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You know better than to bother me here.
Charlie to his wife

Charles "Charlie" Wilkinson was an ephebophilic budding serial rapist and budding serial killer, abductor, and copycat of his father. They both appeared in the Season Three episode of Criminal Minds, "Birthright".

Background[]

Born sometime in 1981, Charlie's father, Robert Wilkinson, was a serial killer active in Fredericksburg, Virginia, in the 1980s. When his wife and Charlie's mother, Mary, realized what he had done, she placed him in his combine harvester, turned it on, and killed him, making it look like an accident in order to protect Charlie. When time passed, however, it became evident that Charlie had inherited his father's murderous instincts. When he was fifteen he took a cat, placed it in a bag and beat it against a tree.

Birthright[]

In 2007, Charlie, who had figured out his father's connection to the 1980 killings, felt a bond with him and started killing in the same way his father did, even using the same areas to confine and torture his victims. The BAU is called in after a third woman, Molly McCarthy, is abducted by Charlie, and the first victim was found dead. During the search for similar crimes in the area that occurred around the same time as the 1980 killings, they find a story of Karen Foley, who had similar experiences with the victims. When the BAU go to her house to ask her, however, she claims to have lied to cover up her cocaine addiction. After finding out that she moved after what happened to her, she then moved back to town when Robert died. They figure out, with help from the former Sheriff who investigated the original crimes, John Caulfield, that Robert was the one responsible. They then go to question Mary, who obviously isn't surprised to hear about Robert's murders. When trying again with Karen Foley, her son, Stephen, who was conceived when Robert raped her, briefly becomes a suspect. This changed when he tells her that he had figured out the way he was conceived.

Meanwhile, Morgan and JJ go looking for Charlie, who hasn't gone to work that day. They find that he owns a barn near the house when he and his wife Chrissy live, using it to torture his victims. When they bring Karen to the scene to trace her memories to the confinement area, she accuses Mary of not doing anything to stop Robert. Mary then confesses to killing him. With Karen's help, they find the confinement area, a small barred cave, and are able to save Molly and another girl named Tara Ricker. Meanwhile, Chrissy confronts Charlie at a nearby Civil War memorial where he has been drinking. She then reminds him that they are starting a family, but Charlie states that he never wanted one. When she brings up Robert, saying that "you're a sick son of a bitch, just like your daddy", Charlie stands up. In the next scene, a gunshot is heard off-screen. It is revealed that Chrissy killed him. She claims that she did it in self-defense, although Mary realizes slowly that history only repeats itself with Chrissy and Charlie. Chrissy is then taken into custody and appears to be arrested as she is put in the back of the police car, handcuffed. 

Profile[]

No official profile of Charlie was made, since it was initially assumed the 2007 killings were being perpetrated by his father, and therefore, the profile was focused on the latter. However, it seemed that Charlie's killings were possibly triggered by his wife's pregnancy, in addition to his connection with Robert.

Modus Operandi[]

Charlie copied his father's murders almost to the letter. He abducted his victims from public places and took them to his barn. There, he would rape and torture them by beating them and burning them with cigarettes. He usually kept two victims at a time. After a few hours, he brought them to a small cave to keep them captive. When transporting them between the locations, he made them wear a bag on their heads. During the torture, he would play music and force them to dance. Whenever they refused to obey him or simply weren't capable of doing so, he would decapitate them with an ax, dismember the bodies, and then dump the remains at the site of the Battle of Chancellorsville. The only difference between Robert's and Charlie's murders was that Robert targeted high-risk victims like junkies and runaways while Charlie targeted low-risk victims such as college students. According to the BAU, this was because of the transformation the area underwent in two decades.

Real-Life Comparison[]

Both Robert and Charlie seem to have been inspired by Gerard Schaefer - All were killers and abductors who abducted two women at a time before raping, torturing, and killing them, and then writing about it in a journal. Also all three were murdered.

Known Victims[]

Note: The dates denote when the victims were abducted.

  • 2007:
    • October 30: Unnamed victim (was killed on December 10)
    • November 19: Julie Stanton (was killed on December 11)
    • December 10: Molly McCarthy (abducted and presumably raped; was rescued along with Tara Ricker on December 12)
    • December 11: Tara Ricker (abducted and presumably raped; was rescued the next day)

Appearances[]

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