Romani Family

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Partners in Crime
Full Names	Kathy Gray
Alias	The Romani Families Sylvia
Origin	Criminal Minds
Occupations	Nomads
Powers/Skills	Coordination Stalking Brainwashing Speed Efficiency Burglary Extrajudicial execution Stealth Native dialect Secrets
Goals	Kidnap child “brides” (succeeded) Maintain their family lines (states unknown)
Crimes	Serial murder Family murder Child kidnapping Child sexual abuse Unlawful imprisonment Unlawful marriage Brainwashing Criminal coercion Conspiracy Evading authority Obstruction of justice Shoplifting Burglary
Type of Villains	Murderous Family

The Romani Family are the main antagonists of the Criminal Minds episode “Bloodline”. The family are a line of Romani people who are in search of “brides” for their sons and resort to killing parents and kidnapping daughters to achieve keeping their family lines alive.

Portrayals

• The first father is portrayed by Andrew Divoff (who also portrayed Andre Bushido in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. Djinn in the Wishmaster franchise, Richard Ganz in Another 48 Hrs., Luis Cali in Toy Soldiers, Ernesto Mendoza in A Low Down Dirty Shame, Boris Bazylev in Air Force One, Nikolai Krukov in Command and Conquer: Red Alert 3, and Lev Kravchenko in the Call of Duty: Black Ops sub-series).
• Kathy Gray is portrayed by Cynthia Gibb.
• The first son is portrayed by Slade Pierce.
• The second father is portrayed by Kirk Bovill.
• The second mother is portrayed by Tonja Kahlens.
• The second son is portrayed by Caleb Guss.

Biography

The Romani families across the United States would find “brides” for their sons in the forms of girls the sons would pick at the age of ten when they would troll for a daughter to target. Stalking the family back to their house. They’d watch their habits until they’d return at night, break into the homes, and the fathers and sons would cut the parents’ throats in their beds. The mothers would kidnap the girls, and the sons, once they brought the girls to their caravans, would rename the girls. The sons would sexually abuse the girls, and the parents would assist in brainwashing the girls into Stockholm Syndrome to make them dependent. The girls would be brought into the family, down to teaching their language, and when the girls would become women and have children of their own, specifically sons, the cycle would repeat. Records dating back to 1909 would reveal a total of 33 families were attacked by the Romani family lines.

In 2009, a branch of the family in Alabama targeted the Hale family. The mother was missing woman Kathy Gray, whose family was killed in Virginia in 1971, the police presuming a drifter to be guilty. Gray was named “Sylvia” her son’s father. She consoled her son and spoke to him as he prepared for the home invasion murders. The Hales were picked when the family saw them at the movie theater, save father Jim Scheuren, who drank and had limited visitation after mother Nancy remarried to Geoff Hale. The father and son killed Nancy and Geoff, while Gray kidnapped daughter Cate. However, because she had stress-induced epilepsy, she was in danger, particularly because the family didn’t survey them long enough to take her meds with her. She’s renamed “Elena”, but suffers a seizure, resulting in the family contemplating killing her. Instead, they wrap her in a blanket and roll her off the side of the road. She fights her way out and crawls out into the road, nearly being hit by a car in which the motorist instead stops short in time and calls the paramedics for her. As Jim informed the police of her epilepsy, who in turn informed the hospital, she was treated in time to prevent a more fatal episode.

Agent Emily Prentiss questions Cate, who recalls the father addressed the son as “puyule”, a term of endearment, which is how she realizes a Romani family is responsible. As the family’s first attempt failed, they went from Harvest to Madison, where the son picked out Lynn Robillard. They repeated the same home invasion, the father and son killing Lynn’s parents while Gray snatches her. The father and son destroy their belongings and set their caravan on fire, while Gray consoles Lynn as she cries to start brainwashing her. Around this time, the Behavioral Analysis Unit have tracked the long line of the families’ crimes through the M.O.s and realized their motives. The family shoplifts clothes at a mall, where the son shows Gray an age progression photo of her. The father and son leave Gray behind for arrest so they can escape with Lynn. Through a good cop bad cop routine, the agents remind Gray of who she is, and she acquiesces to give up the father and son’s locations. They’re detained, and Lynn is rescued. Kathy apologizes to her son, then mutters under her breath something that’s not in English, so the agents split them up. They got the translation: “don’t tell them about your brothers”, revealing more families across the nation. Elsewhere, a mother and father speak with a son prepare for another home invasion in an almost identical preparation to Gray and her “family”. It’s presumed they kill the parents and kidnap the daughter accordingly.

Trivia

• The show’s been criticized for the episode’s inaccuracies and derogatory material against the Romani people, the episode capturing popular racist tropes to demonize the nomadic population.
• The family is inspired by multiple real-life criminals:
  • Clementine Barnabet and her family, an alleged family of serial axe killers of entire families across Louisiana and Texas for the purpose of "voodoo rituals", whose guilt is questioned today since the murders continued after their arrests and convictions.
  • The kidnappers of Erica Pratt, a girl who was held hostage for ransom and successfully broke from her bonds before fleeing and being successfully rescued, a feat that made nationwide headlines.
  • Don and Dan Nichols, the father and son responsible for the kidnapping of Kari Swenson, who was held captive on an isolated hideout in the woods with the intention of making her a “bride”. They also killed one of her friends who was searching for her.
  • Brian Mitchell and Wanda Barzee, the couple guilty of the kidnapping of Elizabeth Smart, involving a delusional captor and rapist and an accomplice being a participant in pretending Elizabeth was “another wife”.
  • Cameron and Janice Hooker, the couple responsible for the kidnapping of Colleen Stan, having killed a woman not meeting Cameron’s wants, so Colleen was held captive in a trailer and repeatedly raped to the point of Stockholm Syndrome.
  • Joseph Duncan III, a serial killer/rapist primarily targeting children, responsible for a family massacre for the purpose of kidnapping and raping the only two living children, one who was later killed as well.

External Links

• Romani Family on the Criminal Minds Wiki