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| “ | Look. You got a case to make, run along, get your papers and come back with the bracelets. Otherwise, I got a business to run. | „ |
| ~ Russo |
Michael Russo is the secondary antagonist of the Criminal Minds episode "Natural Born Killer". Russo is a low-rate Baltimore mobster affiliated with serial killer and freelance hitman Vincent Perotta, putting him in the focus of the FBI when Perotta conducts his own killings outside of Russo's orders.
He's portrayed by Francesco Quinn.
Biography[]
Little is revealed about Russo, except he owned a scrap yard and his operations were under investigation by the Baltimore FBI's Organized Crime Unit division for three years. In the two latter years, Agent Jimmy Baker infiltrated the network with a fake rap sheet and gained Russo's confidence, eventually establishing a rapport with one of Russo's enforcers, Freddy Condore. However, Perotta, a psychopathic sadist with a knack for sniffing out threats to his and his affiliates' crimes, saw through Baker's cover, so he lost it and went after Freddy and Baker to protect himself. Perotta dispatched Condore's aunt, Helen DiMarco, by cutting her throat, then tortured Freddy and Helen's husband William to death. As Perotta knew Freddy, he dismembered him and planned to dispose of his remains so he wouldn't be found and traced to Perotta and Russo's mob. However, Perotta never killed a woman before murdering Helen, and as he closely bonded with his own mother, Perotta was shaken enough he merely left Freddy's remains in multiple trash bins at homes blocks from the crime scene. When Baker was supposed to meet his colleagues, Perotta kidnapped him and held him in the basement of his family home, torturing him for info on who else knew who he was. Perotta then left Baker to be eaten alive by rats in the basement.
Russo was questioned by the FBI agents, but they got nothing from him, and he said he was a legitimate businessman who wanted them out of his junkyard unless he was under arrest. They came back later to reveal what happened: Perotta went outside of Russo's orders because he was too paranoid about witnesses. Russo was rattled himself enough he called Perotta and told him to meet Russo at the junkyard. Russo was arrested before Perotta arrived, and after a failed attempt to kill Agent Aaron Hotchner, Perotta was arrested. In interrogation, Perotta let slip Baker's location eventually, and Baker was rescued. Perotta was sent to federal prison, and Russo was also presumably incarcerated for his involvement with Perotta.
