25 Criminal Minds Episodes Based On Real Cases

Whilst Legal Minds resulted in 2020 after its fifteenth season, Paramount Plus introduced the display again with the rebooted Legal Minds: Evolution. Just like the display’s authentic run, Evolution has additionally drawn on true crime to encourage its tales. Whilst the UnSubs in Legal Minds are all fictional, many in their cases and crimes are in accordance with genuine other people and exact occasions — a truth Paramount+ capitalized on via ordering The Actual Legal Minds, which is a docuseries about those real-life serial killers (by way of Deadline).

25 “JJ” (Season 6, Episode 2)

Natalee Holloway Evokes The Case Of A Lacking Younger Girl

Whilst this actual episode is steadily remembered as the person who ends up in JJ leaving the workforce (regardless that her go out seems to be temporary), it additionally includes a case involving a lacking younger lady. A teenage woman on holiday on the seashore isn’t observed for 3 days, and the ultimate time she used to be observed alive used to be with two younger males who declare to have dropped her off at her lodge.

If that exact case sounds acquainted, that’s as a result of it’s nearly a precise parallel to Natalee Holloway’s disappearance. In terms of Holloway, she used to be on holiday in a foreign country when she went lacking, whilst Legal Minds nonetheless sees the younger lady disappear in the USA. In each instances, there is not any frame, however a couple of suspects that the native regulation enforcement is bound did it, however they can not turn out it.

Legal Minds, then again, does have a twist in that the case stays a lacking individuals case as a substitute of a homicide case. Whilst there were a large number of witness statements and a written confession via Joran van der Sloot greater than twenty years after Holloway’s disappearance, her frame hasn’t ever been recovered. The lacking younger lady within the collection, then again, is in the end discovered alive, giving the nature’s circle of relatives a happier finishing.

24 “Cradle To Grave” (Season 5, Episode 5)

Phillip and Nancy Garrido Encourage The Abducted Girls Giving Start

Phillip and Nancy Garrido are a real-life married couple who abducted 11-year-old Jaycee Duggard on her technique to faculty within the morning, after which held her of their house for over a decade earlier than they had been stuck. Duggard used to be assaulted and gave start to a couple of kids. Whilst the Garridos removed any male kids born, they allowed Duggard to stay her daughters together with her.

Duggard’s tale has impressed a couple of episodes of Legal Minds, together with “Mosley Lane,” through which a married couple again and again kidnaps babies. The person who parallels her tale probably the most. Alternatively, is “Cradle To Grave.”

The episode includes a married couple with a dominant guy and submissive lady who kidnap younger, white girls, that the husband then attacks again and again. Once they give start to ladies, they’re discarded, however the couple helps to keep the men. Whilst Duggard used to be stored, this episode kicks off with one of the vital younger girls who has been held for 3 years being murdered proper after giving start. They don’t line up precisely, but it surely’s now not arduous to peer the place the writers discovered their inspiration.

23 “Mirrored image Of Want” (Season 6, Episode 8)

The Hill Ripper Is Similar To Ed Gein

Ed Gein has equipped the foundation for lots of horror motion pictures. A person who used to be managed via a domineering mom, he saved the frame of his mom in his house after she died. He additionally killed and mutilated the our bodies of younger women. His tale impressed writers to create the fictitious villains within the motion pictures Psycho and The Texas Chainsaw Bloodbath.

In Legal Minds, the person who turns into referred to as the Hill Ripper is in truth impressed himself via Norman Bates of Psycho and references his tale within the script. Rhett Walden helps to keep the frame of his mom in his house, and he additionally cuts items from the our bodies of ladies he kills to make use of.

Curiously, this episode additionally has a nod to any other fictional tale in Sundown Side road. Rhett’s ultimate scenes homage the film through which an actress who has fallen into obscurity kills anyone after which believes the police coming to arrest her are a digital camera group. Rhett sees himself strolling down a crimson carpet when he’s taken into custody.

22 “Damaged Wing” (Season 14, Episode 9)

Donald Harvey Used to be An Angel of Dying

This actual episode sees the BAU workforce examine a suspicious choice of overdoses at a rehabilitation facility. The episode takes a flip towards investigating the ability conning sufferers out of cash, but it surely additionally has an “angel of dying” because the unknown topic.

Angels of dying are a specific form of killer who believes they’re offering mercy for his or her sufferers, killing those that are already in some kind of misery. On this case, with the killer inflicting overdoses and poisoning his sufferers, he’s most probably impressed via Donald Harvey, who has been discussed at the display a couple of instances.

