Criminal Minds is a police procedural drama that follows the lives of FBI agents in the Behavioral Analysis Unit. Notable BAU members include SSA Aaron Hotchner, Penelope Garcia, Emily Prentiss, Tara Lewis, David Rossi, Luke Alvez, Jennifer Jareau, and others. Also among the individuals working at the BAU are Derek Morgan and Dr. Spencer Reid, characters who have yet to return for Criminal Minds: Evolution, the branding for season 16 onward of the show. While Derek Morgan’s potential to return is still uncertain, the show has been seemingly building up to a return for Dr. Spencer Reid.

The BAU uses criminal profiling and behavioral analysis to aid investigations. These crimes tend to involve serial killers who have a ritualistic aspect to their killing or criminals who are difficult to track down by less specialized teams. In most episodes of Criminal Minds, there are several mentions of real-life serial killers in comparison to the crimes the BAU investigates. In some cases, the Criminal Minds‘ writers go beyond just making references and more directly base the case of an episode on a true story, making these episodes even more unnerving to watch.

Updated on August 21, 2024, by Jeremy Devoe: With Season 3 of Criminal Minds: Evolution confirmation of production keeping the Criminal Minds series running strong, and the potential return of Dr. Spencer Reid on the horizon, we wanted to update this list with another 5 cases from the original series based on true events that Criminal Minds used as the basis for cases or Unsubs.

Cast of the BAU Members Often Seen

20 “The Perfect Storm” Takes Inspiration From “The Ken And Barbie Killers”

Season 2, Episode 3

“The Perfect Storm” is a fairly disturbing Criminal Minds episode made even more disturbing after knowing it’s based on a real-life case. This Criminal Minds episode starts after a family receives a videotape of their daughter being assaulted, with the BAU quickly setting up an investigation into the incident. They correctly deduce that there are two criminals and use that factor to guide their search, but during their investigation, another girl sadly goes missing.

The biggest revelation in the case comes after the BAU team realizes a suspect, Tony Canardo, was working with his wife, Amber Cnardo, and not another outside accomplice, with Amber even leading the two in their crimes. This husband and wife duo from “The Perfect Storm” is based on The Ken and Barbie killers from Ontario, Canada, Paul Bernardo and Karla Homolka and their crimes. Like in this Criminal Minds episode, Bernardo and Homolka would lure younger women into their clutches by asking for directions or other similar help before kidnapping and assaulting the women, often making recordings of the latter act.

19 The Unsub of “Blood Hungry” was Based on a 1970s Serial Killer

Season 1, Episode 11

Season 1 established that Criminal Minds would not shy away from its intense and unsettling content, which is taken up a notch in episode 11. In it, audiences watch as the BAU tracks down a serial killer who feels compelled to consume human blood, flesh and organs. “Blood Hungry” even gives viewers a direct look at the criminal’s process of putting containers of human meat and other viscera into his freezer.

The events of “Blood Hungry” are based on Richard Trenton Chase’s case, a serial killer who became known as the “Vampire of Sacramento.” In the late 1970s, Chase believed himself to have a heart condition or stolen pulmonary artery, likely a result of suffering from intense hypochondria, which he thought could only be cured through the consumption of human blood. He caused the deaths of six people before his incarceration in January 1978 and sentencing on May 8, 1979.

18 “The Eyes Have It” Tracked a Killer With a Grisly Practice

Season 5, Episode 6

This episode of Criminal Minds has the BAU tracking down an Unsub who engages in copious amounts of taxidermy, with the upsetting addition of real human eyes in the place of animal eyes, specifically obtained from murdering others. The BAU steps in after the case is brought to their attention by JJ, leading to them flying out to Oklahoma City to begin tracking down their Unsub, Earl Bulford. Before knowing Bulford’s identity, the BAU surmise he’s a taxidermist based on a murder where he left damaged eyes intact on the body, leading to them finding Bulford’s failing taxidermy shop and learning more about him.

Earl Bulford’s actions resemble those of The Dallas Slasher’s, with both being murderers, enucleators (murderers who remove eyes specifically), interested in taxidermy and starting their killings after the death of their parents. Charles Albright was convicted for one of the Dallas Slasher’s killings, though, some believe that he may not have played a role in the others based on the evidence indicating Albright being primarily considered circumstantial.

