Top 20 Shocking Criminal Minds Deaths

#20: Matthew Benton

“Demonology”

When SSA Emily Prentiss reunites with an old childhood friend, John Cooley, he delivers the awful news that their mutual friend, Matthew Benton, has recently died. Emily and the team connect his death to two others who died in their homes from what presents as natural causes, including dehydration and an aneurysm. All three deaths were a result of exorcisms performed by Father Paul Silvano, approved by families who thought their loved ones were possessed by a demon. Matthew’s parents saw his erratic behavior as a sign of demonic possession, which they still believe even after he experienced a fatal, stress-induced heart attack during Silvano’s exorcism. The BAU has seen religion-driven unsubs before, but dying painful, terrifying deaths via exorcisms? That’s a new one.

#19: Kate Joyner

“Mayhem”

After multiple people are shot and killed in New York City, SSA Kate Joyner calls in Hotch and his team to help find the unsubs involved. As each agent gets into a black SUV, a bomb goes off in one of them, and the episode ends on a cliffhanger: who was in the bombed vehicle? The Season 4 premiere shows us that the blast came from an IED placed underneath Hotch and Kate’s SUV, the latter of whom is severely wounded and likely paralyzed. The explosion is shocking enough, but seeing Kate suffering in the street is a painful watch. Eventually, she’s rushed to the hospital, where she dies from her extensive injuries.

#18: Rebecca Bryant

“No Way Out, Part II: The Evilution of Frank”

Rebecca Bryant first appeared in the Season 1 finale, when she was abducted and held prisoner for 2 years, unaware that her captor was actually her biological father. The team rescues Rebecca in the Season 2 premiere, but by the finale, she’s in trouble again. Serial killer Frank Breitkopf returns and goes after victims that the BAU saved. After killing Gideon’s old friend, Sarah Jacobs, Frank poses as Gideon, whom Rebecca had never met, to gain entry into her apartment, where he murders her. His goal is to reunite with his “love interest,” Jane Hanratty, who left him. In the end, Frank convinces Jane to be with him again, and the two jump in front of a train.

#17: Sarah Jean Mason

“Riding the Lightning”

When people confess to crimes they didn’t commit, they’re usually seeking attention. But that’s not the case with Sarah Jean Mason. Before she was a prisoner on Death Row, Sarah Jean was married to ruthless serial killer Jacob Dawes. Together they had a son named Riley but Jacob thought he was just a liability and instructed his wife to kill their child. Sarah Jean secretly gave him away to a loving family but still confessed to murdering him. Gideon discovers that Riley is indeed still alive which would prove her innocence. But rather than reveal the truth, Sarah Jean accepts her death sentence, wishing to protect her son. Surprisingly, Gideon agrees to drop it, allowing her to die for a crime she didn’t commit.

#16: Carolyn Baker Rossi

“Epilogue”

David Rossi experienced many tragic losses in his life including the death of his son with his first wife Carolyn. When the former couple catches up in Season 7, she tells him she’s been diagnosed with ALS. She asks for his assistance in a premature death but he can’t bring himself to do it. The next time he sees Carolyn, she’s already taken the steps to end her life, and we’re just as shocked as poor Rossi. Sadly, this wouldn’t be the only time he watches a spouse die. In Season 13, Rossi rekindled a romance with ex-wife #3 Krystall Richards. By Season 14, they were remarried. But in “Criminal Minds: Evolution,” we find out she died of an unspecified illness, leaving Rossi devastated once again.

#15: Roger Song’s Victims

“Piranha”

This Season 17 episode opens with Craig Park, a man trapped in a glass cage. After being interrogated by the unsub, he’s doused in a sulfuric acid and hydrogen peroxide mixture until he dies. He’s the third victim of Roger Song, a traumatized man who has already killed Alan George and Tony Moon, two of the men he believes assaulted his wife. But they are actually just sperm donors, along with his last victim, Jeremy Moy. This “piranha solution” isn’t used just to get rid of human remains; it’s also how they’re killed. It goes without saying that being liquified is a truly horrific death. The episode ends with another shock: Song’s family has been dead the whole time.

#14: Mr. Scratch Victims

“Mr. Scratch”

In this Matthew Gray Gubler-directed episode, three seemingly unrelated people have been arrested for murder. Daniel Karras killed his mother, and Christine McNeil and Larry Merrin killed their romantic partners, but all three claim a shadow monster they call “Mr. Scratch” attacked them. While they physically committed the crimes, the BAU discovers someone manipulated their minds with hallucinogens. Before he could harm his son, Bill Kinderman took his own life, as did Dr. Susannah Regan. The revenge-fueled unsub, Peter Lewis, targeted these four former foster kids decades after law enforcement and Dr. Regan coerced them into saying his dad abused them in the Lewis’ group home. Having a loved one perish is traumatic, but being manipulated into killing them is a nightmare in and of itself.

