessly bullied and tormented because of it. His prior victims indicate that a woman, likely a mother figure, is to blame for his rage. Chances are that she was abusive and convinced him that whatever he said wouldn't matter. References to IPA, the International Phonetic Alphabet, indicates he is able to hear and able to talk but chooses not to. Using multiple languages highlights his desire to communicate, and he is also proficient in sign language. Additionally, he is incredibly well-read, which means he most likely grew up in isolation, with literature being his only escape from the cruel reality. His own writings are not as profound, and despite his reading comprehension, he most likely didn't have an extended education. Every aspect of his psychosis says that the spoken word has value to him, but it also greatly angers him. If he is yelled at or made to feel stupid, he holds onto his anger until he snaps. He could possibly snap like this on a mission. It is unknown if his target includes a person of some type, but his target is indefinitely close by.

Known Victims

 * 2004:
 * Julie Myers
 * Sally Pargrave
 * Cindy Keelson
 * Two unnamed inmates
 * 2012:
 * Kevin Jensen
 * Unnamed gas station owner
 * Unnamed man
 * The Tucker family
 * Danny Tucker
 * Laura Tucker
 * Kelly Tucker

Appearances

 * Season Eight
 * "The Silencer"