Joe Yates
A teenager who fatally stabbed his twin sister while she was sleeping has spoken out after claiming he did so while 'sleepwalking'.
Benjamin Elliott, of Katy in Texas - a city on the outskirts of Houston - was sentenced to 15 years behind bars in February for the 2021 killing of his sister Meghan, when the pair were just 17 years old.
In the early hours of September 29, of that year, Elliott wandered into his sibling's bedroom - something he’d done countless times before, but this time, he was holding a knife.
As she slept, he stabbed her in the neck. Moments later, he rang 9-1-1 in shock.
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"I just killed my sister," he told the operator. “Oh my God … I thought it was a dream."
For parents Kathy and Michael Elliott, it was the unthinkable: their daughter was gone, and their son - her twin and best friend - stood accused of murder.
Speaking in an interview from prison, with 48 Hours correspondent Erin Moriarty, Elliott insisted: “I would never have done that. I loved her … She was my best and closest friend."
That sentiment was agreed by those who knew them, with family friend Drue Whittecar noting: "He and Meghan are so close, you could never picture anything bad happening between them."
She added: "[Meghan] looked up to him … you would see her walk up next to him when she would feel uncomfortable and just kinda stand by him.”
Police found no evidence of conflict between the siblings, and that's when Elliott history of sleepwalking came into focus. Relatives recalled incidents from his childhood, including one slumber party where he was found eating a donut while fast asleep.
Neurologist and sleep expert Dr Jerald Simmons was asked to examine the then-teenager, and at first he was skeptical of his version of events, but after just two sleep studies, he discovered that the teen quickly dropped into a deep stage of sleep associated with sleepwalking.
"Ben definitely killed his sister. He did it, there’s no question. But … he didn’t do this voluntarily. There was no motivation," Simmons later added.
Meanwhile, mom Kathy touched on how chilling the revelation is.
"It’s scary as hell. If that can happen to us, then that could happen to anybody with a sleep problem," she said.
Not everyone was convinced by Elliott's account, with prosecutors pointing out inconsistencies in his version of events, including the fact that Meghan suffered two stab wounds, with one diving so deep it severed major arteries.