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| “ | I have made my peace with God. He understands that somebody must pay! | ” |
— Scelsa
| ||
Frank Scelsa is a delusional, "injustice collector"-type budding serial killer and abductor who appeared in the Criminal Minds: Evolution episode "What Doesn't Kill Us".
Background[]
Scelsa was the superintendent of Camdale College in Harpers Ferry, West Virginia. His daughter, Kelly, died from an opioid overdose after buying drugs from a fellow student. Everyone involved in Kelly's death were either arrested or expelled.
Since Scelsa couldn't punish those involved in his daughter's death, he decided to punish surrogates. He began by abducting Terry O'Brien, a teaching assistant at Camdale College, and holding him at the old campus power plant, which he'd retrofitted to fit prisoners. The following week, he abducted Grace Ryleigh, one of Terry's students who'd bought a leftover prescription bottle of OxyContin from him.
What Doesn't Kill Us[]
Two days after Grace's abduction, Scelsa kidnapped Ashley Limina, a sorority girl who'd been cited for covering up a sorority sister's overdose. Off-screen Scelsa made Grace choose to either escape or take Terry's place, while he was strung up and prepared to be whipped with a cat o' nine tails tipped with bladed hooks. Grace chose to escape, when the door was actually locked, so she was forced to watch Scelsa beat and slash Terry with the weapon. Terry eventually died from the battery and was left in a field, with a bible verse carved in his forehead.
The BAU was given the case by the DOJ while their investigation into Elias Voit was under review. With Deputy Director Doug Bailey getting Terry's family to open up about his drug charge, they determined his motive was rage from drug overdoses, so they had the academic board provide lists of their staff in spite of their protests. In the meantime, Ashley crawled through the vents of the plant to escape, and she did only when Grace pulled her out. After the two captives talked about what they remembered, Scelsa threw a smoke grenade into the room they were in to knock them out.
Ashley woke up and saw Grace was gone, so she tried to escape, only to see Grace restrained on the other side of a window, Scelsa standing near her with a gas mask and the whip. He gave Ashley the same ultimatum, and she too tried to escape, only for the door to be locked. Despite Ashley's protests, Scelsa violently whipped Grace while she screamed, badly enough a blade broke off into her waist.
Ashley tried to apologize once it was over, but Grace told her Scelsa pulled the same trick on her. While Grace was bleeding on the floor, she told Ashley to help her remove the blade, then pretend Grace was dead to provoke Scelsa to come back. It worked, so Ashley stabbed Scelsa's leg, took his keys, and fled, coming across Prentiss and Bailey. Scelsa took Grace hostage, the whip against her throat as a threat to choke her. Referring to scripture, Prentiss tried to appeal to Scelsa, then lied she'd let him go if he released Grace. He did, but Bailey was behind him for the agents to arrest him. Grace was narrowly rescued in spite of her injuries, and Scelsa was either incarcerated or institutionalized.
Modus Operandi[]
Scelsa targeted students and faculty who were involved in drug cultures at Camdale college. He would put bags over their heads to suffocate them unconscious, then trap them in the vents of the school power plant to make them crawl through them and find a means of escape. When they reached the room, he would temporarily trap them in, he'd eventually toss in a smoke grenade to incapacitate them. When the captive there the longest was tied up and gagged with duct tape, the other captive would be on the other side of the window, told they could take the place of the first captive or try to escape. They always tried to escape when the door was locked, so Scelsa would then brutally whip the restrained victim's back with a cat o' nine tails, which was fashioned with sharp, hook-shaped blades on the tips. Scelsa would repeat this ritual until the victim bled to death. They would be left in an open location with "314" carved into their forehead, as a reference to bible verse Genesis 3:14. Scelsa would then abduct another victim to repeat the cycle all over again. When he took Grace hostage, he threatened to choke her with the whip.
Profile[]
The unsub has abducted three victims from the Camdale college community, which is why it is believed he lives and/or works on campus. Based on the demographic of the community, the Unsub is middle-aged and physically fit. What makes him stand out are his beliefs. He left a message based on a quote from the Bible. This makes him a moral absolutist. A lot of people believe in biblical principles, but this man's belief system has become so rigid, he feels he can't trust God to punish those who sin. The BAU has a term for this... "injustice collector."
Injustice collectors have suffered some sort of severe moral injury in their past. To deal with this trauma, they hurt others in order to restore some sense of justice to their own lives. We believe this Unsub's trauma is connected to the loss of a loved one due to an opioid оvеrdоsе. It's why he externalizes his pain onto his victims, all of whom are tied to opioids in some way. He is someone that students and professionals wouldn’t notice, a custodian or maintenance worker, someone who observes his victims by cleaning up after them. That is how he learns his victims’ secrets: from the garbage they throw away, or the moments he eavesdrop on, when they don’t notice he’s there.
Real-Life Comparison[]
Scelca appears to be partly inspired by Albert Fish - Both are senior citizen murderers and torturers who had children, suffered religious delusions, tortured their victims with homemade flogs, and are similar in appearance.
Scelsa also appears to be inspired by H.H. Holmes - Both are murderers that abducted and murdered various genders and ages of victims, operated from an industrial associated with their jobs, and gassed their victims (though Scelsa did so to all his victims nonfatally, while Holmes killed several victims with gas).
Known Victims[]
- 2022, Harpers Ferry, West Virginia:
- December:
- Terry O'Brien (abducted, held captive for a week, flogged to death using a bladed whip)
- Grace Ryleigh (abducted, held captive, and flogged using bladed whip; briefly held hostage; was rescued)
- Ashley Limina (abducted and attempted to kill; was rescued)
- December:
Notes[]
- Scelsa and The Bruneau Brothers are the only Evolution unsubs in Season One with no known connection to Sicarius.
Appearances[]
- Season One
- Season Two
- "Save the Children" (mentioned)