The Beaumont Unsub

CRIMINAL
Name	Unknown
Gender	Male
Birth Date	June 23, 1989
Family	Lydia Parris (mother; deceased) Billy Crawford (father; deceased)
Pathology	Serial Killer Stalker Abductor
Signature	Removing victims' ears, tongues, and left hands
Modus Operandi	Blitz attack (male victims) Sedation (female victims)
No. of Victims	6+ killed 2 attempted
Status	Deceased (shot by Rossi)
Portrayed By	TJ Power
First Appearance	"Family Tree"

“	Give me credit for trying to do the right thing... But you need to find me. You need to stop me. Please.	”
	— The Beaumont Unsub in his tape manifesto

The Beaumont Unsub (so named in this wiki) was a serial killer, stalker, and abductor who appeared in the Season Fifteen episode "Family Tree".

Background

The unsub was born in 1989 to Lydia Parris, an underage prostitute; and Billy Crawford, a teenager belonging to one of the most well-established families in Beaumont, Texas. Living comfortably off child support paid by the Crawford family, Parris raised the unsub in a comfortable lifestyle in Houston. The unsub moved out from his mother's apartment at a young age, but stayed close to his mother, and resented his father for abandoning them both. However, Parris eventually returned to a life of drug abuse and homelessness and died of liver cirrhosis stemming from her alcoholism on July 18, 2019.

After his mother's death, the unsub began murdering prominent Beaumont men, and attempting to "rescue" young women in what he perceived to be bad situations, murdering any who refused his help.

Family Tree

After the bodies of two victims—Tom Mitchell and Elizabeth McBride—are found in Beaumont with a similar signature, the BAU are called in to assist with the investigation. Just as they arrive, the Beaumont Police Department receives a cassette tape recorded by the unsub, who is morally confused and begging to be stopped. By inferring that the murders of rich Beaumont family men and prostitutes are proxies for the unsub's parents, the BAU delivers a profile, and Garcia researches birth records close to the unsub's probable date of birth.

Garcia uncovers the records of Lydia Parris and Billy Crawford, shortly after the abduction of potential victim Becky Silverman. With Garcia's research and testimony from Becky's co-worker Nick, the BAU confronts the unsub at Crawford Ranch. At the same time, Becky has refused the unsub's advances, and he intends to kill her. Rossi pursues the unsub through the woods; the unsub attempts to shoot Rossi, but he returns fire, killing the unsub with a shot to the head.

Profile

The unsub is a white male in his late twenties to mid-thirties. He is physically fit, mobile, and organized. The unsub targets two victim types; female prostitutes, and businessmen with long-standing ties to Beaumont. Uniquely, the Beaumont Unsub contacted the investigators directly, asking that his crimes be stopped; however, his compulsion prevents him from giving up on his spree or turning himself in. The ritualistic nature of the murders suggests that the unsub is trying to recreate or mock a wedding ceremony. His signature and victim type imply that his parents' marriage was ruined due to infidelity with a prostitute, or that the unsub is a prostitute's child himself.

Modus Operandi

The Beaumont Unsub was haunted by the circumstances of his conception and birth. To that end, he abducted and murdered men who reminded him of his father, a wealthy Beaumont resident of high standing. He would normally incapacitate these men with a blitz attack.

The unsub would also approach women whom he believed were in hopeless situations and in need of help, such as prostitutes. He would attempt to convince these women to begin a new life with him, and perform an unknown ritual (possibly marital or sexual) underneath the tree at Crawford Ranch where he was conceived.

The men, along with any women who refused his offer, were taken to his lair on the grounds of Crawford Ranch. The unsub would sedate the women and strangle them but would stab the men to death. He would remove each victim's ears, tongue, and left hand, and hang them from the branches of his tree, which formed an unclear element of his ritual. The women's bodies were buried ritualistically in shallow graves; the men's bodies were discarded in abandoned areas.

Real-Life Comparison

The unsub appears to be partly inspired by David Berkowitz - Both are serial killers who were abandoned by parents as children, had adequate upbrignings, rejected their birth parents once they found out the truth, targeted men and women in pairs, sent letters to the police elaborating their motives, were met with massive public reaction over their crimes, and were profiled as killing out of harbored rage without a sense of accountability for their crimes. Also, the unsub's propensity for hanging body parts from tree limbs may be a reflection of Berkowitz's apartment being covered with Satanic gravity, which appeared at the time to relate to his supposed delusions.

The unsub also appears to be partly inspired by The Lipstick Killer - Both are serial killers of women (although the unsub also targeted men too), killed by stabbing and strangulation, kidnapped at least one victim, dismembered victims postmortem, and left messages for the police begging to be stopped. In relation to prime suspect William Heirens, both had normal upbringings, became independent at a young age, and were zealous and paranoid in their personalities.

The unsub also appears to be partly inspired by Yoo Young-chul - Both were serial killers who had lower-class upbringings, had a severe hatred of the highest social classes, were set off by rejection when killing women, targeted male socialites (though Yoo also targeted females) and female prostitutes, dismembered their victims' remains post-mortem, buried their female victims' remains, and killed at least once by stabbing and strangulation.

Known Victims

• 2019:
  • July-October: One or more unknown victims or victim pairs
  • October:
    • Tom Mitchell and Elizabeth McBride (stabbed and strangled to death, respectively)
    • Toby Stemple and Cindy Wilson
    • Bo Zachary (abducted from his workplace; body parts later shown)
    • Becky Silverman (abducted and intended to kill; rescued by the BAU)
    • David Rossi (attempted to shoot)

Trivia

• Prior to Evolution, he was the last unsub in the show to ever be shot dead by a BAU agent.
• While the unsub's last name is presumably Parris, he is one of only two unsubs on the main run of Criminal Minds to never be referred to by name, partial name, nickname, or alias, the other being the Varnville Unsub.