Steven Crowe (1992–2018) was a suspect in the murder investigations of high schooler Simon Armstrong in The Summoning (Case #26 of Grimsborough) and tomb robber Kayla Markham in I Lost My Heart in Xerda (Case #23 of The Conspiracy), as well as making a quasi-suspect appearance in The Lost City (Case #19 of The Conspiracy) and a video appearance in No Mercy for Old Men (Case #20 of The Conspiracy) before being murdered in The Truth Hurts (Case #24 of The Conspiracy).
Profile
In his first suspect appearance, Steven was a 21-year-old high school student. He had parted jet black hair, facial hair, and black mascara. He wore a black high-collar coat over a white shirt and had a scar and a pentagram tattoo on his chest. Furthermore, it is known that Steven took medication.
In his quasi-suspect appearance, Steven was the 26-year-old leader of The Higher Truth, a cult. His hair now went past his shoulders and was neater. He also had removed his mascara. He wore a white robe under a purple stole with a gold insignia of the cult. He also wore a gold chain necklace with a pendant, as well as gold and purple earrings, both depicting the cult insignia.
In his second suspect appearance, it is discovered that he drank whiskey.
| Height | 6'0" |
|---|---|
| Age | 21/26 |
| Weight | 130 lbs |
| Eyes | brown |
| Blood | A- |
Events of Criminal Case
The Summoning
A friend of the victim, Steven was called in after Jones and the player found blood on his ancient cup at the murder scene, a crypt.
When the team told Steven that they had mainly called him in to ask him about the murder of Simon, he insisted them to call him Langelus. He said that Simon's death was a tragedy and that his ritual was a waste since it had been done wrongly. After hearing this, the team got suspicious and when they asked Steven if he had killed Simon, he denied and claimed that he had worked very hard on that ritual and that he would never mess it up. Further, Steven told the team that Simon was his friend and that the victim had helped him to put the ritual together. As for the blood that was found in his ancient cup, Steven said that the ritual required to smell the fermented blood of the innocent in a cup blessed by the pagan gods of the night.
Steven was later again called in by the team when they had found his blood inside a vial found at the crypt. Just as the the team was about to begin interrogating him, Steven told them that he had to go to home before the sunrise since he was a vampire. When asked what his blood was doing inside a vial at the crypt, and if he intended to perform the ritual on himself, Steven replied that the ritual was supposed to be performed on himself so that it could help him reclaim the knowledge of his former life, in which he was Langelus Appleton, lord of the undead. He said that his thousand years old life had been cut short, and ever since he was reborn in his present body, he had been trying to claim back his true identity, and that this ritual was his only chance. Steven then concluded that he had no idea why Simon would have wanted to go to the crypt and said that if he had been there, the ritual would have been performed correctly.
Steven was found innocent after the team incarcerated Ophelia Lincoln for Simon's murder. However, he was later seen entering the crypt many times by the police though no one was allowed to enter it since it was a crime scene. So the team went to the crypt to see if Steven had left anything from which they could prove that the goth had really went inside the murder scene. They searched and finally found ritual notes on a notepad with Steven's signature under it. Since the notes proved that Steven had broken inside the crypt, the team called him in and fined him.
The Lost City
After arresting Karen Boulder's killer, Jones and the player discovered that Steven was the leader of The Higher Truth cult. They then talked to him. He said that the cult believed in the messenger of The Higher Truth, which came in the form of the satellite that had crashed into the Grimsborough forest a year prior. Steven said that no one had seen the satellite, and so it cannot be proven that the satellite was not the messenger. When they asked him about the cult's donations to DreamLife, Steven said that he did not burden himself with "material concerns" before Grayson Rosewater pulled him away so he could meditate.
I Lost My Heart in Xerda
Steven became a suspect again after Jones and the player found a box that claimed to hold his ashes at the scene of the murder. He told them that he had visited the restricted chamber in order to follow in the footsteps of those before him and burn a depiction of his likeness. When asked about the victim, he claimed not to know her.
Steven was spoken to again when Jones and the player found a CCTV footage which caught him stealing a human sacrifice book. After Jones accused him of using the book to sacrifice Kayla, he told them that he had a duty to educate himself about the way of his ancestors, but hadn't killed anyone as unwilling sacrifice displeased the "higher powers".
Steven was found innocent again after the team incarcerated Bruno Camper for Kayla's murder. However, at the end of the investigation, the team learned that Steven was planning to incite mass suicide so that The Higher Truth could ascend. This prompted the team to go and arrest Steven.
Murder details
Steven was found dead near The Higher Truth booth at the New Age Fair, with his earrings jammed into his eyes. Martine right away confirmed that the earrings were indeed the murder weapon, as they pierced his brain through his eye sockets. However, the bruise on his forehead also showed that the killer hit him over the head before killing him. Martine also found powdered sugar and cake-like crumbs on the murder weapon, which were ingredients of powdered sugar donuts. That meant the killer ate donuts.
Relationship with suspects
Steven's second-in-command, Grayson Rosewater, had planned to fly away to Aruba, claiming that he needed to stay behind after The Release to organize the cult's affairs. Skylar Sage had cancelled several recruitment interviews, admitting that she was not mature enough to question or reason with anything, causing her to ponder what Steven's mission really meant. Police profiler Gabriel Herrera, who was posing as a member of The Higher Truth, had lied to the team about his location when Steven was murdered, and he thus admitted that he had come to the New Age Fair to meet Steven in an attempt to reason with him. Elvira Milton had been in love with Steven for five years, but was turned down by him, telling her that he was a changed man. Meiko Kato was angry at Steven for forcing her son to commit murder against his will just for funds to join The Higher Truth.
Killer and motives
The killer turned out to be Skylar.
Admitting to the murder, Skylar said that she had confronted Steven regarding where the "donations" to the cult was going to during the fair. When Steven refused to give a concrete answer, she realized that he was only using the cult to get rich and was probably never going to partake in the mass suicide. Blinded with rage, she had knocked him out with a rock and then stabbed his eyes out with his earrings. Judge Powell sentenced her to 25 years in prison.
Trivia
- Steven is one of the characters to physically appear in two seasons of the game.
- Steven is one of the characters to appear as a suspect in two cases.
- Steven is one of the characters to appear as a suspect in the second-to-last case of a district, only to be murdered in the very district's finale.
- The reincarnation of Steven resembles American cult leader Jim Jones.
Case appearances
- The Summoning (Case #26 of Grimsborough)
- The Wollcrafts' Creature (Case #30 of Grimsborough; mentioned)
- The Lost City (Case #19 of The Conspiracy)
- No Mercy for Old Men (Case #20 of The Conspiracy; video appearance)
- Writer's Blocked (Case #21 of The Conspiracy; mentioned)
- Color Me Murdered (Case #22 of The Conspiracy; mentioned)
- I Lost My Heart in Xerda (Case #23 of The Conspiracy)
- The Truth Hurts (Case #24 of The Conspiracy)
