Gary Semel

## Related Wikis

**Gary Semel** is the central hidden antagonist of the James Patterson novel *Confessions: The Private School Murders* in the namesake *Confessions* teen mystery novel series. Semel is a serial killer of higher-class women and girls, murdering them in escalating shootings when he finds them all as they come into the pharmacy where he does custodial work to prescribe antidepressants.

## Biography

Semel was an average-looking young janitor with mild physiques and a slightly worn look, working at a local pharmacy at the Upper West Side of Manhattan, New York City. Nothing is revealing about his past or his life. He saw numerous blonde white women and girls coming in and out of the pharmacy for antidepressant prescriptions, snapping at some unknown point when deciding to start killing them all. Originally, Semel would disguise the murders as other deaths to ensure he wouldn't get caught.

He shot and killed Stacy Blackburn after stalking her to a liquor store, disguising it as part of an armed robbery of the store. He later shot Lena Watkins outside her apartment with a gun he left at the scene, disguising as a suicide by a gunshot to her head, which seemed plausible to police after her crushing break-up right when she received early acceptance to college. Deciding on more of a thrill, Semel upped the ante by committing more shootings without any measures to prevent the killings from being connected.

Adele Church was shot dead several times at Central Park, as she became depressed from her brother leaving for college even in spite of her well-liked reputation at her private school. Tandy Angel, the book's protagonist, witnessed the crime scene while Adele was still lying there, trying to keep her emotions from pouring out, as she finally stopped her parents' experimental drugs. Marla Henderson was shot several times at the Bow Bridge a couple days later, having taken Paxil after she lost her beloved father to a heart attack.

Tandy and her closest friend C.P. did investigations into the women and girls' lives, realizing they all fit the same victim profile of young, Caucasian, high status, and even shot dead in public. They found out their lives were taking downturns at unexpected times without explanations other than traumas and personal losses. Tandy eventually realized they all had to get their similar prescriptions at the same locations, ending up at the pharmacy here Semel was working at. Semel was in on that day and heard Tandy asking questions about all four women and girls, deciding to stalk her to the park where she was waiting for a meeting.

Semel snuck up behind Tandy, pistol-whipped her, and held her at gunpoint. He openly bragged his confession and was about ready to shoot her too, so Tandy screamed to buy time. It was plenty for legal guardian Jacob, who was trained in the military, to disarm Semel and beat him into submission, Semel himself screaming and pleading for him to stop. The cops soon after arrived to arrest Semel, then eventually transferred his custody to Rikers Island.

## Personality

Semel appears to fit the usual antisocial, murderous personality, hiding in plain sight in a menial job, stalking a specific type of victim, exploiting their flaws, and enacting violence on them for pleasure, power, and destruction. Semel was insecure and wanting murders to be perfect without getting caught, thus keeping his early M.O. inconsistent to keep police off his trail, making the murders appear to be other deaths with other motives. Semel grew more brazen and violent overtime, killing women and girls of high status outright, in public, and with several gunshots, leaving them broken and bloody at the scene for spectators to gather around. Semel likely relished the chaos and the evasion as part of being a heartless, sadistic criminal. However, Semel had a cowardice to him form not wanting to be caught, originally not trying to leave the murders easy to trace, and needing a gun even in confrontations, as well as panicking when getting closer to be arrested. Despite his brute force, he would crack when cornered by police or a more experienced fighter, which is why he capitulated to Jacob defending Tandy so she wasn't next to die. Semel's level of resilience in Rikers depends on his tolerance and fighting experience, which aren't guaranteed to be promising.

## Victims

* Stacey Blackburn (shot dead outside a liquor store during a robbery)
* Lena Watkins (shot once in her head, disguising as suicide; had a bad breakup)
* Adele Church (shot several times; her brother left for college)
* Marla Henderson (shot several times; her father died from a heart attack)
* Tandoori "Tandy" Angel (attempted; pistol-whipped and held at gunpoint; was investigating the murders)