Criminal Minds Episode 13: Profiling On Trial

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PROFILING

ON  TRIAL

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THE DISCOVERY

In the NCI bus, Ha Sun Woo revealed part of her history to Yoo Min Young.  In her younger days, she used to visit Cheongju every vacation because her grandmother lived there.

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She shared the startling fact that she was the first one to find the body of Mo Ji Eun.

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Ha Sun Woo had met Mo Ji Eun by chance. The local girl was accused of using a stolen credit card given to her by her brother’s friends. Luckily, Ha Sun Woo had witnessed the whole affair and therefore could vouch for her honesty.

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They became fast friends after that and they often met up whenever they could on the banks of the Nadeul River or the Cheongju Dam.  They loved the scenery at the Nadeul River.

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But one day, Mo Ji Eun did not appear as promised. Ha Sun Woo was not at ease as she had overheard a conversation about a missing middle-school girl.  She had a premonition that the girl could be Mo Ji Eun. A wave of anxiety washed over her.

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Her instincts brought her through some rushes on the banks of the river. That was where she found the body.  She must have hyperventilated. It had been a traumatic experience for her.

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TRAPPED   IN THE STRANGLEHOLD  OF THE PAST

Kim Hyun Joon was being investigated by Sergeant Oh Jeong Taek. It must have been the umpteenth time that he had been interrogated.  When he was a young adolescent, he had been interrogated for Mo Ji Eun’s death in the Nadeul River case. 

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Now, as an adult, he was being interrogated for Kang Ho Yang’s death.

‘Kang Ho Yang had told you he had something to show you?’ Sergeant Oh inquired, his eyebrows raised in surprise.  Ho Young could have hidden away some evidence that was connected to the Nadeul River incident.

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Detective Tae who was watching the interrogation in the observation room was bewildered. 

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He was reflecting on his past actions. Perhaps guilt raked his conscience.  He was reminded of Kim Hyun Joon’s accusation that due to his obsession, he was trying to manipulate evidence to fit his murder theory.  It would only be a matter of time before the truth was revealed.

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He remembered the past when scouring for evidence on the banks of the Nadeul River, he saw two fearful young school boys crouching suspiciously among the trees.  One of them was Kim Hyun Joon.

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Kim Hyun Joon was one of the suspects brought to the police station for questioning. But he was set free by Sergeant Oh for lack of evidence.  Detective Tae doubted his innocence and had been upset as Kim Hyun Joon had no clear alibi.  Moreover, Kim Hyun Joon had also changed his statement when he was cornered.

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Sergeant Oh’s argument was they should not waste time on children. He must have a glib tongue for he claimed that Kim Hyun Joon was only 11 years old.  The boy was at least 16 years old. He instructed the younger detective to search for other suspects.

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PROFILING ON TRIAL

What was the reaction of the NCI team when they arrived at the Cheongju police station? The Cheongju police had committed three grave errors.

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On meeting Sergeant Oh, Team Leader Kang did not mince his words when he admonished him for not taking into account the consequences of having arrested their agent, Kim Hyun Joon, without giving prior warning to the NCI.

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He also threatened that he would not to let the matter slide if the investigation had been conducted without any circumstantial evidence.

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The next error, Team Leader Kang emphasized, was the Cheongju police had informed the media about the arrest. He was unhappy with the media storm following the arrest.  The media was having its heyday since it involved such a prominent organization.  Attacking one of the members of NCI, means attacking the integrity of the whole organization.  NCI guards the security of the nation. Who guards the NCI? The media had made a dent in NCI’s reputation.

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One of the detectives spoke up. He claimed that they had found definite evidence but Ha Sun Woo defended Kim Hyun Joon.  She claimed that he was framed by someone.

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Detective Tae interrupted the conversation and asked affably, ‘Do you agree that the perpetrator of the Nadeul River case killed Kang Ho Young?’

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Turning to Kang Gi Hyeon, he asked, ‘What happens if a trusted NCI profile points directly to one suspect, and you were the one to have developed that profile?’

