Jonah Karam

Jonah Karam is a main character appearing in Season 3 of Criminal Case, where he serves as the Bureau's Field and Weapons Expert. Prior to being offered the position, he was a suspect in three murder investigations and a quasi-suspect in two cases in the Sahara Region.

Profile
Hailing from Soweto, Johannesburg, South Africa, Jonah is a 38-year-old ex-military soldier who worked as a hired gun prior to his tenure in the Bureau. He has a scar on his left cheek and wears a blue shirt with a bulletproof vest over it and dog tags around his neck.

In his first appearance, Jonah has a blue scarf around his neck and it is discovered that he eats saffron and knows ancient Arabic.

In his second appearance, Jonah ditches the scarf and it is made known that he rides camels, eats dates, and drinks goat's milk.

In his third appearance, it is noted that he knows chemistry and speaks Arabic.

Murder by Proxy
Jonah was first interrogated by the player and Jack after they found his binoculars at the souk. An analysis from Elliot revealed that he was following the victim for some reason. Jonah said he followed Adam simply because he was paid to do so. However, he did not know who paid him to follow the victim, so he assumed his job was done.

An analysis from Marina on a notepad Jonah wrote on warranted another interrogation on him. Marina's results revealed several dangerous characteristics about Jonah, like how he is aggressive, impatient, expects privacy, and a volatile instability, the very latter of which is seen primarily in serial killers. Jonah was not surprised at them finding his notebooks, as he already told the team he was to keep tabs on Adam. When told about the possibility of him being a serial killer, he said that was just crazy talk, but was known to kill a man or two due to being a sniper in the army. He added that he was not planning on sniping Adam, and saw he was getting involved with some rebel tribal leaders, but was not able to find out much beyond the notes he took.

Jonah was found to be innocent after Christy Mathis was incarcerated for Adam's murder, but Marina felt the need to speak with him again due to his psychological profile. However, she had difficulty trying to get the necessary info out of Jonah using indirect methods, so she had to be direct. When he was asked about why he was still in the Middle East, he simply said it was because he can eat, drink, and enjoy the architecture. Marina and the player thought him mentioning the architecture was a clue to the riad they investigated earlier, so they looked there. Some investigating and interrogating of other suspects later, he was spoken to again about his involvement with the rebel tribes. He revealed he was tracking someone named "The Sword", who the team found out was responsible for Chief Ripley's murder. He said it was all going well until the Bureau came along, and they fled into the desert. With that being their only lead, they gave pursuit and headed to the desert.

Death in the Desert
Jonah was filed as a suspect after Elliot's analysis on a tracking device revealed that the victim was being tracked by Jonah. It was also revealed at that moment that Carmen and Jonah had met before, as Carmen was a war reporter at some point in time. When asked why he was following the victim, Jonah claimed that Donald Barnes had hired the sniper to be his bodyguard, but complained at the victim's ignorance of the desert. He had to put the tracker on him to keep him safe. The only reason he could not keep him from being dead was because the victim regularly went into the desert behind Jonah's back.

Jonah was interrogated again regarding a text on the victim's phone saying he would keep the victim safe even if he had to punch him. Jonah said that the Sahara was a dangerous place so there was no time for pleasantries, and the victim had more than his fair share of enemies. When asked if he laid a single finger on the victim, he said he did not but will regret it. He felt he failed at his mission by being too civilized with Donald.

Despite being a strong suspect, Jonah was found innocent again after nomadic woman Mama Yasmine was incarcerated for Donald's murder. However Marina felt he needed more investigating into, so they left for the refinery to find more info. Finding a USB key revealed his job interview, which revealed that he missed a shot once for dubious reasons. When asked about this, he did not want to say anything other than it took place in Russia as he felt it was too personal. Jonah left in a rage, telling the player to find another informant. When they told Marina about this, she revealed that she was the target that Jonah missed. When she was a psychology student in Russia, she managed to get the Russian president to admit a multi-billion dollar fraud, forcing him to step down. He then put out a hit on Marina, and she showed the scar from the bullet that nearly took her life. Carmen pointed out that he confessed to missing for personal reasons, but Marina did not care saying he was a psychopath and should not be trusted, and the player should not trust him either.

I Spy a Mummy
After Jack provided the information on SOMBRA to Ingrid, Jonah Karam entered the Bureau Headquarters to give the player more information about SOMBRA. Jonah suggested that the team disguise themselves as rebels because The Sword had been supplying them with weapons, which meant that they were working with an arms dealer. The goal of the team was to find out who the dealer was and set a meeting with them, given the dealer would inform The Sword about the disguised Jack and the player, prompting them to contact them. Jack was eager about the plan of luring The Sword into their trap, however Jonah told them to go to the hookah bar to get more information about that dealer. The team found a briefcase in the hookah bar and, after unlocking it, sent it to Elliot. Elliot had found a little black book with The Sword’s card and a list of rebel groups. Elliot analyzed it further for fingerprints and found it the book belonged to Seamus Cummings, an arms dealer; Jack had heard of him as one of the most ruthless arms dealers in the world. In addition to the book, Elliot also found an airline ticket to Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates. Ahead of the game, the tech expert also had the plans to call Seamus through a proxy number and set up a meeting between him and the player. As to how the team were doing to disguise themselves as rebels, Jonah agreed to bring the briefcase back to the bar and help Elliot set up the meeting.

