Seattle Strangler Case
The Seattle Strangler Case is a Match that comprises the plot of Extreme Aggressor, the first episode of Season 1 of the Criminal Minds television series.
Players
- "The Seattle Strangler":
The BAU is called to Seattle in order to profile and catch a serial killer known as the "Seattle Strangler", who has abducted a woman named Heather Woodland. Based on the timeline of his previous victims, the BAU estimates that they have less than 36 hours to find Heather before she is killed. Although they are unaware of this at the start, the "Strangler" is in fact a team of two men with complementary personalities working together.
Notable Tricks
Datsun Z Trick
As a ruse to lure victims, Vogel lists his Datsun Z car for sale online with a low asking price, claiming that he is moving and needs to sell the car ASAP. When Heather Woodland takes the bait, he invites her to go on a test drive. Before driving her home, he surreptitiously removes the pin on the car door, locking her inside and abducting her. Afterwards, Slessman sends an email to her computer with a virus that wipes her hard drive, covering their tracks.
Scared Housesitter Trick
Gideon predicts based on his profile that the killer would have inserted himself in the investigation in order to find out what the police knows, and therefore he would already be in the list of people interviewed in relation to the case. This, along with the rest of the profile, leads them to Slessman. Since Slessman lives with his grandmother, sister and young nephew, Elle comes up with a ruse to lure him out rather than sending a SWAT team to a house with a small child. She knocks on Slessman's door pretending to be a housesitter for a house down the street and claims to have come back to find the door open and the lights not working. She asks Slessman's grandmother for someone who would be willing to check inside with her, prompting her to call on Slessman. When he enters the dark house with Elle, a hidden SWAT team comes out of hiding and apprehends him.
Slessman's Protector Trick
Based on conflicts in the profile that suggest two different behaviors, only one of which matches Slessman, Gideon concludes that there is a second unsub working with him. He predicts that the second unsub will have a dominant personality, being protective of Slessman and making him feel indebted to him. They initially suspect Slessman's old cellmate during his time in prison, but find out that he has since died. However, visiting the prison where Slessman was incarcerated, Gideon and Elle realize that Vogel, the security guard in charge of Slessman's block, used to protect him and fits the profile. They also notice his keychain matches the car used in Heather Woodland's abduction. All of this leads them to the conclusion that Vogel is the second unsub.
File Boxes Trick
Hotch lowers the temperature in the interrogation room to put Slessman on edge, and requests both a police officer and a Seattle FBI agent in the room to signal to Slessman that they have every department on the case. He then asks for file boxes to be filled with blank paper and have Vogel's name written on them. He brings the boxes into the interrogation room to convince Slessman that Vogel is the one they are really interested in and to put pressure on Slessman to give him up.
"Enter Sandman" Trick
Slessman's computer is protected with a program that will wipe the hard drive if the wrong password is input 6 times. Morgan finds out that Slessman takes sleeping pills, and finds a CD player next to his bed. Hoping that this will give him some insight on Slessman's thought process and help him discover his password, Morgan combs through every CD in Slessman's collection looking for his most-listened one. Reid, noticing that Metallica's self-titled album is the only empty case, finds the CD in the CD drive of Slessman's computer. From the fact that Slessman is an insomniac who listens to Metallica to help him sleep, they are able to guess that his password is "Enter Sandman".
Swaying Lightbulb Trick
Morgan and Reid find a live feed of Heather, tied and locked in a cage, in Slessman's computer. Noticing that the lightbulb hanging from the ceiling in the video seems to be swaying, they come to the conclusion that she is being kept in a boat. Hotch lies to Slessman, saying that Vogel is talking to them and putting the blame on him. He uses the information obtained by Morgan and Reid to sell the lie, telling him that Vogel claimed it was Slessman's idea to keep the victims on a boat. This convinces Slessman to cooperate and reveal where the boat is located.
"Tiny Tim" Trick
Arriving at the shipyard, Gideon confronts Vogel at the pier as he holds Heather at gunpoint. Meanwhile, Elle approaches discreetly from another side and lines up a shot at Vogel from hiding, waiting for an opportunity to shoot without endangering Heather. To create this opportunity, Gideon encourages Vogel to shoot him instead, first arguing that if he kills Heather there will be nothing protecting him, and then taunting him by calling him a lousy shot and insulting his masculinity. Gideon uses the profile that he has put together on Vogel to poke at his insecurities, pointing out that he is overcompensating for his impotence. He launches into a progressively more aggressive diatribe in order to rile Vogel up, culminating on guessing a list of possible nicknames that girls might have called him in high school when he was unable to perform in bed. He finally arrives on "Tiny Tim", which pushes Vogel over the edge and causes him to release Heather and shoot at Gideon, giving Elle an opening to take him out.
Outcome
- Winners:
- BAU
- Losers:
- Richard Slessman
- Timothy Vogel
The BAU is able to rescue Heather, while Vogel falls in the water after being shot by Elle and presumably dies. Vogel's shot merely grazes Gideon in the arm, and he is otherwise unharmed. Slessman's fate is not shown, although he is probably convicted for his part in the murders.