Clyde Phillips recently revealed fascinating details about the billionaire and his club.
They say art often imitates life—and sometimes life provides stories so strange and disturbing that even the most creative writers couldn’t invent them. That’s exactly the case with one of the most chilling plotlines in Dexter: Resurrection’s first season: the infamous serial killer club masterminded by billionaire Leon Prater.
In Episode 4 of Dexter: Resurrection, after assuming the identity of Ronald Schmidt, known as the Dark Passenger Killer, Dexter takes advantage of an invitation meant for the man he just killed. The invite leads him to an exclusive dinner party hosted by the mysterious billionaire Leon Prater, where a handpicked group of America’s most notorious murderers gather for a night unlike any other.
Here, in a setting dripping with wealth and secrecy, killers are free to be their truest selves. No judgment. No fear. Just recognition and respect from their ultra-rich host and equally deadly guests. It’s a darkly fascinating concept, one that feels almost too outrageous to be real.
The Disturbing Real-Life Inspiration
But what if we told you that this fictional gathering was inspired by a horrifying real case? According to Dexter: Resurrection showrunner Clyde Phillips, the idea of a “serial killer collectors’ club” was loosely drawn from the crimes of Robert William Pickton, the Canadian murderer infamously dubbed The Pig Farmer.
While Prater’s gatherings are more stylized and dramatic for television, Pickton’s crimes were far more grotesque and disturbing. The parallels aren’t exact, but the unsettling notion of a person who collects killers (and their trophies) was rooted in this chilling real-world monster.
How the Idea Took Shape
In a recent episode of the Dissecting Dexter podcast—which went viral after Phillips commented on the cancellation of Dexter: Original Sin—the showrunner revealed how the storyline developed during early planning sessions.
When asked whether the writers initially considered a single “big bad” villain or a group of killers, Phillips explained:
“It was very early in the process. We knew right away.”
Phillips credited fellow executive producer Scott Reynolds with pitching the idea of a killer collective inspired by the Pig Farmer case:
“He’s been harassing me for years about that,” Phillips joked. “And now it came time to do it, because this way Dexter gets to infiltrate a group—not as himself, not as the Bay Harbor Butcher.”
Once the core concept was locked in, the writing team began exploring the details: What kind of killers would be invited? Where would they come from? Who was the billionaire powerful enough to bring them together, and why?
Creating Leon Prater
From those brainstorming sessions emerged the character of Leon Prater, a man twisted enough to collect murderers like priceless art but not a killer himself—at least, not at first. Phillips explained how Prater’s dark obsession grew out of personal trauma:
“We knew we wanted a collector of serial killers. Then we had to figure out why. We came up with this backstory about his parents being killed by someone who had murdered before. As a boy, he developed a relationship with that killer, Cooper Morris, and it ignited the spark that became a lifelong passion and commitment.”
Unlike the real-life Pig Farmer, Prater is more psychological than sadistic. His wealth fuels his compulsion to collect, whether it’s rare artifacts or dangerous people. As Phillips described:
“He’s a billionaire and he collects things. One of the things he likes to collect is everything in the vault—and he collects people. And who is he going to collect? People like Cooper Morris: serial killers.”
A Different Kind of Villain
What makes Leon Prater stand out among Dexter’s rogues’ gallery is that he’s not a murderer from the start. Throughout much of the season, he remains an enabler rather than an executioner, which only heightens the tension. By Episode 9, however, the line between collector and killer begins to blur.
Prater ultimately became a fan-favorite antagonist thanks to his complex motives, strong writing, and a outdstanding performance by Peter Dinklage, whose nuanced portrayal gave the character both charm and menace. Twisted as he is, Prater doesn’t quite fit Dexter’s code, until the final two episodes force Dexter to make a fateful decision.
Leon Prater may not wield the knife like past villains, but his psychological manipulation and chilling obsession with murder made him one of the most memorable characters in Dexter history.