| Martin Borja | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Vital statistics | |
| Name | Martin Borja |
| Profession | Developer |
| Gender | Male |
| Notability | Secret leader of the Zyklon Brotherhood Father of Dwight Darnell True mastermind behind the courtroom shooting conspiracy |
| Played by | Carlos LaCamara |
| First appearance | “White Lies, Part 1” |
| Latest appearance | “White Lies, Part 3” |
Martin Borja was a land developer who was also the secret leader of the Zyklon Brotherhood and the true mastermind behind the plot to shoot up a courtroom.
History[]
At some point, Martin formed the Neo-Nazi gang known as the Zyklon Brotherhood with Brian Schultz despite the fact that Martin himself was not what would be considered an Aryan. Unlike Brian, Martin operated from behind the scenes, acting as a silent partner in the gang. Together, the two men had the gang sell guns in Mexico and traffic drugs all across the Southwestern United States.
In about 1998, Martin and Brian opened Bullhood Trucking which carried the guns and drugs hidden amongst the construction supplies for Martin's business as a developer. Keeping with his role as a silent partner, Martin did not own any part of the company on paper which was owned in Panama and licensed to operate in Mexico and the United States as well as having employees of all nationalities. Whenever one of Bullhood's drivers would get into legal trouble for smuggling guns and drugs, Martin would send attorney Marco Calderon to represent them and get their cases thrown out. Martin further exploited the Brotherhood for his own gains by, when the LA Housing Authority condemned their properties after the gang would move in and become a menace, partnering with the Housing Authority to redevelop the sites. In this way, Martin was able to skip right through the zoning process and make a profit by developing the site to his own purposes.
At some point in around the mid-1990s, Martin began an affair with the sixteen-year old Wildred Darnell. The affair resulted in Wildred becoming pregnant with their son Dwight Darnell. Wildred hid the truth about Dwight's father from him, claiming that Dwight's father was a Marine who died in Iraq and who ran out on Wildred while she was pregnant. As Dwight took after his mother far more than his father, he was unaware of the fact that he was mixed-race and not Aryan as he believed. Martin and Wildred apparently continued their affair and Martin took care of Wildred from a distance, getting her a job at Bullhood Trucking and a seat on its Board of Directors. Martin also promised Wildred that he would one day give Dwight the trucking company.
In 2014, Brian died of a heart attack and Jordan Graff unexpectedly took over the gang instead of Hart Colson like was expected. Unlike Brian, Jordan was far more radical in his beliefs and began radicalizing the whole gang. Instead of exposing himself, Martin communicated with Jordan through Deputy Erin Simms who acted as Martin's go-between with the gang. Martin had Simms force Jordan to keep Bullhood Trucking and the drugs and gun smuggling despite the fact that they didn't fit with Jordan's personal agenda. However, Martin lost control of most of the gang who began following Jordan's ideology far more than the one set down by Martin and Brian.
In 2015, Martin's son, Dwight, having been radicalized by Jordan, went on a killing spree and killed eight people of mixed-race, two of them children. The spree left Martin feeling exposed and he decided to get rid of the Zyklon Brotherhood for good. Martin began to plot to get rid of Simms and Marco especially as they knew who he actually was, using Dwight to do it. To get Dwight to commit the murders for him, Martin presumably sent Marco to become Dwight's court-appointed attorney and reveal that his father was alive and the true power behind the Zyklon Brotherhood though Marco didn't reveal who Dwight's father actually was. In order to keep Wildred from causing Dwight to stray from his mission, Martin had Simms use Jerry Vogel to distract Wildred.
