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Ivan Kozar (Russian: Иван Козар) is the secondary antagonist of the Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders series finale “The Ripper of Riga”. Kozar is the outside man of convicted ex-KGB operative Oleg Antakov and the kidnapper of ballerina Felicia Pope.
He was portrayed by Sergey Nagorny.
Biography[]
Fatherless since he was a boy, Kozar was a part-time guard at the high-security Erdeli Prison gulag, where he was assigned to preside over Antakov in his specially designated detail. Seeing how he could fill Kozar’s void, Antakov manipulated Kozar to form a bond with him out of convenience to make him useful for later. Kozar adored Felicia, an American ballerina, but when he hoped a Russian ballerina would get the leading position of a recent production of Harlequinade, he was horrified that Felicia got the position instead. Snapping, Kozar was ripe to be made an an accomplice for Antakov so the latter’s plans were put into action. Mozart had by then already waged a campaign of Internet harassment against Felicia. In an effort to break out to target Agent Jack Garrett, the FBI official who arrested him, he promised Kozar a chance to attack Felicia Pope as retribution for her success. In exchange for assisting in his breakout, Kozar was given direction in how to create a spectacle of abducting Felicia, long enough to create a buildup and diversion for Antakov’s escape.
Kozar was lent Antakov’s “Metal Fang”, a pair of sharpened mouth fitting Antakov used as a torture device when he was a KGB agent, then a serial killer. Dressed as the leading character of the ballet, The Harlequin, in the same costume and makeup, Kozar breaks into the theater where Felicia was practicing, sabotages the security cameras, and then harasses her with manipulated lighting and photos of him spying on her to her phone. He then kidnaps her and ties her to a chair in his apartment, preventing her from escaping by surrounding the room with bear traps. He returned to transfer her to the table, where he restrained her and, while in costume and wearing the mouthpiece, harassed Felicia with a macabre “eenie-meenie-minie-moe” rendition to hint at his next move. He then grins and uses the torture device to bite Felicia’s big toe off. Her toe is then dropped into a cup of tea meant for the International Response Team when they’re in a public hall doing their rounds for questioning.
Garrett realizes Antakov is involved when he matches the wound pattern with the Metal Fang. Kosher is identified as the kidnapper when he was reported to have been in the kitchen when the tea was prepared. The agents storm Kozar’s apartment and rescue Felicia, at the risk of the lives of two FSB officials when Kozar’s apartment is blown up. Antakov escapes with Kozar’s help once the diversion is set, and documents on Garrett’s family in Kozar’s apartment reveal Antakov is after them. The Kremlin still orders the expulsion of Garrett and his team due to the disaster, but when safety precautions reveal Kozar snatched Garrett’s son Ryan from Helsinki and transported him to Saint Petersburg, Inspector Boris Poshakov, Garrett’s colleague in capturing Antakov, risks his own freedom by firing shots at police to give Garrett time to get back into Russia. Antakov lures Garrett for a final showdown, where Garrett finds Kozar shot dead by Antakov in Ryan’s car. Antakov tries to shoot Ryan, but Garrett, narrowly risking his own life, kills Antakov first.
Trivia[]
- Kozar is inspired by multiple real-life criminals:
- Günter Parche, the stalker and attempted murderer of Monica Seles, who stabbed during a break in a match, the motive being she was competing with Parche’s favorite player, Steffi Graf.
- Robert John Bardo, the stalker and murderer of actress Rebecca Schaffer, who was shot at her home after Bardo tracked her down, enraged by her performance in a more mature role.
- Veronica Compton, an attempted murderer and copycat of serial killer Kenneth Bianchi, one of the "Hullside Stranglers" having wanted Compton to case doubt on his guilt once she was hired as a defense witness.
- Andrey Lugovoy and Dmitry Kovtun, the agents responsible for the poisoning of Alexander Litvineko, a former Russian federal agent murdered by radiated poison in his tea.
- Joyce Mitchell and Gene Palmer, prison guards assisting Richard Matt and David Sweat in the 2015 Clinton Correctional Facility escape.