17 “Omnivore” Featured One of Criminal Minds’ Most Terrifying Killers

Season 4, Episode 18

George Foyet (aka The Reaper) was arguably the most notorious killer covered in Criminal Minds. First appearing in Season 4, Foyet’s actions were compared to those of two infamous serial killers, The Zodiac Killer and The BTK Killer, being described as highly intelligent and having a penchant for taunting investigators about their crimes. More specifically, concerning resemblances to the Zodiac Killer, Foyet would send cryptic messages to the police and otherwise attempt to make deals with law enforcement.

Foyet killed 20 people in Criminal Minds, including a bus full of passengers, which is a crime that the Zodiac Killer had only managed to threaten to enact. George Foyet returns in later seasons, and in Season 5, Episode 9 “100,” he manages to kidnap Aaron Hotchner’s ex-wife, Haley, and their son. In one of the most heartbreaking scenes of Criminal Minds, Foyet succeeds in murdering Haley before Hotchner can arrive to stop Foyet. While Hotchner kills Foyet before other BAU members and police can arrive, Foyet later appears in hallucinatory visions of both Hotch and Dr. Reid.

16 “The Company” Featured a Harrowing Kidnapping Case Based on Real Events

Season 7, Episode 20

Once in a while, the BAU members will end up dealing with a personal case.To this point, it’s been a long-running plot-line in Criminal Minds that Derek Morgan’s cousin has been missing for 8 years. When Derek finds out his sister saw Cindi (their cousin) in a car with the man who abducted her, Derek presents the case to the team. It turns out that Cindi had been abducted by her long-term stalker, Malcolm. Malcolm is revealed to have forced Cindi to sign a contract committing herself to slavery, with Malcolm threatening that “The Company” would kill her and her family if she disobeyed.

“The Company” is based on the real-life kidnapping of 20-year-old Colleen Stan, who was taken while hitchhiking to a friend’s house. Colleen was kept as a prisoner and sex slave for 7 years, forced to sign a contract that would have kept her imprisoned for life. Eventually, Colleen and one of her captors, Janice Hooker, banded together and plotted their joint escape from Cameron Hooker, Janice’s husband. Cameron Hooker was arrested in 1985 and given 104 years in prison as a sentence, though he is being put on trial again this year.

15 “25 To Life” Was Based On Don Sanderson’s Murders

Season 6, Episode 11

Rather than just hunting criminals, the episode “25 To Life” also focuses on a pending recommendation for the parole of a previous killer, Don Sanderson, who was wrongfully charged with the murder of his wife and daughter. By the time of his interview with Derek Morgan, Don had essentially defended his innocence and proven to be a model inmate, leading to his affirmative recommendation for parole. However, on his very first night of freedom, Don is arrested for stabbing a man to death, though it’s proven to have been in self-defense.

The murder case in “25 To Life” that Don was framed for is based on the Jeffrey MacDonald case of August 1979. MacDonald was a physician, like Don was, and had been convicted of killing his pregnant wife and his two daughters despite claiming the act was perpetrated by intruders in the home that evening. While Don was indeed framed in his case, Jeffery MacDonald’s statements are still believed to have been fabricated since his incarceration.

14 The Unsub of “Proof” Was Obsessed With His Brother’s Wife

Season 7, Episode 2

The BAU are brought to Durant, Oklahoma in a string of sexual assaults and murders, with a clear pattern in the choice of victim and the status of the discovered bodies being established. Specifically, young, blond women with long hair and blue eyes, all of whom were found in clothing from the 1980s and maimed in one way or another with acid. The Unusb here is Ben Bradstone, or “Cy” Bradstone, who has been targeting women who look like his brother’s wife, Lylya, from his memories of Lyla when she was younger, including Lyla’s daughter Tammy.

After the BAU uncovers Ben’s identity as their Unsub and the motive behind his crimes, they use Lyla to draw Ben out for arrest. Serial killers Angelo Buono and Kenneth Bianchi serve as the basis for Ben Bradstone and his crimes; all three men were sociopathic and focused their crimes on young adult women, using ruses to abduct and hold them in isolated locations at which they committed their crimes. While Ben’s obsession with Lyla was dramatized for Criminal MInds, all three men had complicated interactions with their high school crushes.

13 The BAU Worked Hard to Help the Victims in “Hostage”

Season 11, Episode 14

The 11th season of Criminal Minds brings the episode “Hostage.” A young woman, Gina Byrant, escapes her kidnapper, Michael Clark Thompson, who has held her and two other women captive for years while abusing them in a slew of horrible manners. After helping Gina and getting information from her, the BAU then located the other young women still captive and the children they were forced to carry, getting them all treated at the hospital and reuniting the young women with their families.

