Veronica Day is a serial killer by proxy who appears in the Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior episode "The Time is Now".
Background[]
Veronica was given up by her birth mother, Jennifer Conroy, at birth and placed in the foster system. She bounced between homes until she was 14 and was arrested as a runaway when she was 17. She tracked down Conroy to Sacramento and, lying about her age, got a job as a dishwasher at the diner where Conroy worked as a waitress. She intended to try and reconnect with her mother, but before she could do so Jennifer was killed by an unknown assailant in 1996, who shot her in the head with a shotgun. In 2001, she became a serial killer by proxy, manipulating teenage boys into killing their parents the same way her mother was killed. After her final murder, the parents' daughter, Rachel Lidge, who the son thought was at a sleepover, saw Veronica in the room, but was left alive, she was arrested for all three double murders by proxy and also for killing her mother. Though she was found guilty of murdering her mother and sentenced to death, none of the boys she manipulated into committing murder would admit to her involvment and she was never found guilty of them. However, to make sure Veronica was found guilty the current DA purposely suppressed evidence, an eyewitness account stating that a dark-haired man had ran from the crime scene just after the gunshot was fired, and made her out to be the one who killed Jennifer. Jack Fickler, who was a profiler at the time, based his profile on that she killed her mother herself and then manipulated others into doing the same.
The Time Is Now[]
She's first scene in a flashback, caught by Rachel watching her direct Peter to wash his parents' blood off, saying "The time is now.", her signature sentence, when he panics. Cut to present day, she first appears in shackles during the trial, presiding during the proceeds and arguments against and for her case, watching flatly with a blank, distant stare. When Cooper goes to interview, he encourages her to elaborate her abilities in her crimes, to which she vaguely says she can see things in people others don't usually look for without admitting guilt. But when she's inquired about her mother, she breaks down, screaming at Cooper to get out and throwing the clothes in her cell at him, a reaction he didn't expect, which is what has him tell the guards to hold back. Eventually, once her mother's true killer was revealed to be fleeing the scene, and once fraudulent vandalism destroyed the case even further by seeding tampered doubt, the sentence on her mother's death was overturned and she was released. She gave her public thanks to the justice system that freed her, but the twist no one expected was her arriving at Rachel's door, asking if she remembered her. The team arrives immediately to apprehend her, assuming she'll kill Rachel as a witness. She does indeed end up apprehended-having fully confessed her crimes to Rachel, who's alive to tell the tale. Returned to a prison cell, she's visited by Cooper, voicing her regret and the pain she feels of what she did to other people's families. Cooper commends her for making amends now and swears to reopen her mother's case and capture her killer once and for all to bring Day the closure she needs and deserves.
Profile[]
Veronica was profiled as suffering from narcissistic personality disorder. Her lack of empathy and delusions of grandeur result in an inflated sense of self-importance. Once the truth about her mother's death was revealed, her profile changed soon after. When she lost her mother, she decided didn't want anyone else to have a happy family. She wants redemption for something she did as a child and for someone to see the good in her is the part that's been seeking forgiveness. She evokes her mother's murder by making the boys of the house kill her parents, to resemble the killer shooting her mother dead. The daughter left alive resembles her, and "The Time is now" signifies the care to reunite with her mother she could never meet, which she was so hateful over she never wanted families to squander their with each other again, feeling they were better off dead and broken like her if they failed.
Modus Operandi[]
Veronica targeted families with teenage sons. She would manipulate the sons into killing their parents by shooting them with a shotgun while they were asleep and then write the phrase "The Time Is Now" on the wall in the victims' blood, which was her signature. Cooper later figured that the phrase referred to her failing to try and reconnect with her mother when she had the chance.
Real-Life Comparisons[]
Veronica's case appears to be inspired by Lyle and Erik Menéndez - Both cases involve sons of couples who were murdered with shotguns, the defendants were painted as manipulative psychopaths, their defenses were that they were victims of violent crime, and they filed appeals for retrial (though only Day was successful), only to remain in prison, and the defendants in both cases eventually confessed to their roles in the murders.
Known Victims[]
The following are victims by proxy
- Unspecified dates in 2001:
- Mr. and Mrs. Oswalt
- Mr. and Mrs. Madison
- Mr. and Mrs. Lidge (killed by Peter Lidge)