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"It's a boy..."

Robert Reimann is a serial killer and rapist who appeared in Cradle to Grave. He is the dominant partner of a two-person criminal team consisting of his wife Linda.

Background

Little is known about Robert's early life, other than he lived in Phoenix, Arizona, and had a history of sexual abuse. He eventually met Linda, who submitted to his torture and whom he later married. Eight months after getting pregnant with his son, the child died while she was still carrying him, forcing her to give birth to him anyway on October 2, 2004. In spite of the baby's death, they named him Michael anyway. Later that month, the Reimanns began renovating their basement, turning it into a dungeon, and started abducting teenage runaway girls, starting with Monica Winmar. Robert would impregnate the victims and hold them captive for years until they gave birth to a healthy child in an attempt to recreate his and Linda's lost child. If the victims gave birth to a girl, the baby would be placed outside churches in order for them to be adopted by the state and the mothers were killed shortly thereafter. However, if the victims gave birth to a boy and it died, the victims were kept alive so they can deliver another baby. Once they received a healthy baby boy, they kept it, called it Michael, and kept the victim, starting the cycle of impregnation with the same victim again.

Cradle to Grave

Kristie Taylor, the third victim, who was abducted three years prior, had several miscarriages until finally successfully giving birth to a daughter. Since she could not provide him and Linda a son, Robert kills her and dumps her body near a highway. The BAU is called in after her body is found and local police connect the pattern to two other victims. After a long and tiresome investigation, they are able to track down Robert and Linda, who at the time has fourth stage breast cancer, and arrest them both, rescuing four hostages in the process.

Modus Operandi

See section on The Reimanns' page

Profile

See section on The Reimanns' page

Real-Life Comparison

Robert is partially similar to John Jamelske. Both were serial rapists who had sons with their wives (although Robert's first son died before his birth), abducted women, and kept them in dungeons in their homes where they would be restrained and raped repeatedly. Robert is also partially similar to Josef Fritzl, who was mentioned in the episode. Both were serial rapists who kept their victims in dungeons they built in their homes for long periods of time, raped their victims repeatedly, and had children with their victims (two of which were named Lisa and Michael, coincidentally).

Robert is also similar to Gary Heidnik. Both were sexual sadists, rapists, and killers who targeted women, kept multiple victims captive in their homes for long periods of time before killing them, and raped their victims with the intention of impregnating them and having them give birth to children.

Robert is also similar to Marc Dutroux. Both were serial killers and rapists who had wives who acted as accomplices in their crimes, committed sex crimes prior to their murders, held their victims in dungeons in the basement of their homes where they would be raped, and had two victims who were rescued by law enforcement after being were arrested.

Known Victims

The dates denote when and where the victims were abducted or attacked

  • Unspecified date(s) and location(s): Some unspecified prior sex crime(s)
  • Unspecified year-2004, Phoenix, Arizona: Linda Reimann (his wife; abused and presumably raped)
  • New Mexico:
    • October 2004, Lovington: Monica Winmar (abducted and raped repeatedly; fathered a son and a daughter with her; killed on March 24, 2006)
    • July 2005, unspecified location: Janeen Atterman (abducted and raped repeatedly; killed on April 1, 2008)
    • December 2006, Farmington: Kristie Taylor (abducted and raped repeatedly; killed on October 19, 2009, shortly after giving birth to a girl)
    • March 2008, unspecified location: Carol (abducted and raped repeatedly; was rescued on October 21, 2009, shortly after giving birth to a boy)
    • October 20, 2009, Albuquerque: Julie (non-fatally suffocated with a plastic bag and abducted, but not raped; was rescued the next day alongside Carol)

Notes

  • Reimann is similar to Season Three serial killer Francis Goehring, who was also a sexual sadist and the dominant member of a killing team. Both also raped their wives; and targeted women who they would abduct, rape, and eventually kill.
  • Reimann is also similar to Robert Wilkinson, also featured in Season Three. Both were serial killers, rapists, and sexual sadists who shared the same victimology (Caucasian female runaways in their mid to late-teens), raped and held their victims captive for long periods of time before killing them, had one victim that they raped, which led to that victim being impregnated and giving birth to a baby boy, and had stressors that involved their wives and their pregnancies (Reimann's wife miscarried during childbirth; Wilkinson's wife left him after learning she was pregnant).
  • Starting in 2013, following the discovery of Ariel Castro's captives, it has been noted that Reimann's case is much more closer in detail to that case than those of Jamelske and Heidnik. Like Castro, Reimann abducted and held a certain number of victims captive in the basement of a home, impregnated one of them, forced the other victim(s) to assist in the childbirth, and raised the children afterwards as captives themselves.

Appearances

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