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This article's subject relates to Season 4 of 24.

Richard Heller was the son of Susan Heller and, through her marriage, the stepson of James Heller and stepbrother of Audrey Raines. (24: The Ultimate Guide)

Before Day 4[]

The week prior to Day 4's kidnappings and subsequent terrorist events, Richard had met a couple, Mandy and Gary, at a bar. After taking them to his home and getting high, he and Gary had sex while unbeknownst to him, Mandy set up a tap on his cell phone. The tap allowed Habib Marwan to listen in on all of Richard's calls and from them gain the information on the Secretary of Defense's whereabouts. Mandy also called Marwan using Richard's phone to connect the dots between him and Marwan.

Day 4[]

Richard was planning on taking part in an anti-military and anti-corporate protest at Lockheed and speaking at the event. Secretary of Defense James Heller went to speak with his son to try to talk him out of it in order to avoid embarrassment to President John Keeler, but was unsuccessful.

Secretary Heller and Richard's sister, Audrey Raines, were kidnapped and taken hostage while visiting Richard's house. He hid inside a closet and was later apprehended by a team led by Curtis Manning. During the course of the investigation into the kidnapping of his father and sister, Heller was subjected to intense interrogation up to and including non-invasive torture for a period of approximately three hours at CTU Los Angeles. Richard was going to be interrogated more intensely by Eric Richards, but he was stopped by Curtis Manning.

Later in the day, however, after the capture of terrorist mastermind Habib Marwan, it was discovered that a phone call had been made from Heller's cell phone to one in Marwan's possession. Heller was brought back in for questioning. Though intending to conduct the second interrogation himself, Jack Bauer yielded to Audrey's pleading to allow her to question her brother. After observing the unsuccessful questioning for several minutes, James Heller entered the room and pressed for answers from his son. Richard finally agreed to tell everything he knew, though not before claiming he didn't intend to do anything wrong.

Richard was reluctant to divulge the information about Gary and Mandy due to a principled objection to CTU's invasive methods, and a personal discomfort with revealing his sexual activity with another man to his family. However, Richard's expectations in his father's disappointment was misplaced: Secretary Heller was not disappointed with how Richard chose to live his life, only that Richard's earlier silence had cost time and lives.

Richard then identified the corpse of Gary via video feed after Bauer and CTU infiltrated Mandy's apartment; Mandy had shot Gary in order to attempt to escape. Richard was visibly stunned at seeing Gary dead and hesitated a moment before positively identifying him.

Memorable quotes[]

  • Richard Heller: (to his father) You don't have any leverage over what I do anymore. You haven't since I stopped taking your money. ("Day 4: 7:00am-8:00am")


  • Richard Heller: I'm gonna speak at that rally, Dad. And it's not because I hate you. It's because it's something I believe in.
  • James Heller: Did it ever occur to you that these people are using you? Don't you realize they're letting you speak for one reason and one reason only? Because you are my son!
  • Richard Heller: Well, I wish I weren't. ("Day 4: 7:00am-8:00am")


  • Richard Heller: This is beyond belief! I cannot be back here! Audrey, you gotta get me outta here; these guys broke into my house, this is so illegal! ("Day 4: 4:00am-5:00am")


  • Richard Heller: (to his father) Go to hell. I didn't do anything wrong. I don't have to tell you anything. ("Day 4: 4:00am-5:00am")

Background information and notes[]

  • Richard is one of the show's few smokers. Others include Jack Bauer and Ryan Chappelle.
  • Richard's cell phone number that CTU traces back to Marwan is (323) 555-3210.
  • During the absence between filming "1:00pm-2:00pm" and "4:00am-5:00am," Logan Marshall-Green had cut his hair and had to be fitted with a wig for the filming of the later episode.
  • Richard's parentage is ambiguous, as James Heller was married to both Susan and Alicia. 24: The Ultimate Guide, a 2007 companion book published in cooperation with the 24 production team, clarifies that he is Susan Heller's son, related to James and Audrey by law rather than blood. However, since his biological father is unknown, it is possible that he is the result of an affair between Heller and Susan.
  • Richard is one of the few LGBT characters on the show. Others include Mandy, Bridgit and Martin Collier; and, from Legacy, Andy Shalowitz and Thomas Locke.

Live appearances[]

See also[]

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