Roland Haldane, also known as The L.A. Rapist, is the main antagonist of the pilot episode of the American crime thriller-drama series Numb3rs. Haldane is a serial rapist escalating to being a serial killer while on the trail of the FBI.
He is portrayed by William O'Leary.
Biography[]
Haldane ran a catering service while he moonlit in his usual work area as a serial rapist of women. He'd stalk women while smoking cigarettes, kidnap them, rape them, and brand them with a heated handle of one of his kitchen knives, the end of it having a distinctive symbol, which left marks on each victim's necks. When Haldane especially struggled to fight the last woman he raped, Kate Silby, his rage resulted in him resorting to killing the women he'd eventually stalk and rape later, to take out his aggression on them and regain rises from his power trips. The first murdered women was found with a plastic bag over her head to asphyxiate her, then left dead at a construction site. Another woman shortly after was raped and killed in the same fashion.
Don Eppes, the FBI agent in charge of the case, consulted with Charlie, his brother and a mathematics professor who was enlisted when he offered to geographically track the home of the rapist from his ideal hunting locations through calculated analysis of his patterns. But everyone was shaken when they realized Kate was in danger of Haldane getting revenge, only to find she was killed as well in her own home. Charlie was seriously traumatized and aggressively got back to work, only to realize the flaw he made a mistake from is shouldn't have estimated the rapist-murderer's home, but his job. With his new hot zone mapping, the agents were able to track Haldane from the narrowed list of suspects. He was questioned at his kitchen, but was finally had when his branding knife was found on a counter. Haldane took Don's colleague, Agent David Sinclair, hostage with another knife, slashing his hand, but Don saw an opportunity and shot him dead. Another woman was found narrowly save when she was found captive, after having been held captive and presumably raped, found unconscious with a bag strapped over her head. Responders and paramedics were called, and Don showed to Charlie his analysis was right, that his assumption of Haldane's work migration to different locations was spot on, as Haldane's home moved in the middle of his spree. From then on, Charlie worked with Don as a regular consultant for investigations under FBI jurisdiction that required his expertise.
Trivia[]
According to the show runners, Haldane is inspired by Randy Comeaux, a Louisiana serial rapist tracked with a similar mathematical model to the one Charlie used. The police consulted Canadian criminology professor Kim Rossmo for the case.