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Bremmer

Robert Bremmer was a delusional and ephebophilic serial killer, serial rapist, and abductor who appeared in the Season Six episode of Criminal Minds, "Out of the Light".

Background[]

A happy, ordinary café owner from Wilkesboro, North Carolina, Bremmer's private life was revealed to involve physically (and likely sexually) abusing his stepdaughter, Rose, while her mother and his wife Denise was hospitalized for depression. When Denise found out, she attempted to run away with Rose several times before, but Bremmer always kept catching them during the act. She, either desperately or in a delusional act, tried to poison her daughter in order to put her out of her misery. Denise eventually became more mentally unstable and, in 1991, in a last attempt to escape, drove herself and Rose into a lake as a result, killing both of them in the process. Haunted by the loss, Bremmer moved to Lake Worth, began abducting, raping, and torturing women that reminded him of Rose before killing them. He killed in this process for at least a decade. Sometime prior to the episode, he found out about Marcus Talbot, an art teacher who sneaked looks at girls while they were in the bathroom and taking pictures of them, leading him to make a decision to frame him in case local police found out about his killings. This eventually led to the abduction of both Marcy Owens and Angela Proctor, the latter of which happened to be at the scene and was apparently taken out of necessity.

Out of the Light[]

Proctor is seen running in the forest, occasionally looking back to see if Bremmer is still pursuing her. After a long run through the woods, she climbs a slope, manages to get to the top, and starts running again, only to fall off a cliff and land on a road. She is found by a local sheriff and taken to the hospital. Bremmer later digs up the corpse of one of his victims and takes her skull. Proctor later dies at the hospital, but not before she tells Reid, "He has Marcy." However, they initially believe she said, "He has mercy." Bremmer is later seen telling Owens that Proctor is dead and that she is all alone now. Bremmer is then seen returning from work and proceeds to torture her. After doing so, he comforts her when she starts crying, and when Owens tries to tell him of her personal life in hopes of getting him to release her, he angrily seizes her hair and orders her to not lie to him. Meanwhile, the BAU suspect Talbot of killing Bremmer's victims and arrest him for questioning. When Reid and Morgan find the victim's corpse that Bremmer dug up earlier, which was buried at Talbot's property, they realize that Talbot is being framed and decide to let him go.

When he realizes that the police are onto him, Bremmer decides to execute his endgame, taking Owens to his car and driving towards a local lake, intending to drive into the water to emulate the deaths of Rose and Denise. However, there is a police roadblock, so Bremmer draws his blade, tells Marcy to be quiet and prepares to wait for a policeman to investigate the car. However, when the BAU arrive, he abandons his current plan and drives around the roadblock and into the lake. Morgan dives in after the car and attempts to take Owens out of the car, but Bremmer grabs her ankle. However, Hotch, having dived in as well, swims up in front of Bremmer and shoots twice through the windshield, then fires a third shot into Bremmer's forehead at close range, killing him instantly. Owens nearly dies, but is saved by Morgan, who performs CPR. Talbot is later seen whistling merrily and hanging a photo of Owens being held captive by Bremmer in his darkroom, while a file with Bremmer's name sits on a table, implying that Bremmer may have been giving Talbot photos of his victims for the latter's personal viewing and classes (which may have then led to his decision to target him as a patsy for his murders).

Modus Operandi[]

Bremmer targeted blonde Caucasian women in their late teens who reminded him of Rose. He abducted them in secluded locations and took them to his barn. He would torture them with a sharp instrument (presumably as means of punishment), dehydrate them, and rape them repeatedly before fatally stabbing them when he became tired of them. Afterwards, he would bury them in shallow graves in a secluded area in the nearby woods and spray ammonia over them to ensure plants would grow and cover them. He would later attempt to drown Marcy Owens by driving his car into a lake while she was in it to emulate Denise and Rose's deaths. A personal signature was the odd weapon he used to torture his victims; while it is never named onscreen, he used it when handling stained glass in his work.

Profile[]

The unsub is a white male aged in his 40s to 50s and a resident of the Lake Worth area. Even if he is not a native, he likely has ties to other parts of North Carolina. 80% of sexual sadists like him have a dozen or more victims in their past. They lead normal lives but eventually develop God-complexes. They usually have a ruse for abducting their victims as well. It is possible he has abducted victims in the states surrounding North Carolina. He did not plan on Angela Proctor escaping and it is believed that if he knew she escaped, he may have taken forensic countermeasures to make the authorities think she went in the opposite direction to throw them off. Angela saying "He has mercy" (although it was later realized she was saying "He has Marcy") means he had to be a master manipulator to make her believe that.

He dyed Angela's hair so she would appear blonde, which is not unusual as unsubs often manipulate their victims to fit their fantasies in some way. It is likely he has not killed Marcy Owens because she fits his delusion and he is continuing to play it out with her. Because he targets blonde women in their late teens, he has either been hurt by or in love with one, though the former is more likely since he is a sexual sadist and they typically express rage towards their victims. He may have a history in Raleigh and feels comfortable in the area where he abducted Angela and Marcy since he drove a far distance to find a new victim. He may have committed prior sexual offenses outside of Lake Worth and was arrested for them.

He is framing Marcus Talbot for his murders and may have known Marcy Owens had a connection with Talbot's class, as well as Talbot's pro-activity towards girls around the ages of his victims. He has also seen Talbot's darkroom and has a connection to the church membership in Lake Worth. The high metals found in Angela's blood, unique pattern of the stab wounds, and the glass found in her cuts may mean the unsub works with stained glass.

Known Victims[]

  • Unspecified dates, Wilkesboro, North Carolina: Rose Bremmer (his stepdaughter; abused and most likely raped only)
  • 2001(?)-2011, Lake Worth, North Carolina: At least five unidentified women, including:
    • An unidentified woman (dug her corpse up and buried it in a different location)
    • An unidentified woman (her body was found in 2008)
  • 2011, Lake Worth, North Carolina:
    • April 26: Angela Proctor and Marcy Owens (abducted, raped, and tortured both):
      • May 4 (escaped): Angela Proctor (presumably incidental; she escaped, but was severely injured after falling off a cliff and later died from the torture she suffered)
      • May 7 (rescued): Marcy Owens (later attempted to drown by driving a car in a lake with her inside; was rescued)
    • May 7: Officer Ted (intended to kill at a road block, but had to give up when the BAU arrived)

Notes[]

  • Bremmer appears to have been based on at least two unsubs from the show's past:
    • Season Three
      • Robert Wilkinson ("Birthright") - Both were ephebophilic serial killers, rapists, and abductors who share the same fist name, had stressors that involved their wives in some way (Bremmer's wife committed suicide, while Wilkinson's wife left him after learning she was pregnant), had near-identical victimologies (Caucasian women in their late-twenties), raped and tortured their victims by burning them and held them captive in barns (though Wilkinson also kept his victims in a cave) for weeks before killing them.
    • Season Five
      • Robert Reimann ("Cradle to Grave") - Both were serial killers, rapists, and abductors who were also sexual sadists, had the same victimology (blonde Caucasian women in their late twenties), raped their victims and held them captive for long periods before killing them, abused and most likely raped a family member before committing their murders (Bremmer abused his stepdaughter, and Reimann abused his wife), and their crimes were motivated by a tragedy involving their wives and children (Bremmer's wife killed their stepdaughter during her suicide, while Reimann's wife miscarried during childbirth).

Appearances[]

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