| “ | Stupid, incompetent sons of bitches! I don't make mistakes! I am Death! You hear me? I am Death! You'll see now, tomorrow. Mark my words, you will see. And while I'm taking her, I'm gonna be thinking of you. | ” |
— Graney
| ||
Franklin Graney, a.k.a. "The Tommy Killer" or simply "Tommy", is a serial killer, serial rapist, and stalker who appears in the Season One episode of Criminal Minds, "Plain Sight".
Background[]
Graney worked as a phone technician for Bell San Diego and lived with a nagging female relative, presumably either his mother or wife. Graney began raping and murdering women who lived on his routes in 2005, spying on them for some time before attacking them, destroying symbols of wealth in their homes and gluing their eyes open after killing, which he did by strangling them with a length of cord. After his first three murders went unconnected by the police, Graney, angered by this, began leaving snippets of a 16th-century ballad The Great Messenger of Mortality or A Dialogue Betwixt Death and a Lady at the scenes of all his subsequent murders, as a means of getting the attention from the press, which, after his affinity for gluing eyes open comes to light, dubbed the Tommy Killer, after The Who's rock opera Tommy (which features the line "See me, feel me, touch me").
Plain Sight[]
After Graney claims six victims in only three weeks, the BAU is called in to help with the investigation. An African-American youth is brought in (the boy had tried and failed to rape an elderly woman) as a suspect in his murders, which is broadcast to the news as a plan for police to draw Graney out for a phone call by playing his vanity. Graney is enraged at someone else being mistaken as him after watching it on TV, to the point he crushes a can in his hand and upsets the female relative enough he apologizes for the mess. Graney calls the police station screaming at police his hatred of them, threatening that he will rape and murder another woman tomorrow. Since Graney routed his call through twenty-five different substations he is unable to be traced, but that technological prowess and realizing all the victims' homes were near electrical lines lead to Graney's identity.
Graney holding Shelly at gunpoint.
In the early morning, Graney sneaks into Shelly Hart's house, forcing her into the upstairs bedroom under the threat of hurting her infant son. Tying Hart up, Graney begins verbally harassing her when he hears Gideon coming down the hallway. When Gideon enters the room, Graney points a handgun at Hart's head and threatens to shoot her. By appealing to Graney's desire for recognition and infamy, Gideon starts talking him down, saying that if he gives up he will be immortalized, but if he forces Gideon to kill him, Gideon will claim he was just a simple burglar, a nobody who will never be remembered by anyone. Mulling this over, Graney, after making Gideon promise he will tell everyone about him, drops his gun, and allows himself to be arrested by Hotch and Elle when they arrive. He is likely incarcerated for his murders afterwards.
Profile[]
The unsub is a highly-organized exploitative rapist and stated to be a middle-class white male in his late 30s to early 40s, who is diurnal, as his attacks occur during the day. Due to the fact that he goes completely unnoticed in a highly-patrolled neighborhood (despite watching his victims for days to get their schedules down and striking in broad daylight), he likely has a vehicle related to his work, such as a company car or truck, which will be well kept and obsessively clean, as well as his home. He brings his own weapons and takes them with him after killing his victims, rather than leaving them behind at the crime scenes. It is believed that he watches his victims for long periods of time, learns the rhythms of the homes, and knows his time frame, so he will not be caught accidentally. Destroying some of his victims' possessions, all of them symbols of wealth, means that he harbors envy and hatred toward people of a higher social status, whom he feels ignored and dismissed by, making him feel invisible, though he appears to belong in the neighborhood where he kills at and blends in. He feels in control at the crime scenes but inadequate everywhere else in life.
The victims all represent a dominant female who he feels is controlling, and by raping and killing, he is acquiring a sense of control. Like all other exploitative rapists, the unsub wants his victims to see him, hence him gluing their eyes open. The goal is more related to the victims watching him than the act of rape itself. Additionally, the unsub would be obsessed with getting recognition from the authorities, which is what leaving the lines from the ballad at the crime scenes do. They are simply a means of getting attention and not actually needed for any kind of emotional release, just like the gluing of the eyes.
