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Harper Dearing was the CEO of Dorado Hills Investments, a multinational venture capital group that specialized in technology companies.

Following the murder of his son, Evan in an explosion in 2002, Dearing became a terrorist, targeting various Navy ships with the intention of highlighting the faulty wiring on them, an incident that had led to his son's death.

Dearing's reign of terror and his campaign finally ended sometime in July 2012 when Leroy Jethro Gibbs, the leader of the NCIS Major Case Response Team tracked Dearing down and stabbed him with a knife before he could kill Gibbs, finally ending Dearing's rampage for good while also resulting in Dearing's death.

Biography[]

Pre-Series[]

Born in Augusta, Georgia, Dearing was the son of a local banker and a civilian. His family was described as political and southern. In his youth, he worked as a golf caddy and also bagged groceries for others all through high school. He was later accepted into the Mount Roosevelt University in Kensington, Maryland. He also had a brother named Lawrence.

While at the college, he excelled in the study of art, literature and psychology, eventually gaining a Bachelor's Degree.

In 1976, Dearing and a group of friends began a small company that eventually grew into Dorado Hills Investments. They had their base in Virginia.

At some point, Dearing also met Victoria Dearing with the two later marrying and having a son they named Evan although it was never revealed if Evan was an only child or if they had any other children.

Dearing was proud when Evan joined the United States Navy as a sailor but Evan and two other members of the Navy later played a practical joke on one of the members of NCIS by videotaping the member in question having sex and then showing it to the other members of the Navy, making it a felony.

This resulted in Evan being reassigned to another ship, the U.S.S. Brandywine where Evan later died from the destruction of the vessel he was on, due to faulty hulls on the Navy ships, and the fleet wasn't entirely updated completely due to the events of 9/11.

Evan's death turned Dearing devastating him and led to destructive behavior, as he began getting DUIs and general depressed and angry behavior that eventually led to him and his wife getting a divorce. Unable to cope with Evan's death, Dearing eventually became a terrorist hellbent on exacting revenge against the Navy and NCIS, both of whom he blamed for sending his son, Evan to his death.

NCIS Season 9[]

Unbenownst to the team Harper Dearing had been a terrorist targeting Navy ships in order to bring attention to faulty wiring that had lead to the death of his Navy son Evan. In Playing with fire (episode) at the end of season 9, one of the people Dearing had paid to attach explosives divices on the faulty wiring on the ship, Fullerton, gave them clues that helped them later track him down. He knew that the name of the person that hired him was Harper Dearing and that he was from the southern part of the USA. They uncovers that he had a son in the Navy, and eventually find DNA evidence that he is the suspect. They go to his place of work to arrest him and find out he is no longer working there and that no one has heard from him in a year, even though he is the CEO. The episode ends with Gibbs getting everyone in the NCIS office working on tracking him down.

In the following episode Up in Smoke (episode) Dearing is again connected to a case, when it is revealed that the bug found in NCIS Probationary Agent Ned Dorneget, was patented by Harper Dearing. He seems to be one step ahead, even hacking into MTAC to talk to Gibbs. It is also revealed that he bought one of the chips placed in the members of the Phantom Eight. He also kidnapped Director Vance at the end of the episode, but Vance is found fast in the following episode alive.

The team finds out later in Till Death Do Us Part (episode) that he did not want Director Vance, but wanted access to Vance's car. He placed a bomb in his car that went off in the final moments of season 9 on May 15th 2012.

NCIS Season 10[]

In the following episode in Extreme Prejudice (episode) the President of the United State has allowed FBI and NCIS to pursue Dearing with "Extreme Prejudice", which is generally understood as an order to assassinate. A national manhunt is issued in order to find Dearing. They believe to have caught him and that he took his life when captured. The evidence supports this with a DNA sample, but Gibbs is suspicious and they find out the dead body is Dearing's dead brother Lawrence, that had died a few months before. When interrogating Dearing's sister-in-law they get confirmation of his survival and an address of where he might be. Gibbs figures out in the end that he is back in the house where Evan grew up because "that is where the memories are". Gibbs confronts him and kills him with a knife when Dearing goes for the gun he has been hiding.

Personality[]

Physical Appearance[]

Victims[]

  • The following were involved in the Cargo ship bombing:
  • Bruce Johnson- (Killed with a car bomb when he started the ignition and switched it off).
  • Freddie Fountain- (Killed with a single shot to the chest to send NCIS on a wild goose chase).
  • Leon Vance - (Abducted from the airport; survived).
  • Blake Larson - (Blown up in his own house in revenge for sending his son to the ship that he was killed on).
  • Dr. Samantha Ryan- (Forced her and her son to go into hiding after bribing a judge into releasing her ex-husband, a well known felon, under a technicality).
  • The NCIS bombing:
    • Jonathan Cole- (Killed in the explosion triggered by Dearing)
    • NCIS Special Agent Edward Girard (killed) and his son, Max Girard (survived)
    • Numerous unnamed NCIS employees (either injured or killed in the explosion).
  • The hotel bombing (five fatalities):
  • Leroy Jethro Gibbs- (attempted to shoot but Gibbs killed him first).

Proxy Victims[]

  • Carter Plimpton- (Hired Bruce Johnson to interrogate him and later to kill him).
  • The following were killed in the U.S.S. Brewer bombing:
    • Tobey Abbott- (Accidently killed himself when he set the bomb to blow up).
    • Eric Ramsey- (Was killed by blunt-force trauma to the head when the force of the explosion propelled him).
  • Stanley Burley- (Andre Fullerton attempted to kill him while trying to set a bomb on the Benjamin Franklin).
  • Ned Dorneget- (Was implanted with a fake tooth that contained a listening device by Dr. Jay Berman, under Dearing's orders).
  • Donald Mallard- (Had a heart attack caused by stress relating to the discovery of the NCIS bombing. He ultimately recovered in Season 10).

Trivia[]

  • Richard Schiff who played Harper Dearing is best known for playing Toby Ziegler on "The West Wing".
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