Ellen Russell

"Darlene, if we don't do this, who else will?"

Ellen Russell is a killer and the dominant partner of a two-person killing team also consisting of Darlene Beckett. She appeared in Season Eight of Criminal Minds.

Background
Ellen's sister gave birth to a boy named Sam, whom Ellen came to dote on. In 1994, when Sam was two years old, he was killed in a car accident caused by a seventeen-year-old girl named Brenda Whitley. Brenda was charged for DUI and was sentenced to a year in juvenile detention, though it was reduced to two months, courtesy of her father giving donations to get her sentence shortened. The incident scarred the family for life, especially Sam's mother and Ellen. Eventually, Sam's mother sought counseling and came to obsess over Sam, culminating in her suicide. Distraught, Ellen then started communicating with Darlene Beckett, whose daughter Kelly Taylor disappeared and the suspect, Mark Logan, as a result, was only sentenced to ten years in prison for raping her since it couldn't be proven that he was behind her disappearance as well. Six months prior to "The Pact", Mark was scheduled to be released, setting off Ellen and Darlene, and they began creating a revenge scheme to kill both Brenda and Mark, equipped with items from Ellen's workplace at a boat shop.

The Pact
See section on the Ellen Russell and Darlene Beckett page

Modus Operandi
Ellen targeted people connected with Kelly Taylor's disappearance, killing them by chaining them to a car and then driving it at fast speeds, brutally scraping their skin off and breaking their bones. Both of her victims were subdued with blitz attacks; her first victim, Mark Logan, was lured in with a text message, while Paul Montgomery, her second victim, was ambushed outside of his workplace. When she attacked the motorist, Ellen shot him once with a revolver as he drove by.

Known Victims

 * 2012:
 * October 8: Mark Logan
 * October 9: Paul Montgomery
 * October 10:
 * Jason Nelson
 * Unnamed motorist

Appearances

 * Season Eight
 * "The Pact"