| “ | Twenty-five years, that's nothing. It's only time. | ” |
— Tory as he is being arrested by the BAU
| ||
Tory Chapman is a serial killer, stalker, and vigilante. He appears in Season Eight of Criminal Minds.
Background
Not much is specified about Tory's past. What is known was that he was born in Bronson Springs on April 20, 1970, and was arrested on July 18, 1988, for petty vandalism. While spending the night in a cell at the local police station, he overheard a statement made by Leanne Tipton, accusing her boyfriend Wade Burke of raping her. Around the same time, Bronson Springs was awarded for being a perfect city and an example of the future. Wanting to avenge her when he discovered it was covered up by Burke's father, who was a successful yet abusive businessman, Tory murdered Burke and beheaded him post-mortem. He then placed the head in a bag and put it in a time capsule to be brought out again twenty-five years later, intending to send a message that Bronson Springs isn't as perfect as everyone made it out to be. He moved away from Bronson Springs and inserted himself into Leanne's life by working at the same diner she worked at to meet her. He eventually married her in 1991 and returned to their hometown, where he became a furniture maker. During the following twenty-two years, he developed his revenge scheme against Bronson Springs, targeting and stalking people who were connected to Leanne's case.
Pay It Forward
"All this crap about the time capsule and showing the future what a great place Bronson Springs is in 1988. I wanted to give the future a real snapshot, one that isn't in their stupid chamber of commerce booklets."
Tory is first seen at the opening of the time capsule and leaves when Burke's head is discovered. He then stalks and kills Deputy Charlie Figg, removing his head and placing it in his cooler. When a town hall meeting is called about the murder, Tory waits outside for Wanda Sullivan, who leaves when a delusional man inspired by the head in the time capsule interrupts the meeting. Following her to her home, he kills and beheads her. The next day, after reminiscing briefly with his wife, he tracks down Todd Backus, who is fishing. After engaging in a conversation about beheading the fish after catching them, Tory shoots and beheads Backus as the final head in his collection. Meanwhile, Leanne stumbles onto Figg and Sullivan's heads, just as Tory returns home. He locks her in a closet to keep her from interfering as he works with the heads. Leanne escapes and Tory takes her into his truck to city hall. He tries to justify himself to his wife, but Leanne reveals that she had lied about the rape: she had simply gotten into an argument with Burke that night and was afraid that her father would beat her if he found out about Burke. Enraged, Tory puts a bag on her head and drags her to the display case, where he has placed the severed heads as busts. He threatens to kill Leanne with a blade, but the BAU arrive and hold him at gunpoint, demanding him to drop the weapon. Tory kisses Leanne and then surrenders, remarking that he can wait twenty-five years for release. It's most likely that Tory is incarcerated for the four murders afterwards.
Modus Operandi
"Sorry, Mr. Backus. When I catch, I don't release."
Tory targeted seemingly perfect citizens of Bronson Springs who were connected to Leanne's alleged rape and also harbored some dark secret. However, the secret of Todd Backus, unlike those of the other victims, occurred decades earlier and he apparently lived normally and legally afterwards, while the others were currently involved in illegal activities at the times of their deaths. He would stalk his victims, waiting until they were alone. Once they were in a secluded area, he would fatally shoot them once execution-style in the chest with a .45-caliber M1911A1 pistol. His signature was cutting their heads off afterwards with a saw and taking them as trophies (except for Wade Burke's head, which was put in a time capsule to be seen by the public). He would keep the heads of his last three victims in a freezer box. While the body of his first victim, Wade Burke, was hidden in an unknown location, the bodies of his later victims would be left where they were killed. It is unknown if he killed Wade Burke by shooting him, as his body wasn't found, and since he was the one who allegedly attacked Leanne, it would imply that he killed Burke in a more personal and brutal method.
Profile
The unsub is a physically fit male between the ages of 45 and 55 and is targeting people that he perceives as hypocrites. In the 1980s, Wade Burke won student citizenship awards, but secretly had significant repeated brushes with the law that were covered up. Wanda Sullivan was a fervent anti-drug activist yet grew her own stash of marijuana. Deputy Charlie Figg broke the local law that he swore he would uphold by illegally maintaining a second family. This need to punish hypocrisy might have been triggered when Bronson Springs was given the award as the perfect city, being held up as an example for the future. If the unsub felt victimized or that injustice had been done to him, it might have motivated his need for revenge, not just against Wade Burke, but against the entire city as well.
He has extraordinary patience: he put the head of his first victim in a time capsule, knowing that it will be twenty-five years before people would know what he had done while also spending a great deal of time meticulously planning his kills. This would suggest a profession that would reflect this type of mindset, such as artisans or those who long hours in solitude. He is a perfectionist. He waited twenty-five years before killing again because of self-initiated predation cessation; most serial killers are unable to control their own impulses, but some seem to be able to self-regulate, like they have an on-and-off switch that they themselves can control. The secret of the head in the capsule was probably enough to sustain him during this dormant phase. When the time capsule was finally opened, it was like an alarm clock going off, a wake-up call to resume killing. He witnessed the fear it instilled in the town and he wanted to keep that panic going. He is collecting heads again for a purpose: his next statement, which will be bigger, bolder, and set to occur soon.
Known Victims
- 1988
- July 18: An unspecified, victimless vandalism
- August: Wade Burke (Leanne's boyfriend and accused assailant; killed by unknown causes; his body wasn't found; decapitated post-mortem and his head placed in a time capsule)
- February 22, 1997: An unspecified charge of assault
- May 9, 1998: An unspecified, victimless vandalism
- 2013:
- April 8-9: Deputy Charlie Figg (the officer who arrested Burke; illegally had a second family)
- April 9: Wanda Sullivan (the journalist who failed to report the sexual assault; had a marijuana farm in her backyard)
- April 10:
- Todd Backus (the witness who called 911; was given a job by Wade's father in exchange for keeping his silence of the sexual assault)
- Leanne Tipton (his wife and the "victim" of the sexual assault; was paid to keep quiet of the sexual assault; abducted and attempted to decapitate; was rescued the next day)
Notes
- Tory is the second of three unsubs in the series to have a 25-year cooling-off period, the third-longest cooling-off period as featured in the show's history. The first is James Stanworth, and the third is Charles Johnson.