The case central to “Hostage” is based primarily on the Ariel Castro case that spanned from 1981 to May 6, 2013, with Castro having abducted three women in Cleveland, Ohio, and holding them captive for nearly a decade. This also includes the heinous treatment of the captives, mirrored between Criminal Minds and the case itself. Michael Clark Thompson’s death in this episode also resembles the infamous case of Jeff Doucet, who was also shot with a revolver by the parent, Gary Plauché, of a child he was charged with molesting. Both men also died while being escorted by law enforcement officials in a public setting.

12 The Unsubs of “Cradle to Grave” Wanted a Son for Themselves

Season 5, Episode 5

In this unsettling episode, the Unsubs, Robert and Linda Reimann, are revealed from the beginning to be a husband and wife duo who specifically abduct young, blond women and force them to carry children, killing the women after they give birth. After a situation that reveals that the Reimanns could have benefited financially from having a child, Lisa, up for adoption, but refused to do so in a way that revealed themselves, the BAU deduces that they are dealing with a married couple and not sexual deviants, as they had been assuming.

This eventually leads to them finding the Reimanns and apprehending Robert while taking away a child from Linda as well. The criminal activities of the Reimanns hold similarities to those of Phillip and Nancy Garrido; both were married couples where the husband was a serial rapist and domestic abuser. Both also targeted younger, troubled Caucasian women and had their victims carry the children forcibly conceived in captivity. Furthermore, the Reimmans matched the pattern seen with the Garridos, where children of one gender were put up for adoption while the opposite gender was kept for their own purposes.

11 Doctor Spencer Reid Was Framed in the Episode “Alpha Male”

Season 12, Episode 15

With Dr. Spencer Reid in jail for a crime he didn’t commit, the BAU is left to uncover the identity of the Unsub who is behind a string of seemingly random acid attacks in Philadelphia. The team comes to deduce that the Unsub was trying to hurt happy couples and young, attractive people in particular. This leads to the Unsub being profiled as an entitled and narcissistic man who wanted to create a world where women feared men. By finding a member of a misogynistic website who works in a chemical lab, SSA Stephen Walker successfully profiles the Unsub, who is revealed to be Alan Crawford.

The case focused on in “Alpha Male” is based on the case of Elliot Rodger, who killed 6 people on May 23, 2014, in California. Both Rodger and Crawford committed crimes out of spite and misogyny, escalating from petty offenses to outright killings. Both also wrote long manifestos detailing the rationale for their perspectives on the world and their crimes; Episode Writer Karen Maser directly confirmed that Elliot Rodger was the basis for the Criminal Minds “Alpha Male” case.

10 “The Boys Of Sudworth Place” Sees Victims Take Revenge Through Crime

Season 10, Episode 8

Many Criminal Minds episodes feature disturbing twists and “The Boys of Sudworth Place” is no different. This Criminal Minds episode takes inspiration from real-life events and follows two young men who kidnap a lawyer named Jack Westbrook. Things soon turn once the BAU finds out Westbrook himself is a criminal who has sexually molested the men who have kidnapped him, revealing it to be a case of his victims wanting to exact revenge. “The Boys of Sudworth Place” draws inspiration from various real-life sources. Most notably, Jack Westbrook’s character shares many similarities with convicted criminal Jerry Sandusky, who is mentioned by name in the episode in direct relation to Jack Westbrook.

Sandusky, like Westbrook, was a respected member of his local community who volunteered to help underprivileged and at-risk youth, while also using his position to abuse those same individuals. “The Boys of Sudworth” also shares similarities with Lorenzo Carcaterra’s fictionalized memoir “Sleepers,” which revolves around four men who expose a group of criminal guards at a correctional facility by purposely sabotaging a court case involving two of the four, with the help of one member who’s become a Defense Attorney.

9 “The Big Wheel” Was a “First” for The BAU

Season 4, Episode 22

“The Big Wheel” marks an unusual case for Criminal Minds‘ BAU, as their first proper lead for a string of murders came from the Unsub themselves. The footage showed the Unsub, Vincent Rowlings, writing “help me” on the wall. Garcia found many clues in the video footage, and with the rest of the BAU figured out that Rowlings was meticulously organized and detailed. The BAU created a timeline of the Rowlings’ killings and managed to track down a young boy named Stanley, who was currently within Rowlings’ hold.

