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| “ | Tell me a story, Abby. | „ |
| ~ Roderick Gless Gless to each of his victims. |
Roderick Gless is the main antagonist of the Criminal Minds episode "Cold Comfort". He is a necrophilic serial killer who murders women and "makes over" their corpses to resemble his childhood nanny, the only person who ever cared for him.
He was portrayed by Sam Littlefield, who also portrayed Jonathan Cartwright in Batwoman.
Biogrpahy[]
Early life[]
Gless was born into a wealthy but unloving family in which his parents essentially ignored him, leaving him to be raised by his nanny, Abby Hansen, whom he loved like a mother. Abby died of a heart attack when Gless was nine, while his parents were away on vacation, and he spent three days alone with her corpse, cuddled in her dead arms. This experience, as well as his parents' continued neglect, warped his mind, leaving him forever searching for a replacement for Abby, and with a sexual obsession with female corpses.
As a young man, he attended medical school, but eventually dropped out without seeking employment, choosing to live off the $50,000 he received every six months from his father.
He tried to fulfill his fantasy of being reunited with Abby by digging up her corpse and stealing her burial dress and earrings. This proved insufficient, however, so he began kidnapping women who resembled Abby, and making them wear her clothes and read to him from the same book Abby had read to him as a child. He then killed them by making them drink poisoned tea, and crudely embalming their corpses so he could keep them for months at a time. He would lie cuddled with their bodies in order to once again experience the love and belonging he had felt with Abby. He would then bury their bodies in a mass grave.
"Cold Comfort"[]
The police discover Gless' mass grave and alert the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit (BAU). They profile the killer as a necrophiliac with a disposable income who lives alone in a house big enough to house an embalming chamber. They also theorize that he feels that he was abandoned at a young age by a mother figure who resembled the victims, and is killing and embalming them so he can keep their bodies with him and relive the feeling of being with that mother figure.
Gless kidnaps Brooke Lombardini on her way home from work and holds her prisoner, drugging her and calling her "Abby". She gets her cell phone and tries to call the police, but he catches her before she can tell them where she is. She buys time by going along with his delusion, treating him like a beloved child. This lasts for days while the BAU investigates, eventually discovering the killer's identity after connecting Gless to Abby's graverobbing and interviewing his parents.
Gless finally decides to kill Lombardini, and renders her unconscious. Just as he is about to slit her throat, however, the BAU burst in, having found his address thanks to technical analyst Penelope Garcia. They manage to subdue Gless, dragging him away as he screams for Abby, all while hallucinating that Abby is there, smiling at him.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- Gless is inspired by multiple real-life criminals:
- Ted Bundy, one of America’s worse serial killers, responsible for necrophilia and dressing women he murders in clothes that don’t belong to them.
- Melvin Rees, a.k.a. "The Sex Beast", a serial killer and necrophile sought after by the police with the assistance of psychic and police consultant Peter Hurkos.
- Steven Oliver, the kidnapper and brainwasher of Jessyca Mullenburg, but for the purpose of raping her in captivity until she was rescued. Her trauma and recovery was similar to what was exhibited in Brooke.
- BAU agent Spencer Reid compares Gless to Ed Gein, the real-life murderer, graverobber, and necrophiliac who committed his crimes to relive the feeling of being with his deceased mother.
External Links[]
- Roderick Gless on the Criminal Minds Wiki