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Long ago, Detective Tae had attended Team Leader Kang’s lecture on profiling.  The senior profiler had expounded, ‘To figure out serial killers, you need to consider their age, background information and ….’

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After the said lecture, Detective Tae had strutted up to him and shown Kim Hyun Joon’s case for him to analyse.  The biggest problem was the suspect's age.

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Detective Tae handed him a file and asked breezily, ‘Don’t you remember that profile?’

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KIM HYUN JOON'S PROFILE

The eager detective was now eager to show his profiling prowess and he was given the opportunity to do so. Taking centre stage, the detective staked out his position.  He did not hide the fact that he suspected Kim Hyun Joon to be the perpetrator of both murders - Mo Ji Eun and Kang Ho Young.

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He had watched and made observations on the profiler from Cheongju based on the Criminal Profile developed by Team Manager Kang. He talked about the offender characteristics. Considering where the dead bodies were abandoned, the perpetrator must be familiar with the surroundings.

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According to the profile, he argued that both victims were strangled to death.

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TEAM LEADER KANG THE CRIMINAL PROFILE

In defence of his position, Detective Tae used inductive arguments.  He borrowed the theories as expounded in Team Leader Kang's Criminal Profile.

1. The murder suspect must be familiar with the police process. He might have committed crimes before or worked in the law enforcement sector. 2. The suspect could be anxious or confident, and might visit the crime scene. 3. Some suspects show interest in the investigation and even participate in it.

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DETECTIVE TAE INDUCTIVE REASONING

Then, Detective Tae posed question after question, based on Team Leader Kang’s theories on the criminal profile.

1.‘Do you know who visits Mo Ji Eun’s grave every time he visits Cheongju?’ 2. ‘Do you know who has been contacting our police station frequently, showing interest in the Nadeul River case?’ 3. ‘Which person knows both murder victims - Mo Ji Eun who was murdered 14 years ago, and Kang Ho Young, the recent victim?’ Kim Hyun Joon was the last person they contacted before they died.

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‘According to the criminal profile, everything leads to one person - Kim Hyun Joon! Do you think all these are coincidences?’ Detective Tae asked triumphantly.

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‘Detective, you have made a critical mistake in your profile,’ objected Lee Han. The youngest profiler had evaluated his arguments and rubbished his claims. The detective had made a blooper.

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‘You said that the suspect had committed a crime or worked in the law enforcement centre before? But Kim Hyun Joon had neither committed a crime nor was he a law enforcement officer when the Nadeul River murder happened.' That was because Kim Hyun Joon was just a student then.

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Detective Tae conceded that Kim Hyun Joon had no criminal records. Nor was he a law officer at the time of the murder.  But, the detective tried to fortify his argument, ‘Before the incident, he was in the police station often for fighting incidents, so he knew very well about legal procedures,’ a complacent smile lit his face.  Was it implied that even if Kim Hyun Joon was not Mo Ji Eun’s killer, it seemed that he was a criminal in the making for 14 years – the murderer of Kang Ho Young!

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‘What about his age? He was just 17 then,’ Yoo Min Young protested.  (*The Koreans love adding 1 year to their age.)

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He turned to Team Leader Kang and went for the jugular, ‘You told me the perpetrator’s age is the most difficult to estimate. Just because the age doesn’t match, we shouldn’t ignore a suspect so easily. Do you remember saying that?’   The NCI members must have winced at those words. Team Leader Kang’s theories have been used to trap one of their own team members!

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Detective Tae brutally reminded Team Leader Kang of the criminal profile that he had developed, so was the senior profiler going to eat his words? Even the best profilers can be wrong.

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Team Leader Kang's criminal profile seemed wrong in this case.  But, did Detective Tae twist his words? Did the detective twist the facts to suit Team Leader Kang’s theories? The argument was about probability. Detective Tae's premises might be true but the conclusion was not logically implied by those premises.   To the NCI team, Detective Tae's conclusion, was wrong.

One must have felt sorry for Team Leader Kang at that moment. His face was inscrutable. His criminal profile had come under scrutiny and was put on trial.

But, Team Leader Kang was not flustered. His mind was focused on something beyond.