| “ | NO! NO! You do NOT get to tell me what to do anymore! And I'm NOT gonna be your patsy! | ” |
— Senarak to Crossford
| ||
Charles "Charlie" Senarak is a killer who was also the suspect of a sarin gas attack in the Season Eleven episode of Criminal Minds, "The Witness".
Background[]
Senarak began working as a sales associate at Banning Medical Supply in Simi Valley, California, on February 8, 2001. He met Tracy Jamal sometime later. Together, they had a child, Jolene, two years later. He and Jamal got married on November 20, 2008.[1] Both worked in the same company, although Jamal recently had an excellent promotion to team manager. His marriage with Jamal was initially happy, although it turned sour in more recent times. This culminated in Jamal having an affair with a man named Theo Koutranis, who was the team manager of the Banning Medical branch in Irvine. When Senarak found out, Jamal called off the affair and the two began seeing marriage counselors. However, Koutranis refused to let Jamal go and kept setting up dates with her despite her refusal. One night, on October 4-5, 2015, Senarak found a new text from Koutranis urging Jamal to meet up with him at a motel.
Believing Jamal was still having the affair, Senarak went over to the motel and confronted Koutranis, telling him to leave Jamal alone. In response, Koutranis mocked him, saying he wasn't giving Jamal what she needed. Senarak subsequently snapped and attacked him in a fit of rage, eventually wrestling with Koutranis over a revolver that the latter managed to grab from his bag. The struggle ended when Senarak accidentally shot Koutranis in the stomach, killing him. Panicking over what he did, Senarak buried Koutranis' body in the desert and then spent the rest of the night wandering around and drinking at a bar. Little did he know that he caught the attention of Koutranis's half-brother, Mitchell Crossford, who was planning a large-scale terrorist attack against the U.S. government and decided to use Senarak as a patsy.
The Witness[]
The next day, Senarak goes to the bus station and boards City Link Bus 290 but returns to his car a few minutes later. There, he uses drinking water to clean his hands and shoes of any remaining blood and dirt. He then gets a call from Jamal, who asks him where he has been as she had been calling him repeatedly. He excuses himself and she tells him she has to dock ten points from his weekly evaluation. She then notices his odd behavior and asks him what's wrong. When Senarak subtly confronts her about the affair, Jamal tries telling him it was a one-time thing, but he refuses to believe it and the conversation becomes tense. She tells him that he has to stop punishing her before hanging up. Senarak then prepares to get out of the car and back onto the bus but realizes it already left, forcing him to drive over to his workplace. There, he goes to his work-space, where he is approached by a coworker, Leanne Bookout, who tells him he's okay. When Senarak asks what's going on, Bookout tells him there was a poison gas attack on the bus he was about to board, which shocks him. He then gets an email from an unknown person, claiming to know what he did.
Senarak responds to the email, asking who is contacting him, and the person calls himself a witness, then accuses him of being a murderer. Immediately after, he receives a sent package from one of his coworkers. The contact then asks him to do something so he won't tell the police, but Senarak promptly refuses. Later on, he hears a cell phone ringing and realizes it's coming from the package he received. Taking out a cell phone, Senarak answers, and the caller immediately taunts him, asking him if he thought he would get away with "it". He then receives instructions to break into a house and get a laptop. When Senarak refuses, the caller threatens Jolene, then tauntingly wonders out loud how many times she will visit Senarak in prison. The call is interrupted by Jamal, who is relieved Senarak managed to avoid the gas attack and calls him lucky. She then tells him that she believes his survival is a sign. Jamal expresses her belief that her new job may have gotten in the way of their marriage and proposes that they go off somewhere together. Surprised, Senarak accepts the proposal.
Later on, Senarak is interrogated by Rossi and Lewis, after the FBI find surveillance footage of him at the bus station preceding the attack. They ask him what he was doing in his car, and he explains that he was cleaning himself up after a long night. When asked for further details, he nearly blurts out Jamal's affair, but then changes his story and claims to have gone to a bar to drink over his late mother's birthday. Rossi asks if there have been any other personal problems with his work or marriage; Senarak instinctively looks down and touches his wedding ring, but denies anything. The two agents then leave, convinced that he isn't directly connected to the attack, but Rossi believes he is still hiding something important. The following night, Senarak goes to the address given to him by the caller, which turns out to be a cabin. Finding the glass of the front door shattered, he ventures inside and retrieves the laptop. Just as he is about to leave, he notices something concealed behind a curtain. Drawing it back, he finds the body of a man shot in the head. Horrified at the discovery, Senarak flees, just as he hears police sirens.
The next day, as Senarak is having breakfast with Jolene, he receives another phone call. He goes outside of his house and confronts the caller about the dead man in the cabin. The caller claims to have no knowledge about it, then taunts him about Koutranis' death. He is then instructed to go to a warehouse and pick up a package. Senarak once again refuses, but the caller tauntingly reminds him that he needs to drop Jolene off at school. He then tells Senarak that he has to be at the warehouse at exactly 4:00 p.m. Sometime later, at work, Senarak notices a man talking to Jamal in her office. When the man leaves, Senarak asks about him and she replies that he is Koutranis' brother, asking about his disappearance. When Senarak asks for an explanation, Jamal states that since Koutranis was also a team manager, the two of them had talks. Senarak doesn't believe it, and a frustrated Jamal declares that it probably is too late between them. He replies that if she is divorcing him, then he will have full custody of Jolene, declaring that she will not take her away from him.
At 4:00 p.m., Senarak goes to the warehouse, where he is met by another man. The man leaves him alone for a moment, then returns with the package. Investigating its contents in his car, Senarak realizes it is a gas mask and a hazmat suit. On the road, he gets a call on the cellphone and, after responding to it, pulls over at the caller's instruction. He confronts the caller, saying that he knows what's going on and that he will not become his patsy. As the caller continues to taunt him, Senarak has a nervous breakdown and threatens to turn over the cell phone to the FBI. However, the man calmly tells him that he set everything in motion and that there is no way out for him. Senarak then notices a van passing by with who he believes to be Jolene inside, just as the caller taunts him about the color of Jolene's sweatshirt. Horrified, he goes after the van and is led to the local federal building downtown. He bursts through the security gate and is cornered by federal officers, who arrest him just as the BAU find devices containing sarin. He is last seen being reunited with Jamal and Jolene for a brief moment before being led away by an officer.
Modus Operandi[]
Since Senarak only killed one victim, the term "M.O." is somewhat misused. When he killed Theo Koutranis, he accidentally shot him once in the stomach with his own revolver during a struggle. Afterward, he buried the body in a remote desert.
Profile[]
No profile was made of him by the BAU, as they were focused on Crossford.
Known Victims[]
- October 5, 2015: Theo Koutranis
Appearances[]
- Season Eleven
- "The Witness"
- "A Badge and a Gun" (referenced)