The Parting Shot
After it was revealed that Andrew Stern was kidnapped by The Sword, Jack did not hesitate to call hired sniper Jonah Karam for help. Unfortunately for the team, Jonah explained that The Sword had the same modus operandi for every kidnapping: they would kidnap the target and then ship them out of the country. Jonah then explained that one of The Sword’s hideouts was in the Dubai slums and recommended the player to take someone with them, so Jack suggested they take Mossad agent Asal Hawaa to go with them.

Die by the Sword
Jonah became a suspect for a third time after his sniper scope covered in notches was found in a destroyed town in Iraq. He thanked the player for retrieving his sniper scope, and said that the team had to evacuate immediately. Carmen informed Jonah that they needed to find Andrew Stern as he was a key witness to Anir's murder, but Jonah kept insisting they save themselves.

Jonah had to be interrogated again after the player and Carmen got a call from Marina saying Jonah locked her up in a bunker. Though Marina said Jonah should not be trusted considering he almost killed her a long time ago, Carmen and the player had to speak with Jonah again. He explained he tried to protect Marina, and tried to give her a tranquilizer pill, but she turned it down and called the player for help instead.

Jonah was found innocent again after it was revealed that Omar Bahir was The Sword, who killed Anir and Chief Ripley and kidnapped Andrew. Also, as Omar was about to kill Carmen and the player, Jonah came in time by shooting Omar in the head.

After it was revealed that Ripley faked her death, she immediately made a request to Jonah asking if he wanted to join The Bureau. Some people were doubting Jonah, so he and the player went to the destroyed town for him to prove himself. At the end of it all, Ripley offered him a job as a field expert and he accepted, saying it would be a pleasure to work with them.

Treacherous Waters
After the killer had been arrested, Jonah joined the player to assist Chief Medhekar of the Mumbai Police Department. The chief said that Deepak Kumar was on the trail of a mysterious criminal but died before being able to show the evidence. Then, Jonah and the player found a box containing Deepak's evidence in the flooded street. They found out that Deepak was after a criminal by the name of Guru Om Padmasana, and that he was none other than Ezra Hope, a hippie the player met while working in Rhine Canyon with the Pacific Bay Police Department.

Jonah and the player went to the museum, after the guru requested them to do so in order to clear their spiritual karma. There, they found a golden charm with a strange symbol, which Dupont said stood for forgiveness. Since they could not arrest the guru for peddling old mythology, Jonah asked the player to give the amulet to Marina.

Jonah explained that he intentionally missed while aiming to shoot her back when she was a student in Moscow because he fell in love with her at first sight. Marina barely accepted Jonah's apologies but told him that it would take more than the amulet to earn her friendship. Marina also told the player to leave as she was not going to kiss Jonah anyhow.

Peace and Dead Quiet
After Lars and Angela renewed their marriage vows, Marina told the player that she was happy that they had made through it. Suddenly, Jonah barged in and started talking about their marriage and forgiveness. Marina reflected on how Jonah disobeyed his orders to kill her. She explained that she should get a better understanding of his story and offered him some tea. Jonah was confused but showed excitement to the offer.

Death Match
After arresting Chon Sansurin, Jonah wanted to talk the player about his love life, for the player was the only one that Jonah trusted enough not to laugh at. Jonah then revealed that ever since they had tea in Bhutan, she was giving Jonah the cold shoulder. Jonah pointed out that whenever he wanted to talk to Marina, he would always get frazzled. He wanted Marina to realize that he wasn't a cold-hearted sniper.

Jonah noticed that Marina went to the Lychee Dreams Resort Bar, so he and the player went there. Although Marina had left, she had forgotten her carry case. Jonah had the player unlock it and they found a flyer for an upcoming Muay Thai boxing fight at the Rajadamnern Stadium. Jonah wanted to impress her so he asked Coach Orlando Weathers for some tickets, which the latter gave.

Marina was originally pleased when the weapons expert returned her carry case, but disgusted when she found out he opened her case. After getting caught, Jonah tried to blame the player for opening the case. But Marina revealed that Jonah was wrong to assume that she was fond of Muay Thai boxing. She told that she was intrigued by the psychology of the boxers; she wanted to know what motivated them to engage in acts of such violence, but she did not want to eye them attacking one other. She consoled Jonah by offering to have a romantic dinner with him, which Jonah gladly accepted.

