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| “ | Your honor... every day I waken to this, uh... nightmare of not knowing who or... what I am, and if this test can really help me remember, then whatever the consequences, I... I want to do it. I have to. | „ |
| ~ Matloff consenting to brain fingerprinting at his trial to recover his memories. |
Brian Matloff (nee Brian Genesee), also known as The Blue Ridge Strangler, is the main antagonist of the Criminal Minds episode "Tabula Rasa". Matloff is an amnesic serial killer whose guilt is questioned while he's placed on trial for serial murder.
He was portrayed by Eric Lange, who also portrayed Blake Denton in Antebellum.
Biography[]
Early Life[]
Matloff's mother, an indigenous American woman named Nina Genesee, gave birth to him in 1971 when she was very young. After Nina placed him for adoption, Matloff was raised by a Polish Catholic couple. After graduating college, Matloff worked for the U.S. Forest Service, a division of the Department of Agriculture responsible for national forest and land upkeep, his area of work being in the Blue Ridge Parkway. Nina had remarried and took on the surname Moore, having more children with her husband. Matloff did research and eventually came to find Nina, asking to know her better by phone calls or joining her for the holidays. Nina was still insecure about giving Matloff away, so when she gave him the cold shoulder, Matloff was personally wounded by feeling abandoned. Not only did he study indigenous religion and history, but he continued to see his mother in young, brunette women jogging through the parks he worked at and was building towards projecting his rage on them.
Crimes and Arrest[]
When Matloff somehow finally snapped in 2004, he strangled a woman with his belt and buried her at Linville Falls. She was never found, but Matloff didn't stop and killed a confirmed three more women subsequently: Celeste Ferami, April Sutherford, and Darci Corbett. As a federal employee, he got the women's guard down to have opportunities to kill them, and he also stole jewelry from them to send to Nina as an attempt at reconnection, as well as to taunt her. They were all found in shallow graves buried face down, as indigenous customs reported their spirits wouldn't return to haunt him. The BAU suspected someone of his position was the killer, and he was identified knowing he pretended to "assist" in the investigation. Armed responders arrived to arrest him at his flat, but he escaped to the rooftop. Attempting to jump to the other building, he only reached the edge. Agent Derek Morgan tried to pull him up, but Matloff couldn't hold on any longer and fell to the pavement. He barely survived, but he'd spend around four years in a coma. His adoptive family publicly rejected him once they heard of his crimes.
Awakening and Trial[]
Matloff awoke from the coma in 2008, but the trauma from the fall resulted in his focal retrograde amnesia, which wiped about every memory of his identity. Matloff was still taken to trial, his lawyer Lester Sterling arguing the FBI has never ensured, concrete evidence against his client. The team decided they should try brain printing, a technique of triggering his memories while measuring his brain activity to prove if he was genuinely familiar with the crimes as much as the killer would be. Sterling was against it, insisting there weren't any grounds to try the experiment, in spite of Aaron Hotchner's accurate profile of him and his gambling habits. Matloff, however, couldn't stand his amnesia, and he pleaded with the presiding trial judge to permit the experiment. The results came back inconclusive, casting reasonable doubt. However, Matloff's nightmares included flashbacks to the women he killed, especially the pleas of the first woman he murdered. He takes notes to track his dreams and memory recalls, including pictures of the images in his mind. He also narrowly escapes a murder attempt by Darci's father, who agent Spencer Reid talks down successfully. When Nina finally comes forward and takes the stand, Matloff's memories rush back to him in a flood. He becomes overwhelmed with guilt realizing his actions, and that the first woman he murdered was never found. Matloff jumped a prison guard and stole his sidearm, then near broke a court clerk's wrist to head back to the Parkway at high speed in her car. Matloff hides behind trees to avoid witnesses, appearing as if he'll kill the next woman he sees. Instead, the BAU see him back at Linville Falls, cradling the decayed remains of the first murdered woman. Hallucinating she's still alive and begging him to spare her, he tearfully tells Hotch to keep away, revealing who she is. Admitting it's surreal for him to remember because he can't fully admit his crimes to himself, he pulls out the pistol he stole and is ready to die. Hotch insists despite the punishments facing him, the courts won't sentence him to death if he takes responsibility. Matloff throws the pistol aside and he's arrested, the dead woman safely retrieved. Matloff pleaded guilty and was spared execution, his sentenced most likely being lengthy prison time.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- Matloff is inspired by multiple real-life criminals:
- Warren Forrest, a murderer, rapist, and suspected serial killer working in park services in Washington State, keeping jewelry from victims and maintaining a relationship with his mother.
- Todd Alan Reed, a.k.a. "The Forest Park Killer", a serial strangler of homeless women and female prostitutes who were found dead throughout woods in the Western U.S.
- The late James Grinder, a serial killer of four people who confessed and was the first criminal to be convicted on evidence provided by brain fingerprinting, which proved he was telling the truth.
- Brian Nichols, a spree killer responsible for escaping custody while on trial for rape and committed several murders, including of officials involved in his case, before he was arrested again.
- The late Ted Bundy, a serial killer of brunette, white women and girls.
- David Berkowitz, a.k.a. “Son of Sam”, a serial shooter of people, mostly women, in New York City adopted by a Polish-Catholic couple and motivated by a hatred and sense of abandonment over his birth mother.
- Alfred Gaynor, a serial killer/rapist of women in prostitution later attacked in court with a chair by Eric Downs, the son of one of the women Gaynor murdered.
- The attempt on Matloff's life is inspired by Gary Plauché shooting dead the kidnapper and rapist of his son.
