| “ | He wanted a good lawyer. | ” |
— Hurst revealing Everett Lynch's latest crimes
| ||
Doctor Sebastian Hurst is a serial killer, proxy murderer, and one-time abductor who appears in the Season Fifteen episode "Under the Skin".
Background
Extremely little is revealed about Hurst's past, except that he presumably developed a fetish for the skin after suffering a disfiguring injury in his adolescent years. He later became a doctor but struggled with his fixation and received reprimands from hospitals and insurance companies regarding the length of his surgeries.
At some point, he met con artist Roberta Lynch and her son Everett. Although Roberta conned him out of a considerable sum of money, Hurst bonded with Everett, who eventually learned about the former's fetish. Years later, Everett contacted Hurst and asked for help finding a lawyer whose identity he could use to help his daughter escape from federal prison. Through unknown means, Everett sent Hurst over the edge and gave him the necessary knowledge and skills in exchange for the identity of private attorney Arthur Terrell. After Lynch killed Terrell with Hurst's information to impersonate Terrell, Hurst took up residence in Terrell's Frederick, Maryland house, which was vacant as Terrell was supposedly out of state on vacation, and lured Dallas resident Terrence Folger to the house, where he subsequently killed him.
Under the Skin
Sebastian lures Daniel Kane to the house on the pretext of a first date, using a drugged bottle of wine to knock him unconscious and kill him. He then dumped the body in the woods, where it was found by law enforcement. Dr. Hurst then inserted himself into the investigation by offering his services as a coroner, much to the irritation of the current medical examiner, Dr. Lloyd Jewell. That night, Sebastian then invites over and drugs Gregory Broder, killing and skinning him.
When Gregory's body is found, Dr. Hurst confirms the identity of the first victim and tells the BAU about the drugs. That night, he finally stitches the apron together and wears it, imagining himself with a perfect chest. He also invites the county coroner over to the house and makes small talk about art before injecting him with a syringe of the barbiturate. Hurst moves him to his residence before skinning his latest victim before getting an alert at his door, which turns out to be David Rossi, on the pretext of asking him for advice. Realizing that Rossi is onto him, Hurst grabs a scalpel and tries to kill Rossi, but Rossi overpowers him and forces him to confess his connection with Everett Lynch. Rossi then left him to be arrested.
Modus Operandi
Hurst targeted young, physically fit men living in the Southern United States with profiles on the dating website Date Craze. After selecting his victim, Hurst invited them to Arthur Terrell's Frederick, Maryland home and paid for their airline ticket using a credit card that belonged to his previous victims.
During their meeting, Hurst would give the victims wine laced with sodium thiopentol, a short-acting barbiturate used by doctors to induce medical comas. Hurst then took photographs of the victim and asphyxiated them before removing the skin from their torsos. He skinned his first victim in Terrell's mansion, but he transported the others to his own home. He would then dump and pose the bodies in remote areas so that he could revisit them for some time before they were found.
Hurst deviated from his normal M.O. when he targeted Dr. Jewell. He injected him with sodium thiopento instead of having him ingest it, then abducted him and intended to skin him alive. When Terrell was murdered, Hurst provided Lynch information he needed to kill Terrell, with Lynch taking his identity while Hurst squatted in his home.
Profile
Because the BAU believed Everett Lynch committed Hurst's crimes, it's unclear whether or not they established an official profile. They did establish, however, that the unsub possessed medical knowledge and was either a doctor or a surgeon.
Rossi described the unsub as an individual who suffered a disfiguring injury in adolescence that misshaped his love map and caused him to become aroused by the act of cutting or manipulating skin.
Real Life Comparisons
Hurst appears to be inspired by Stephen Port - Both are serial killers and poisoners targeting young Caucasian gay men, had histories of sex crimes before their murders, lured them through dating sites, killed the men by overdoses, left their bodies in outdoor locations, and used countermeasures to disguise their crimes (Port left a suicide note next to the last man he killed, Hurst's crimes were pinned on Everett Lynch).
Hurst also appears to be inspired by Teet Härm - Both are (suspected in Härm's case) serial killers with work as pathologists, targeted victims of a specific gender (men in Hurst's case, women in Härm's), dismembered their victims postmortem, left their remains at outdoor locations, worked with accomplices, and were in charge of medical examination of their own victims.
Hurst appears to have been inspired by Ed Gein, who was mentioned in the episode - Both were serial killers (possibly in Gein's case who had previous offenses related to human bodies (Hurst performed prolonged surgeries, while Gein robbed graves for remains), had private properties to commit their crimes (Hurst used a lawyer's house, while Gein used his own federally funded private farm), found their victims through listings (Hurst used dating sites, while Gein used newspaper obituaries), and removed their skins post-mortem to stitch them together into articles of 'clothing'.
He also may have been based on Robert Berdella - Both were serial killers and one-time abductors who had experiences that triggered sadistic sexual fetishes (Hurst was deformed in a car accident, while Berdella was beaten with a strap by his father and raped by a colleague and later watched The Collector), targeted young men, lured them to their homes usually with some sexual ruse (Hurst met his victims on a dating site, while most of Berdella's victims were gay prostitutes or were found in gay bars), incapacitated them with tranquilizers before asphyxiating them to death (though Berdella used other methods too), photographed the process, mutilated their corpses and kept certain parts, and had at least one survivor.
He is also very similar to Jeffrey Dahmer - Both were serial killers and abductors who held medical professions of some kind (Dahmer was a former Army combat medic and hospital worker, while Hurst was a medical examiner), misbehaved in their careers in some way (Dahmer drank excessively, while Hurst spent excessive amounts of time on surgeries), targeted young men (though some of Dahmer's victims were older), lured them with some kind of sexual ruse (most of Dahmer's victims were gay men he met in bars and offered money, while Hurst used a dating site), lived and operated briefly in someone else's house (Dahmer's grandmother's home and a lawyer's house, respectively), incapacitated them with drugs before asphyxiating them to death (though Dahmer used other methods too), had morbid fascinations with a certain body part they would (at least sometimes in Dahmer's case) remove from their victims' bodies post-mortem (heads and chest skins, respectively), photographed the process, had at least two survivors, and were apprehended after a fight with a law enforcement agent.
Known Victims
- 2019
- Arthur Terrell (killed by Lynch with Hurst's help; stole his identity and mansion)
- August 3, Terrence Folger
- September 11, Daniel Kane
- September 12, Gregory Broder
- September 13, Dr. Lloyd Jewell (attempted)
- September 13, David Rossi (attempted)
Appearances
- Season Fifteen
- "Under the Skin"
- "Awakenings" (mentioned)