Roscoe Gulch was a pedophile who appeared in the Season Seven episode of Criminal Minds, "There's No Place Like Home" through flashbacks.
Background[]
Not much specific information is disclosed about Gulch's early life, other than he was born sometime in 1947 and was a resident of Enid, Oklahoma, who lived in a trailer park and established a sex-offense record for himself. In 2001, he molested six young boys that lived within close proximity to him, including future serial killer Travis James. He was eventually caught and put on trial, where James and the other victims testified against him, but the jury couldn't find enough proof to find him guilty and acquitted him. During this time, James' older brother Tucker, infuriated at Gulch, had several confrontations with him, even breaking his nose at one point. One day, after Gulch's acquittal, Tucker took James to his mobile home, where he began assaulting him. At the same time, there was a terrible storm and a tornado eventually touched down. Tucker noticed the tornado coming toward the mobile home and told James to run, giving Gulch the opportunity to hit him across the head with a cooking pan. James fled the home and hid in an empty drainage pipe, while Gulch and Tucker somehow got stuck inside the home, which was swallowed up by the tornado as James watched.
There's No Place Like Home[]
Gulch was mentioned by Garcia when she looked up James' personal history after the BAU identified him as the unsub. This was accompanied by a flashback of Tucker's attack on Gulch and their subsequent deaths.
Modus Operandi[]
Nothing is specified about his case, but it appears that Gulch would somehow get himself alone with his victims before molesting them and prevent any DNA being left behind, as there was no proof to his guilt other than the testimonies of the victims. He would target boys living in close proximity to him. He also hit Tucker James over the head with a cooking pan, though its unknown if Tucker died from the head injury or the tornado
Profile[]
No profile of Gulch was made since the BAU were focused on James.
Known Victims[]
- Unspecified date: Unspecified crime(s) which placed him in the Sex Offender Registry
- 2001:
- Five unnamed boys (all molested only)
- Travis James (molested only)
- Tucker James (James' brother; struck him with a cooking pan; it is unknown if it was a fatal wound; sucked into a tornado moments after)
Appearances[]
- Season Seven
- "There's No Place Like Home" (via flashbacks)
Trivia[]
- Roscoe Gulch's name appears to be based on that of the character Miss Almira Gulch from The Wizard of Oz, one of the many references to that movie in the episode.