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Wakefield

Name: John Wakefield
Age: Unknown (Deceased)
Relationships: Sarah Mills (Ex-girlfriend; Deceased)
Family:
*Son: Henry Dunn (Deceased)
Portrayed by: Callum Keith Rennie

John Wakefield (Callum Keith Rennie) was a serial killer responsible for two murder sprees on Harper's Island in 2001 and 2008, as well as a series of copycat killings throughout the Pacific Northwest in the intervening time. After being presumed dead following his first rampage, Wakefield tracked down his son, Henry Dunn, and taught him to kill, culminating in the events of Harper's Island and Harper's Globe. Wakefield is one of only a handful of characters who appear in both the TV and web series and can be considered the main antagonist of both.

History[]

Bad Boyfriend[]

John Wakefield was a fisherman from the Tacoma area. In the early 1980s, he entered into a relationship with a rebellious teenager named Sarah. Wakefield was very possessive of his girlfriend, however, and the relationship soon turned abusive. When Sarah discovered she was pregnant, she took off, to Wakefield's fury.

Wakefield eventually learned Sarah had had his child and determined to track her down and find out what had become of the baby. He finally caught up with her in 1984, discovering that she had relocated to Harper's Island and married Charlie Mills, the small town's sheriff. Wakefield confronted Sarah, but was stopped by Mills, who ordered two of his deputies to rough Wakefield up to "teach him a lesson". Wakefield fought back, severely injuring one of the deputies, Cole Harkin, in the process.

Mills used the attack on Harkin as pretext to charge Wakefield with Attempted Murder of a Police Officer. He was sentenced to life in maximum security prison.

The First Rampage[]

Main article: 2001 Wakefield Murders

Wakefield was released from prison on good behavior in 2001, having served only 17 years of his sentence. He immediately put in motion long-held plans to return to Harper's Island and get his revenge on the Mills family.

On October 4, 2001, Wakefield returned to the island and began his campaign of vengeance. He began by rigging several boats in the Marina with explosives. He was spotted in this act by fishing boat captain Harris Antonini, who Wakefield killed in the ensuing struggle. Harbormaster Christopher Cullen witnessed the murder and ran off, shouting out for help just as the marina burst into flames, injuring several people, including Deputy Harkin.

Fleeing the marina, Wakefield killed another deputy, Joshua Aiken, and came face-to-face with his son, Henry, for the first time. Henry would later describe feeling a "connection" with Wakefield that he didn't understand until later.

Wakefield escaped into the woods with a hostage, fisherman Randall Martin, who he had trussed up to drag along behind him. After getting clear of the marina, Wakefield killed Martin, splitting his skull with a head spade.

Wakefield went on to kill Cullen and sheriff's station dispatcher Kate Seaver before breaking into the Mills household and subduing Sarah, hanging her with Cullen and Seaver from a desiccated willow tree.

Mills ultimately cornered Wakefield on the Eastern Bluff, shooting him and sending him plummeting into the sea, where he was presumed dead.

He was saved, however, by the tide rolling in. Wakefield proceeded to go into hiding, an effort aided by Mills's desire to prevent panic, announcing to the island and the media that Wakefield's body had been found, going so far as to have another body buried in Wakefield's grave.

Return to the Island[]

Wakefield stays in the shadows for most of the series, killing multiple members of the wedding party with the help of Henry, the groom and the one man no one would suspect. He develops a false "friendship" with Madison, who, being a nine year old, places her trust in him. His first victim is Marty Dunn, who falls halfway through a bridge before being swiftly cut in half by the killer. 

In Episode 2, Kelly Seaver (the daughter of one of the victims of the 2001 murders) tries to convince Abby that Wakefield is alive and is stalking her. No one believes her, thinking she's insane. That night, Wakefield hangs Kelly and makes it look like a suicide. At the end of the episode, he burns Lucy Daramour alive after she falls into a pit trap set up by him.

Sherriff Mills continues to investigate the murders, and finds several pieces of evidence planted by Wakefield in Kelly's house. These include newspaper clippings of him with his face cut out. He also places a newspaper article in the house containing writing on it that taunts the Sherriff.

After Thomas Wellington is horrifically killed by a falling head spade in front of everyone, the group finally realizes that a killer is on the loose.

Wakefield finally kidnaps Madison midway through the series, and tells the group that if anyone tries to leave the island, she'll die. The members of the wedding party go after her, but unbeknownst to them, Henry is Wakefield's accomplice and working with him during the murders.

Meanwhile, Sherriff Mills is badly wounded by one of Cole Harkin's traps. Cole (who was badly scarred by the boat explosion in the 2001 massacre) takes the sherriff to his house and patches him up, but is suddenly shot and killed by arrows that Wakefield fired.

The wedding members finally discover that Madison has been hidden in Prohibition-era tunnels underneath the Cannery. Wakefield kidnaps and kills Beth to distract the survivors, and also tells Madison to lie that Sherriff Mills was her kidnapper if found. Abby finally discovers Madison, and the two escape, but the group is mislead by Madison's forced lie. While lying in a hospital bed, Mills is kidnapped by Wakefield, staged to make it look like as if the supposed "killer" "escaped". Disguised as the sherrif, he kills two state troopers who had been sent to the island to pick up the remaining members of the group.

Finally, he makes his presence known in "Snap", when he has Sherrif Mills rigged to a deathtrap that will break his neck if Wakefield starts his truck. Abby has just enough time to see her father die, before Wakefield reveals himself to her.

Over the course of the next episode, he kills Nikki Bolton, Shane Pierce, Patrick Lillis, Cal Vandeusen, and indirectly Chloe Carter as she commits suicide after watching her fiancé die before her eyes.

In the second-to-last episode, he is finally captured due to a plan formed by Sully and Danny, and placed in the police station. He converses with both Abby and Madison while in his cell. Henry secretly sneaks into the station and slips his father the keys to get free. After doing so, Wakefield kills Danny (who manages to put up a good fight before dying), and watches as Henry reveals his true identity to Trish before killing her.

In the finale, Wakefield aids Henry in killing Sully by distracting him while his son stabs the surprised victim in the back. He then fires his shotgun, misleading Abby and Jimmy into thinking that Sully is signalling them.

Death[]

1x13 - Wakefield's Death

Henry kills his father.

1x13 - Wakefield's Death 2

Wakefield finally dies.

Henry and his father Wakefield face off against Abby and Jimmy in the church (although only Jimmy knows the truth about Henry). The confrontation culminates with Wakefield setting the church on fire. With Jimmy believed to be dead, he and his son advance on Abby (who does not yet know Henry's true nature). However, Henry gives his father a fatal surprise by stabbing him in the chest, revealing that his plan was to keep Abby alive. Wakefield exclaims, "Henry!" before dying. This lets Abby know that Henry was the killer.


Murders[]

Wakefield is known to have committed the following murders:

2001 Harper’s Island Massacre[]

2002-2008[]

  • Cody - bludgeoned
  • Ashley - Suffocated
  • Peck - car explosion

2008 Harper’s Island Massacre[]

Trivia[]

  • Wakefield has killed a total of 27 people (28 if Chloe's suicide caused by him is counted) in and before the series and in Harper's Globe, the most out of any character in the series.
  • While Wakefield does not appear in all 13 episodes, he is one of the seven characters to survive to the last episode, which he is killed in.
  • Wakefield is the last character to be killed by Henry.
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