Shortly thereafter, Dwight revealed that his father was alive and the true power behind the Brotherhood to Dr.Joe Bowman, the psychologist evaluating Dwight to see if he could represent himself in court and was sane enough to stand trial. Martin learned of this from Simms who was in the room when Dwight mentioned his father and possibly Marco as well who had access to Dr. Joe's confidential notes on the session. As well, DDA Barry Rosen, the prosecutor in Dwight's case, had access to the notes as well and presumably began working to uncover the identity of Dwight's father. To keep DDA Rosen from learning the truth and to silence Doctor Joe, Martin had Simms order Dwight to kill DDA Rosen and Marco and then had Marco order Dwight to kill Simms and Dr. Joe. As both men revealed that these orders came from his father, Dwight agreed.
At Dwight's trial, Simms purposefully jammed the controls for Dwight's stun belt and had court clerk Hai Sun with whom he was having an affair load the gun Dwight used in his murders and cut the disabling wire. Like Martin planned, Dwight shot up the courtroom, killing Simms, DDA Rosen, Marco and Assistant Chief Russell Taylor before he himself was mortally wounded by Captain Sharon Raydor. However, though seriously wounded, Dr. Joe survived the shooting but his death was faked in the media to protect him.
Having witnessed the courtroom shooting, the detectives of the Major Crimes Division investigated the case and quickly realized that Dr. Joe was the primary target though they focused on the Zyklon Brotherhood as Martin planned. Due to a slip-up by Henry Colson, they also realized that Simms was involved too. After recovering enough to be semi-coherent, Dr. Joe pointed the detectives towards the section of his notes talking about Jordan Graff and Dwight's father, drawing their interest as they suspected that Dwight had told Dr. Joe something that he wasn't supposed to. However, Wildred continued to insist that Dwight's father died in Iraq and refused to answer questions about him.
In an effort to search the Brotherhood's current apartment buildings, Acting Assistant Chief Fritz Howard approached Martin, in his role as the developer that partnered with the LA Housing Authority in the past, to help them condemn and redevelop the property again. Martin pretended reluctance out of fear for his workers who he claimed were like his family, but finally agreed to help. The LAPD's search of the complex turned up the body of Hai Sun, murdered by Jordan Graff to cover up the conspiracy. Martin then began threatening to pull out of his deal with the LA Housing Authority after his workers received death threats. Martin later prepares to announce his plans for the redevelopment which would include a small park named in honor of Assistant Chief Taylor who was killed during the courtroom shooting.
Martin's plot to destroy the Zyklon Brotherhood ultimately succeeds with the LAPD focusing their whole attention on bringing the gang down. Using information obtained from Patrick Cox, the LAPD is able to tie Jordan Graff to the murder of Hai Sun and arrest him for it. They also gain information on the Brotherhood's gun and drug smuggling operation, allowing them to tie it to Bullhood Trucking and raid the premises, arresting the gang and putting them out of business.
However, Sharon refused to believe that Jordan and the Brotherhood were behind the shooting as it cost them more than it gained. The detectives were able to put together the clues they had discovered, namely the construction supplies used as a cover by Bullhood and the fact that Martin had the most to gain to identify him as Dwight's father and the true mastermind behind the conspiracy. Sharon finally got Wildred to admit that Martin was Dwight's father as well and convinced her to confront Martin and find out for herself if he was behind the conspiracy.
Wearing an LAPD wire, Wildred confronted Martin in his office in Borja Towers and claimed that she had received a letter Dwight had written to her the day before he died and had smuggled out by another prisoner detailing Martin's orders. Wildred claimed that she had hidden the letter where it could be found if something happened to her and demanded answers from Martin who claimed that he loved her and would never hurt her. Martin insisted that he had intended to give Dwight the trucking company and as Wildred continued to accuse him of allowing their son to be turned into a killer, Martin exploded that Dwight was her son, not his and was a killer, weak and ultimately better dead than alive while Martin's sons were builders.
Finally, under pressure from Wildred's demands, Martin pointed out that he had no way that Brian would die of a heart attack or that Jordan Graff would end up in charge. Martin stated that Dwight had already gone off the rails and murdered eight people, two of them children, so Martin made the best use of him that he possibly could by using Dwight to eliminate everyone who knew that they were connected to the crime business. Martin insisted that Dwight being dead was better than him being caged up for the rest of his life.