Modus Operandi[]
Graney targeted upper-middle-class, married Caucasian women with children, presumably as surrogates for the female relative he was living with. He would spy on his victims for days while working on their telephone poles, completely memorizing their schedules and routines to pinpoint the perfect time to strike, which was always in the morning. Using a "kill kit" filled with items used in his job, which consists of duct tape, cords, and glue, Graney would incapacitate his victims, tie their wrists together and cover their mouths with duct tape, and bind them to the bed. Then, he would rape them and finish them off by strangling them with a length of wire. His signature was gluing the victims' eyes open and pose them so it would look like they were facing out the windows, next to the telephone lines he worked on. After doing all of this, Graney would go on to destroy symbols of wealth he found in the house (objects such as small appliances, silverware, and fine china), take everything from his "kill kit" with him, and clean up the crime scenes, even organizing and putting away miscellaneous objects. With his last three victims, he wrote snippets of a 16th-century ballad (writing only the lyrics sung by Death) with lipstick on mirrors at their crime scenes, since the authorities had not connected his first three murders at that point. When he held Shelly Hart hostage, he used a Taurus PT92 semi-automatic pistol.
Real-Life Comparisons[]
Graney seems to have been heavily based on the unidentified Axeman of New Orleans - Both were serial killers and stalkers who targeted women (according to the Axeman's profile), stalked their victims for periods of time before their attacks (presumably in the Axeman's case), killed their victims in their homes, had six victims (though the Axeman may have killed more), had signatures involving leaving something at their crimes scenes (ballad snippets in Graney's case, the murder weapons used in the Axeman's), were given nicknames, and both viewed themselves as 'above mortals' in some supernatural way (Graney saw himself as "death", while the Axeman saw himself as a "demon").
He may have also been based on Colin Ireland - Both were narcissistic serial killers who had poor relationships with women, targeted a specific gender (women in Graney's case, men in Ireland's), tortured them before strangling them with ligatures they carried with them in "kill kits", cleaned their victims' murder scenes afterwards, and were outraged when their killings were not initially connected together by law enforcement, resulting in them contacting them and informing them of their activities. They were also given nicknames for their crimes.
He may have also been loosely inspired by the unidentified Boston Strangler - Both were serial killers and rapists who targeted women, raped them and strangled them with ligatures (though the Strangler killed by other means) in their homes, posed them with the ligatures still tied to them in their beds, were given nicknames for their crimes, operated in major cities that were sent into panics due to the murders, and were diverted from being caught when another suspect was arrested on sex crime charges. Both Graney and Albert DeSalvo (the main suspect in the Strangler case) lived with a female loved one at the times of their confirmed crimes, had blue-collar jobs, and were arrested in regards to the attack of their last confirmed victim (Graney held a woman hostage while preparing to rape and murder her, while DeSalvo raped a woman and she described him to the police).
Graney appears to be partly inspired by Iain Scoular - Both are murderers who lived with an overbearing female relative, worked in blue-collar occupations, targeted middle-aged women, killed their victims by strangulation (though Scoular also stabbed or beat his), and arranged their belongings near their bodies at the crime scenes.
Known Victims[]
- 2005:
- September 20: Chandler (first name unrevealed; did not leave a snippet behind)
- September 28-October 9:
- Two unnamed victims (did not leave snippets behind at their crime scenes)
- Two unnamed victims (left snippets behind at their crime scenes)
- October 10: Brenda Samms (left a snippet behind)
- October 13: Shelly Hart (tied up and intended to rape and kill; was rescued)
Notes[]
- Kirk B.R. Woller, the actor who portrays Graney, would go on to appear as Dr. Florio in an episode of Suspect Behavior, the short-lived Criminal Minds spin-off.