Who Is Stephen Walker & How Did His Story End?

Unfortunately for Stephen Walker, his involvement in the "Mr. Scratch" case directly led to his death in the "Criminal Minds" Season 12 two-part finale. Having tormented the BAU for practically the entire season, Peter Lewis makes a final attack on the team in the episode "Red Light" — posing as Penelope Garcia (Kirsten Vangness) to lure the group onto an abandoned back street.

Upon arriving at the street, the team hit a series of spike strips left by Lewis, and their now-immobile cars are rammed by a semi-truck. Everybody survives this crash except for Stephen Walker, whose neck snaps due to the whiplash. Having spent just 15 episodes with the BAU crew, Walker's death is incredibly shocking and tragic, though fortunately, his work on the "Mr. Scratch" case was not in vain.

In the Season 13 premiere, "Wheels Up," the team discovers that Walker made physical copies of all the evidence and research concerning the "Mr. Scratch" case — protecting those files from any hacking by the hyper-intelligent Peter Lewis. These documents were essential to David Rossi's (Joe Mantegna ) hunt for Peter and helped lead to Lewis' death later in the episode. Despite his short tenure with the BAU, Stephen Walker is given a hero's funeral at the end of the episode, attended by his wife, two children, and the rest of the team.

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