Although Harvey did kill the ones in his lifestyles outdoor of labor, his number one sufferers had been killed in hospitals the place he used to be hired. Maximum steadily he centered aged or terminally in poor health other people, turning off their oxygen or injecting poison into their IVs. He used to be convicted of killing 28 other people, however there have been most probably many extra.

21 “A Color Of Gray” (Season 4, Episode 21)

The Episode Has Been In comparison To The JonBenét Ramsey Investigation

“A Color of Gray” options one of the vital youngest killers in all the collection. A tender boy kills his little brother, offended with him for frequently taking his toys. All through the episode, then again, it’s believed the boy used to be abducted via anyone outdoor the circle of relatives, and in the end published that the oldsters lined up the dying as a result of they believed their son didn’t perceive what he used to be doing.

The occasions of the episode correspond with one of the vital civilian theories that persevered after the JonBenét Ramsey investigation. Whilst the little woman used to be to start with reported as lacking, her frame used to be in the end discovered within the circle of relatives house. The crime scene used to be traversed via regulation enforcement, neighbors, pals, and newshounds, making for a chaotic atmosphere and one through which proof used to be compromised. Her homicide continues to be unsolved, however one principle offered now not lengthy after the preliminary investigation is that her older brother will have by accident killed her. He, then again, hasn’t ever been handled as a suspect.

Rossi even makes feedback in regards to the choice of other people on the crime scene and the way the investigation is being treated, echoing criticisms of the Ramsey case.

20 “Kids of the Darkish” (Season 3, Episode 4)

Gary & Ervin Robles Are Primarily based On Two Infamous Serial Killers

“Kids of the Darkish” supplies a irritating exploration of the mental trauma that fuels such ugly acts. Whilst indirectly discussed or referenced within the episode, “Kids of the Darkish” attracts inspiration from the infamous serial killers Leonard Lake and Charles Ng. The episode follows a duo, Gary and Ervin Robles, who destroy into suburban houses, homicide the oldsters, and depart the youngsters alive. Like Lake and Ng, the Robles brothers are a serial killing workforce, circle of relatives annihilators, and robbers.

Their partnership mirrors the notorious duo in numerous tactics: each pairs incorporated a Caucasian male and a spouse of a unique race, and each had a minimum of one member who used to be abused via parental figures (Ng used to be abused via his father, whilst Gary and Ervin had been abused via their foster oldsters). Moreover, similar to Lake and Ng, one Robles workforce member assumes a sufferer’s id earlier than getting arrested.

19 “The Best Hurricane” (Season 2, Episode 3)

The Legal Minds Episode Takes Inspiration From Paul Bernardo & Karla Homolka

Impressed via the infamous “Ken and Barbie Killers” Paul Bernardo and Karla Homolka, Legal Minds weaves a chilling story in “The Best Hurricane.” The episode’s unsubs, Amber and Richard Canardo, percentage eerie similarities with Bernardo and Homolka. Each pairs are serial killers, rapists, and abductors who goal girls, luring them in with the ruse of inquiring for instructions. Just like the “Ken and Barbie Killers,” the Canardos recorded their heinous acts of rape earlier than strangling their sufferers and dumping their bare our bodies in handy places.

Amber Canardo, one in every of Legal Minds’ maximum memorable unsubs, performs a manipulative position, the use of her attraction to attract in unsuspecting sufferers, whilst Richard turns into the dominant aggressor all through their assaults. The BAU workforce reveals irritating photos revealing the torment inflicted on their sufferers, mirroring Bernardo and Homolka’s recorded crimes. The episode delves into Amber’s afflicted previous, revealing a historical past of trauma that remodeled her right into a remorseless killer. The twisted dynamic between dominant and submissive companions in crime is highlighted as Amber manipulates Richard to satisfy her sadistic needs.

18 “The Boys of Sudworth Position” (Season 9, Episode 7)

Glen Westbrook & Jerry Sandusky Have Many Similarities

“The Boys of Sudworth Position” gifts a irritating tale impressed via the crimes of Jerry Sandusky. Glen Westbrook is strikingly very similar to Sandusky; each had been broadly considered upstanding folks, married with kids and labored at early life amenities. Their public personas masked their predatory conduct, as each had been pedophiles who centered boys attending their amenities. They used child-grooming ways to make the men prone earlier than molesting them again and again. The episode follows the BAU as they examine Westbrook’s heinous crimes.

