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| “ | Ok, so...the lonely king had all but given up hope of ever finding the beautiful queen. When all of a sudden...she appeared. Now this time, it was different. This time, he knew she was the one. | „ |
| ~ Hatchett telling Jody about his crimes |
Wade Hatchett, also known as The Lonely King, is the main antagonist of the Criminal Minds “Solitary Man”. Hatchet is a serial killer truck-driver who kills women who he finds unfit to care for his daughter Jody so she can return to his custody.
He’s portrayed by Bradford Tatum.
Biography[]
| “ | I’m what’s best for her. Look, I made a promise that I would not let anything happen to her. She is my little girl. No one’s gonna love her the way I can. Way can’t you all understand that. | „ |
| ~ Hatchett fighting the adoption |
Hatchett was raising his daughter in Edgewood, New Mexico, by himself due to his wife Caroline dying in a house fire in 2009. However, his long work hours as a long-haul truck driver left him unavailable to supervise Jody as much as he was obligated to, resulting in Jody being removed from his custody when she missed too much school and temporarily placed with Lynn Clemons until a family was to adopt her. Hatchett snapped and targeted various women on his route, kidnapping them and interrogating them for hours about who they were and how responsible they could be, getting him in hopes they were fitting caregivers for Jody. None of them met Hatchett’s standards, and he choked them all to death, before leaving them off the side of public interstates posed as if they were sleeping, as they reminded him of Caroline and he had a level of sympathy for them. For nearly a year, Hatchett had a monthly ritual of this, killing nine women in his cycles. Each time, he’d visit Jody and tell her a “story” of his latest murder, saying he was a “king” looking for a “queen” to raise his “princess”. In the event Hatchett failed, he hinted he’d kill himself by saying he’d “go to a better place” when Jody asked that what-if. Jody was so entranced in her child’s perspective of the confessions she even painted his accounts of the murders as he told her.
The FBI’s Highway Serial Killer Initiative picked up on Hatchett’s murders, and the Behavioral Analysis Unit was assigned the case. By then, Hatchett tricked Bobbi Lainsford into riding with him after he saw her kindly engaging a child at a truck stop. Hatchett locked Bobbi in his locked compartment and stated over his intercom system he wanted to question her. Giving her water, he went through his usual quiz, but Bobbi said she didn’t wanna have children. Hatchett was provoked and locked Bobbi in the compartment again despite her pleas, later killing and discarding her. He then sees Nancy Campbell with her daughter Courtney, snatching her from a bathroom stall at a rest stop on a limb. Nancy, who suffers claustrophobia, doesn’t respond to Hatchett over the intercom when she panics, so Hatchett leaves her in the dark for a while. He returns to visit Jody, and when Lynn leaves to take a call, he starts telling Jody he found a “queen” for her. Lynn returns, sends Jody to school, and gives her money for candy, before saying to Hatchett to stop getting Jody’s hopes up, as Jody’s adoption is already arranged since Hatchett can’t keep himself together. Hatchet turns to Jody and swears to take care of her, and when she asks if he’s sure he found her a new mother, he replies “the story’s not over yet, princess”.
Hatchett makes Nancy take water and tells her how “their” daughter is waiting while he’s questioning her. While he makes a halfhearted attempt to get the smell of fuel off her with table sugar, Nancy mentions Courtney, causing Hatchett to storm out. He then kills Lynn in a rage before up and tossing her off a highway, the takes Nancy hostage at the barrel of a revolver while returning to Jody. When he sees police surrounding the house, he gets behind the wheel with her and talks to Jody over the radio. He says the “guards” need to let him and Nancy get to Jody. But Agent Emily Prentiss eventually convinces Hatchett to release Nancy, then tells Jody his innuendo of being prepared to commit suicide. After instructing Jody to close her eyes, he shoots himself dead with the revolver. The adoption falls through because the family is reviled by Hatchett’s murders, but Caroline’s sister assumes guardianship over Jody.
Quotes[]
| “ | I’ve searched for you for a long time. Did you know that? You know how important family is, don’t you? See, I knew you would. You’re not like the others. | „ |
| ~ Hatchett to Nancy Campbell |
| “ | You know, family’s everything. With family, you’re never alone. | „ |
| ~ Hatchett trying to indoctrinate Nancy as a “mother” |
| “ | Look at you. You’re a mess. I don’t want the princess to see you all dirty like that. | „ |
| ~ Hatchett preparing Nancy for Jody |
Trivia[]
- Hatchett is inspired by multiple real-life serial killers:
- The unidentified "Great Basin Killer", an American serial killer/rapist of women across interstates in the Northwestern U.S., some who were posed after they were killed.
- Sean Patrick Goble, a.k.a. "The Interstate Killer", an American nationwide serial killer and truck driver guilty of raping and choking women in multiple states during his job, probably far more women than he was convicted of. Goble also had a failed marriage and an estranged son.
- Keith Hunter Jesperson, a.k.a. “The Happy Face Killer”, a Canadian-American serial killer/rapist of women and girls on his routes as a long-haul truck driver, who was divorced and lost custody of his kids before his murder spree.
- Dyonathan Celestrino, a.k.a. “The Cross Maniac”, a Brazilian serial strangler and cult leader responsible for kidnapping and interrogating victims to test whether he deemed them worth living or not, releasing them if he decided so and choking them to death if he didn’t.
- Wayne Adam Ford, an American serial killer of women who lost custody of his children to his wife after divorce and was convinced by his brother to turn himself in.
