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“ | First, I will build a compound, a kingdom. Second, I will arm, protect, and fortify my kingdom. Third, I will keep women as serfs to serve my every need. This is my right. As a man with free will in America, I will make my kingdom a reality. | „ |
~ Francis Goehring's plan to create his own "kingdom" of sex slaves. |
Francis Goehring is the main antagonist of the Criminal Minds episode "Identity". A sadistic serial killer and abductor he, along with his partner Henry Frost, was responsible for the deaths of four women in his local Montana community. Goehring was the dominant partner in the relationship, possessing a strong hatred for the American government and a cruel sadistic side.
He was portrayed by Michael Cudlitz, who also portrayed Paul Krendler in Clarice.
Appearance[]
Goehring was of average height, with a robust physique. He had short brown hair and a brown mustache. His most distinguishing characteristic was a large scar, which ran from his left eye to his cheek. This scar was acquired in a bar fight during Goehring's younger years.
Personality[]
Francis Goehring was a sexual sadistic and domineering individual. He considered himself superior to everybody else and had no regard or concern for any of his victims. Everything he did was done purely to satisfy his superiority complex and depraved desires.
Goehring was despised by virtually everybody who knew him, with the exception of his partner in crime Henry Frost, who unbeknownst to Goehring was secretly in love with him. Despite their partnership, Goehring treated Henry more akin to a slave/servant than an equal. He made Henry do all of the mundane jobs and frequently told him how weak and worthless he was. Despite this, Frost stuck around, due to both his homosexual feelings and because Francis' actions gave him a purpose in his life.
Biography[]
Nothing is known about Francis Goehring's early life. At some point in his life, he served in the American military but was ultimately discharged due to disorderly conduct. The final straw was a bar brawl, which left several people hospitalized and Goehring acquiring a distinctive scar on the left side of his face. As a result of his dishonorable dismissal, Goehring developed a deep hatred for the American government and authorities, becoming a member of his local militia.
At some point, Francis married a woman named Diane Marie. Being a sexual sadist, he would regularly torture and degrade her. When the militia found out what he was doing, they were disgusted and threw him out of the community. This expulsion did not deter Francis in the slightest. Instead, he decided to forge his own community, more akin to that of a medieval society with himself as the ruling Lord, where he would be free to do whatever he pleased and have other people serve his every need.
To fulfill this dream, he either built or moved into a cottage positioned on a nine-acre plot of land that had originally belonged to Diane's parents (she had initially inherited it, but at some point before their separation Francis forced her to sign it over to him). He also recruited a local man named Henry Frost to serve at his compound. Developing a kind of messianic delusion, Francis made up a set of rules for his compound, in which he referred to himself as "The Master". He treated Henry like a slave, making him do all of the hard labor, such as maintaining the garden and house, which Frost was more than happy to do.
In order to satisfy his sexual desires, Goehring began abducting women from the local community. He managed to successfully capture three victims undetected, with each girl being taken several months apart. The method of operation had Frost driving Goehring around, until Francis found a woman that fitted his type preference (caucassian brunette's). Goehring would then get out and abduct the woman on foot, allowing the two men to drive off seperately. After dropping the victim off at his compound, Goehring would dispose of the victims vehicle, be picked up by Frost and return to his residence. There he would torture his victims with homemade devices for some time, with Frost recording each session (or more accurately Goehring himself). Each woman suffered horrifically and was eventually killed either by their appalling treatment, if they tried to escape or when Francis got bored with them. After their deaths, Frost would bury their bodies in Goehring's backyard, planting a rosebush over the makeshift graves. After this, Francis and Henry would start the process all over again.
Karma would finally catch up with Francis Goehring, when he and Henry abducted a fourth victim, Angela Miller from a local shopping mall. After dropping her off at the compound, Francis drove her car into the desert, presumably to dispose of it and to rendezvous with Frost. Unfortunately for Francis, Angela Miller's husband and son had been at the same store. Returning to find his wife and the family car gone, Mr Miller alerted the authorities and forty minutes after the abduction, a highway patrolman spotted Goehring driving Angela's car.
Following a brief chase, in which Goehring tried and failed to outrun the cops, the criminal reluctantly pulled the car over. As the cops demanded his surrender, Goehring, who had no intention of surrendering weighed his options. He initially picked up a pistol, intending to either shoot his way out or take as many cops with him as possible. When a third police car pulled up however, Goehring decided on a different tactic. Knowing that he could not escape and that he would be shot at the instant he revealed his weapon, the serial killer instead picked up a grenade.
As an officer approached the car to arrest him, Francis quietly pulled the pin and waited for the inevitable. Due to the criminals calm demeanor and making no attempt to save his own skin, the cops did not realise what was happening until Goehring stuck his hands out of the window, whereupon the arresting officer saw the pin. The cop attempted to flee, but a few seconds later, the car exploded. Goehring was killed instantly. His body was later removed from the vehicle and positively identified through his dental records. The officer who had tried to arrest him sustained fatal injuries and later died in the intensive care unit.
Although Goehring was now dead, his crime spree did not stop there. The F.B.I behavioral analysis unit was later contacted by the local sheriff in the hope of recovering Angela Miller alive. Unfortunately, Henry Frost murdered her before the authorities could discover the location of Goehring's hide out. After fleeing the compound, Frost (who had taken Goehring's weapons with him) decided that he could not live without his master. Suffering an identity crisis. Frost erased his own identity, adopting Goehring's name, persona and identity, giving himself a makeover to make himself look like Goehring, right down to the scar. Henry would attempt to continue Goehring's crime spree but was unable to do so without his partner. Eventually, he too was tracked down and killed, bringing a permanent end to Francis Goehring's legacy and dreams.
Trivia[]
- Goehring is primarily inspired by the late serial killer Leonard Lake.
- The song that Francis plays before he commits suicide is "Pride and Joy" by the late Stevie Ray Vaughan.
External Links[]
- Francis Goehring on the Criminal Minds Wiki