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They said they'd clean 'em off the streets. They lied. What was I supposed to do?! I had to do something!
Weems during his arrest by the BAU

Ronald Weems is a "house cleaner"-type vigilante, and serial-turned-spree killer who appears in the Season Two episode of Criminal Minds, "Sex, Birth, Death".

Background[]

Not much is known about Weems, as the BAU's investigation centered on a disturbed local teenager named Nathan Harris. All that is known is that he had previously acted out strange sexual fantasies with his wife and then suddenly stopped. He ran an anti-crime advocacy group called "Decency Watch" and apparently had an intense hatred of prostitutes, calling them "low women".

Sex, Birth, Death[]

In the episode, Weems is seen several times typing evangelistic-style passages into his laptop. The paragraphs he writes claims that "prostitutes are the lowliest form of life and must be terminated". After the BAU finally concludes that Harris is not the unsub, they come to Weems' house, questioning his wife. Later, Weems is seen dressed in his signature black clothing, asking a prostitute, "How much?" She recognizes him from a police sketch and blows a panic whistle. He is subsequently arrested and a friend of one of his victims maces him. While Weems is being dragged away, he claims that he had to get rid of the prostitutes himself since no one else was going to clean up the streets. Weems is presumably incarcerated for the four murders afterwards.

Profile[]

The unsub is stabbing his victims, indicating he's probably impotent. The fact that he chops off their hair and operates early in the morning indicates the unsub feels powerless. It could be more than sexual; he could feel impotent in his professional life. If that is indeed the case, he is killing prostitutes because that's easy access.

  • First kill - He got a taste for it.
  • Second kill - He sent a message: 'HELP' (It was originally thought that this was a plea to help him stop killing; later, it is revealed that he was asking for help taking prostitutes off the streets).
  • Third kill - He sent a message: 'FAILURE' (It was originally thought that this referred to the authorities failing to catch him, though it is later revealed that he referred to the failure of politicians to get prostitutes off the streets).
  • Fourth kill - No ritual, no message, just a brutal murder.

Modus Operandi[]

Dressed in all-black clothing in the early morning hours (the period of activity for his victims), Weems would approach prostitutes and solicit them. He would then take them to a secluded area, usually an alleyway, tell them that they are whores and lowly women, and then stab them to death with a knife. Afterwards, for reasons unknown, he would cut off lengths of their hair but wouldn't take them with him, presumably his signature. In the case of his last victim, he killed her on a sidewalk at nighttime and didn't cut off her hair. On his second and third victims, a message was carved into their abdomens, with the marks showing signs of hesitation.

Real-Life Comparisons[]

Weems appears to be based on Jack the Ripper, who was mentioned in the episode - Both were "house-cleaner"-type serial killers who operated on city streets at night, targeted Caucasian female prostitutes out of hatred, wore black clothing, used bladed weapons to kill them, left messages for the authorities, mutilated and desecrated the women's corpses, and would change from straight-up violent murders to distinctive M.O.s and back again.

Weems also appears to be inspired by Peter Sutcliffe - Both were "house cleaner"-type serial killers who had unhappy marriages, exhibited sexually deviant behaviors (Weems sexually degraded his wife, Sutcliffe had multiple extramarital affairs and spoke of necrophilia), targeted prostitutes, were motivated by an intense hatred of them and hoped to 'cleanse' the streets of them, solicited them as a ruse, killed them with bladed weapons (though Sutcliffe used other means), were active while another suspect was being investigated due to murderous writings, and were arrested in the process of soliciting another prostitute in preparation of killing them.

Weems seems to be based of Gary Ridgway - Both are serial killers who pressured their wives into fulfilling sexual fantasies before their murders, campaigned against prostitution in their neighborhood, lured prostitutes to kill them because they had a pathological hatred of them, and weren't found originally due to a brief misdirection (Ridgway sent a letter that profiler John Douglas believed was unconnected, Weems inadvertently deflected suspicion onto troubled teenager Nathan Harris).

He also seems to have been based on Moses Sithole - Both are serial killers who targeted women, carved messages to law enforcement on their bodies (though Sithole only did this on his first victim), ran local organizations as covers for their murders (though Sithole made his up), had an intimate partner they abused, were originally not tracked due to focus on another suspect, and were apprehended in the process of attacking another victim.

Known Victims[]

  • 2006:
    • August: Unnamed victim (stabbed to death; no message was carved into her abdomen post-mortem)
    • November 23: Unnamed victim (stabbed five times; "Help" was carved into her abdomen post-mortem)
    • November 28:
      • Holly (stabbed three times; "Failure" was carved into her abdomen post-mortem)
      • Unnamed victim (stabbed twice; no message was carved into her abdomen post-mortem)
    • November 29: Unnamed prostitute (intended)

Appearances[]

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