Top 20 Most Disturbing Criminal Minds Cases

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Welcome to WatchMojo and today we’re counting down our picks for the extremely disturbing, upsetting, or difficult to watch cases on “Criminal Minds”. We will not be considering any spin-offs and there will be spoilers, so here’s your warning.

#20: Innocent Execution
“Riding the Lightning”
The BAU team is sent to question a serial killer couple, Jacob and Sarah Jean, before their execution to see if there are any more victims. While Jacob had killed many women, Sarah Jean only confessed to killing their son, Riley. Elle and Morgan are sent to the couple’s home where they come across a letter from Sarah Jean stating her innocence. Gideon comes to believe that she didn’t kill her son but she resists any attempt to prove he is alive. She wants Riley to be free of Jacob’s evil legacy even if it means being executed for a crime she didn’t commit.

#19: The Devil
“Heathridge Manor”
Several women are found dead in ritualistic killings linked to Satanic worship. The unsub is James Heathridge who not only drowns his victims in a horrifying manner but does so believing it’s his mission to kill the wives of the Devil. He gets vision from his mother, whose legacy he’s carrying on. James is led to believe by his mother that his sister, Lara, might be a bride of the Devil, so he’s about to sacrifice her but the BAU team arrives just in time to stop him. The episode ends with Satan showing up and demanding that Lara leaves with him. Is it real or just in her head? It’s unsettling either way.

#18: The Stalker
“Saturday”
It’s a day off from dealing with crimes, investigations and unsubs or so you might think. Garcia holds a hacking workshop but one of the participants, Elizabeth, comes to her seeking help in dealing with a stalker. She’s received tons of increasingly threatening messages and spy photos of herself. Garcia and Alvez go to Elizabeth’s apartment to investigate further and discover that not only has the stalker been in her home but he fashioned a small alcove under her bed. Of course it’s extremely unsettling to have your personal space invaded in such a manner. Now we check under our beds every night.

#17: Feigned Innocence
“Proof”
A serial killer is attacking women in a rural Oklahoma and he’s taking away their senses with the use of sulfuric acid. He’s able to lure unsuspecting women in thanks to a developmental disability that gives him the appearance of being harmless. But he holds a deep seated grudge from being rejected in his youth and takes that rejection out on his victims. His actions are completely unhinged as he sadistically torments the people he captures. It’s especially disturbing because he constantly brags about how much pleasure gets from the pain he causes.

#16: Evil Legacy
“Birthright”
The BAU comes across women being targeted in Fredericksburg, Virginia. They quickly make a connection to a similar series of attacks in the ‘80s. Thinking it’s the same unsub coming back from a long break but soon finds that the perpetrator, Charlie, is the son of Robert, who was responsible for the old murders. Charlie grew up fatherless as Robert apparently died in a farming accident but Charlie felt it was his duty to live up to his father’s legacy. It’s understandable to want to know where you come from but it’s twisted to continue to carry out such heinous acts.

#15: Living Out Your Fears
“Scared to Death”
Normally when seeking out mental health services, those who work in that field are supposed to help you work through issues. Obviously a lot of personal information is revealed and trust is huge when seeking out therapy. However, in this case, Dr. Howard runs an illegal practice under the guise of helping people deal with phobias but really he’s using their fears as part of his own sick curiosity. It’s chilling how he calmly stands by his victims, jotting down notes and inquiring how they’re feeling when he’s put them in dire situations.

#14: The Most Dangerous Game
“Open Season”
While investigating a series of murders in rural Idaho, the BAU makes the grisly discovery that the victims were being hunted like wild animals. The perpetrators, Johnny and Paul, delight in tracking down prey, as it’s part of the thrill. They use bows and arrows as part of their hunt and let their victims die in agony. They also really enjoy the psychological torment they bring to their victims. It’s scary that they could lack any humanity or compassion as they seem to be motivated purely for sport.

#13: Deadly Skin Care
“The Good Earth”
Emma Kerrigan begins abducting men because she’s deluded into thinking that their bodies can cure her of a skin disease. She keeps the men in a barn, literally as livestock, as they are chained and force fed. Not only are the conditions in which these men are kept completely deplorable, but we also find out that she doesn’t actually suffer from any skin condition. When she looks at herself, she sees blistering and redness that’s not actually there. Perhaps the worst part is that she performs a C-section on a woman to get her placenta because she believes it will cure her and her daughter.

#12: Alternate Dimensions
“Rusty”
The loss of a son is a traumatic experience and unsub, George Kyle Peters, has taken to killing fathers in order to cross over into another universe as a way to cope. He further believes that he’ll be able to reunite with his son in another dimension. His guilt is manifested in the form of a demon, Rusty, that George sees. It’s Rusty who encourages him to commit the murders and berates him when he hesitates. It really speaks to how powerful force guilt can be on the human psyche.

#11: Rabies Experimentation
“Rabid”
If not treated right away, rabies is fatal. Unsub David Cunningham witnessed his young brother die from the virus and the trauma has stayed with him since. He would capture victims and purposefully infect them with rabies and coldly watch the symptoms develop until the fatal end. He kept those he abducted in cages and would use a cattle prod to keep them compliant. No matter how much a person pleaded and begged to be let go, Cunningham would just videotape them. The thought of having someone infect you with a deadly virus just to watch you suffer from its effects is truly haunting.