#13: Kelly Seymour

“North Mammon”

Seeking revenge on his former football teammates, Marcus Younger kidnaps three of their daughters – North Mammon High School girls’ soccer players Polly Homefeldt, Brooke Chambers, and Kelly Seymour. He locks the trio in a cellar without water or food, telling them one will die but they have to choose who. With Brooke’s cough becoming exceedingly worse, Kelly decides it should be her. But before she uses one of the weapons Younger provided them, Brooke kills Kelly. The situation itself is unimaginable but with her being ill and Kelly determined to get free, we didn’t expect Brooke to be the one who would survive. Of course, we hoped they’d be rescued before anyone had to die.

#12: Stephen Shepherd

“Mosley Lane”

For years, Roger and Anita Roycewood have abducted kids from public places, holding them captive in their house of horrors. When they take Aimee Lynch, we see her new “siblings,” Charlie, Mae, and Stephen. All three try to keep her out of harm’s way, but Stephen is dispatched and cremated after standing up to Anita. In one of the most heartbreaking moments in the series, Charlie tells Mr. and Mrs. Shepherd that their son gave his life trying to protect the Roycewoods’ last victim. It’s painful to know that his parents were so close to reuniting with him after he’d been missing for 7 years.

#11: Clubgoers & Wine Drinkers

“Brothers Hotchner”

When Anna Johnson has what appears to be an extreme overdose at an NYC nightclub, bartender Sean Hotchner calls his older brother for help. The BAU finds that Anna and the previous victims unknowingly consumed a mixture of illegal substances, making them bleed from their eyes, nose, and mouth. The mixture, aka “Doctor Death,” also kills at least 6 partygoers at a rave, then Bernard and Catherine Hatchitt meet the same fate after drinking dosed wine. Sean’s boss, Thane Parks, admits to spiking the bottles “for a laugh,” thinking it was one substance. But the main unsub is actually Larry Feretich, a grieving father poisoning random people in a misguided attempt to avenge his daughter. The fatal reaction to the substances is pure nightmare fuel.

#10: Detective Matt Spicer

“Our Darkest Hour” & “The Longest Night”

Seasons 5 and 6 saw one of the show’s scariest unsubs, Billy Flynn dubbed the “Prince of Darkness.” The BAU establishes the connection between the prolific serial killer and Detective Matt Spicer, the grown-up son of a couple he murdered 26 years ago. Throughout the episode, Morgan observes signs that the detective has unknowingly suppressed a traumatic childhood memory. After decades of killing across the country, Flynn returns to California and torments Spicer by murdering people in the area and ultimately kidnapping his sister and daughter. Despite surrendering, the detective is mercilessly killed in front of them. All of Flynn’s crimes are horrific but taking the life of a father simply to show just how truly sadistic he is is on another level.

#9: Tate Andrews

“...All the Devils Are Here”

Arachnophobes beware; this episode involves a lot of spiders. Season 16 introduced Elias Voit, aka the “Sicarius Killer,” and his serial killer network. Each member has their own disturbing kill methods, and are instructed to take their own lives if they get caught (xref). In Season 18, they work together at the behest of the network’s new leader. Unfortunately for Tate Andrews, he’s the victim of Trevor Wolner, aka “Huntsman,” who force-fed him 26 balloons filled with small IEDs and Sicarius spiders. Garcia tries to jam the signals and unintentionally detonates the internal explosives, releasing the spiders inside of Andrews, who dies a terrible death. Even if you’re not normally scared of spiders, this will make your skin crawl long after the credits roll.

#8: Teen Victims

“Risky Business”

In an especially somber episode of “Criminal Minds,” the BAU tries to establish if multiple high school students, including Sean Eubanks, Trish Leake, and Ryan Krouse, intentionally ended their lives or if there’s foul play involved. The team discovers they were all trying to win an online game, along with other classmates in nearby towns. While they begin profiling the unsub as young and tech-savvy, they quickly realize the culprit is a parent. An EMT named Will Summers, who has Münchausen Syndrome by Proxy, orchestrated everything, encouraged over 30 students to play, and then tried to revive them. It’s heartbreaking to think of all the young, innocent lives lost just because of this unsub’s sick game.

#7: Stephen Walker

“Wheels Up”

Shortly after Hotch officially went into Witness Protection in Season 12, Stephen Walker joined the team. The agent had established relationships with Prentiss and Rossi and quickly became a beloved member of the BAU fam. So when the Season 13 premiere came around, fans were shocked to learn that Walker was a casualty in the crash caused by Peter Lewis aka “Mr. Scratch,” a multi-season enemy of the team. Since Prentiss recruited Walker to come work for the BAU, she feels guilty. And as if his death wasn’t heartbreaking enough, we see his wife Monica at the hospital overwhelmed with grief.

