You win, you live. You lose, I kill your daughter, and I kill you. Understand?John Vincent Bell forcing Ben McBride to fight a homeless man to the death.
John Vincent Bell is the main antagonist of the Criminal Minds episode "The Fight". He is a serial killer and kidnapper who holds fathers and their daughters hostage and forces the fathers to fight homeless men to the death, threatening to kill the daughters if they refuse.
He was portrayed by Jason Brooks.
Biography
Early life
When Bell's wife divorced him, she took full custody of their daughter Mandy; Bell was declared an unfit parent because of his long history of violence and mental illness. When two social workers arrived at Bell's home to take Mandy away from him, he flew into a rage and attacked them, beating one of them to death with a baseball bat. He was sentenced to seven years in San Quentin Penitentiary for manslaughter. The following year, Mandy was killed in a car accident.
During his time in prison, Bell developed a reputation for violence, challenging virtually every other inmate to fight him to the death. He eventually began attacking the guards, as well, and he spent the rest of his sentence in solitary confinement.
Upon his release from prison, Bell began kidnapping homeless men, followed by pairs of fathers and their teenage daughters. He would then order the father to fight the homeless man to the death, threatening to kill the daughter if he refused.
"The Fight"
Bell kidnaps Ben McBride and his daughter Jane, imprisons them in his family's abandoned gym, and offers to let them both live if he can "have" her. When Ben refuses, Bell orders him to fight a homeless man, threatening Jane's life until Ben reluctantly beats the homeless man to death. Bell then dumps the body. He also takes Polaroids of the corpse, as well as himself and Jane, to taunt Ben.
The FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit (BAU) investigate the murders, with help from Agent Sam Cooper of the BAU's Red Cell and his team. BAU Agent David Rossi and Red Cell Agent Jonathan Simms visit San Quentin and interview Bell's former cellmate. BAU Agent Derek Morgan and Red Cell Agent Gina LaSalle then discover that Bell's family had been counselled by the same therapist as the McBride's.
Meanwhile, Jane tricks Bell into sparing Ben's life by offering to go with him. Bell takes her to the roof of the gym, and finds the BAU waiting for him, technical analyst Penelope Garcia having found out about the gym through tax records. He pretends to jump off the roof to his death, but in fact lands on a parking structure. When BAU Agent Emily Prentiss looks down to see if he is dead, he points a gun at her, but Red Cell sniper Mitch Rawson kills him before he can fire.
Gallery
Trivia
- Bell is inspired by Cedric Maake, a South African serial killer/rapist with an alternating M.O. of bludgeoning store owners with hammers for robberies, then attacking couples in cars by shooting the men and raping the women.
External Links
- John Vincent Bell on the Criminal Minds Wiki
