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Trey Gordon

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“ I did it again. It's not supposed to happen. Please. I need help. Can you help me?! ”
— Gordon

Trey Gordon, dubbed "The Day/Night Killer" by the media, is a sleepwalking long distance serial killer, and serial-turned-spree killer who was briefly mistaken for two serial killers. He appears in the Season Twelve episode "In the Dark".

Background[]

Gordon's mother died at some point early in his life, leaving him to be raised by his abusive father, Samuel, a poacher with a criminal record consisting of arrests for drug use and solicitation. Samuel liked to bring his son to drug dens and prostitution brothels that he would frequent. In the early morning hours of May 14, 1991, police raided a brothel and found the then-eight-year-old Gordon in a bedroom with a naked prostitute who had molested him. Samuel was busy having sex with another prostitute in the next room. It is unclear whether Samuel or the naked prostitute involved were prosecuted as a result.

As an adult, Gordon started taking multiple prescribed medications for anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and borderline personality disorder, all preconditions for sleepwalking. On February 7, 2017, Samuel died of a heart attack, prompting Gordon to start killing men who reminded him of his father, starting in February or the beginning of March. However, unconsciously, that was not enough for him; as he succumbed to sleepwalking, he started tracking down the places Samuel frequented, which had now been renovated into up-and-coming suburban homes. There, he would kill any homeowners present.

In the Dark[]

After claiming four lives in about six weeks, Gordon kills Bob Joplin while he is out in the woods poaching deer. The following night, a sleepwalking Gordon goes to the residence of Mike Hood and lures him to the front door by knocking on the door. There, he stabs him in the heart, killing him. The next night, Gordon, once again sleepwalking, goes to the residence of Jon Kreutzmann and Lyn Anastasio. As they both watch a horror movie, Gordon knocks on the door and Kreutzmann answers it, believing him to be the pizza deliveryman. Gordon kills him and then follows Anastasio to the back door, cutting his foot on a piece of glass she had broken in the process. Anastasio is unable to escape the house and is killed by Gordon. The following morning, Gordon wakes up and notices the cut for the first time. He treats it and then takes his prescription medication. Afterward, Gordon lies down on his bed and has a dream of him beating up his father, who is unaffected and merely laughs at him before grabbing him by the neck.

The following night, Gordon sleepwalks to the residence of Paul McConnell and gets him to open his front door. Gordon then stabs him in the chest, but the large McConnell shrugs off the wound, overpowers him, and grabs his shotgun. However, they both get into a struggle and the gun goes off, waking Gordon up. As McConnell tries to clear a blockage in the gun, a surprised Gordon flees. The next day, he returns home and notices blood on his shirt and torso. He proceeds to burn the shirt and other bloodied clothes in a furnace, while he washes the blood off his torso by taking a shower. While doing so, he flashes back to his father demanding him to open the door. Afterward, Gordon watches a news report about his killings, which shocks him. He attempts to call his psychiatrist, but the receptionist tells him the doctor is unavailable and hangs up, which causes him to have a psychotic break. In an attempt to stop himself from hurting other innocent people, Gordon locks away his rifle and knives, then locks himself in the house. He makes many attempts to stay awake but is ultimately unable to do so, and he has also forgotten one hunting knife that is not under lock and key.

The following night, Gordon sleepwalks to the home of Janis Weir, armed with the knife. He breaks in, causing Weir to flee into the bathroom. Gordon tracks her down and starts stabbing at the closed door, all the while dreaming he is stabbing his father. At the same time, the BAU show up and hold him at gunpoint. Gordon turns in Rossi's direction and tries to kill him, but Walker shoots at a chair with his shotgun to wake him up. Now conscious, he looks at the knife, drops it, and becomes shocked. Rossi asks him if he knows where he is; Gordon looks around and prepares to say that he was molested in this very house, but stops midway into the sentence. Then, Gordon realizes that he sleepwalked again and that it was not supposed to happen. He pleads for help, and Walker replies that they will try to get him some. Afterward, Gordon is handcuffed by Alvez, who tells him that he is being arrested for eight murders, which brings Gordon to tears. Gordon is last seen being taken away on a medical stretcher and is almost certainly institutionalized afterward.

Modus Operandi[]

Gordon had two distinct M.O.s, which caused the BAU to initially believe two different, independent unsubs were at work. As such, they dubbed one series of murders the work of "The Woods Unsub", and the other as the work of "The Home Invasion Unsub". Gordon's signature, the only thing in common between both sets of murders, was killing all of his victims with a single gunshot or stab wound directed to the heart.

  • As the Woods Unsub, Gordon would kill male poachers with a history of violent confrontations, who all reminded him of his father, during the daytime hours. He would follow them into the woods, position himself at a safe distance, and kill them by shooting them once with a scoped Winchester .30-06-caliber, single-action hunting rifle. He was always organized during these killings and made sure he never left behind any incriminating evidence since he never sleepwalked during those murders.
  • As the Home Invasion Unsub, Gordon, while sleepwalking, would enter a home in the middle of the night and stab the homeowner(s) to death with a hunting knife, believing he was stabbing his father instead. All of the homes he targeted were former drug dens or prostitution brothels that his father frequented. The first victims, all women, suffered from multiple stab wounds, but as he devolved, the victims suffered only one stab wound. The first victims were also killed in home invasions, but the later ones were lured to the front door after Gordon unconsciously knocked on it the same way as his father did. During these killings, he was disorganized and more violent, which would increase as he went along due to the heightening seriousness of his sleepwalking.

