| “ | Those idiots didn't know what hit 'em. | ” |
— Schrader to Joe Muller
| ||
Dale Schrader was a bank robber-turned-serial killer, abductor, and one-time cop killer who appeared in the Season Five episode of Criminal Minds, "Retaliation".
Background[]
Schrader was born on February 6, 1967. A lifelong criminal, he began a series of armed bank robberies throughout New York in 1994, marrying a woman named Connie on August 17, 1995. On June 16, 1996, the two had a daughter, who they named Jenny, less than a year after the wedding. On May 5, 2001, Schrader was sold out by Dan Otey, a fellow bank robber, and arrested. Evidence of his involvement in the other robberies provided by Officer Joe Muller (who had gone undercover to catch Schrader) proved damning, and Schrader was sentenced to fifteen years in a Lockport prison. While incarcerated, Schrader proved to be a model prisoner, and due to good behavior, was released in only eleven years. While serving his sentence, Schrader plotted an elaborate revenge scheme, which he set into action two days after his release, tracking down the home of Muller, having discerned that he and Otey were the ones who were responsible for his arrest.
At the Muller house, he abducted Muller's wife and two sons at knifepoint, subsequently placing them in a crack house frequented by Stacy Ryan, the sister of a deceased former cellmate, and a group of fellow addicts, whom he paid to keep an eye on the hostages. With Muller's family taken care of, Schrader approached Muller outside a hardware store, showed him a picture and phone recording of his captive family, and blackmailed him into helping him acquire a key (needed to access a large amount of money Otey had secretly stashed during his robbing spree) in police storage. Before getting the key, Schrader decided to abduct his daughter to spite his now ex-wife, stabbing Ryan (who had grown increasingly ambivalent of his plans) to death en route, and dumping her body on the side of a road. Schrader abducted Jenny while Connie was away from home, and placed her in a cabin near the Canadian border. Jenny's abduction was what called in the BAU, who created a profile for him.
Retaliation[]
A few hours after taking his daughter, Schrader is tracked down by the BAU and local police at a barn. He flees into the nearby woods, but is quickly found and tackled by Morgan, whom he bites during the resulting struggle. Morgan then subdues him with a punch, and he and Prentiss arrest him. While being hauled away, Schrader tries to convince the agents to let him speak to his daughter, who was rescued, but is denied the chance. While Prentiss and Detective Bunting are driving him in for booking, Schrader, growing annoyed by the two belittling him, unbuckles his seatbelt and quotes historian Thomas Fuller, which surprises Prentiss, since he was profiled as not being all that intelligent. He then suddenly lurches forward, pretending to be sick. Bunting stops the car, and while he and Prentiss are distracted, Schrader asks Prentiss if he is "boring" now, right before he puts his seatbelt back on. Seconds later, Muller rams the car down a hill with a utility truck. Recovering quickly, Schrader strangles Bunting to death with his own handcuffs, gets the keys to them, and is helped out of the trashed car by Muller. Schrader then tries to shoot Prentiss to prevent her from revealing the knowledge that he has a partner, but Muller stops him from doing so. The two then drive away in the utility truck, as Prentiss recovers, climbs out of the car, and ineffectually shoots at them.
The two abandon the truck near the border and hide out at Muller's house, where he stitches up a shoulder wound Schrader had incurred. Learning from Muller that they won't be able to get the key to his cash stockpile until tomorrow, Schrader decides to go out, making Muller drive him to Otey's house. Before getting out of the vehicle, Schrader nonchalantly offers Muller the chance to kill him, which Muller refuses to do. Schrader knocks on Otey's door a few seconds later, and Otey's son answers. When the boy quickly closes the door at his father's order, Schrader shoots through it twice, injuring Otey, who he finishes off after barging in. While Schrader trashes the house, Muller forces the Otey family into another room, telling them to lock themselves in. Returning to Muller's place, Schrader outlines his plan to get the key and money. He then gets into a brief fight with Muller (who wasn't aware of his plan to kill Otey) after once again goading him into trying to kill him. A few hours later, the two drive into town, and Muller gets the key from police storage. As the two begin to drive where the money is hidden, Prentiss and Morgan surround them, having figured out who Muller is and Schrader's plan. Schrader grabs Muller and puts a gun to his head, briefly taunting Prentiss and Morgan. He then commits suicide by cop when he points his gun at Morgan, both agents shooting him in the head at the same time and killing him instantly, much to Muller's distress. Despite this, the BAU manage to track down Muller's family, after discerning Schrader's connection to Ryan. Afterwards, Muller is reunited with his family.