A Stab in the Dark
Carmen proposed the idea of asking Jonah for help with Elliot's abduction, as Jonah was familiar with hostage situations. Jonah made Carmen feel better by telling her that Anbu Devanesan would not get rid of Elliot so long as the tech expert was a body shield. Not only that, but Anbu most likely had plans to ship Elliot off to SOMBRA ever since the player exposed him. Jonah gave Carmen the advice that since they found Anbu's tie at the Gardens by the Bay, they should go back there to find more clues about where Elliot could be hidden.

There, Carmen and the player found Elliot's phone. After it was unlocked, they found out that Elliot tried to send a message about Anbu's location at the docks. Jonah and Carmen came to the docks and found Anbu with a gun at Elliot's head. Jonah threatened to shoot Anbu if he moved or killed Elliot. Anbu didn't care and said that before Jonah could shoot him, he would shoot the digital prodigy. Before Anbu could finish his sentence, Jonah shot Anbu's hand, releasing the gun from the terrorist's clutches and saving the day.

Kicking the Bucket
After arresting Kwanele Mthembu, Marina requested the player to help her take a look around Soweto, since Jonah spent some of his childhood there. They ended up finding his phone, and the files on there were apparently corrupted. According to Elliot, all that was on the phone were some pictures, nothing that could point to him as the SOMBRA mole. He did point to one picture he took the day before, of him with another woman (who was later revealed to be his half-sister, Lily Karam). When spoken to about this, Jonah was surprised she went through his phone, but Marina brought up the fact that he went through her stuff before. Unfortunately, all Jonah said to her was to trust him, and he was not going to give them any information so she did not invade his privacy.

Going the Distance
Midway through the investigation, Jonah threatened to leave the Bureau because Carmen and the player had his half-sister, Lily Karam, under suspicion. He then set off on his own to find the SOMBRA people behind Nomena Leroy's murder. Eventually, Marina was able to calm him down.

Later, Jonah requested the player to help him reconnect with Lily, as Marina advised him to stop resorting to physical means to resolve his emotional conflict. He caught up with his half-sister in the airport as they found her ticket to Brazil in the finish line. There, Lily said that she had nothing left in Africa as she had already won the Road Rage Rally race. They then bade farewell to each other, with Jonah advising her to develop emotionally as well and Lily telling Jonah that she would call him whenever she can.

In Plain Sight
During the case, tensions between Jack and Jonah started rising. However, when he told Michelle about the bullet sabot confirming that Jack's gun was used to kill Lavinia, he refused to believe Jack was a murderer despite their rough relationship. Later on, he provided an alibi for him and Marina, claiming they were busy at the time of the murder.

Later, when Carmen called Michelle and the player apparently confessing to being the mole, Jonah proposed that she was doing it under duress. Ingrid agreed about the danger of going to the hotel room to pick Carmen up, so she sent Jonah along with Michelle and the player. In the hotel room, they found Aristide Akintola holding Carmen hostage, saying that he was finishing the job he was given in Madagascar. After Carmen told Jonah to take the shot, he was able to kill Aristide with a single bullet to the forehead.

Analyses
As the Weapons and Ballistics Expert of the Bureau, Jonah has the responsibility of taking care of necessary ballistic analyses, and to inform the team of such results after a certain amount of time or a speed-up process using Criminal Case Cash. His task-wait rates will vary depending on the difficulty of the task, but they all cost 1 Criminal Case Cash per 30 minutes.

Below is the list of analyses Jonah performs throughout the course of the game:

Case #15: O Deadly Night
 * Bullet Sabot (09:00:00)

Case #16: Fast Track to Murder
 * Home-Made Bomb (12:00:00)

Case #17: Horseback Mountain
 * Handgun (12:00:00)

Case #20: Treacherous Waters
 * Gun (09:00:00)

Case #22: Bloodywood
 * Katar (12:00:00)

Case #29: A Death Wish
 * Gun (12:00:00)

Case #30: The Murder Games
 * Crossbow (09:00:00)

Case #32: A Stab in the Dark
 * Knife (03:00:00)

Case #35: Six Feet Down Under
 * Gun (12:00:00)
 * Explosives (15:00:00)

Case #36: Out of the Blue
 * Bullets (09:00:00)

Case #37: Crash and Burn
 * Rifle Clip (12:00:00)
 * Engine Component (09:00:00)

Case #38: The Circle of Death
 * Bow (03:00:00)

Case #42: In Plain Sight
 * Shell Casing (09:00:00)

Case #44: Shadow Nation
 * Sniper Rifle (09:00:00)

Trivia

 * Jonah and Michelle are the only Bureau members to appear as a suspect prior to joining the team.
 * They are also the only team members in any of the seasons to appear as a suspect before joining.
 * The two, along with Grace, are the only members of the team to be recruited mid-season.
 * Jonah is one of the suspects who appeared in three different cases.
 * He is also one of the suspects who appeared in two cases consecutively.
 * Jonah is the only character to appear as a quasi-suspect five times.