| Tom Smith |
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Tom Smith was a receptionist and also a prolific serial killer nicknamed "The Phantom" who appeared in Episode:Random On Purpose.
History[]
Tom discovered early in his life that he enjoyed killing, having gotten great pleasure from doing so.
Starting with dozens of animals, he later moved up to humans. He was extremely organized and disciplined, never leaving behind any evidence of any kind and spreading out his kills to avoid any connection being made between them. He worked at Zuggler & Smith, a Los Angeles law firm, as a receptionist.
He apparently got the job thanks to his uncle, Mike Smith who was one of the bosses and whom he later killed.
After at least two years of killing and going unnoticed, his murders finally caught the attention of Abigail Sciuto of NCIS who mentioned it on a private forensics blog.
In order to lure her into a trap, he killed Frank McEllon, a Naval engineer living in Los Angeles whose divorce was being handled by Zuggler and Smith. As a result, the NCIS: Office of Special Projects was put on the case.
Director Leon Vance sent Abby to Los Angeles to help out despite the fact that no other law enforcement officers including NCIS or the LAPD in the entire country even believed that such a serial killer even existed.
The OSP team eventually deduced that the Phantom was real through foot prints found at a number of crime scenes.
While Abby and Eric were out having a drink at a bar that she had always wanted to visit, Tom snatched her from the parking lot, sedated her with a chemical restrain, temporarily paralyzing her before abducting her. He then took her to his own "dungeon" where he kept her prisoner claiming he felt a personal connection to her and recounting his history of killing.
Abby insisted that she was not a fan of his and that the people and animals he had killed had someone who loved and cared about them. She even managed to bite his right index finger, resulting in her DNA getting onto his finger as she knew that if she died, Smith would eventually be caught thanks to the bite mark on his finger.
When she talked back at him and insulted him by calling him a creep, he brought out an axe and prepared to decapitate her but Callen, supported by a fire hose came down and shot Smith, killing him instantly. This strategy had happened after Abby had managed to get a message to Eric through sign language that the doors Callen and Sam were about to open were rigged with explosives which had forced the two Agents to change their plan about saving Abby.
Modus Operandi[]
Tom's murders all took place in different cities, usually smaller ones that didn't have the resources or manpower to thoroughly investigate them. He picked his victims through his work as a receptionist for Zuggler & Smith, his victims varying in age, race and sex and killed in different ways, including poison, gunshot and bludgeoning and he never did the exact same thing twice.
He was extremely meticulous and never left any trace evidence, which is why Abby nicknamed him "The Phantom". He achieved this by wearing a full-body suit which enabled him to take all the physical evidence with him.
Personality[]
Like most serial killers, Smith was arrogant, believing that he would get away with his crimes but this ultimately proved to be his downfall.
He also had something of a very high ego and even berated Abby for calling him a creep, hinting that he might be a narcissist.
Known Victims[]
- Unspecified dates: Dozens of animals
- 2006: Three unspecified victims in Chico, California and two unknown cities
- 2007:
- an unspecified victim in an unknown city
- May: Shanae Williams- (poisoned with arsenic in Tampa, Florida)
- Geoffrey Jones- (shot in the head with a MAC 44 in Des Moines, Iowa)
- Elizabeth Chaing- (bludgeoned with a crowbar in Boise, Idaho)
- Chandler Keck- (disemboweled with a sword in Stanwood, Washington)
- Ben Matthews- (strangled with a wire in Lakeview, Michigan)
- 2008:
- Alberto Alvarez- (drowned in a toilet in Chester Montana)
- Michelle Smith- (decapitated with a door in Liberty, North Carolina)
- August: Hashim Rashid- (compressed with a ‘88 Civic in Corning, New York)
- Katie Williams- (frozen to death in a freezer in Ketchikan, Alaska)
- Jenna Brink- (asphyxiated on co2 in Hackensack, Minnesota)
- 2009:
- Curtis Johnson- (thrown out a window in Falmouth, Kentucky)
- May: Lisa Oni- (burned alive along with her house in Oklahoma)
- an unnamed victim- (stabbed to death with an icepick)
- October 14: José Piñon- (electrocuted in his bathtub in Flagstaff, Arizona)
- November:
- Chief Petty Officer Frank McEllon- (throat was slashed with a knife in Los Angeles, California)
- Mike Smith- (his uncle, apparently stabbed, Callen and Sam later found his body in the basement next door to the law firm in Los Angeles, California)
- Abigail Sciuto- (captured, sedated, intended to kill by decapitation with an axe in Los Angeles, California, failed)
Appearance[]
- Season 1