John Himmel

Minor Character: Las Vegas
Name	John Himmel
Gender	Male
Family	Unnamed girlfriend
City	Las Vegas
Occupation	Truck driver Serial Killer Abductor
Status	Incarcerated
Portrayed By	Ray Proscia
First Appearance	I-15 Murders

John Himmel is a traveling misogynistic serial killer who appeared in season one of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.

History

Almost nothing about Himmel is revealed (even his name is only revealed in the credits) other than that he worked as a refrigerated truck driver and had a girlfriend, who became an accomplice to his crimes. In 2000, he started abducting women from supermarkets along Interstate 15, his travel route, and killing them, storing their bodies in a freezer in the truck. He had his girlfriend leave messages in the bathrooms of each mall, telling the authorities how many victims he had claimed and challenging them to catch him.

The Las Vegas crime lab caught onto his crimes in 2001, when he abducted Margaret Shorey from Marty's Market in Las Vegas. They made the connection to his previous crimes through a message he left on a stall in the market's restroom: "I've killed 5 women. Catch me if you can?". When the body of his third victim, Joan Sims, is found on a roadside and turns out to have been frozen, Grissom and Catherine realize that he drives a refrigerated truck. After narrowing down the number of trucks to Himmel's they arrest him and his girlfriend, who leads them to Margaret Shorey, alive and well.

Modus Operandi

Himmel targeted trusting middle-aged women and found them in supermarkets on the I-15. He would have his girlfriend lure them to him using some ruse, attack them at an opportune moment, subdue them, bind them with rope and and force them into a hidden compartment in his truck. He killed them by strangling them, possibly after raping them since they were found nude. He kept their bodies stored in a freezer deep inside the truck. His personal calling card was having his girlfriend write a message on a wall inside the supermarket's restroom telling how many he had killed (including the one he had abducted, though they were still alive at the time) and challenging the authorities to catch him.

Known Victims

• Unspecified dates in 2000:
  • Victorville, California: Unnamed victim
  • Salt Lake City, Utah: Unnamed victim
  • San Bernardino, California: Joan Sims (killed and dumped on the side of a road)
  • Mesquite, Nevada: Unnamed victim
• January 11-12, 2001, Las Vegas, Nevada: Margaret Shorey (abducted; was rescued)

Appearances

• Season 1: I-15 Murders