Profile[]

The unsub is a sleepwalking serial killer aged in his 20s. His sleepwalking diagnosis is based on his surprisingly strong ability to ignore pain inflicted on his feet during the latest murders; this, plus the fact that this happened at night, can only be explained by conditions such as neuropathy or sleepwalking. Because he still had great aim, neuropathy of the limbs was ruled out. Additional contributing factors like depression, addiction, or obsessive-compulsive disorder could be keeping his brain from reaching full REM sleep. Due to these sleepwalking episodes, he will wake up more tired than when he went to bed. These nighttime murders are his way of looking for some kind of release that he is not getting whenever he kills while awake. He is able to control his rage when he is awake, thus explaining the organized and calculated murders in the woods. That self-control turns off once he falls asleep, however, thus leading to the messy and chaotic home invasion murders.

Real-Life Comparisons[]

Gordon appears to be primarily inspired by Paul Cox - Both are murderers with problematic family relationships, killed in stupors (Gordon was sleepwalking, Cox was drunk), returned to buildings they were in as children by subconscious memory, targeted residents of those buildings (though Cox meant to kill his parents, when Gordon never meant to kill anyone in those attacks), and killed by stabbing (though Gordon used other means).

Gordon appears to be partly based on Gary Taylor - Both are mentally ill serial killers who were medicated prior to their killings, attacked victims of both genders but primarily targeted one (men in Gordon's case, women in Taylor's), killed them both in-and-outdoors, they killed at least one couple in their home, shot or stabbed their victims (though Taylor isn't confirmed to have killed any victims by stabbing), and were given nicknames for their crimes. Also, the way Gordon was initially believed to be two different serial killers could be a nod to how Taylor was initially blamed for several murders committed by Ted Bundy.

He may have also been based on Joseph Christopher - Both were psychotic serial/spree killers who had fathers that practiced hunting, committed their crimes after their fathers died, primarily targeted men (though Gordon also killed women), initially shot them with rifles in one area of activity, but later switched to stabbing them with knives in another (although Gordon still shot victims while operating as the "Home Invasion Unsub"), and as a result they were initially profiled as two separate killers and given two separate nicknames, and were both apprehended after attempting to kill a final victim. Also Gordon having OCD may be a reference to how John Douglas profiled Christopher as having it (although he apparently didn't).

He may be loosely based on Thomas Dillon - Both were organized serial killers who targeted outdoorsmen in the woods, shot them with scoped rifles, removed incriminating evidence (such as shell casings) from their murder scenes, and were investigated and profiled by the FBI.

Known Victims[]

  • 2017:
    • February-March:
      • Ron Carini (shot)
      • Jerry Hornsby (shot like the previous victim)
    • March 14: Reba Wilson (stabbed seven times in the torso and arms)
    • March 17: Pearl Roberts (stabbed nine times in the stomach, upper chest, and arms)
    • March 18:
      • Bob Joplin (shot)
      • Mike Hood (stabbed once in the heart)
    • March 19: Jon Kreutzmann and Lyn Anastasio (both stabbed once in the heart like the previous victim)
    • March 20: Paul McConnell (attempted, but survived; was non-fatally stabbed in the chest)
    • March 21: The attack at 122 Lyon Street:
      • Janis Weir (attempted)
      • David Rossi (attempted to stab in the neck)

Notes[]

  • Gordon has a high tolerance for pain, presumably due to his psychosis. He was able to walk barefoot on broken glass, which left deep cuts on the soles of his feet, yet this did not inhibit his ability to slaughter a couple. When he awoke the next day, he only appeared mildly irritated by the injuries. This makes Trey Gordon the fifth of only seven unsubs in the show's history that displayed a high tolerance for pain. The others are:
    • Season Three
      • Jonny McHale ("True Night") - A serial-turned-spree killer and vigilante who withstood being hit by a car, and was able to brutally slay six armed men, with one of them shooting him.
    • Season Four
      • Vincent Rowlings ("The Big Wheel") - A prolific serial killer who was shot at point-blank range by a gangbanger, yet still managed to stab him unhindered by the gunshot (but still died hours later).
    • Season Six
    • Season Seven
      • Robert Adams ("Painless") - An "injustice collector"-type serial-turned-spree killer, serial bomber, and copycat of Randy Slade who smashed his hand through the glass sheet of a trophy case with no visible damage, and took multiple gunshots before finally dying. Robert is also the first of these killers to have a proper medical explanation.
    • Season Twelve
      • Kevin Decker ("Scarecrow") - A prolific serial killer and abductor who was stabbed in the back with shears by his last would-be victim, but still managed to remove the shears; he was also able to go after the girl, catch her and try to drown her in a trough.
    • Season Thirteen
  • Gordon has similarities to Owen Porter ("Exit Wounds") - Both are serial killers who devolved, were abused by their fathers when they were minors, killed their victims by shooting them with rifles or by stabbing them with knives, killed one of their female victims by stabbing them repeatedly with a knife in their homes at night, and killed their first victims (who were elderly hunters in both cases) by shooting them in a forest with a rifle.
  • Gordon is also similar to Wallace Hines ("The Inspiration" and "The Inspired") - Both are mentally-ill serials killers who devolved, targeted victims who acted as surrogates for someone who was at the core of the rage (Gordon's male victims as the Woods Unsub were surrogates for his father; Hines's female victims were surrogates for his ex-girlfriend), and killed four of their victims by shooting them in the heart in a wooded area.
  • Gordon and aspects of his M.O. seem to have been based on at least nine unsubs from the show's past:

Appearances[]

References[]

  1. ↑ Trey was erroneously said to be in his 20s, though judging by that birth-date, he would be 33 years old during the events of In the Dark
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