Armando Ruis Salinas

Armando Luis Salinas was a derelict serial killer who appeared in Season Four of Criminal Minds.

Background
A Mexican national Armando was forced to sleep on the floor as a child due to his family's poverty, leaving him with a deep want for his own bed and home, which he confided in his half-brother Tony Guzman. Imprisoned in a Mexican prison for burglaries and battery for an indeterminate amount of time Armando moved to California with Tony to work on the farms, the two joining several others to form a "quadrilla" (a group of migrant workers). Due to his drug habits, inability to get along with others and general dislike of work Armando was eventually kicked out of the group. Finding the home of Mildred Younce, an elderly woman who provided food to hobos in exchange for doing odd jobs, Armando killed her and spent the night in her home. Leaving the next day Armando began to hop from box car to box car to follow his half-brother, killing homeowners, living in their houses and pawning off any valuables he took from them, leaving the money in farm camps for Tony to find.

Catching Out
Continuing his killing spree Armando kills two couples, finding a newspaper mentioning him in the latter couple's house. Amused by the newspaper dubbing him the "Highway 99 Killer" (the authorities having incorrectly guessed he moved along the highway) Armando leaves the newspaper prominently displayed between his victims, under the bowling trophy he killed them with, as a taunt. Hopping another train Armando leaves some money, acquired by selling some stolen goods in a pawn shop, in a farm camp for Tony.

Brought to the town of Lockeford by another train Armando finds a suitable house, grabs a shovel lying in the garden and prepares to break inside when the resident, who had been asleep on the couch, wakes up and hears a news broadcast about a killer on the loose just before spotting Armando in the yard through a window. Fleeing to a rail yard Armando boards a box car and when one of the guards climbs in to look for him Armando kills him, being spotted in the midst of doing so by Morgan. Climbing on top of a moving train Armando, when Morgan tries climbing up after him, starts trying to kick him off. Right before he can send Morgan plummeting to the ground Armando is killed when Hotch shoots him in the chest from a moving car.

Profile
The BAU's profile of him said Armando would be a transient somewhere between the ages of twenty-five to forty-five who would be physically fit but somewhat battered from train hopping and fighting with other hobos; he would have reddish rash on his face from sniffing chemicals and would smell like a combination of "human filth and paint thinner". Armando showed characteristics of both an organized and disorganized killer; he brutally beat his victims to death with a random object he picked up, but followed a "ritual" afterward by doing things like eating a meal and showering. Armando would also symbolically dress his victims in his own clothes by laying them on the bodies. By destroying others and living their lives Armando would raise his own self-worth.

Modus Operandi
Following his half-brother by riding the rails Armando, after leaving the box car he stowed away in, would search for homes within one mile of the tracks, breaking into ones which lacked security features such as dogs, alarms and motion sensitive lights. Once inside the house Armando would bludgeon the inhabitants to death with any heavy object that caught his eye. With the homeowners dead Armando would switch clothes with them, use their facilities and commodities, take various small valuables and get high off any household chemicals he could find. Armando would send any money he made pawning his stolen goods to his half-brother, leaving it in an envelope on the notice boards of migrant worker camps.

Known Victims

 * Mildred Younce (in Tehachapi)
 * Sue Smauder (in Orange Cove)
 * Catherine Hexly (in Vacaville)
 * Unnamed victim (in Bakersfield)
 * Jeff Davidson (in Chico)
 * Barry and Gina Jones (in Fresno)
 * Allen and Brenda Hazely (in Sacramento)
 * Larry and Ann Sullivan (in Modesto)
 * Mr. and Mrs. Ortiz (location unspecified)
 * Unnamed train security guard (in Lockeford)

Appearances

 * Season Four
 * "Catching Out"