#6: Emily Prentiss

“Lauren”

In Season 6, Ian Doyle, an old foe of Emily’s, comes back into her life, leading to a violent face-to-face confrontation that leaves her severely wounded. After the team hears that she didn’t survive, we see the team mourn her unfathomable death at the hospital and attend her funeral. The episode ends with JJ delivering passports to a woman in Paris. Later, we learn this was Emily about to go into hiding. Even though she ultimately survived, she did code on the way to the hospital. Emily Prentiss returns in the first episode of Season 7, a double shock to everyone kept in the dark. While the team is relieved to have her back, some are still deeply hurt by the secrecy.

#5: Jason Gideon

“Nelson’s Sparrow”

In the world of “Criminal Minds,” Jason Gideon is a co-founder of the FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit. After years of dealing with psychopaths, and endless innocent victims, the respected profiler leaves the team he founded. Gideon’s abrupt exit at the beginning of Season 3 left his colleagues shocked as well as the audience. Despite actor Mandy Patinkin’s decision to leave the series, fans still held out hope he’d make a return in some capacity. But in Season 10, the character was officially killed off by an unsub from a decades-old case. While Gideon’s murder was off-screen, it still made a significant impact since we had to mourn the loss a second time.

#4: Will LaMontagne Jr.

“The Zookeeper”

Season 2 introduced us to Will LaMontagne Jr., a New Orleans detective who becomes JJ’s love interest and eventual husband. Since then, he’s had a few close calls in the series, from being shot and strapped to a bomb in Season 7 to a cancer scare and a bullet wound from Elias Voit in Season 16. But after surviving all of that, Will is officially killed off in Season 18’s second episode. He doesn’t die in the line of duty or at the hands of an unsub; he’s in the kitchen with JJ when he collapses and dies of a rare thyroid aneurysm. It’s a sudden, devastating loss for JJ and their kids, Henry and Michael.

#3: Erin Strauss

“The Replicator”

Since her first appearance in Season 2, FBI Section Chief Director Erin Strauss has been one of the many enemies of the BAU. She tried to break up the team on more than one occasion and was seemingly unliked by everyone. Her character improved over the years, showing vulnerability and even empathy for the people she once antagonized. In Season 8, vengeful FBI Agent John Curtis, aka The Replicator, kills Strauss while she and the team are in New York. While she wasn’t a main character, we still didn’t anticipate her death, or how sad it would be. Curtis’ slow-acting killing method was torturous, drawing out her demise and leaving Hotch to witness her die up close.

#2: Maeve Donovan

“Zugzwang”

In Season 8 of “Criminal Minds,” our beloved boy wonder Spencer Reid finally got a romantic love interest. He and Maeve Donovan only knew each other briefly and since she had a stalker, the two could only speak over the phone. However, through their shared love of literature and science, Reid and Maeve were a match made in nerdy heaven. When Maeve’s stalker Diane Turner abducts her, Reid enlists the team to help save her. But when he’s finally face-to-face with his long-distance love, their time together is cut short by Diane, who simultaneously takes Maeve’s life along with her own. We really wanted a happy ending for Reid. Instead, the episode ends in a shocking tragedy.

Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions.

Francesca Morales, “Sick Day”

JJ Feels Immense Guilt for Not Saving a Victim Dying in a Fire

Phil Brooks, “Luke”

Luke’s Best Friend Is Murdered by a Revenge-Fueled Serial Killer

Frank Clemensen, “The Perfect Storm”

Experienced a Fatal Heart Attack After Seeing His Daughter Tortured on Camera

Vickie Wright, “True Night”

Jonny McHale Was Forced to Watch a Gang Torture & Kill His Pregnant Fiancé

FBI Deputy Director Doug Bailey, “Dead End”

A Quick & Brutal End for a New Character

#1: Haley Hotchner

“100”

Several unsubs have targeted the BAU for one reason or another but one of the worst was George Foyet aka “The Reaper.” After his return to the city of Boston in Season 4, Foyet comes back to further taunt Hotch in Season 5 by kidnapping his ex-wife Haley and their Jack. When she calls Hotch and realizes she’s with a cold-blooded killer, we can hear the fear in her voice. She spends her last moments on the phone with him while the team listens on in terror. It’s shocking not only because of Haley’s innocence but because of how it all unfolded. It’s a personal tragedy for Hotch and Jack but everyone collectively mourns Haley, someone we’ve known since the first episode of the series.

Whose demise shocked you the most? Let us know in the comments.