#10: The Reaper Storyline
“100”
Though this is an overarching narrative rather than a case contained to one episode, the Reaper is simply too terrifying to ignore. George Foyet has a knack for three things: killing, manipulating others, and escaping justice. Having first tangled with Hotch and company in season 4, he returns the next year to leave a permanent mark on the series. The Reaper goes to Hotch’s house, and cruelly forces Hotch to listen to his ex-wife be shot. Though the BAU agent makes it to the house before the Reaper can kill his son, too, it’s too late for Haley. Between Foyet’s sadistic need for power, and seeing Hotch break…. This is a tough storyline to get through.

#9: The Lake Murders
“Epilogue”
This is yet another instance of an unsub who suffered at the hands of a parent. And the flashbacks of this killer’s father’s savage treatment are as difficult to watch as the crimes his son goes on to commit. Making for a sight that’s as uncomfortable as it is brutal, the killer stalks innocent victims that he can drown and then violently revive. Why? As a child, he had a horrifying near-death experience. Now, he’s dying of cancer and is desperate to know what – if anything – happens after death. From start to finish, this case stood out as significantly darker than the average.

#8: Decisions, Decisions
“North Mammon”
You can go free whenever you’d like; you just have to kill someone first. When three young girls are abducted and forced into a dungeon-like basement, it’s certainly distressing enough to see the parents of the girls panic. But when the killer lets his victims know that only two of the three will be walking out alive, it cranks the tension to an entirely new level. Switching between shots of the BAU trying desperately to track the girls before it’s too late and the girls struggling with a decision that will change their lives forever, this case keeps audiences on the edge of their seats until the bitter end.

#7: The Prince of Darkness
“Our Darkest Hour”
Few actors can bring the creep factor like Tim Curry. Known as the Prince of Darkness, Curry’s character uses rolling blackouts throughout his target cities as windows to attack his victims under the cover of darkness. Relishing the position of power his crimes put him in, his lack of remorse and desire to inflict psychological trauma on his surviving victims surely makes even the most resilient of viewers feel queasy. What’s more, one of the cops on the case has a personal connection to this killer that puts him and his loved ones at risk. Between that and leftover viewer trauma from Tim Curry’s performance as Pennywise the Clown in “It,” this episode is pure horror.

#6: Young Brides
“Bloodline”
Brainwashing, kidnapping, and young brides… oh my. Any one of these would’ve made for an intense case, but presented all at once, these factors ensure that this season 4 episode is truly and deeply disturbing. A traveling Romani family is abducting little girls as potential brides for their young son, and watching how calm and collected they are about the situation is chilling. What’s worse, we learn that the mother of the family was similarly abducted, and now simply accepts that this process is as normal as buying bread. Unsurprisingly, her attempts to comfort the girls don’t do much good, but they sure make us viewers uncomfortable.

#5: Living Dolls
“The Uncanny Valley”
We’re not sure what’s the most disturbing aspect of this case - the troubling childhood suffered by the unsub, or how she chooses to deal with it later in life. Referencing the dolls her father gave her as a halfhearted “apology,” the now grownup killer decides she wants to keep playing with dolls. Odd but acceptable in principle. In practice however, she satisfies this need with human dolls. Capturing attractive young women and keeping them drugged and painted like toys, this killer soon finds out that humans don’t survive long trussed up. When one is finished, she simply disposes of the girl and finds a new one, perpetuating the chilling cycle.

#4: Cannibalistic Satanist
“Lucky”
How many disturbing habits can you cram into one unsub? Apparently... quite a few. Not only marking his victims by carving Satanic symbols into their chests, this killer also forces his victims to eat the fingers of his other victims. His taste for human flesh and desire to share it with his victims is bad enough. Does he really need to trick additional innocent bystanders into consuming human meat as well? Apparently… yes. In fact, this case goes so far that the unsub ends up serving human chili to search and rescue volunteers. You know what? A vegetarian diet is starting to sound like a good option after watching this episode.

#3: The Puppetmaster
“The Lesson”
Some are born monsters; others become monsters. After suffering serious brain damage, the killer in this case reverts back to a childlike mind with the goal of recreating his father’s murder - but this time, puppets save the day. Obsessed with finding the perfect puppets for his show, he abducts and murders multiple “actors,” before settling on the right pair. With dislocation scenes horrific enough to make viewers cover their eyes, the unsub’s delusion and determination to see his performance through is as disturbing as his methods.

#2: Scientific Experimentation
“To Hell…” / “…And Back”
A case too twisted to be solved in only one episode; this two-part story was inspired by the real-life serial killer Robert Pickton. The killer here is actually a team of two brothers, with the Mason who has paralysis acting as the brains of the operation and Lucas with mental disabilities delayed brawn. Together, they capture unhoused people so Mason can conduct his sadistic scientific experiments on them. Though he’s attempting to cure his paralysis, the pleasure Mason takes watching his victims suffer and be fed to his pigs is obvious. And, the final reveal about just where all those bodies went is sure to make your stomach turn.

#1: The Crematorium
“Mosley Lane”
Watching frantic parents search for their abducted children is difficult enough; watching what happens to them though… is almost too much. For nearly a decade, this morbid couple has been abducting kids from crowded public spaces, and disposing of their victims via the crematorium at their funeral home. Between the visceral shots of heartbroken and worried parents, and the disturbed individuals committing the crimes, audiences are hard-pressed to keep their eyes on the screen. The heart-breaking finale of this episode taps into the viewers’ sense of empathy and undoubtedly leaves everyone feeling a little emptier after the TV is turned off.

Which “Criminal Minds” cases do you find most disturbing? Let us know in the comments!