Characters Becoming the Boogeyman Richard Chizmar

Henry Metheny: The Real Boogeyman Haunting Richard Chizmar's Past

Overview

Henry Metheny is the hidden monster at the heart of Richard Chizmar's Becoming the Boogeyman — a former coworker who tried to abduct the teenage Richard in the 1980s and was later revealed to be a serial killer. His presence lingers as a psychological shadow over the novel, surfacing in Richard's repressed memories, guilt, and ultimately in the copycat crimes that mimic both Metheny's methods and Joshua Gallagher's mythology. Where Gallagher is the public "Boogeyman," Metheny represents the private, unspoken horror — a real predator Richard once knew and never reported.

Plot Role in Becoming the Boogeyman

Metheny appears primarily through flashback and revelation. In the summer of 1984, when Richard was 17, Metheny — then known as "Hank" — tampered with Richard's car at a mall and then pretended to offer him a ride home while Richard was stranded. The encounter ends with Richard narrowly escaping the doorless Monte Carlo that Metheny had rigged for abduction. Decades later, when Richard is investigating the copycat killer, he discovers that Metheny is still alive — now 74, in a coma in federal prison, working in the prison library before his collapse. Crucially, Metheny communicated with Joshua Gallagher through online crossword puzzles, coordinating parts of the copycat spree. Gallagher taunts Richard by using Metheny's private nickname "Richie Rich," proving the connection. The character serves as a bridge between the nonfiction horror of Richard's past and the fictional horror of Gallagher's reign.

Motivations and Traits

Metheny's pathology is rooted in extreme childhood abuse. Abandoned by both parents, he was raised by grandparents who ran a butchery and punished him savagely — beatings, starvation, locking him in a killing stall for 72 hours. By 13 he was killing animals and stalking a teenage girl, Jennifer Hammel, fantasizing about rape, murder, and cannibalism. His first murder was his best friend Brennan Lloyd, killed after a drunken kiss triggered shame and rage. Metheny killed at least five people, dismembering and partially consuming some victims. His traits include predatory patience, deep-seated rage, sexual confusion, and a need for control that manifests in stalking. Notably, he never remembered Richard as his attempted victim — a detail that simultaneously relieves and haunts Richard, suggesting that to Metheny, Richard was just one of many.

Chronological Arc

Born around 1949, Metheny moved to Parsons, Georgia at age 8 to live with his abusive grandparents. He began stalking at 13, killed his first human (Brennan Lloyd) at 29 in 1978, followed by Carlton Bowers the same year. After moving to Maryland, he killed Patricia Cotter (1982), Noelle Stockton (1983), and Bernadette Palletto (1983) — all while working alongside Richard at Aberdeen Proving Ground. He attempted to abduct Richard in August 1984. Arrested later that year, he was extradited to Georgia and sentenced to five consecutive life terms. By summer 2022 he was in charge of the prison library and in a coma after the copycat investigation implicated him. The novel reveals that Metheny provided Gallagher with the tools to manipulate the copycat — a chilling final act from a forgotten monster.

Relationships

Richard Chizmar – Metheny's former coworker and intended victim. Richard lived in fear of exposure for decades, never telling anyone about the attack. Their dynamic is asymmetrical: Metheny forgot Richard, while Richard could never forget him. This imbalance fuels Richard's guilt over not reporting Metheny to the police.

Brennan Lloyd – Metheny's best friend and first murder victim. The killing was triggered by shame after a drunken kiss, revealing Metheny's volatile emotions and sexual confusion. Brennan's murder established the pattern of intimate violence.

Joshua Gallagher – Gallagher adopted Metheny as an indirect ally, learning the nickname "Richie Rich" through prison communication. The crossword-puzzle scheme allowed Metheny to aid the copycat from his cell, linking two generations of serial killers.

Grandparents (Allen and Nancy Opitz) – Their brutal punishments and religious extremism shaped Metheny's capacity for violence. The butchery work normalized blood and dismemberment.

Key Decisions and Consequences

  • Not reporting Metheny: Richard's decision to stay silent after the attempted abduction allowed Metheny to continue killing. This guilt becomes a central theme in Richard's character arc.
  • Murdering Brennan Lloyd: The first killing gave Metheny a taste of homicide, leading to a multi-state murder spree.
  • Using prison library computers: Metheny's access enabled him to participate in the copycat conspiracy, extending his influence beyond his own crimes.
  • The copycat's hangman clue: The number of letters in "MET HENY" pointed to Metheny, linking the new murders to Richard's old trauma.

Themes and Symbol Connections

Metheny embodies the novel's exploration of how monsters are made through abuse and societal neglect. His existence blurs the line between true-crime reality and fiction, as Richard must confront that a real predator once walked among his neighbors. The guilt and complicity Richard feels for not reporting him mirrors the broader theme of bystander responsibility. Metheny also illustrates the performance of evil — he played the role of a normal coworker while hiding a monstrous inner life. His forgotten status (Richard believed Metheny had forgotten him) reflects the true crime obsession with visible killers like Gallagher, while the real monsters often fade into obscurity. Finally, Metheny's connection to the copycat through crossword puzzles reinforces the theme of blurring reality and fiction — even from prison, he can still reach into Richard's world.

5 Book-Specific Questions and Answers

  1. Why does Richard Chizmar keep the attack by Henry Metheny a secret for decades?
    Richard fears that if the truth comes out, he will be blamed for not reporting a serial killer. He imagines stone-faced detectives or unshaven reporters asking why he didn't stop Metheny. The shame and self-doubt fester for over thirty years.

  2. What nickname did Henry Metheny call Richard, and why is it significant?
    Metheny called Richard "Richie Rich." Decades later, Joshua Gallagher uses the same name in prison, proving he has been communicating with Metheny. The nickname becomes a secret handshake between two killers.

  3. How does Metheny's childhood in the butchery shape his later crimes?
    Working with blood, viscera, and slaughtering chickens from age eight normalized violence and dismemberment. His grandparents' cruelty taught him that brutality is a tool of power, and he later extended that to human victims by killing, cutting, and in some cases consuming their flesh.

  4. What is Metheny's relationship to the copycat killer in the novel?
    Metheny, while in the prison library, used online crossword puzzles to communicate with Gallagher. They traded phone numbers and instructions, effectively coordinating the copycat spree. When Lieutenant McClernan discovers this, she calls it "the start of the whole damn thing."

  5. Does Henry Metheny ever realize he tried to kill Richard Chizmar?
    No. Richard concludes that Metheny "had forgotten all about me." The article Metheny gave in interviews never mentions the Aberdeen incident. This realization is both a relief and a bitter pill — for Metheny, Richard was just another target who got away.

For a deeper dive into the novel's resolution, see the ending explained page, and for additional thematic analysis, check the questions and answers section.