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HATCHER

Hatcher

Hatcher was an arms dealer who had orchestrated the theft of several Snake-Eye missiles with the intention of selling them to interested buyers. The US Army's Snake-Eye missile had originally been designed as a surface-to-air heat seeker, but a recent upgraded guidance system made the missile programmable and gave it extended range, variable use, and pinpoint accuracy to any target. Professor Willis, one of MacGyver's former college professors, had discovered a glitch in the new guidance system, and he and his student, Kate Lafferty, had worked with the Defense Department to find a solution for the problem. Consequently, Hatcher sought Professor Willis's help to correct the flaw in the guidance system, and his men, led by Larkin, attempted to abduct Willis and force his cooperation. However, when Willis struggled for Larkin's gun, he was accidentally shot and killed during the botched abduction, and Hatcher's men turned their attention to Kate.

Hatcher's men, including Larkin and Walker, located Kate by following MacGyver, and after knocking him out, they captured Kate and brought her back to Hatcher's remote cabin headquarters. Hatcher threatened to use sodium pentothal to acquire the information he needed, and Kate felt she had no choice but to cooperate. Meanwhile, confident that the flaw in the guidance system had been corrected, Hatcher arranged for the sale of the missile with his buyer. Before making the purchase, the buyer demanded a demonstration to prove that the guidance system was operational, and he designated the coordinates for the test, the location of the Clinton Narrows Bridge, unaware that the South Bay Marathon would be taking place at the same time and there would be thousands of runners on the bridge.

Hatcher remained in communication by radio with the buyer and with his men, Larkin and Walker, who were charged with launching the missile for the demonstration. Meanwhile, with MacGyver's help, Kate was able to escape from Hatcher, and together, by using triangulation to locate the missile and ingenuity to blow up a jeep and knock out Larkin and Walker, they were able to prevent the launch of the test missile. However, Hatcher launched a second missile from his location instead. Kate was able to remove the guidance system chip from the first missile, returning it to its original surface-to-air heat seeking configuration, and when launched, the missile sought and destroyed its guided counterpart in mid-air. The bridge and the marathon were unaffected, and the authorities were able to arrest Hatcher and his men, as well as the buyer.

Portrayed by: Lee deBroux

Cross Reference: Clinton Narrows Bridge, Kate Lafferty, Larkin, Snake-Eye Missile, South Bay Marathon, Walker, Professor Willis

Episode Reference: Ugly Duckling