Daniel Crimmins (b. 1966; d. April 1998) was a computer security consultant in Los Angeles.
In 1993, he attempted to join the Los Angeles Police Department in order to follow in his father's footsteps, but washed out after five months for "failure to thrive in the collegial atmosphere of the academy."
In 1995, Crimmins began murdering people in Los Angeles, and became publicly known as the Code Killer based on his habit of mailing letters containing the code "903 472 568" to FBI profiler Terry McCaleb, who headed the Code Killer task force. McCaleb profiled him as a Power Killer who received a psychological boost from toying with the police. Crimmins was not identified and was not apprehended at this time, but as the FBI began to get closer to him the murders stopped.
Over time Crimmins developed an obsession with McCaleb. When he heard about McCaleb's heart failure, need for a transplant and rare blood type, he concocted an elaborate scheme to kill someone who could provide the heart. His computer skills allowed him to hack into the BOPRA and select victims with the proper blood type. His objective was to save McCaleb's life through the act of murder and to make McCaleb feel both guilty and beholden to him.
On 2 December 1997, Crimmins shot and killed Donald Kenyon in his home after waiting for Kenyon's wife to return home, but the frangible bullet he used killed Kenyon instantly, rendering his organs useless. On 22 January 1998, Crimmins shot and killed James Cordell at an ATM, then called 911 under the guise of "James Noone," but the ambulance dispatcher transposed two numbers of the address of the convenience store, and Cordell died before medical help could arrive. "Noone" was interviewed as a witness but his true identity was not detected.
On 7 February 1998, Crimmins called 911 to report a shooting that he then committed himself thirty seconds later when he shot and killed Gloria Torres and Chan Ho Kang. He fled the scene of the shooting and returned moments later wearing a disguise and giving Torres first aid in order to ensure that she survived until the ambulance arrived. Torres made it to the hospital before expiring, and her organs were harvested for transplant, with her heart going to Terry McCaleb.
The LAPD missed many clues left by Crimmins and the investigation stalled. Crimmins wanted McCaleb to know what he had done, so in April of 1998 he wrote a letter to Keisha Russell at the Los Angeles Times, inspiring her to write an article about McCaleb's post-operative progressive. Crimmins then called Graciela Rivers, posing as a co-worker of Gloria's, and mentioned the story to her, inspiring her to seek out McCaleb and request his help in closing the investigation into Torres' murder. Ultimately McCaleb realized that "Noone" was the killer, and he was identified as Crimmins based on fingerprints. McCaleb located Crimmins' hideout on Atoll Avenue in North Hollywood where abundant incriminating evidence was recovered. Crimmins kidnapped Graciela and her son, taking them to a remote property in Baja. McCabe and Crimmins met on the beach. McCabe shot and killed Crimmins and rescued Graciela and her son. Crimmins' body was later found on the beach and it was assumed that he committed suicide. Thus the Code Killer case ended with no one but McCabe knowing what actually occurred.