Thane Parks is one of the two secondary antagonists (alongside Jim Peters) of the Criminal Minds episode “Brothers Hotchner”.
He is a serial rapist who later becomes an accidental serial killer when he spikes wine with ecstasy, not knowing the drugs he used were secretly laced with a lethal poison.
He was portrayed by Sean Maguire.
Biography[]
History[]
Initially appearing as the charismatic manager of the club/bar Edinburgh, which encouraged and sold drugs to get people high, Thane harbors a dark secret. Using ecstasy, he is notorious for drugging women’s drinks so he can rape them. He also hired a drug addict named Sean Hotchner and became friends with him. However, he was planning on sexually abusing Sean’s girlfriend, but she got sober before Thane could truly act. Liz Leonte, a bartender, found out about his sexual assaults but decided to ignore them. As a joke, he conspired with the owner of Edinburgh, Jim Peters, to drug wine with what they thought was ecstasy. Unfortunately, the drug was actually lethal, as it was created by Larry Feretich to kill the user. Feretich sold the drugs to numerous drug dealers who thought it was safe, but it caused the users to die brutally instead. Thus, after the bottles were bought from the Edinburgh, Erik Sullivan and Linda Heying, the latter who was Sean’s lover, died.
Brothers Hotchner[]
Thane is seen having sex with a drugged-up woman named Anna Johnson. He is interrupted by a concerned Sean, asking for an override card. He leaves Anna on the ground to help Sean, but when he comes back, Anna gets up and blood starts pouring out of her eyes. Despite Sean's attempts to get Thane to call the paramedics, Parks doesn't do anything so he can cover up her death. After her death, Sean calls his brother, Aaron Hotchner, an experienced BAU unit chief, who finds out the identities of criminals using their behavior. The local police tell Hotch that overdoses are common in the Edinburgh, and Hotch goes to ask about previous cases. Two days ago, Linda died and a week before that, five other people were killed in the same manner, so he calls in his team to investigate.
Apparently, the ecstasy that was sold was laced with PMMA, a mix of MDMA and methamphetamine, which has become known on the streets for killing anyone who used it. Soon, Erik's friend tells the BAU that he got white wine while Erik got red wine. Not long after this revelation, a mother and father pour a bottle wine in front of their daughter, but they brutally die in front of their child at the dinner table. Using info that Sean was receiving X from Thane, they track down the wine that killed the four victims from the Edinburgh, and suspect Thane and Peters of being involved. Feeling remorse about accidently covering up for Thane, Sean goes undercover despite Hotch's pleas for him not to. He meets up with Thane and Peters at the club and tells him that police brought him in for questioning, but that he doesn't know anything. Even though Peters knows the danger, he refuses to dump all the wine and orders Thane to only dump a few bottles. Eventually Sean asks him what he did and Thane admits to spiking the drinks as a joke. Sean is rightfully angry that he caused Linda's death and decides to attack Thane, which spurs into a violent fight. Just as Thane is about to stab Sean to death with a utility knife, the FBI bust in and force Thane to drop the weapon at gunpoint.
Peters, who left before the attack, is later found dead in a parking lot, having PMMA shoved down his nose after the unsub rammed into him in his car. Hotch tells Thane that Peters has been spiking X for years, and that Thane knew he was doing it so, making him an accessory. He asks for a lawyer, but Hotch quickly reminds him that if he could have gotten to Peters, he can certainly go after him. Terrified of being killed, he and Liz reveal the club's distribution chain. After Feretich is tracked down and arrested, Thane is presumably sent to jail for his serial rape, including the death of Anna Johnson.
