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| “ | I don't know why I do this! | „ |
| ~ John Tagman confessing to murder and cannibalism. |
John Tagman is the main antagonist of the Law & Order: Criminal Intent episode "Want". He is a murderer who kills a woman, inflicts permanent brain damage on another, and commits acts of cannibalism to fulfill a fantasy of having a subservient female "zombie" who will never leave or judge him.
He was portrayed by Neil Patrick Harris, who also played Replay in Static Shock, Ray Thompson in Justice League, Dr. Horrible in Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog, Fairy Shoeperson in Sesame Street, DJ Veteran Child in the Saints Row video games, Music Meister in Batman: The Brave and the Bold, Dr. Blowhole in The Penguins of Madagascar, Chester Creb in American Horror Story: Freak Show, Count Olaf in the 2017 A Series of Unfortunate Events television series, and The Analyst in The Matrix Resurrections.
Overview[]
Tagman is a shy, quiet man who lives a solitary existence, with no friends or girlfriend. He has very poor social skills, so the love and companionship he desires constantly eludes him. He has a rich fantasy life, however, which grows darker and more violent as his loneliness grows deeper; he begins fantasizing about turning a woman into a "zombie" so he can "possess" her forever. He also drinks heavily to numb the pain of his loneliness and the guilt about his violent sexual urges, which he knows are abnormal.
In "Want"[]
Tagman eventually gives in to his violent urges and kills his first victim, a stripper whom he drugs and strangles. He then removes her calf muscle and eats it so he can feel that she is a part of him.
His second victim is a woman who goes on a lunch date with him, only for Tagman to turn her off with his social ineptitude; he drugs her and injects hot water into her brain as a crude form of a lobotomy. She survives, but she suffers brain damage so severe that she does not even know her own name.
Detective Robert Goren of the NYPD's Major Case Squad investigates the first murder. He comes to suspect Tagman after seeing him on the strip club's security camera talking to the victim. Goren and his partner, Detective Alexandra Eames, visit Tagman's workplace, a chocolate factory, and he notices Tagman's extreme shyness around Eames. They see that someone with the same name is wanted in another state, so they have Tagman detained "by mistake" so they can search his apartment, where they find several bottles of alcohol, cups of ice, and a drill bit. They also find the second victim's calf muscle in a bodega across the street.
After Tagman is released, Goren takes him to lunch to "apologize", and surreptitiously profiles him. He sees that Tagman is depressed and profoundly lonely, so he theorizes that Tagman kills to fulfill his fantasy of a submissive and eternally beautiful partner who will never judge or leave him. He also believes that Tagman feels remorse for his crimes and wants to stop killing. He recommends to Eames, Captain James Deakins, and Assistant District Attorney Ron Carver that Tagman should be spared the death penalty and put in prison for life, but they insist that Tagman deserves to die.
Goren and Eames arrest Tagman for kidnapping and assault, and trick him into revealing information that only the killer would know, which Carver plans to use to convict and execute him. Goren has a moment of conscience, however, and tries to save Tagman's life by getting him to confess. He tells Tagman that he is sick, not evil, and that he will kill again unless he takes responsibility for what he has done. Tagman bursts into tears and confesses, which makes him ineligible for the death penalty. He is sentenced to life in prison, but he is soon afterward beaten to death by another inmate.
Trivia[]
Tagman is inspired by two real-life serial killers:
- The late Jeffrey Dahmer, a.k.a. "The Milwaukee Cannibal", a serial killer of men and boys who also attempted to lobotomize his victims with drills and ate their remains, and who was also murdered in prison.
- Edmund Kemper, a.k.a. "The Co-Ed Killer", a serial killer, typically of young female college students, who once described himself as having a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde complex in which one side of him wanted to romance women and treat them well, while the other side "wondered what their heads would look like on a stick".
External links[]
- John Tagman at the Law & Order Wiki