Rowlings befriended Stanley after killing his mother, having not initially realized that his victim had a child. The BAU found Stanely and Rowlings at the carnival, where he took Stanley to go on the “The Big Wheel.” Vincent Rowling most resembles an identified serial killer by the title of The Austin Axe Murderer. This unnamed killer also targeted primarily women and only killed one male without having premeditated the killing, both also sparing the child of a previous victim after coming into contact with them. Additionally, Rowlings’ messages asking for help in red at each crime scene were an infamous piece of evidence also seen beside victims of the unidentified Lipstick Killer.

8 The Episode “Lucky” Presents One of the Most Horrifying Unsubs

Season 3, Episode 8

Criminal Minds‘ BAU is made aware of the terrible crimes of this episode’s Unsub, Floyd Feylinn Ferell, after the top half of a body is discovered with a reverse pentacle carved upon it near Bridgewater, Florida. While the state of the body would possibly have indicated predation by the alligators of the area the body was found in, the presence of the pentacle and six fingers in the stomach of the victim confirm for the BAU that they’re dealing with a serial killer. As the BAU dig deeper, they uncover, locate and apprehend Ferell, but not before he had already fed one of his victims to the same search party who went looking for her.

Floyd Ferell’s actions and crimes are based upon those of a suspected serial killer by the name of Nathaniel Bar-Jonah, who was arrested for multiple counts of assault, sexual assault and kidnapping. Both men held a strong interest in cannibalism since a younger age, with an attack against another young girl long before their actual crime sprees. After exiting the institutions they were placed in for such an attack, they opened their own restaurants and created cannibalistic cookbooks amid conducting their crimes.

7 The Unsubs in “The Thirteenth Step” Were Based on Bonnie and Clyde

Season 6, Episode 13

“The Thirteenth Step” follows a young, highly in-love couple who commit killings and robberies together. The BAU head to Montana where the Unsubs had killed patrons of a gas station and were caught on CCTV. The team managed to locate the Unsubs, Ray Donovan and Sydney Manning, after this point, but they had already taken a child, Heather, hostage. Nevertheless, BAU managed to get Ray and Sydney to turn on each other.

Due to revelations and rising tension from this turn of events, Ray strangles Sydney and kills her just before he releases Heather and attempts a frantic escape himself. Ray and Sydney of “The Thirteenth Step” were based on real-life criminals Bonnie and Clyde, who operated between 1931 and 1934 in America. They were also inspired by Charles Starkweather and Caril Ann Fugate, another couple who committed spree robberies and murders. “The Thirteenth Step” was also inspired by the infamously violent film Natural Born Killers, which itself was partially based upon Starkweather and Fugate’s case.

6 The Unsubs of “Mosley Lane” Were Another Husband and Wife Duo

Season 5, Episode 16

Directed by Dr. Reid’s actor, “Mosley Lane” presents the case of two unsettling, elderly Unsubs who specifically abduct young children from places like county fairs where security is fairly lax, forcing them to live in the basement of their relatively isolated home as a form of “family.” Outside of one older boy, who is kept to helps as an accomplice, any children who grow too old or aware of their scenario are cremated and have their ashes spread over the Roycewood’s rose garden.

While the BAU does uncover the Roycewoods’ actions, they aren’t in time to stop one of the captive children from shooting Anita in self-defense, while the officer watching Roger makes the mistake of letting him go unattended long enough for Roger to hang himself. The Roycewoods’ case primarily resembles that of the case of Cameron and Janice Hooker, with both marital couples using ruses to abduct young children who were then held in captivity with customized chambers that served as their rooms. Both also had a victim develop a fondness for their captors, while another was allowed limited freedom once they were groomed enough.

5 The Body Count Was Startlingly High in “To Hell…” & “…And Back”

Season 4, Episode 25 & 26

Two of the darkest episodes of Criminal Minds, “To Hell…” and “…And Back” take the BAU to Canada. There, they find a remote farmhouse that belongs to Lucas and Mason Turner, the two main suspects in a serial murder case. Mason is a quadriplegic who maintains innocence because he “never laid a hand on anyone.” Lucas and Mason were abducting people, killing them and using their bodies to carry out stem cell research that they believed could cure Lucas’ paralysis.

