Joel Hand

Joel Hand is the main antagonist of the Kay Scarpetta novel Cause of Death by Patricia Cornwell. Hand is the leader of the New Zionists, a terrorist group hellbent on endangering the state of Virginia. He killed reporter Ted Eddings and Cherokee native Danny Webster to have the terrorist groups' plans not be thwarted. In an attempt to apprehend Hand, he fell into water in a nuclear power station and inhaled too much radiation from an inability to swim. Despite the attempts to save him and rush him to the hospital, Hand died from massive organ failure.

Known Victims

 * Ted Eddings (tethered to a reservoir compressor, poisoning him with cyanide gas)
 * Danny Webster (shot in the head with a Black Talon bullet)