In spite of being faced with accusations, he maintains his innocence, denying all wrongdoing. His façade of respectability allowed his crimes to stay undetected for over a decade. The BAU uncovers the level of Westbrook’s abuse, revealing how he manipulated and exploited the accept as true with of prone kids. “The Boys of Sudworth Position” serves as a chilling reminder of the evil that may conceal in the back of a captivating external and the devastating affect such predators will have on their sufferers.

17 “There is No Position Like House” (Season 7, Episode 7)

James Heathridge Attracts Inspiration From The Infamous Jeffrey Dahmer

In “There is No Position Like House,” Legal Minds introduces James Heathridge, an unsub who seems to be in accordance with the notorious Jeffrey Dahmer, who’s at once discussed within the episode. Each Heathridge and Dahmer had been serial killers and abductors with equivalent sufferer profiles, concentrated on Caucasian teenage boys with high-risk life. Heathridge lured his sufferers to his trailer with guarantees of beer and intercourse, similar to Dahmer would draw in his sufferers to his rental. As soon as there, he incapacitated them via spiking their beverages with tranquilizers.

After murdering his sufferers, Heathridge dismembered their our bodies autopsy and saved frame portions as grisly trophies, echoing Dahmer’s ugly practices. Moreover, Heathridge being molested via anyone dwelling in the similar trailer park as him can be a nod to claims that Dahmer used to be molested via a neighbor all through adolescence. The BAU races in opposition to time to forestall Heathridge earlier than he claims extra lives, revealing the darkish roots of his conduct and the trauma that formed him.

16 “Seven Seconds” (Season 3, Episode 5)

Legal Minds’ Richard Jacobs Has Many Similarities To Richard Allen Davis

In “Seven Seconds,” the BAU faces a race in opposition to time to search out Katie Jacobs, a tender woman who has long gone lacking all through a circle of relatives collecting at a mall. The investigation unearths that Richard Jacobs kidnapped Katie and supposed to kill her to forestall her from figuring out him. His spouse, Linda Jacobs, acted as his companion, serving to to hide up the crime. “Seven Seconds” attracts inspiration from the real-life case of Richard Allen Davis, the notorious abductor and assassin of 12-year-old Polly Klaas.

Within the episode, Dr. Reid even at once references Davis, noting how he killed Klaas to forestall her from figuring out him. Each Davis and Jacobs had been pedophilic abductors who centered younger women and had feminine accomplices who helped quilt up their crimes. The episode highlights the chilling parallels between Jacobs and Davis, revealing how manipulation and keep an eye on can distort circle of relatives dynamics and result in devastating results.

15 “Blood Hungry” (Season 1, Episode 11)

UnSub Eddie Mays Is Primarily based On Richard Trenton Chase

This nice episode of Legal Minds in accordance with a genuine case from the display’s first season is “Blood Hungry,” which sees the workforce searching a killer who’s consuming the organs of his sufferers — a sinister act that takes inspiration from the real-life case of Richard Chase. Chase killed a number of other people inside of a month within the Seventies in California, drank their blood, and ate their stays. In genuine lifestyles, Chase used to be the serial killer referred to as “The Vampire of Sacramento.” Chase used to be a cannibal and necrophilic who killed six other people earlier than his arrest.

Serial killer Richard Chase operated from 1977 to 1978, and he died in 1980 when he took his handiest lifestyles in a while following his seize. The Legal Minds episode does not cross into the entire ugly main points of the real-life case, but it surely does draw inspiration from it. Reid discussed Chase and mentioned he used to be pushed to kill via the realization extraterrestrial beings had invaded his frame, and the UnSub, Eddie Mays, credited Chase as the foundation for his killing spree. Identical to Chase, Mays tried suicide, however within the display, the BAU controlled to forestall him.

14 “25 To Existence” (Season 6, Episode 11)

Wrongly Convicted Guy Donald Sanderson Is Primarily based On Jeffrey MacDonald

One of the crucial extra tragic instances that impressed a Legal Minds episode is that of Jeffrey MacDonald. In genuine lifestyles, former clinical physician and U.S. Military captain Jeffrey MacDonald used to be convicted of killing his pregnant spouse and two daughters in 1970. He maintained his innocence, claiming that 4 males broke into the home and murdered his circle of relatives. He’s nonetheless incarcerated on the Federal Correctional Establishment in Cumberland, Maryland.