Having gotten what they needed, the LAPD prepared to move in and arrest Martin. However, before they could, the enraged Wildred took a gun from Martin's desk drawer and turned it on him. Though Martin tried to talk Wildred down, she refused as Wildred was afraid that Martin would find a way to buy himself out of trouble. Wildred shot Martin four times in the chest, sending him to the ground. As Martin weakly looked up at her, Wildred shot Martin twice more in the head, killing him to the horror of everyone watching. Wildred was arrested moments later for Martin's murder by Wes, Lieutenant Michael Tao, Lieutenant Andy Flynn and Detective Amy Sykes.
In the aftermath of Martin's death, Fritz talked to his widow who agreed not to sue the LAPD for Wildred killing Martin while she was in their custody. Martin's business faced a huge audit as well and his wife wanted to save as much of his assets as she could for their children.
Modus Operandi[]
During his years operating as the secret partner of Brian Schultz and later Jordan Graff, Martin worked from behind the scenes so that nobody, except a very select few, knew that he was involved or that there was in fact a second leader of the gang. However, he didn't insulate himself well enough for undercover Detective Wes Nolan of SIS to sense that there was a hidden partner with both men even if Wes couldn't determine who it was. Along with using the Brotherhood's operations to make money for himself, Martin exploited the legal trouble the Brotherhood fell into by positioning himself to be the developer that the LA Housing Authority would turn to when they condemned a Brotherhood property, allowing Martin to skip right through the zoning process and redevelop the land immediately, making a profit in the process. While Jordan Graff was his partner at least, Martin would use Deputy Erin Simms to act as his go-between with the gang, having Simms relay orders while not exposing himself to Jordan who thus remained unaware of who his partner actually was.
In order to sever all links between himself and the Zyklon Brotherhood, Martin meticulously plotted out his conspiracy. He is implied to have had Marco Calderon tell his son Dwight Darnell that he was still alive and the true power behind the Brotherhood so that Dwight, who was desperate for his father's attention, would do what Martin asked of him. After learning the Doctor Joe Bowman had learned that he was alive and that DDA Barry Rosen was likely following up on Doctor Joe's notes, Martin added them to his list of targets. Martin used Simms to set up the details of the shooting itself and had Simms order Dwight to kill Marco and DDA Rosen. He then turned around and had Marco order Dwight to kill Doctor Joe and Simms. In doing so, Martin would be able to eliminate everyone involved in the conspiracy during the shooting itself with the implied intention of having Dwight die in the process too. By making the conspiracy look like a Zyklon Brotherhood terrorist attack, the LAPD would focus their attention on the gang and bring them down as well, leaving all of the connections to Martin destroyed without Martin himself ever getting directly involved.
Known Victims[]
Victims by Proxy[]
The following fell victim to Martin's courtroom shooting conspiracy and its aftermath
- Doctor Joe Bowman (shot in the right shoulder, left leg and head by Dwight Darnell; survived)
- Deputy Erin Simms (shot twice in the chest by Dwight Darnell)
- DDA Barry Rosen (shot twice in the back by Dwight Darnell)
- Marco Calderon (shot once in the heart by Dwight Darnell)
- Assistant Chief Russell Taylor (shot twice in the chest by Dwight Darnell)
- Dwight Darnell (shot three times in the chest by Captain Sharon Raydor)
- Hai Sun (poisoned by Jordan Graff to cover up the conspiracy)
Trivia[]
- While the exact number of children he has aside from Dwight is unknown, Martin has at least two sons. While arguing with Wildred Darnell, Martin tells her that "my sons are builders," further suggesting that they are associated with his company. Later, Fritz Howard refers to Martin's children in the plural when mentioning Martin's wife trying to save what assets of his that she can.