Jeremy Pettigrew is a serial self-loathing pedophile and serial murderer. He is portrayed by David Aaron Baker.
Background[]
Pettigrew was raised in foster care as a child and was physically and sexually abused there, leading to him learning to fight to survive it. As an adult, he was warped by the trauma that he endured and became a pedophile who sexually abused the boys that he mentored as a youth hockey coach. At some point, his job moved him to Detroit, where he took an interest in a certain boy named Joshua who also grew up in foster care and decided to mentor him. Not long later, he abused him over the span of a week and feeling great guilt, he murdered the child. He was suspected of involvement, but a thorough investigation was not conducted because of a lack evidence. The case would haunt one of the investigating detectives, who heavily suspected him.
Army of One[]
Taking up residence in Chicago, he began his own contractor service and looked around for work, when in reality he was prowling for victims. He later discovered a site called Perv Hunters, in which sex offenders were outed to the community. Fueled by his self-hatred and believing those on the list deserve punishment, Pettigrew would track down these men and kidnap them by tasering them and keeping their hands bound. He would make a video on a burn phone to show the pedophiles begging him to stop, while beating on them but doesn't show himself, before he ultimately kills his victims by setting them aflame and using their blood to write the word pedophile to who found the body.
His first known victim was recently registered sex offender Elijah Hendricks, causing Intelligence unit of the 21st police district to investigate. They found another sex offender named Alan Metcalf and warned him of how he could be in danger, but he refused a protection detail though identified the owner of the Perv Hunters site, Craig Gorman. However, Craig is proven innocent because of a video of Alan Metcalf suffering the same fate as Elijah being uploaded while he was already present in the precinct. However, Sgt. Hank Voight tells him because he admitted that he made the video, he is an indirect accessory to murder because he incited someone to violence but promises to put a good word in for him if he complies with his demands. Intelligence sets up a sting that has Craig make another video outing another sex offender on perv hunter. It is Det. Alvin Olinsky who is going undercover to draw the pedophile killer in.
Pettigrew takes the bait, and after he is nearly attacked by a dog being walked, the team arrests him at the house, finding a taser and zip ties. He is questioned at the precinct but doesn't break, claiming he was at the location for a plumbing job and the items were for other means. Intelligence run his name through the system and finds he has no criminal history, but he was a suspect in the kidnapping and child molestation case that ended with a dead child in Detroit years back. Still, they weren't able to find enough evidence to convict him.
When Det. Erin Lindsay brings in her friend Dr. Richardson, a psychiatrist to do a profile on Pettigrew while she questions him on Detroit. He feigns grief about Joshua and states he was falsely accused that time. He spoke with Richardson and states he doesn't believe in her work and states those who can't control their urges need to be punished. Regardless, he does reveal he was raised in foster care but is resistant to answer if he was abused there. While rubbing his neck in despair, scars were found on his wrists, and he was questioned on them, but he quickly hid them and declared they stem from an accident though was not believed. After doing a psych evaluation, Dr. Richardson concludes to Intelligence that Pettigrew is both a pedophile and a vigilante, revealing he was abused in childhood, which is why he didn't answer her question on it. She clarifies that his rigid moral code shows that he's a self-loathing pedophile who feels immense guilt from his acts and the scars on his arms were a failed suicide attempt from it. She explains the only logic he knew was to kill others like him to cleanse his own conscience, explaining why he went after sex offenders. She also believes that he may have entered this frenzied state because he kidnapped and abused another child recently.
Intelligence gets a warrant and raids his house and finds out Pettigrew indeed had a boy there when they find a kid's backpack with a boy's underwear. Det. Lindsay interrogates Pettigrew while trying to identify and locate the missing child, but he continues to deny this, despite her confronting him with the evidence and angrily handcuffing him to a railing. Lindsay swears to him that he won't get away like in Detroit. Intelligence looked into Pettigrew's activities in the previous days, they discover he had a boy with him when he bought a phone for the videos from a store clerk who described him as creepy and how he asked about the phone's quality.
The team finally identifies the missing kid as Derek Robbins, as the mother confirms seeing Pettigrew around asking the neighborhood for work. Lindsay goes back to the interrogation room to get the kid's location; as Pettigrew again tries to deny questions, causing her to snap and proceed to beat Pettigrew with her gun. Det. Hailey Upton tries to stop Lindsay from this brutality, though she refuses and continues to attack the now bloodied and scared Pettigrew for his actions while demanding answers. Eventually, he complied and finally confesses to his crimes, telling Lindsay where he left Robbins and was knocked unconscious by the disgusted detective. After Chief Lugo comes in, he found Pettigrew slouched over unconscious and Lindsay reveals to her team where Robbins is, but Lugo stops her and Hailey from leaving. The rest of the team goes to the address, but they find the kid dead in a trunk.
With Robbins' rape and murder and the other murders committed by him, Pettigrew was charged for his spree and imprisoned for the rest of his life.
Killed Victims[]
- Joshua: (Child): Molested and then killed in an unspecified manner by Jeremy Pettigrew: Mentioned.
- Elijah Hendricks: (Convicted Sex Offender): Tied to a chair and then burned alive by Jeremy Pettigrew.
- Alan Metcalf: (Convicted Pedophile): Tied to a chair and then burned alive by Jeremy Pettigrew.
- Derek Robbins: (Child): Molested and then died from a lack of oxygen after being stuck inside the trunk of a car by Jeremy Pettigrew.