Two Legal Minds episodes are in accordance with genuine instances, referencing Jeffrey MacDonald. Season 6’s “25 To Existence” sees the workforce interviewing a person convicted of killing his spouse and daughter however claims that he is blameless and intruders murdered his circle of relatives named Donald Sanderson. MacDonald impressed the nature of Donald Sanderson. The variation is that the FBI proved his innocence within the episode, and it confirmed he used to be telling the reality. Hotch additionally mentions MacDonald when coping with an UnSub in “Magnificent Gentle.”

13 “Hostage” (Season 11, Episode 14)

UnSub Michael Clark Thompson Is Primarily based On The Ariel Castro Kidnappings

The Legal Minds season 11 episode “Hostage” is eerily very similar to the real-life case of Ariel Castro kidnapping a couple of girls and protecting them prisoner, and there is even a quote that refers to Castro via title within the episode. Castro held 3 girls captive for just about ten years, significantly beating them and raping them a couple of instances. One lady did give start, and others suffered miscarriages. He held them captive from 2002 till 2013, when one of the vital women escaped together with her daughter and were given to the police. One month into his lifestyles sentence, Castro died via suicide.

Castro used to be a power on 5 episodes. Those Legal Minds episodes in accordance with genuine instances painting the ugly main points very similar to the way it came about in genuine lifestyles. The nearest comparability got here in season 11 with “Hostage,” the place Michael Clark Thompson shared numerous similarities to Castro, together with abducting 3 women, and his arrest got here due to one of the vital women escaping.

12 “The Corporate” (Season 7, Episode 20)

Legal Minds Takes On The Kidnapping Of Colleen Stan

“The Corporate” used to be in accordance with the abduction of hitchhiker Colleen Stan via couple Cameron and Janice Hooker. The couple saved her locked up for 23 hours on a daily basis, and he or she used to be sexually abused all through the only hour she used to be allowed out. Stan is of the same opinion to be their slave after the couple convinces her of an evil group referred to as The Corporate that may torture her and her circle of relatives if she did not agree.

Along with the
Legal Minds
episodes in accordance with genuine instances, this real-life kidnapping used to be the root for 2 motion pictures—
The Poughkeepsie Tapes
in 2007 and
Woman within the Field
on Lifetime in 2016.

This Legal Minds episode carefully mirrors the true case however with a vital distinction. Within the display, The Corporate is portrayed as a genuine group, even though now not one who the abductors knew a lot about. UnSub Malcolm Ford makes use of the similar kind of sensory deprivation field to stay their abductee submissive. Along with the Legal Minds episodes in accordance with genuine instances, this real-life kidnapping used to be the root for 2 motion pictures—The Poughkeepsie Tapes in 2007 and Woman within the Field on Lifetime in 2016.

11 “Alpha Male” (Season 12, Episode 15)

Spree Killer Elliot Rodger Used to be The Foundation For A Chilling Legal Minds Episode

No longer all Legal Minds episodes in accordance with genuine instances are impressed via serial killers. Season 12’s “Alpha Male” used to be in accordance with the case of Elliot Rodger, a spree killer who murdered six other people and injured 14 others in Santa Barbara, California.

Rodgers used to be particularly notorious for dubbing his movements a “day of retribution” in a video launched on-line. The 22-year-old performed this damaging act via taking pictures, stabbing, and attacking his sufferers with a automobile earlier than taking his personal lifestyles. That is sometimes called the 2024 Isle Vista killings, Rodger cited the shortcoming to discover a female friend as his motivation.

The Legal Minds episode follows an UnSub perpetrating a number of misogynistic assaults via throwing acid at girls as a result of he is disillusioned about now not being in a dating. Whilst in search of their UnSub, the workforce discussed Rodger, and he used to be obviously the foundation for Alan Crawford, the killer within the Legal Minds episode. The fictionalized model of the case even comes to Crawford writing a manifesto and attacking smaller objectives earlier than the true killing spree.

10 “The Large Wheel” (Season 4, Episode 22)

UnSub Vincent Rowlings Is Primarily based On The Lipstick Killer

The season 4 Legal Minds episode “The Large Wheel” featured a serial killer who despatched a videotape to the BAU with a hidden message, begging them to assist prevent him from murdering once more. This used to be Vincent Rowlings, a person who watched his father homicide his mom when he used to be a kid, and he now kills girls who seem like his mom. He used to be in accordance with The Lipstick Killer, who confirmed up within the Nineteen Forties and killed 3 girls earlier than he used to be stopped.

