Triple Threat.

Do not mess with Paul Kersey.

 

Death Wish II (1982)

Kersey apparently did not relapse into hunting muggers in Chicago, but encountered a previous friend who ran a radio station in Los Angeles. Paul Kersey and his daughter Carol, who is still catatonic, now live in Los Angeles because Paul accepted a deal from the NYPD to leave town so they wouldn't tell anyone that he was the vigilante. Paul now has a new woman in his life, KABC news reporter Geri Nichols. One day while he's out with Carol and Geri, he is mugged by a gang of five punks. Paul fights back, but they get away. The muggers go to his house, gag, rape, and murder Kersey's housekeeper, and kidnap and rape Carol, who tries to run away, jumps through the second story window, and dies when she's impaled on an iron fence stake. When he learns of his daughter's death, Paul is beside himself with grief and rage, rents a ratty hotel room, disguises himself, and sets out to find the five punks/rapists who killed Carol in order to kill them with his new .380 Beretta Model 85 pistol. When the LAPD deduces that they have a vigilante on their hands, they decide to consult with the NYPD, who fear that Kersey is killing criminals again. Fearing that Kersey, when caught, will reveal that they let him go instead of prosecuting him, the NYPD sends Ochoa to make sure that doesn't happen. Kersey began using the alias "Kimble" during this period as dictated by the situation. The events mentioned above involving his daughter's death took place in 1981 (as stated by Officer Reiner in Death Wish 4, Kersey's daughter died in 1981).

 

Death Wish 3 (1985)

As seen at the end of Death Wish II (in which three shots are heard over the end of the closing credits), Kersey resumed his mugger slayings even after slaying the final member of the gang that kidnapped and murdered his daughter. Richard Shriker of the NYPD kept tabs on Kersey's activities or at least activities he suspected Kersey had a hand in. Namely, Shriker recalled reading of six mugger slayings in thirty-six hours in L.A., four gang members slain in Kansas City (Shriker does not specify whether this was in Missouri or Kansas), and two mugger-rapists in Chicago. Shriker and Kersey's paths intersect again, as Shriker puts it "ten years" after Shriker's found out Kersey was the New York vigilante (therefore present day). Paul Kersey returns to New York to visit his friend Charley, who lives in one of the worst parts of New York City. But when Paul arrives at Charley's apartment, he finds Charley dying after a vicious beating by a gang led by Manny Fraker, and the police enter the apartment and find Paul standing over Charley's body. Paul is arrested for the murder, but police chief Richard S. Shriker offers a deal: Paul can kill all the criminals he wants if he keeps the cops informed about the death count. Though Kersey says that he stopped his mugger slayings, Shriker releases Paul to go after Fraker. Paul moves into Charley's apartment in a decaying building in the middle of a bombed out gang war zone. The building is populated by a group of elderly tenants who are absolutely terrified of Fraker and his gang, who control the neighborhood. Among the tenants are Charley's friend Bennett, an old watch repairman who keeps a couple of machine guns in his closet. There is also an elderly Jewish couple who live on the first floor. Paul buys a .475 Wildey Magnum pistol with big-game cartridges, spends an afternoon hand loading the bullets, and loads up for war against Fraker.

 

Death Wish 4: The Crackdown (1987)

Evidently, Kersey had largely retired from slaying muggers shortly after Death Wish III, since in Death Wish 4, Phil Nozaki mentions a mugger shot downtown two years previous to the events of Death Wish 4, to which Officer Reiner responds by saying that "the vigilante retired years ago". In any event, Kersey kept regular residence in L.A., regardless of his breaking off his mugger slayings. Paul Kersey is back in Los Angeles, and is dating reporter Karen Sheldon, who has a teenage daughter named Erica. While Erica is at an arcade with her boyfriend Randy Viscovich, Erica dies of a crack cocaine overdose. Later, Randy goes back to the arcade, with Kersey following him. Randy confronts JoJo, the dealer that Erica got the crack from. Randy tells JoJo that he's going to the police, but Jojo kills him to keep him quiet. Kersey shows up and shoots JoJo with a .380 Walther PPK pistol, and watches him land on the electrical roof of the bumper-car ride, where he is electrocuted. Next, Paul gets a note and a phone call from publisher Nathan White, who tells him that he knows about the death of JoJo. Nathan explains to Kersey that his daughter had died of an overdose, so he wants to hire Kersey to wipe out the drug trade in L.A. -- and in particular to target Ed Zacharias and Jack Romero, rival drug kingpins who are the city's two main drug suppliers. Kersey asks for a few days to think about it, and accepts Nathan's offer. Nathan supplies Kersey with weapons and information so he can go after Zacharias and Romero. Kersey is able to orchestrate an inter-gang war between the Zacharias and Romero crime organizations. After most of the two warring factions are killed, Kersey meets again with Nathan White, but is almost killed. After escaping, Kersey realizes that White is not who he claims to be, and is actually a drug kingpin himself, who has tricked Kersey into removing his competition. Kersey's girlfriend (Karen) is subsequently taken captive and ultimately murdered. Immediately after Karen is murdered, Kersey is able to kill the last remaining drug kingpin. A LAPD detective is able to approach Kersey after his last killing. With his gun drawn and his sights on Kersey, the detective demands that Kersey surrender. Kersey walks off, stating "Do what you have to."

Done