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“ | You know, you got... real pretty eyes. | „ |
~ Earl Bulford menacing Jennifer Jareau. |
Earl Bulford is the main antagonist of the Criminal Minds episode "The Eyes Have It". He is a serial killer who removes his victims' eyes to be part of his "collection".
He was portrayed by Todd Giebenhain.
Biography[]
Early life[]
Bulford's mother, Trish, died in a car accident when he was eight years old, leaving him to be raised by his father, Lloyd, in a woodside cabin. Lloyd taught his son taxidermy, the "family business", and hunting, but kept him away from other people, being distrustful of "outsiders". As an adolescent, Bulford was arrested several times for petty crimes, including three charges of animal cruelty.
When Lloyd died of emphysema, Bulford was on his own for the first time, and his life began to fall apart, as he didn't have the money to pay taxes on his family's property, or to pay the bills for Lloyd's taxidermy practice. Shortly after being served with an eviction notice, Bulford snapped and committed his first murder, bludgeoning a customer to death after he complained about the quality of the eyes in a stuffed animal Bulford had sold him. Bulford carved the man's eyes out, and dumped the body in the woods for animals to devour. He kept the eyes as macabre souvenirs, placing them in the sockets of remains of animals he'd already stuffed.
"The Eyes Have It"[]
Two days later, Bulford kills two teenage hikers, slashing their throats and removing their eyes to keep them as trophies. As he grows more confident, he sets an elaborate trap for his fourth victim, Tracy Copper, and hunted his next two victims, a man and his wife walking through a nearby park, as if they were wild game. This time, however, his victims fight back, and Bulford accidentally damages the man's right eye during the struggle. He leaves the man's eyes in their sockets, but takes the wife's.
The FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit (BAU) investigates the murders, profiling the killer as an enucleator, a murderer who cuts out his victims' eyes post-mortem, who is trying to "collect" as many eyes as possible in a short period of time. As the murders grow more sophisticated, they intuit that he knows the wilderness like the back of his hand, has a hunting background, and works as a taxidermist. After technical analyst Penelope Garcia researches taxidermists in the area, she finds Bulford, who becomes their prime suspect.
Meanwhile, Bulford begins stalking his latest intended victim, a woman named Jaime. He sneaks up on her while she is walking through the woods, but she fights back when he attacks her, making a loud commotion that he did not plan for. BAU Supervisory Agent Aaron Hotchner, who is leading the BAU team's approach to Bulford's property, overhears the struggle and overpowers and arrests Bulford. As he is taken into custody, Bulford tells Agent Jennifer Jareau that she has "real pretty eyes" in a menacing tone. He is then imprisoned for life.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- Bulford appears to have been partly inspired by David Berkowitz, a.k.a. "Son of Sam", a serial killer of women and men in New York City, usually stalking them and attacking them in public and with similar childhood behavioral problems and criminal records to Bulford.
External Links[]
- Earl Bulford on the Criminal Minds Wiki