The actual Lipstick Killer used to be William Heirens, a serial assassin lively in 1946. In contrast to the killer within the Legal Minds episodes in accordance with genuine instances, Heirens later recanted his act of contrition and claimed he by no means killed somebody. In spite of this, he remained imprisoned in Illinois till his dying after serving 65 years in the back of bars.

9 “Omnivore” (Season 4, Episode 18)

Multi-Episode UnSub George Foyet Is Primarily based On The Zodiac Killer

Probably the most terrifying killers on Legal Minds is George Foyet, who fanatics knew for his long-running storyline because the Boston Reaper. He used to be a serial killer who murdered his oldsters after which went on to say a couple of sufferers right through the Eighties. This used to be one in every of Hotch’s first instances, and the early killings had been in accordance with the Zodiac Killer, which stays a chilly case (even though, fortunately, the Zodiac Killer is not recently lively). In Legal Minds, the killer returned a few years later to torment Hotch or even killed his spouse.

In fact, probably the most vital distinction between the Boston Reaper in Legal Minds and the Zodiac Killer is that the latter used to be by no means stuck. To this present day, no person is aware of who the Zodiac Killer used to be, even though there are lots of theories about their id. Legal Minds is not the one display or film to take inspiration from the Zodiac Killer both, as there were many in accordance with one in every of historical past’s maximum infamous uncaught serial killers.

8 “Using The Lightning” (Season 1, Episode 14)

One Of The Display’s Simplest Heroic UnSubs Is Primarily based On Fred And Rose West

One of the crucial easiest episodes of Legal Minds in accordance with a genuine case got here with “Using the Lightning” in Season 1. This episode noticed the BAU head to a jail to interview a husband and spouse serial killer couple who’re making ready for his or her execution. Alternatively, what made this episode hit house used to be that the spouse used to be now not to blame, however had taken the wrap to give protection to her youngster — a unprecedented heroic second on Legal Minds via an UnSub.

This Legal Minds episode is in accordance with a genuine case — albeit loosely — from the United Kingdom, that of Fred and Rose West. The actual-life couple killed dozens of younger British women. Fred used to be discovered to blame and died in jail, however claimed he acted by myself. In spite of this, Rose used to be additionally sentenced to lifestyles in jail.

Probably the most vital distinction is that the UnSub used to be blameless within the Legal Minds episode however requested to be allowed to be performed, so her youngster would by no means be informed who she and her serial killer husband had been. In genuine lifestyles, maximum consider that Rose used to be to blame.

7 “Herbal Born Killer” (Season 1, Episode 8)

UnSub Vincent Perotta Is Primarily based On Richard Kuklinski

“Herbal Born Killer” used to be a Season 1 episode that had the BAU beginning to examine a case of a mob hit on an Arranged Crime Unit. The workforce then realizes the UnSub is a serial killer attached to dozens of murders who centered the OCU.

The episode is in accordance with the real-life serial killer Richard Kuklinski. Kuklinski used to be the serial killer referred to as The Iceman. His signature used to be placing his sufferer’s our bodies into freezers, and he killed any place between seven and 250 other people as a result of he steadily exaggerated his prison profession after he used to be arrested — even claiming he killed Jimmy Hoffa.

Vincent Perotta, the killer within the episode, shared so much in not unusual with Kuklinski. They had been each hitmen and gangsters who got here from abusive backgrounds. Neither appreciated killing girls, and each sought after to kill their dads (which Perotta did). Perotta additionally left one sufferer alive for rats to consume him, which is one thing Kuklinski claimed he as soon as did as smartly.

6 “To Hell… And Again” (Season 4, Episode 25)

The Abnormal Season 4 UnSubs Are Primarily based On Robert Pickton

“To Hell” and “And Again” are the general two horrifying Legal Minds episodes in accordance with genuine instances of Season 4 and have the serial killers referred to as the Turner Brothers, who lead the BAU from Detroit to Canada. Those killers had been brothers Mason and Luvas and had been a part of one in every of Legal Minds‘ most eldritch instances, as they eradicated the our bodies via feeding them to his pigs. Those serial killers had been in accordance with the Canadian referred to as the Pig Farmer Killer — Robert Pickton.

Robert Pickton used to be suspected of killing over 30 other people, even though how and why he did it stays unknown. He used to be handiest attempted for 6 murders for the reason that different instances could not be confirmed, regardless that he confessed duty for 49. The jury returned a second-degree homicide verdict, and he ended up sentenced to lifestyles in jail. There have been 20 different murders came upon, however none had been attempted after his sentencing.