Ben’s "friends" urge him to attack a nurse, Karen Heywood, after an awkward supermarket interaction.
Early theories suggest a "pack" of killers, but Hotch quickly realizes it is one single, highly disturbed individual leaving the same shoe prints at every crime scene. The unsub is Ben Foster (played by Bug Hall), a paranoid schizophrenic who believes he is being pursued by the ghosts of three friends he killed in a fire when he was a child. These "ghosts" (Matt, Tony, and Yolanda) now haunt him, acting as "imaginary foes" that force him to kill to get them to stop nagging him. [S6E19] With Friends Like These
The BAU is reeling from the loss of Emily Prentiss (who they believe is dead), but they must focus on a series of violent murders in Portland, Oregon. The victims are bludgeoned and stabbed, with high levels of overkill—up to 71 times in one instance. Ben’s "friends" urge him to attack a nurse,
Ben takes children hostage, but in a rare moment of clarity and mercy, he does not kill them despite his "friends" demanding it. The BAU eventually catches him, and he is shot after charging them with a knife. Review: "With Friends Like These..." These "ghosts" (Matt, Tony, and Yolanda) now haunt
13/20 on the Unsub scale, mostly because the villain is more victim than monster.
reactions (like Reid or Seaver)?
When a suspected gang in Portland starts targeting a new victim every night, the BAU is tasked with finding a "pack" of killers before they strike again. But what they find is far more personal, tragic, and psychological than a simple gang war.