The FBI team found nearly 89 pairs of shoes at the farmhouse, suggesting the Turner brothers had as many victims whose bodies were fed to their pigs. Lucas Turner was inspired by two separate criminals, Ed Gein and Robert Pickton. Ed Gein also lived on a farm with his brother (who, like Mason, sustained a life-altering injury). Lucas and Gein both also primarily targeted women and dismembered their victims. Lucas Turner was also based on Robert Pickton, a serial killer and abductor. Pickton also had a brother, lived on a farm, worked as a pig farmer, targeted drug addicts and sex workers and operated in Canada.

4 “Riding The Lightning” Had an Interesting Plot Twist for Viewers

Season 1, Episode 14

“Riding the Lightning” focused on one of the most fascinating Unsubs in Criminal Minds. Sarah Jean Mason married an unassuming man named Jacob Dawes. Eventually, Mason discovered that Dawes was torturing and murdering teenage girls. Although she kept quiet about his kills for many years, her conscience finally surfaced fully and she made an anonymous tip. After being questioned by police and worrying over brushing so closely with their suspicion, Dawes ordered Mason to kill their son Riley, who Dawes saw as a liability.

Instead of killing their son, Mason gave Riley away to a loving couple she did house cleaning for and falsely confessed to killing him. The BAU looked into Dawes’ various murders and visited Mason in prison to get more information. Gideon quickly worked out Mason’s innocence, but she begged him to let her be executed. She preferred to die with the secret rather than allow her son to find out who his parents were. Jacob Dawes and Sarah Jean Mason together resemble Fred and Rosemary West. The Wests killed at least 12 people between 1967 and 1987, also targeting younger women who were then buried on the Wests’ property.

3 “Unfinished Business” Was Also Based on The BTK Killer

Season 1, Episode 15

“Unfinished Business” features the return of a serial murderer, the Keystone Killer. After finding out that a book was written about his crimes, the Unsub murders a brunette woman named Carla. The Keystone Killer sent the BAU some clues to his identity and promised to kill another person after five days. To deal with this Unsub, later revealed to be Walter Kern, the BAU enlists the help of Max Ryan, a profiler who was previously hunting the Keystone Killer in the ’80s.

Kern’s huge change in MO ultimately leads the BAU and Max right to him, and Morgan arrests him just before he conducts another murder. The Keystone Killer was based on Dennis Rader, who’s infamously known as the BTK Killer. Rader was also a stalker and killer who had access to his victims’ homes due to his work as a home-alarm installer, and kept his victims’ driver’s licenses as trophies. Both Rader and the Keystone Killer also sent clues and puzzles to law enforcement officers, returning to their killing after pausing throughout the 80s.

2 Native Americans Are Framed for Crime in “The Tribe”

Season 1, Episode 16

After five bodies are found in New Mexico, Criminal Minds‘ BAU questions how many Unsubs it would take to pull off such a crime successfully. Their deaths were found to be imitating war rituals of the Native American Plains Indians, and the location of the murders was atop a sacred burial ground. The BAU asked one resident, John Blackwolf, for his expertise in Native American culture. He suggested that there were six victims and at least eight Unsubs. When the BAU identified the sixth victim, they learned that she’d been living in a cult for over a year.

When they find the cult leader, a tense fight and hostage situation ensues, but the BAU manages to resolve the incident. The cult leader, Jackson Cally, had similar motivations to Charles Manson, with Cally aiming to wage a race war between Native Americans and Caucasians. Manson’s race-war was named Helter Skelter and targeted African Americans starting in 1968. The case also drew inspiration from the Symbionese Liberation Army, with their group’s views on African Americans mirroring how Cally’s group saw Native Americans.

1 “Minimal Loss” Gets Inspiration From a Real-Life Cult Story

Season 4, Episode 3

“Minimal Loss” sees Detectives Prentiss and Reid go undercover to investigate a cult, and get caught in the crossfire after a local police raid goes wrong. Prentiss and Reid pretend to be child service workers as they investigate claims of child abuse within the Separatarian Sect cult. Luke Perry guest-starred in this Criminal Minds episode as the charismatic cult leader, Benjamin Cyrus, who was the one a caller reported as the one perpetrating the child abuse within the cult.

This Criminal Minds episode is based on true events, particularly the infamous Waco siege. During the Waco Siege, the federal government conducted the siege of a compound belonging to the religious cult known as the Branch Davidians. The incident at Ruby Ridge and that of the Montana Freemen were also mentioned by name in the episode, with David Rossi even stating that he was working on negotiations during the latter, further tying the world of Criminal Minds’ fiction to a real event.