Darlene Beckett

Darlene Beckett is a killer and the submissive partner of a two-person killing team led by Ellen Russell. They appear in the Season Eight episode of Criminal Minds, "The Pact".

Background

Darlene was happily married and had a very close relationship with her daughter, Kelly. One day, on March 2002, the two planned a vacation to Mexico and Kelly got out of school early to meet her mother so they could leave. Unfortunately, Kelly never arrived, as she suddenly went missing. Sometime later, her underwear was found in Mark Logan's car, covered in semen. He confessed to raping her, but the jury was unable to connect him to her disappearance because Kelly's body was never found. Darlene was enraged when she learned that the man who hurt her daughter would only get ten years. Broken by her daughter's disappearance, she developed chronic depression, which led to her divorce. She frequented several online support groups, eventually coming into contact with Ellen Russell, the aunt of a two-year-old boy named Sam Dolan, who was killed by a drunk driver named Brenda Wipley. The two women bonded over their shared experiences, believing that the justice system had failed them. When Mark was about to be released, the two women formulated a plan of revenge. They equipped themselves with items from Ellen's workplace at a local boat shop.

The Pact

See section on the Ellen Russell and Darlene Beckett page

Modus Operandi

With the exception of her first victim, Brenda Wipley, who was killed for causing the death of Ellen's nephew Sam, Darlene targeted people associated with her daughter Kelly Taylor's disappearance. She killed her victims by bludgeoning them several times with some sort of object, like a baseball bat or a shovel. Also, after her death, Brenda's body was dragged with a car post-mortem; Darlene was supposed to drag her while she was still alive, but couldn't bring herself to make her suffer like that.

Known Victims

• 2012, California:
  • October 8:
    • San Diego: Brenda Wipley (the drunk driver who killed Sam; fatally bludgeoned at least twice with a baseball bat, then dragged by a car post-mortem)
    • Los Angeles: Mark Logan (the suspect in Kelly's disappearance; killed by Ellen; dragged by a car)
  • October 9, Los Angeles: Paul Montgomery (a friend of Mark Logan's; intended to kill, but was stopped by Ellen; later killed by Ellen)
  • October 10, Los Angeles: Jason Nelson (Kelly's rapist and killer; abducted, held at gunpoint, and bludgeoned five times with a shovel)

Notes

• Darlene is the third of only five criminals in the show's history to have successfully evaded the BAU. The others are:
  • Season Five
    • Tony Mecacci ("Reckoner") (though he was later murdered by a mobster).
  • Season Six
    • Shane Wyland ("Into the Woods") (though he may have possibly died from his disease afterwards).
  • Season Nine
    • The Mountain Man ("Blood Relations")
  • Season Ten
    • Taras Yudin ("Rock Creek Park")
• Darlene Beckett is the sixth of only nine unsubs in the show's history to have successfully completed their goal. The others are:
  • Season Two
    • Marcus Younger ("North Mammon") - An abductor and proxy killer who abducted three teenage girls and manipulated one into killing another.
    • Frank Breitkopf in ("No Way Out" and "No Way Out II: The Evilution of Frank" - A prolific serial killer, abductor, and one-time mass abductor who successfully killed at least 176 people, reunited with Jane Hanratty, and escaped arrest by taking a group of children hostage and committing suicide with her.
  • Season Three
    • Jonny McHale ("True Night") - A vigilante, one-time mass murderer, one-time abductor, and serial-turned-spree killer who successfully killed Glen Hill (and possibly his entire gang), the leader of the 23rd Street Killers, the street gang that murdered his pregnant fiancé Vickie Wright.
  • Season Five
    • Boyd Schuller ("Reckoner") - A proxy killer, vigilante, and one-time proxy abductor who hired Tony Mecacci to successfully kill all the targets he wanted dead (including himself).
  • Season Seven
    • Dylan Kohler ("Divining Rod") - A spree killer, copycat of Rodney Garrett, stalker, and later abductor who successfully killed four women in order to make "the perfect wig" for Helen Garrett.
  • Season Eight
    • Diane Turner ("Zugzwang") - A murderous stalker and abductor who successfully killed both her intended targets and herself.
  • Season Nine
    • Anton Harris ("To Bear Witness") - A murderous abductor who successfully recorded his sister's torture and broadcasted it around the world. He also got his father's attention (but not his approval).
  • Season Ten
    • Peter Lewis ("Mr. Scratch", "The Crimson King", and "Wheels Up") - A proxy killer, hacker, stalker, one-time cop killer, and "wound collector"-type-turned-killer and abductor who successfully killed Susannah Regan and the others responsible for a scandal that resulted in the death of his father. Lewis also appeared in Seasons Twelve and Thirteen.

Appearances

• Season Eight
  • "The Pact"