Profile[]
Schrader was originally believed to simply be an angry, impatient, egotistical, and disorganized killer, but, after his escape, the team realized there was more to him than that. He only seemed emotional and sloppy because of his daughter; if he is not personally attached to the crime, he is fairly efficient.
It was later realized that he has bigger plans than just taking his daughter (to spite his ex-wife) and fleeing since he decided to stick around instead of making a run for the Canadian border. Schrader likely intended to acquire a stash of money (which was never recovered after his arrest) he had hidden, and the behavior of his partner indicate that he had some sort of leverage against them, which allowed him to blackmail them into helping him in his crimes. Considering how much family appeared to mean to him, he may have taken the partner's, who was likely someone he wanted revenge on, and one of the people who had helped put him away. While he could have left Stacy Ryan's body in the alley he killed her in, he didn't, and went to the trouble of moving her, indicating he didn't want to draw attention to the area where she was (a series of abandoned buildings and crack houses that were perfect for storing hostages in).
Modus Operandi[]
Schrader killed his victims with various methods, which usually depended on the situation. He stabbed Stacy Ryan once in the abdomen with a knife, strangled Detective Bunting to death with the chain of his own handcuffs, and killed Dan Otey by shooting him three times with a revolver. When he abducted Molly Muller and her two sons, he held them at knifepoint to keep them compliant and left them at a crack house occupied by drug addicts, whom he assigned to watch the Mullers. While he dumped the body of Stacy Ryan so it would not be seen by the crack house where the Mullers were being held captive, he would leave his later victims exactly where he killed them. No specific details have been mentioned about his bank robberies.
Real-Life Comparison[]
Schrader appears to be inspired by Allan Legere - Both were robbers turned serial killers that committed their first crimes with accomplices, assaulted and escaped custody of law enforcement, committed murders and kidnappings in locations across the city they lived in, had varying victimologies and M.O.s, committed at least one murder in a home invasion, raided at least one vault to steal valuables from it, and were subdued by federal law enforcement in the respective countries where they were at large.
Known Victims[]
- 1994, unspecified locations in New York:
- April 4: A victimless bank robbery
- June 1: A victimless bank robbery
- September 14: A victimless bank robbery
- 1995, unspecified locations in New York:
- April 7: A victimless bank robbery
- July 9: A victimless bank robbery
- December 22: A victimless bank robbery
- 1996, unspecified locations in New York:
- March 17: A victimless bank robbery
- August 15: A victimless bank robbery
- September 27: A victimless bank robbery
- October 29: A victimless bank robbery
- 1997, unspecified locations in New York:
- January 5: A victimless bank robbery
- March 17: A victimless bank robbery
- June 15: A victimless bank robbery
- October 28: A victimless bank robbery
- 2009, Lockport, New York:
- December 14:
- The Muller family (Joe's family; abducted at knifepoint; all were rescued two days later)
- Molly Muller (mother)
- The two unnamed sons
- Stacy Ryan (stabbed in the abdomen)
- Jenny Schrader (his daughter; abducted; was rescued the next day)
- The Muller family (Joe's family; abducted at knifepoint; all were rescued two days later)
- December 15:
- Derek Morgan (assaulted; bit him in the arm as he attempted to escape)
- The car crash:
- Detective Bunting (first name unrevealed; strangled with the chain of his own handcuffs)
- Emily Prentiss (assaulted, then intended to shoot her, but was stopped by Joe)
- December 16:
- Dan Otey (a former accomplice; shot twice in the chest and once in the face with a revolver)
- The police storage standoff:
- Joe Muller (held at gunpoint)
- Derek Morgan (attempted to shoot)
- December 14:
Notes[]
- What's interesting to note is that Lee Tergesen (Schrader's actor) previously starred in the 1991 film Point Break, which was loosely based on the real-life bank robbing team The Stopwatch Gang. Whether this was an intentional reference or simply a coincidence is unknown.
- Until recently, Schrader's surname was referred to as "Shrader", including in this wiki, due to an error made during the initial release of the episode's cast. Though the error has since been fixed, some sources, such as the Internet Movie Database (IMDB), retain this error.