Since The Rookie is based on a true story, it makes sense that real-life events and cases are worked into the show. The upcoming Season 6 episode “Training Day” centers on the team’s investigation into a series of crimes committed by the “Pentagram Killer,” which leads fans to wonder: Is the Pentagram Killer from The Rookie real? We have all the details below.
The Rookie is ABC’s police procedural drama following John Nolan (Nathan Fillion), a middle-aged, recently divorced man from Pennsylvania who moves to Los Angeles to pursue a career as a police officer with the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD). The series was based on the true story of LAPD officer William “Bill” Norcross, who moved to Los Angeles in 2015 and joined the department in his mid-40s. It premiered in 2018 and also stars Jenna Dewan as Bailey Nune, Eric Winter as Tim Bradford, Melissa O’Neill as Lucy Chen, Tru Valentino as Aaron Thorsen, Lisseth Chavez as Celina Juarez, Richard T. Jones as Wade Grey, Shawn Ashmore as Wesley Evers, Mekia Cox as Nyla Harper and Alyssa Diaz as Angela Lopez.
Following a brief hiatus, The Rookie returned for Season 6 on Feb. 20, 2024. There has been plenty of action in Season 6 so far, and the fourth episode will be no different. Per the official synopsis, the team investigates a homicide case with a potential tie to the Pentagram Killer. Elsewhere in the episode, Officer Aaron Thorsen returns to work for the first time since he was attacked in the Season 5 finale. He’s tasked with a series of high-stress cases to determine whether he’s truly ready to work again.
In a promo for the episode, Detective Nyla Harper notices the “signature of the Pentagram Killer” on a victim’s body. She then tells her team that the suspect is “wanted in connection to a string of unsolved homicides.” The clip ends with Nolan and Juarez visiting a woman who claims that her husband is the Pentagram Killer. When Nolan asks where he is, she says: “He’s been dead for seven years.”
With anticipation for the episode building, fans want to know if the Pentagram Killer is, in fact, a real-life serial killer. Keep reading to find out.
Is the Pentagram Killer from The Rookie real?
The “Pentagram Killer” featured in the upcoming Season 6 episode “Training Day” seems to be loosely based on Richard Ramirez, who was actually dubbed “the Night Stalker.” Ramirez was a serial killer and sex offender who committed a string of crimes in the Los Angeles and San Francisco areas during the late ’80s. His crime spree started in June 1984 and continued until he was eventually captured in August 1985. He was convicted of 43 charges and sentenced to death in 1989, but died in 2013 while awaiting execution.
Like the Pentagram Killer, Ramirez often drew the Satanic pentagram symbol on his 15+ victims. He reportedly developed an interest in Satanism and the occult when he was 14 years old. During his trial, Ramirez raised a hand with a pentagram drawn on it and yelled, “Hail Satan!”
Since The Rookie is set in Los Angeles, it’s very likely that the show drew inspiration from Ramirez’s deadly crime spree. Police procedurals often feature cases that were pulled from real life, as they carry more of an impact on the audience. Law & Order and Law & Order: SVU, for example, have aired countless episodes that were based on real-life crimes. The long-running NBC procedurals have fictionalized the murder of JonBenét Ramsey, the trial of Casey Anthony and the teenage pregnancy pact dubbed the Gloucester 18, among other cases.
It’s unclear how much the upcoming episode of The Rookie will parallel Ramirez’s case, but the twist at the end of the promo suggests that the team could be dealing with a copycat killer. Viewers will just have to tune into the episode on March 26 to find out.
