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“ | For a really long time, I thought that's just how things worked in your family. 'Cause your dad liked me to sit on his lap, till it got more than that. I used to stay up late at night to see if he opened your door, too. But he didn't. Just mine. He always did say that I was his special little girl.... He used to put me on the floor 'cause it was quieter. When he was done, I'd put the lightbug on and I'd go under the bed. That's where I'd sleep, but not you. You got all the good memories. | „ |
~ Sue Walsh accusing her cousin of letting her father sexually abuse her. |
Sue Walsh is the main antagonist of the Criminal Minds episode "Gabby". She is the mastermind of a plan to kidnap her four-year-old cousin in order to punish the girl's mother for the sexual abuse she suffered as a child.
She was portrayed by Sianoa Smit-McPhee.
Biography[]
Early life[]
When Sue was eight years old, her parents died, and she was taken in by her cousin Kate Hoffer's family in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. While the Hoffers appeared to be an ideal family, they hid a dark secret - Kate's father was a pedophile, and molested Sue throughout her childhood. The abuse turned Sue into a sociopath whose only real emotion was rage, and she harbored a lifelong resentment toward Kate because Mr. Walsh did not abuse her; she felt that Kate was the one who deserved to suffer.
As an adult, she decided to finally take revenge on Kate by conspiring with her boyfriend Ian Little and Kate's ex-husband Doug to kidnap Kate's four-year-old daughter, Gabby. She manipulated them both into believing that she was going to give Gabby to Doug, a violent ex-con whom Kate had cut out of his daughter's life. Unbeknownst to them, however, she contacted child trafficker Nicole Jones over the Internet and made plans to give her the girl to sell.
When Doug discovered the full extent of Sue's plan, he flew into a rage and attacked her, provoking Sue's own wrath; she bludgeoned him to death with a candlestick, and told Little to dispose of the body by burning it. While trying to cremate the corpse, however, Little sustained third-degree burns all over his face, and ultimately threw the body in the river.
"Gabby"[]
When Kate and her boyfriend Rodney Baderson go on vacation for a week, they leave Gabby in Sue's care. That night, Sue waits until Gabby falls asleep in the backseat of her car to go into a convenience store while Little kidnaps her. When she leaves the store, she feigns panic and calls the police, who bring in the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit (BAU) to help them find Gabby.
Sue plays the part of a concerned family member, begging Kate's forgiveness for losing Gabby and promising to do whatever she can to help find her. The BAU at first suspect that Doug kidnapped Gabby, but he is cleared as a suspect when they find his body in the river.
They bring in Little, who had been Doug's partner-in-crime, and notice the burns on his face, leading them to believe that he and Doug kidnapped Gabby and he killed Doug after he had outlived his usefulness, sustaining the burns while attempting to burn the body. They believe that there was a third person involved in the kidnapping, but cannot find a suspect who fits that bill.
While reviewing the security footage from the convenience store, Agent Jennifer Jareau notices that Sue seems to be waiting for someone outside, and that she did not park right outside the entrance, the logical place to be in order to be in watching distance of the car and Gabby. Supervisory Agent Aaron Hotchner brings Sue in for questioning and reprimands her for leaving Gabby alone, saying that she does not have it in her to be a good parent. As intended, this provokes a violent outburst from Sue, who punches Hotchner in the face and has to be restrained. Hotchner notes that this sort of behavior indicates someone who is predisposed to violence, and the BAU team begin to look at her as a suspect.
When Hotchner tells Kate of his suspicions, she refuses to believe it, and demands to speak to Sue herself. When Kate confronts her, Sue reveals her true colors, blaming Kathy for the abuse she suffered at her father's hands and saying that losing Gabby is the punishment she deserves. Shen then hints that she may be pregnant, and that she will be a better mother than Kate, implying that the kidnapping is Kate's fault.
Fortunately, the BAU are able to find Gabby before Jones can sell her, and reunite the child with her mother. The BAU then arrest Sue, Little, and Jones, all of whom are imprisoned for kidnapping and endangering the welfare of a child. Sue, meanwhile, is also prosecuted for murdering Doug.
Trivia[]
- Sue is inspired by multiple real-life criminals:
- Julia Biryukova, the mother and prime suspect in the disappearance of missing child Sky Metalwala, who was never found after Biryukova left Sky unattended in the family car.
- Kathleen Dorsett, a New Jersey schoolteacher masterminding the murder of her ex-husband, who was killed by her father to prevent him from gaining custody of their daughter.
- Marjorie Diehl-Armstrong, the mastermind behind the murder of Brian Wells, assisted by a boyfriend and a sex offenser, as well as having killed a boyfriend who knew too much.
- Joanna Dennehy, a.k.a. "The Peterborough Ditch Murderer", a serial killer/attacker of men with other men as her accomplices, whose family refused to believe her accounts she was abused as a child.
- Barbara Graham, a.k.a “Bloody Babs”, a violent leader of a group of burglars who later killed an accomplice ready to sell them all out.
- Gina Grant, a woman whose college discovered she killed her mother with a crystal candlestick over being abused by her.
External Links[]
- Sue Walsh on the Criminal Minds Wiki