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Richard Haibach is one of the minor yet pivotal antagonists in The Mentalist TV show. He is an amateur photographer, who is constantly suspected in crimes. He is played by William Mapother.
Biography[]
We first meet Richard when Patrick Jane and his colleagues are investigating the crimes of the San Joaquin Killer. Since the case is high-profile, the police are checking everyone in a row. One of the suspects turns out to be Richard Haibach, who could not explain where exactly he was when the crimes took place and strange photos of children were found in his house indicating that he is a pedophile. Even blogger James Panzer was involved in the case. He allegedly investigated the murders for personal interest, but Patrick guessed that he was the killer. He killed to become famous. However, Patrick was never able to prove it. Then he suggested that his colleagues arrest a pathetic (by Panzer's standards) man (and this man turned out to be Richard Haibach), clearly incapable of the crimes of the San Joaquin Killer, so that Panzer, wanting to teach the police a lesson, would commit murder again, and he would be stopped at that moment. However, Panzer, as if having a premonition of something, did not go to kill, but to the journalists. The maniac's lair was found, but there was no indication that this maniac was Panzer. Then Patrick had no choice but to come to another television interview with Panzer. There he mentioned the presumed dead Red John. Panzer said that compared to the San Joaquin Killer, Red John was nobody, not realizing that he was making the same mistake as Patrick once did. Red John never liked being insulted on television. Patrick even tried to warn Panzer about this. But Panzer refused to listen. For this, Panzer was killed by a very much alive Red John. Richard Haibach was released, since he was not the San Joaquin Killer, and his involvement in pedophilia could not be proven. Time passed and Patrick had clear suspects. In other words, he was one step away from catching Red John. However, he felt that other police departments were watching him. He decided to hang a fake list of suspects on the wall, which included criminals whose guilt his colleagues could not prove. Among them were Benjamin Marx (who stole from his own company and killed his colleague who exposed him) and Richard Haibach. Soon Marx was found tortured to death. This meant that the other fake Red Johns were also in danger. However, when Teresa Lisbon tried to tell Haibach about this, he told her to go to hell, since he had already spent one time in prison for no apparent reason. Soon, he was kidnapped by Robert Kirkland, who was looking for Red John to avenge his brother. At this point, Patrick told Robert that the list Robert had was fake. Then Robert kidnapped Patrick and told Richard that there was a mistake. However, Robert did not plan to let Richard go. Moreover, he tortured Richard in front of Patrick so that he would give him the real list. But Teresa Lisbon appeared and saved Patrick and Richard. Robert was later killed by Reede Smith on orders from Red John. Leaving for the hospital, Richard promised Patrick revenge. Much time later, after Red John's death, Patrick began working for the FBI. However, the past never let him forget it. Oscar Ardilles, a long-time rival of the then-disbanded CBI team, came to Teresa Lisbon. He claimed that his phone began to heat up even when he was not using it. Teresa advised him to contact Wayne Rigsby and Grace Van Pelt, who were now working for a private firm connected with this. Grace was horrified to discover that Ardilles was indeed being followed, and not only him. However, Rigsby, trying to warn Ardilles himself, found only his brutally cut corpse. The case took a serious turn when experienced police officer J.J. Laroche, conducting a search of the place where Ardilles' body was found, was shot by unknown assailants. Later, Rigsby and Van Pelt were also the target of an assassination attempt (fortunately, an unsuccessful one). They had no choice but to turn to the FBI for help, whose employees already had many unsolved cases. Soon, Richard Haibach became the final suspect. However, he had an alibi. It came to the point that Van Pelt was kidnapped. But Richard had an alibi again. Then Rigsby demanded that Richard take him to Van Pelt. Patrick Jane volunteered to help Rigsby. Richard took Rigsby and Patrick to where his sister Hazel was holding Grace. Rigsby was seriously injured, and Richard tried to cut off Jane's fingers. But Rigsby managed to stun Hazel and kill Richard.
Personality[]
Richard makes it clear at first glance that he is a hardened criminal, against whom the police will never have evidence. He is an obvious pedophile, which he does not even try to hide (although he destroys evidence). On the other hand, he is not without intelligence. Even Patrick Jane with his intelligence could not find evidence against him (that is why he included his name in the list of fake Red Johns, so that other police officers would find something against him). He also managed to plan an operation to track down and kill police officers, and so successfully that Patrick was forced to come up with a counter-combination to somehow stop him, and Patrick's combination still failed. However, he is still right in some ways about Patrick's plans. Patrick does commit morally questionable acts, not always thinking much about the lives of other people. He also is implied to care about his sister Hazel (or, at least, he gets along well with her).
Victims[]
- Oscar Ardilles (stabbed to death by his sister Hazel);
- J.J. LaRoche (shot to death by Hazel);
- Wayne Rigsby (attempted);
- Grace Van Pelt (kidnapped; attempted);
- Patrick Jane (attempted to torture)