384 – Night Stalker – Burning Man

One year ago the FBI with the help of the Beacon captured a serial killer that claimed to to be bringing hellfire down on his victims.  Today, the killings begin again. Carl Kolchak’s unerring instincts detect that this really may be hellfire and not a biological agent and we all know Kolchak is never wrong about these things. Simon and Eugene discuss The Burning Man. Synopsis: A man finds a mysterious wax figure in his pocket, moments later, his body breaks out in blisters and then bursts out in flame, setting a gas station alight. Jain gets wind that the eyewitness says the man spontaneously combusted and brings in Kolchak and Peri. Kolchak notes that the MO is similar to the TerrorMaker, a domestic terrorist that was killed by the FBI exactly one year ago. In fact, an article was in the Beacon about the TerrorMaker the morning of the fire. Could it be a copycat? Or is the TerrorMaker still out there. The FBI’s case was that the original TerrorMaker had been a worker at a bioweapons facility; that he stole and had used an unknown bioweapon agent that caused human combustion; and that he was systematically targeting workers in the bioweapons industry. FBI profiler Panero and Beacon reporter Gorn chased the TerrorMaker for 10 years before Panero’s profile lead them to the suspect. Now, Gorn is a famous reporter with a book deal coming out and Panero, unable to deal with life after his 10-year quest, has shut himself up at home in semi-retirement – with the blessings of the FBI. [expand title=”More…” swaptitle=”Less” tag=”strong”] Kolchak is interested in the story because the original TerrorMaker claimed to be killing his victims because his righteousness allowed him to conjure up hellfire, killing the victims. He thinks that the TerrorMaker may not be dead and that it really be might be hellfire. Copycat killer, original killer, biological agents, hellfire, no matter what the truth, people are dying and there’s a real story there. Just on problem, Gorn has claim to the story because of the work he previously did and because of the book he’s publishing about the case. He doesn’t want Kolchak and Peri working the case, but he’s also not rocking the boat with the FBI, which doesn’t want the TerrorMaker case re-opened and has classified these crimes as copycat crimes. Our intrepid duo enlist the help of agent Panero, who confirms that the MO is the same as the original TerrorMaker and further that the people being killed were on the list he compiled of likely TerrorMaker victims. As the FBI arrest a copycat and claim to have closed the case, Kolchak and Panero close in on the real killer – Panero. After 10 years of profiling and getting into the head of the TerrorMaker, Panero simply wasn’t able to return to a normal life. The article in the Beacon about the anniversary triggered something in him and he became the TerrorMaker. He cooperated with Kolchak because he saw the same obsession in Kolchak that he felt. Confronting the reality, Panero touches one of his own bioweapons agent wax figures and burns to death in front of his wife and Kolchak. The FBI closes the case as a copycat but covers up what really happened. Gorn will proceed with his book publishing and Kolchak and the gang will shut up about the story, Kolchak realizes that the monster Panero had been chasing caught up with Panero and he wonders what will happen if his monster catches up with him. [/expand]