Hangman

Detective Ray Archer confronts the driver of a hit-and-run van in Monroe, Georgia. He notices a gothic pendant hanging from the rear-view mirror, a signature that will reappear in the Hangman murders. The pendant hints at a personal connection between the case and Archer.

One year later, Christi Davies and Detective Will Ruiney arrive at the school where a teacher is found hanged. The Hangman has staged the room with two mannequins acting as players, and the victim bears the letter O carved on her chest. Two badge numbers are carved into a desk, signaling a chilling pattern.

Retired but drawn back into duty, Archer joins the investigation as Captain Lisa Watson warns Davies to stay out. The coroner reveals the victim, Carrie Cooper, had a history of frequent injuries, implying an abusive relationship. This finding deepens the killer's suspected motive and pattern.

Searching Cooper's apartment, Davies and the detectives learn she was dating Joey Truman. Cooper's bedroom is covered in blood and BDSM gear is found in her closet, suggesting a complex and possibly violent relationship. These clues point toward Truman as a person of interest.

At Truman's address, the detectives question the woman who turns out to be Joey Truman. She denies killing Cooper and claims the injuries were part of their relationship. Truman attempts suicide but survives, and her alibi is eventually confirmed.

Blood from Cooper's bedroom is traced to a church, where the killer escapes after hanging another victim bearing an N and a pig's head as part of the Hangman diagram. Pastor David Green explains that an unknown assailant took blood from him months earlier. The chase expands beyond a single crime scene.

Ruiney realizes the Hangman plans seven more victims, with a new murder every night. The detectives race to anticipate the killer's moves while the body count climbs. The case becomes a citywide hunt as the pattern sharpens.

An FDA stamp on the pig's head leads the investigators to a slaughterhouse where Eric Anderson is found dead with an M carved on him. They then trace the evidence to the nearby river and recover Anderson's car. The case expands to a broader network and clues converge on a timetable.

The detectives realize the unsolved death of Ruiney's wife Jessica was the Hangman's first victim, marked with a V. This revelation ties the present killings to a personal vendetta and a longer history of violence. It also deepens Ruiney's emotional stake in the case.

Anderson's home yields a model railroad of Monroe, pointing to the next victim. They find someone hanging above railroad tracks, carved with a C, alive but unable to be saved from an oncoming train. The discovery signals the killer's reach into everyday landmarks.

The investigation reveals that Captain Lisa Watson is the killer's next target, likely linked to the car accident that paralyzed her. The team hustles to protect Watson as the Hangman closes in. The tension peaks as a new chase unfolds.

A link to Adam Kellerman surfaces: he served time for assault during the same window and sold Anderson the model town. When the team raids Kellerman's toy store, they find him dead from an apparent suicide, with evidence indicating he was the Hangman. The timeline tightens around a single perpetrator.

Davies is abducted by the real Hangman and taken to a mausoleum, where she is placed in a noose. Archer retrieves the pendant and follows to the heart of the trap as the Hangman reveals his motives and identity. The tension builds toward a final confrontation.

In a brutal showdown, the Hangman is revealed to be the driver Archer arrested a year earlier, the victim from his foster-care history. A fight spills through the mausoleum as Ruiney wounds the killer and Archer pushes him, leading to the killer's death after a fall. The mystery is resolved, but not without cost.

With the Hangman dead, Archer is laid to rest, and Ruiney receives a final ominous note at Archer's funeral announcing a new game of Hangman. The killer's legacy appears to live on, foreshadowing future terror.