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| “ | Save me? You mean fix me, don't you? Fix me. All those years trying to prove to me that I was broken. Well, it worked, Dad. It worked. I'm pretty damn broken now. | „ |
| ~ John Westin confronting his father. |
Paul Westin is the main antagonist of the Criminal Minds episode "Broken". He is a serial killer who murders people of both sexes who remind him of his repressed homosexuality - women because he cannot perform sexually with them, and men because they arouse sexual feelings that he hates himself for having.
He was portrayed by Patrick John Flueger.
Biography[]
Early life[]
Westin's mother, an Iraq War veteran, died when he was 10. In adolescence, he discovered that he was gay, for which his homophobic father, John, frequently emotionally and physically abused him. After catching his son fooling around with a male classmate, Mitchell Ruiz, he sent the boy to Camp Willing, which purported to "cure" homosexuality. Part of the camp's "therapy" was employing a prostitute, Isabella Grant, to have sex with the boys against their will and forcing them to watch straight pornography. John also had sex with Grant in front of his son to "teach him what to do". The boys were given wristwatches set to 6:22, a reference to Leviticus 18:22 - "Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind; it is abomination".
As an adult, Westin repressed his homosexuality, telling himself that he was "cured", although he and Ruiz remained close friends. Eventually, however, he gave in to his feelings and had sex with a man named Craig Pickett. When Pickett tried to cuddle with him afterwards, Westin murdered him in a fit of rage and self-hatred. He dressed Pickett's body as a sign of remorse before dumping it. He then picked up a woman, Heather Wilson, at a bar and tried to have sex with her, but could not perform. He then stabbed her to death when she mocked his impotence, mutilating her genitals with particular wrath. He stripped her naked before dumping her body, leaving her wearing nothing but one of Camp Willing's watches, which he set to 6:22.
"Broken"[]
Westin attempts to reassert his manhood by picking up Michelle Bradley at another bar. The result is the same, however: he cannot get an erection and stabs her to death when she tries to leave. As with Heather, Westin mutilates her genitals, and leaves her body nude except for a watch, which he sets to 6:22.
Shortly afterward, he goes to a bar with a group of friends, and meets a man named Doug Warn, who is also gay. Westin takes Warn back to his apartment and they have sex, immediately sending Westin into a spiral of shame and self-loathing. When Warn tries to comfort him, Westin has a flashback of the abuse he suffered at the hands of Grant and his father, and beats Warn to death in a fit of rage. As with the other victims, he mutilates Warn's genitals and sets his watch to 6:22.
The FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit (BAU) investigates the murders, and profiles the killer as a self-loathing gay man raised in an abusive home by a homophobic parent who kills his male partners because he blames them for his supposed failure to be "cured" of his sexuality, and women because he blames them for "turning him gay" in the first place. Upon realizing the significance of "6:22", they theorize that the killer was probably sent to a "pray the gay away camp", and technical analyst Penelope Garcia researches such facilities in the area and finds Camp Willing. Agents Alex Blake and Jennifer Jareau visit the camp and get records of the its former residents, eventually finding Westin. They also discover what the camp did to the boys after agent Aaron Hotchner interrogates Grant, who is in prison for prostitution and serial statutory rape.
Meanwhile, Westin takes Ruiz hostage after the latter visits him and discovers what he has done. Ruiz helps Westin realize that his father is truly to blame for what happened to them, so Westin takes John hostage and tries, unsuccessfully, to make Ruiz rape him as revenge for what John had the camp do to them. Just then, the BAU agents burst in to arrest Westin, who accidentally shoots and kills Ruiz, and then executes his father. He tries to commit suicide, but Agents David Rossi and Derek Morgan persuade him not to kill himself by promising that he can help shut down Camp Willing by testifying about what they did to him. With Westin's help, the FBI is able to shut down Camp Willing, and Westin goes to prison for his crimes.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- Paul Westin is inspired by multiple real-life criminals:
- Ricky Lee Green, a bisexual drifter who murdered both men and women.
- Randy Kraft, a.k.a. “The Score Card Killer”, a serial killer/rapist of men and boys who were found along highways.
- The late Carl Panzram, a.k.a. “The River Pirate”, a serial killer/rapist, mostly of men, with a history of abuse and rape trauma.
- Antony Baekeland, who murdered his mother Barbara Daly Baekeland after she raped him and forced him into sexual exchanges with prostitutes.
External links[]
- Paul Westin on the Criminal Minds Wiki
