John David Bates

"Wait till you see this."

John David Bates is a serial killer, arsonist, and abductor who appeared in Sick Day via flashbacks.

Background
Bates was born in Carson City, Nevada, and was presumably a pyromaniac all his life. When he was still young, he set the family home on fire with his older sister Trisha locked inside, apparently intent on killing her, but that failed. After he did it a second time, again without success, he was sent away to a foster home by his parents, who were concerned for Trisha's safety. As he grew up, Bates managed to live a normal life and kept his psychopathy and pyromania closeted secrets. Because of his attraction to fire, he found a job at a repair company that specialized in pyrotechnics, which allowed him a near-constant exposure to open flames. At some point in his life (presumably his childhood), Bates suffered an accident in which his arms were scarred by flames.

In 2014, Bates managed to find Trisha's current residence in Los Angeles, California. He emailed her in an attempt at reconciliation, but she sent him a verbally abusive response while rejecting him and then deleted her account shortly after. This latest rejection sent Bates over the edge, and he traveled southward to San Diego. There, he killed a teenage girl named Lisa Ruiz, who had a younger brother and therefore reminded him of Trisha. Six months later, out of self-loathing, Bates killed a young boy with a teenage older sister, named James Jefferson, who reminded him of himself. He then went dormant and remained that way until two years later, when he abducted a teenage girl and a young boy in Orange County (both being surrogates for Trisha and himself, respectively), took them both to Los Angeles, and killed them. The killings attracted the attention of the BAU, who had just finished another investigation.

As the BAU's investigation progressed, Bates, who was close to his endgame, abducted another teenager named Francesca Morales. Before or after that, he also abducted Trisha. After torturing Francesca by burning her, Bates attacked her house, knocking her single mother Renee unconscious and abducting her younger brother Roberto. He took all three hostages to a warehouse, doused them in lighter fluid, and set the building on fire, but not before Roberto alerted Garcia to their position using his cellphone. Bates fled but was captured by Alvez after a short fight. JJ and Alvez were able to free Roberto and Trisha, but were then forced to abandon Trisha when the flames threatened to detonate nearby gas drums. Moments after the two agents got out safely, the drums detonated, killing Trisha and traumatizing JJ in the process.

Sick Day
After the conclusion of the case, JJ returns home in Washington, D.C., in the middle of the night, where she catches her husband William LaMontagne, Jr. in the process of taking care of their baby son. Realizing she is still traumatized from the case, Will has JJ recount the entire story in full detail. By the time morning is upon them, Will assures JJ that it could have ended worse and that she made the best decision she could in leaving Francesca behind.

Known Victims

 * Unspecified dates, Carson City, Nevada: Trisha Bates
 * Unspecified dates in 2014, San Diego, California:
 * Lisa Ruiz
 * James Jefferson
 * 2016, Los Angeles, California:
 * October 4:
 * Hannah Robertson
 * Max Wasserman
 * October 6:
 * Francesca Morales
 * Trisha Bates
 * The attack at the Morales house:
 * Renee Morales
 * Roberto Morales
 * October 6-7: The warehouse arson fire:
 * Jennifer Jareau
 * Luke Alvez

Appearances

 * Season Twelve
 * Sick Day