| Minor Character: Miami | |
| Name | Sam Novak Ruben Garcia Gary Chapman Vickie Turner |
| Gender | Male (Novak, Garcia, Chapman) Female (Turner) |
| Family | Heather Chapman (Ex-wife; Chapman) Josh Chapman (son; Chapman) Unnamed daughter (Chapman) |
| City | Miami |
| Occupation | Bar manager; Photographer (Turner) Chop shop worker (Garcia) |
| Pathology | Serial assailants (Novak; Garcia) Mass assailant (Novak) Robber (Novak) Stalker (Turner) Gang leader (Chapman) |
| Modus Operandi | Car accident Beating Shooting (Novak) |
| No. of Victims | 5+ assaulted (Novak; Garcia; Chapman) 2 attempted (Novak; Chapman) |
| Status | Incarcerated (all) |
| Portrayed By | David Conrad (Chapman) James Harvey Ward (Novak) Dante Basco (Garcia) Lisa Markos (Turner) |
| First Appearance | Happy Birthday |
The Chapman Attackers (so name for this wiki) are a group of stalkers and assailants responsible for brutalizing Heather Chapman, a pregnant wife and stepmother.
History[]
Heather's attack was arranged by her husband Gary, who wanted no more children after his son Josh, whom he blamed for his divorce. Gary went to photographer Vicki Turner for thugs to carry out the deed of aborting Heather's baby, and she knew two, ex-cons Sam Novak and Ruben Franco. She warned they were too unstable to keep to the plan and could easily endanger Heather's life, but Gary was too desperate and bitter to care. Turner stalked and took pictures of Heather to know her routine, then gave her photo to Novak and Garcia. Arranging it as a car crash, Gary used his pocket knife to cut out the airbag in the steering wheel so Heather's womb would hit the steering wheel and kill her baby.
The attack was arranged after Heather's brunch with her friend Marcie Westerfield. As Tuner expected, after the thugs rear-ended her and her unborn child hit the wheel, Novak and Garcia continued with a worse assault. Novak pulled Heather out of the car and beat her within an inch of her life, before speeding away and leaving her for dead. When the CSIs were called, her car was still in the parking spot, but Heather was nowhere to be found. Horatio Caine did some searching and found her in the center of a field not far from the restaurant. She was barely conscious, so she was immediately rushed to the hospital.
Marcie was eliminated after she was suspected of fighting with Heather since she envied how easily Heather got pregnant and Heather texted Gary about it. Gary and Josh arrive, with Josh more authentically shocked than Gary, but Gary still horrified that the plan was done at the cost of Heather's safety. When Heather's car was tracked, so were Novak and Garcia. When the duo fled into Turner's bar she was a day manager at, Novak fired a gun while escaping, and Garcia threw one of Turner's photos at the team to lead to her and divert suspicion.
Josh was eliminated next—despite being jealous, Gary got her a car and Josh keyed it out of revenge, a well as working at a chop shop where Garcia was employed. Garcia is identified in custody, Novak later named from the gun being left at the scene and used in an armed robbery Novak committed. Heather barely remembered the assault, but she realized Novak was Marcie's personal trainer. Marcie was horrified and believed it was a coincidence, denying involvement she never had in the attack.
The distinct signature on a photo of Heather at the chop shop matches Turner's camera. She admitted she was told to take pictures of Heather, but she denied why and refused to sell out Gary. When she was threatened with more charges of noncompliance with the investigation than she was facing, she gave up Novak's apartment. When Novak is arrested there, the airbag from heather's car is also found. But matching the marks from Gary's knife proved he was the mastermind, Gary's knife being confiscated when he tried to attack Novak to shut up his testimony. Gary also had never asked about his child, which cast further suspicion. Singled out in interrogation, he furiously revealed he never wanted another child and pleaded he never meant for Heather to get hurt. Caine still was repulsed and arrested Gary on the spot. All four conspirators were walked away in cuffs and take into custody.
Heather, after going into critical condition and being rushed to surgery, had an emergency Cesarean section and her infant daughter was saved with her. The daughter coincidentally shared the birthday as Marisol Delko, Caine's murdered wife. The gang were all incarcerated for their crimes.
Modus Operandi[]
Heather Chapman's unborn daughter was the primary target of the operation. Turner photographed and stalked Heather, then passed the photos to Novak and Garcia. Gary pulled the airbag out of the car with his knife so Heather's daughter wouldn't be protected. Novak and Garcia then crashed into Heather's car from behind, ramming her stomach into the steering wheel. Novak took it further by yanking her out, beating her nearly fatally, and leaving her for dead. Garcia and Novak ran from police, with Novak shooting at them and several bar patrons and Garcia throwing a photo at Delko. Gary later tried to stab Novak to death when Novak was arrested to silence his testimony. Novak also committed an armed robbery with the same gun at the shooting at Turner's bar.
Known Victims[]
- Unidentified armed robbery (committed at gunpoint by Novak)
- Heather Chapman (the primary victim; stalked by Turner airbag sabotaged by Gary; later rear-ended her car and beaten nearly to death by Novak on Gary's orders; was rescued; her unborn daughter was also nearly killed and rescued)
- The bar shooting (all shot at by Novak, but missed):
- Numerous unnamed patrons
- Eric Delko (also had a photo thrown at him by Garcia)
- Horatio Caine
- Sam Novak (nearly stabbed to death by Gary; was rescued)