  |
This article's content is marked as Mature The page contains mature content that may include coarse language, sexual references, and/or graphic violent images which may be disturbing to some. Mature pages are recommended for those who are 18 years of age and older. If you are 18 years or older or are comfortable with graphic material, you are free to view this page. Otherwise, you should close this page and view another page. |
| “ | If you try to fight or run, you get the stick. | „ |
| ~ Cunningham as he tases one of his victims. |
David Wade Cunningham is the main antagonist of the Criminal Minds episode "Rabid". He is a serial killer who is obsessed with rabies, and so infects his victims with the disease in order to study what it does to them.
He is portrayed by Steve Monroe, who also portrayed Ralph in Shake It Up.
Biography[]
Early life[]
When Cunningham was 12, his nine-year-old brother Hunter contracted rabies after being bitten by an infected bat during a family camping trip. When doctors told their parents, Patrick and Wanda, there was nothing they could do for him, they took him home so he could spend his last days surrounded by his family. Cunningham, who was already showing signs of antisocial personality disorder, was fascinated by his brother's suffering, and recorded Hunter as he writhed in pain. Finally, his parents put Hunter out of his misery by suffocating him, and buried him in a wildlife preserve near their house.
Cunningham became obsessed with the disease that killed his brother, and began performing crude experiments with rabid animals. He also began working as an exterminator, specializing in euthanizing rabid animals, but was fired from several pest control jobs for stealing equipment he used in his "research". He also kept his recordings and pictures of Hunter in his closet to relive the feelings of power he experienced as he watched his brother die.
Finally, he began performing his experiments on human beings, starting with coworker Melvin Lewis, whom he kidnapped and took to an abandoned animal shelter, caging him like an animal. He infected Lewis by allowing a rabid animal to bite him; he then studied and recorded Lewis as he slowly succumbed to the disease. He kidnapped and murdered two other people in the next few months, with each murder amassing more research data on rabies. He also buried them in the same place: the wildlife preserve where his parents buried Hunter.
"Rabid"[]
Cunningham kidnaps Russell Holmes off the street by pretending to be homeless and subduing him by asking for spare change and knocking Holmes out as he dug through his pockets. He then imprisoned Holmes with Liz Foley, whom he had also kidnapped and infected, and who is suffering from psychosis as a result. When Holmes tries to escape, Cunningham tortures him with a taser, and then allows Foley to attack and bite him, thus infecting him with rabies.
Meanwhile, the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit (BAU) investigates the murders, which they at first suspect are being committed by a cannibal because of the bite marks left on the victims. When the victims' autopsies reveal severe dehydration, however, BAU Agent Spencer Reid theorizes that the killer in infecting his victims with rabies, which is spread through biting and causes hydrophobia. The rest of the team profiles the killer as a man whose work involves rabies, who is infecting his victims with the disease because someone close to him, likely a family member, died of it. While researching rabies deaths in the area, BAU technical analyst Penelope Garcia finds records of Hunter's infection, as well as David's work history and proximity to the dump site.
While Cunningham is at work, Foley breaks free of her restraints and escapes, wreaking havoc by attacking people in the neighborhood. The BAU finds her in a park, subdues her, and takes her to a hospital, but it is too late to save her life. After finding Cunningham's apartment empty, except for several medical texts on rabies and his "souvenirs" of Hunter's death, they go to the animal shelter, reasoning that it is close and big enough for Cunningham to take his victims while avoiding detection. Agent Jennifer Jareau frees Holmes and takes him to a hospital, where he later makes a full recovery. Reid and Agent Derek Morgan go after Cunningham, who attacks Morgan with his taser before Reid manages to tackle and arrest him. Cunningham is then presumably imprisoned for life.
Trivia[]
- Cunningham is inspired by Jeffrey Dahmer, a.k.a. "The Milwaukee Cannibal", a serial killer/rapist of men and boys of color in Wisconsin, who were held captive in his home and crudely tortured in "experiments" to see if Dahmer could keep them alive as braindead "slaves", usually by means of lobotomies.
External links[]
- David Wade Cunningham at the Criminal Minds Wiki
