CSI: Miami saw many of its main characters leave before the series came to an end, either by letting them leave the team or killing them, and one that has stuck with fans is the death of Tim “Speed” Speedle. CSI: Miami is a police procedural drama that debuted on CBS in 2002 and came to an end in 2012 after 10 seasons full of mysteries, crime, and a lot of drama. CSI: Miami was the first direct spin-off of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation and its success led to the launch of CSI: NY in 2004.
Tim Speedle (Rory Cochrane), simply known as “Speed”, was a Trace and Impressions expert who made his debut in CSI: Miami season 1 and met his fate in season 3’s episode “Lost Son”. Every member of Horatio’s team has their own quirks and traits that make them stand out but also bring them trouble from time to time. In Speed’s case, he was known for his carelessness, and he constantly forgot to give his sidearm proper maintenance, which ultimately contributed to his death.
In the CSI: Miami season 3 episode “Lost Son”, Horatio and Speed arrived at a jewelry shop as part of their investigation, but they were surprised by a man with a gun that suddenly appeared. Horatio and Speed drew their guns, but since Rory Cochrane’s character had failed to give maintenance to his weapon, it choked up, allowing the attacker to shoot him in the chest.
Speed died in Horatio’s arms, leaving him, his friend Erik Delko (Adam Rodriguez), and the rest of the team heartbroken. Speed’s place in CSI: Miami was later taken by Ryan Wolfe (Jonathan Togo), a former patrol officer with a master’s degree in genetics and a strong background in science that earned him a place in the team.
Unlike other cases where tensions arise between an actor and the production team, leading to their departure, things were mostly amicable between the team behind CSI: Miami and Rory Cochrane. According to Chicago Tribune, Cochrane asked to be released from his contract to pursue other projects, and Cochrane told CSI Files in 2004 that he felt the show “was never-ending and the grind was a lot”, made worse by the fact that his family was in New York.
Although he asked to be let go, that doesn’t mean he was happy with how Speed was written out. In that same interview, Cochrane opened up about Speed’s death and shared he thought “it was pretty lame” and thought the writers “could have come up with something a little more imaginative”.
Following his departure from CSI: Miami, Rory Cochrane appeared in various movies, most notably Public Enemies, Argo, Oculus, Black Mass, The Most Hated Woman in America, and Antlers, as well as the TV shows The Company, 24, and Reprisal. Speed’s death was unexpected and heartbreaking, but it was the best for both Rory Cochrane and CSI: Miami – the former got to pursue all those projects he couldn’t have had he stayed in the show, and the latter welcomed one of its most popular characters in Ryan Wolfe.