| “ | She shoots shafts that at furthest range.. | ” |
— Garrett's final words of his execution rant
| ||
Rodney Baines 'Rod" Garrett was a prolific serial killer who briefly appeared in the Season Seven episode of Criminal Minds "Divining Rod".
Background[]
Little is specified about Garrett's early life, other than that he dropped out of school while in the sixth grade. How he received his murderous tendencies in the first place is also unknown. In his adult years, he married a woman named Helen, who became bald following a surgery for a brain tumor. He treated his wife with respect and their marriage seemed to be an averagely happy one. However, Garrett secretly began moonlighting as a serial killer, murdering young, short-haired, blonde women by stabbing them directly in the heart with an icepick, which was left in their bodies. After killing 25 victims this way, all within a span of two years, Garrett was finally apprehended by authorities. Remorseful for what he did, he showed police where he buried the victims and confessed to his actions. Garrett was eventually sentenced to death, scheduled to be executed by a firing squad (at his own request), and received daily visits from Helen, who was the only one who continuously supported him despite what he did. In prison, he began receiving at least two letters from a mysterious "fan". On May 25, 2008, an inmate attempted to shank him; a similar incident with a second inmate followed on November 15, 2010. In both shankings, Garrett was able to gain the upper hand and kill his assailants with their own knives.
Divining Rod[]
Finally, on April 29, 2012, Garrett's execution proceeded just as planned. Minutes later, Dylan Kohler kills his first victim in the same style as Garrett's M.O. Throughout the episode, it is assumed by the BAU that Kohler, who was copying Garrett's murders, was the fan who sent the letters. By the end of the episode, it is implied that Helen might have written the letters sent to him.
Modus Operandi[]
Garrett targeted high-risk victims, such as prostitutes, drug addicts, and runaways, all of whom were young, short-haired, blonde women. He would break into their homes, ambush his victims, and tie them to their bed frames with duct tape. Garrett then killed them by a single stab with an icepick directed at the heart. Reid mentions that he showed the police where he buried two of his victims, suggesting that he tried to dispose of at least some of them. When he killed his assailants in prison, he would gain the upper hand on them during their attempts on his life and fatally stab them with their own shivs.
Profile[]
Garrett wasn't directly profiled by the BAU, as they were more focused on Kohler. However, the team's way of describing him makes him sound like a disorganized killer since he targeted high-risk victims and left mountains of evidence behind. His motivation is unspecified, although there were no mentions of him raping any of his victims, suggesting that he may have been driven by something other than sex. Also, because he showed pity during his arrest and confession, plus his good relationship with his wife, it may be possible that at least some of his victims were killed out of compulsion.
Real-Life Comparison[]
Garrett appears to be partly inspired by Gary Ridgway - Both were prolific serial killers of high-risk women, buried victims after they were murdered, had reportedly happy and stable marriages with their wives, were profiled to have killed out of compulsion and not planning, were remorseful over their murders, and exchanged letters police assumed to be related to copycats (Garrett received letters from Helen while in prison, which was originally assumed to be from copycat Dylan Kohler, Ridgway sent a letter to a Seattle newspaper that was profiled as being from an attention-seeker). Both also share the same first and last initials, but in reverse of each other.
Garrett may have been partially based on the unidentified Axeman of New Orleans - Both were serial killers who primarily targeted women (according to Axeman's profile), broke into victims' homes and ambushed them, and used sharp objects to kill at least some of their victims (though the Axeman may have used other means). Also the way Garrett was described by the BAU as being compulsive (rather than being driven by sex) could be a nod to how the Axeman was profiled as having murderous impulses he must act on.
Known Victims[]
- Unspecified dates from 2003 to 2005: Killed 25 victims during a two-year span. Named ones are:
- Linda Morton
- Ginger Palmon
- C. Breeka (full first name unrevealed)
- Kate Zondona
- Veronica
- Johnson (first name unrevealed)
- May 25, 2008: Unnamed inmate (stabbed him in self-defense with his own shiv when he attempted to shank him)
- November 15, 2010: Unnamed inmate (killed in the same manner as the previous victim)
Notes[]
- Rodney Garrett is the fourth of only nine serial killers in the show's history to have successfully kill all of the victims they targeted. This is a very rare occurrence, as almost all serial killers depicted on the show have at least one survivor. The others are:
- Season Three
- Steven Fitzgerald ("In Heat") - A robber, one-time cop killer, and serial-turned-spree killer who successfully killed eight homosexual men.
- Season Four
- Vincent Rowlings ("The Big Wheel") - A prolific serial killer who successfully killed a dozen women and a gangbanger who tried to rob him (though he still managed to shoot Rowlings, who died hours later from the gunshot wound).
- Season Six
- Lee Mullens ("Remembrance of Things Past") - A prolific serial killer and abductor who successfully killed two dozen women.
- Season Eight
- Paul Westin ("Broken") - An abductor and serial-turned-spree killer who killed four men and two women, the men being homosexual.
- Larry Feretich ("Brothers Hotchner") - A poisoner, serial-turned-spree killer, and one-time mass murderer who successfully killed fifteen people.
- Season Nine
- Charles Johnson ("Strange Fruit") - A serial killer who successfully killed four people, two of which were responsible for castrating him when he was younger.
- Sam Russell ("The Black Queen") - A serial killer and hacker who successfully killed four prostitutes.
- Season Eleven
- Benjamin Wade ("Outlaw") - An ephebophilic rapist, robber, arsonist, one-time mass murderer, and serial killer who successfully killed four teenage employees during a robbery, then later murdered a clerk during another.
- Season Three
- Garrett bears some similarities to Cortland Bryce Ryan ("The Angel Maker") - Both were serial killers who targeted women, attacked them in their homes, used a sharp instrument in his killings (Garrett used icepicks to kill his, Ryan stabbed his with a screwdriver post-mortem), were executed, and eventually had someone commit a series of copycat killings based on them after their deaths.