Gerald "Gerry" Rankin is a double murderer. He had been posing as an economist working for the United Nations for sixteen years, leading a double life in which he had deceived his family into thinking he was a high-profile official while working under the table to swindle close associates of their money to make ends meet.
History[]
Gerald Rankin studied at Columbia University for eight years as an economist major, and according to his family was the first among his to graduate. He was employed at the United Nations for sixteen years, traveling to various conferences overseas. He was married to a woman named Tessa, with who he had two children Jason and Natalia. His family thought highly of him and his work, believing he had dedicated his life towards helping others and providing handsomely for his entire family.
In reality, Gerry had lied about graduating from Columbia, deceiving even his own parents and was completely unknown to the United Nations who didn't have anybody by his name on their employment records. To make people think he was a legitimate official, Gerry would spend long hours staking out in the NYC botanical gardens every week and bought off the handbooks for upcoming UN conferences that were available to the public and forging his many alleged travels worldwide. He possessed no bank accounts or credit cards of any kind, and was virtually unknown to the local authorities. He would make up many tall tales about his work to con people out of money to support his family, courting several women behind his wife's back.
Ten years prior, Gerry had been given control of his family's savings, and eventually his father-in-law sought to buy a seaside cottage with the money Gerry had supposedly invested towards the family. To protect his secret, Gerry facilitated his father-in-law's death, stunning him and making it appear as though he had slipped and fallen from a heart attack. The family remained unaware of this fact for the next three years.
In one of his latest scams, Gerry courted up-and-coming executive Charlotte Fielding, who worked for the prominent Harry Wintson jewelery firm. Fielding, who's true name was Charlene "Cookie" Caspari was eager to advance her relationship with Rankin, and also sought his help in warding off her older brother Frankie Caspari, who was paroled for his role in an OTB heist six years prior. Frankie ambushed Rankin in his car and held him at knifepoint, only to be stunned and subsequently stabbed to death by Rankin before being dumped in the botanical gardens. Rankin lied about the circumstances of Frankie's murder to Charlotte, and tried to scam her of the nearly $400,000 Frankie had hidden away in his scheme. When Detectives Goren and Eames investigated, they eventually uncovered Charlotte's connection to Frankie as well as her true identity, during which they became suspect of her boyfriend "Gerry" who she boasted to be a high-level UN official. To keep her from endangering his cover any further, Gerry isolated Charlotte and stunned her as he did his previous victims, and strangled her before leaving her for dead. Charlotte survived the ordeal, but was left in a coma from which she was unlikely to awake.
Detectives Goren and Eames continued their inquiry into anybody named Gerry who worked for the United Nations. They eventually uncovered his purchase of their handbooks and returned to the scene of Frankie's murder, getting a positive ID of him and his license plates from local witnesses who were familiar with him. During this, Gerry was presented with a wall of remembrance as a birthday gift by his children, and he became further agitated at the thought of them learning of his true past and of all of his phony accomplishments. When Gerry's parents requested ten thousand dollars towards a cruise, Gerry became even more desperate and sought to escape the shame of his family discovering his secret life.
Goren and Eames' investigation eventually led to them to Rankin's home where they questioned his wife. With his full name, they confirmed that nobody by the name of Gerry Rankin worked at the United Nations and they discovered his lifetime of fraud and forgery. They also uncovered his role in his father-in-law's death, discovering the stun gun wounds also found on Frankie and Charlotte. Goren and Eames confronted Tessa a second time about her husband's occupation, during which she was unaware that Gerry had kidnapped his two children from school and intended to have them both killed. Upon calling the school, Tessa panicked over the fate of her children and the two detectives prompted her to call Gerry to figure out his true location. Tracking him down to Paris Parks Suites by Newark Airport, the NYPD contacted the New Jersey troopers to move in and set up a perimeter to prevent Gerry's escape.
Armed with a shotgun, Gerry prepared to murder his two children, who were drugged and sleeping in bed. Goren arrived on the scene and confronted Gerry, dissuading him from carrying out the act and assuring him that his family saw him as nothing less than a hero for all he'd done to provide for them even as everything worked against him. Convincing him that to kill his children would accomplish nothing, he distracted Gerry long enough to wrestle the gun from his grip, pinning him down and allowing the police to apprehend him. Gerry's children were evacuated from the scene unharmed, and Gerry was led away in cuffs insisting he meant them no harm. Upon unloading the gun, Goren discovered that Gerry had never intended on committing suicide and intended to disappear, loading the gun for only two shots for both children. Gerry Rankin was subsequently imprisoned for murder and fraud.
Known Victims[]
- His unnamed father-in-law (killed in a fall with a stun gun; made his death look like a heart attack)
- Frankie Caspari (disarmed with a stun gun and stabbed to death)
- Charlotte Caspari (Frankie's sister; stunned with a stun gun and subsequently strangled into a coma; survived)
- Jason and Natalia Rankin (his children; drugged and attempted to execute with a shotgun)