| “ | You get what, Agent Prentiss? A serial killer? I highly doubt you could prove that. | ” |
— Mr. X
| ||
Mr. X (real name unknown) is a killer, proxy killer, and possibly a hacker who attempted to cover up a disastrous bombing accidentally committed by Jake Logan. He appeared in the Season Thirteen episode of Criminal Minds, "Killer App".
Background[]
Nothing is revealed about Mr. X, not even his real name. However, it is possible that he has a military background of some sort and may have even served in the US military before being discharged. He founded a private military company known as Peakstone, which specialized in providing the US military with civilian drone pilots. Peakstone also had several contracts with the US government and its mercenaries even assisted US military personnel on active duty in the Middle East. On November 18, 2015, Mr. X gave permission for Tori Hoffstadt, a Peakstone employee, to assemble a team of coders to create a drone that would appeal to players of first-person shooter video games and then recruit gamers to pilot the drones. The purpose was to relieve pressure on the stretched manpower and resources of the US military. In February 2016, Tori recruited six coders to develop the software and a gamer named Jake Logan to pilot the drone. Between February and July, the team completed fifteen successful missions.
On July 28, the project went disastrously wrong when a drone piloted by Jake bombed an elementary school in Afghanistan that Peakstone intelligence had mistaken for a training camp for insurgents. The attack resulted in the deaths of 372 children. Peakstone covered up the incident, canceled the contract, and ordered Tori to report that the final mission was a success, resulting in 372 terrorist casualties to stop the company from losing its government contracts. However, when Peakstone employees finish their service, they receive a letter from the company thanking them and providing statistics on their missions, including casualty reports. After the contract was canceled, Jake received his letter and learned what had truly happened in the last mission. Appalled at what he had done, Jake set out to kill the coders on the team and then Tori herself, who he blamed for turning him into a killer.
Killer App[]
After learning of two mass shootings that claimed the lives of the six coders she recruited, Tori calls Mr. X and informs him of the situation, who asks if it could be a coincidence. However, Tori quickly dismisses the theory and tells him she cannot ignore what is happening. Just as she asks him what he wants her to do, Jake opens fire on Tori's car with his rifle-mounted drone, at which point the call is disconnected. X sends Tori a text message, telling her to remain calm and they [Peakstone] are coming for her. However, Jake manages to abduct Tori regardless. Following Tori's abduction, Prentiss visits Peakstone's offices and asks Mr. X for the name of the pilot on Tori's team, but he refuses, stating that the information is confidential. She then inquires about the psychological evaluations administered to recruits and describes the unsub as "immature and unstable with aggressive tendencies". Mr. X responds that Peakstone would not employ such an individual, but she counters by claiming Peakstone would be liable for the unsub's actions if they had. X reiterates his point, adding that even if Peakstone did employ an unstable individual, the company would not be liable for his doings, as guaranteed by the United States government.
He then says that if the pilot became unstable, it happened after he left the company, explaining that employees sometimes have problems processing their experiences. X informs Prentiss of the letter they receive after they leave Peakstone. When she criticizes supplying employees with the information, referring to it as a likely trigger for the unsub, X counters that they are aware that they will receive the letter after their service and that she cannot prove that Peakstone engendered Jake's killing spree. Meanwhile, Tori manages to escape Jake by shooting him. Moments after, hoping to stop the school bombing from being uncovered once and for all, X (or possibly someone else, given the resources at his disposal) hacks Jake's drone and uses it to shoot Jake repeatedly in the chest. Being unable to kill Tori with the drone, he then orders a Peakstone mercenary to kill her in the hospital so she cannot reveal the company's involvement. However, Garcia discovers the cover-up and the BAU deduce X's plan. They reach the hospital in time and X's mercenary is arrested before he can kill Tori. Afterwards, Mr. X is arrested by Prentiss as Rossi looks on. Alvez later mentions that X is charged with conspiracy and Jake's murder and that the government pulled all of Peakstone's contracts. It is safe to presume that X is incarcerated for his role in the attacks afterwards.
Modus Operandi[]
Since Mr. X only killed one victim, the term M.O. is somewhat misused. When he killed Jake, he hacked and took control of Jake's drone, which had been mounted with a Heckler & Koch G36C with a C-drum magazine. He then used the drone to shoot Jake repeatedly in the chest at close range. He also intended to kill Tori the same way, but by the time he had taken control of the drone, she had escaped Jake's house. All of Mr. X's other victims were killed by proxy through the drone pilots employed at his company, including Jake Logan, who bombed an Afghan school that had been mistaken for an insurgent training camp by Peakstone. When Tori escaped Jake's house, he ordered a Peakstone mercenary to kill her to prevent her from revealing to the BAU that she knew about the bombing. The mercenary posed as a police officer relieving Tori's protective detail at the hospital and tried to shoot her but he was arrested before he could succeed.
Profile[]
No profile of Mr. X was made by the BAU as they were more focused on Jake.
Known Victims[]
Personal Victims[]
- October 12, 2017, Silicone Valley, California, U.S.:
- Jake Logan
- Tori Hoffstadt (intended to kill with Jake's drone; she escaped)
Victims by Proxy[]
- Presumably thousands of unnamed victims (all killed by drone pilots on his orders)
- July 28, 2016, Lashkar Gah, Afghanistan: 372 unnamed children (mistaken for insurgents; killed by Jake on his orders and covered up the incident until 2017)
- October 12, 2017, Silicone Valley: Tori Hoffstadt (attempted; ordered a mercenary to kill her but he failed)
Notes[]
- Mr. X is the last of only nine unsubs to not have their full name revealed by the end of the episode, despite being credited by said name. The others are:
- Season Five
- Billy Flynn ("Our Darkest Hour" and "The Longest Night") - Also appeared in Season Six
- Season Six
- Steve ("Sense Memory")
- Season Nine
- John Nichols ("The Black Queen")
- Owen McGregor ("Angels" and "Demons")
- Season Ten
- Don Black ("Lockdown")
- Colin Dupley ("The Hunt")
- Season Eleven
- Season Twelve
- Season Five
- Mr. X is also the name of a CIA agent in the 1991 conspiracy movie JFK.