| “ | What are you gonna do that she hasn't already ruined? | ” |
— Jeffrey
| ||
Jeffrey "Jeff" Collins is a paraplegic serial killer and the leader of a killer family, who appears in the Season Seven episode of Criminal Minds "A Family Affair".
Background[]
An only child, Jeffrey attended a local high school, and during his sophomore year, was a rising star in the school's football team. However, all of that changed when he became paralyzed from the waist down as a result of a car accident caused by his father, Donald, driving under the influence. His mother, Linda, not wanting her husband's alcoholism to be revealed, manipulated the accident report into putting the blame on herself. With little hope of ever being able to walk again, Jeffrey started to become infuriated, especially towards Linda, whom he blamed for his father's drinking problem and because of what she did to cover up the true cause of the accident, showing once again her manipulative tendencies.
Several years later while he attended Georgia State University, a college girl named Ginger Palmont, who had a record for soliciting, was found dead in 2007 at a nearby park with multiple stab wounds. The case was never solved, but it is later determined to be Jeffrey's first murder. After moving back to his parents' house, Jeffrey eventually started killing prostitutes in 2012 after they came to his house, having been brought over by his parents, presumably because they reminded him of Linda. Donald and Linda were fully aware of the murders but didn't report the incidents; instead, they became his accomplices and disposed of the victims' bodies. All of this was in an effort to protect their son.
A Family Affair[]
In the episode, Jeffrey attempts to have sex with another prostitute, Rebecca Moore. However, being paralyzed from the waist down, Jeffrey is impotent and unable to have sex with her. Enraged, he stabs her in the abdomen. His parents then dump Rebecca's corpse afterwards, and it is shortly found by the authorities. Later, Jeffrey has breakfast with his parents, and Linda tries to give him his medication, but Jeffrey claims they aren't vitamins. Linda calls for Donald to appeal to him, but Donald doesn't respond. Jeffrey later exercises, with Erika Taylor, his physical therapist, watching. He spots Linda holding drinks for him and Erika, but he shuts the door in her face while Erika isn't watching. Later, Donald and Linda bring him a sexual surrogate, Julie Harmon, and he attacks her the following night. However, Julie escapes, only to be caught by Donald and Linda and killed by Donald later.
Jeffrey later tells Donald and Linda that he wants another victim, but they refuse. His parents then try to give him his medication, but he claims they "mess him up" and violently swats the container away from Linda's hand. Jeffrey later spots Linda putting his medication in his sandwich and pulls out a knife. However, he doesn't kill her and instead leaves. Jeffrey and his parents later have dinner with Erika, and he later talks to her alone. Erika asks her if he took his meds, to which he doesn't reply. She then leaves to get his meds, but knocks them onto the floor and finds a bloody necklace. She asks Linda why there is blood in his room, and Linda holds her at gunpoint. The BAU then burst in, tell Jeffrey and Linda that Donald has committed suicide via car accident, and try to convince Linda to let Jeffrey go. However, Linda refuses to let Jeffrey be locked up and tries to shoot him, only to be shot dead. Jeffrey is later arrested by Rossi as he looks on at his mother's corpse sadly.
Profile[]
See section on The Collins Family page
Modus Operandi[]
Jeffrey initially targeted Caucasian female prostitutes brought over to his place by his father, with the exception of his would-be victim Julie Harmon, who was a high-class sexual surrogate. He would have sex with them in his room, but as he was impotent from his paraplegic state, no signs of sexual activity were picked up by the coroners. Jeffrey would then stab them repeatedly in the abdomen with a knife in fits of rage at his impotency. Afterwards, his parents would dump the victims' bodies in public parks.
Real-Life Comparison[]
Collins appears to have been partly based on Andrei Chikatilo - Both were serial killers who had poor relationships with their mothers, were impotent, targeted prostitutes (though Chikatilo's victimology varied greatly), stabbed them to death in fits of rage after being unable to have sex with them, disposed of them out in the open (though Collins's parents did this instead), they went dormant for several years after their first kill (with the crimes being unsolved), and killed three victims in one month. Also, Collins's mother being shot dead by Rossi could be a slight nod to Chikatilo being executed by gunshot.
Known Victims[]
- March 31, 2007: Ginger Palmont
- 2012:
- February 23: Shannon Buller
- February 27: Kate Evans
- February 29: Rebecca Moore
- March 1: Julie Harmon (attempted, but survived; was non-fatally stabbed; later killed by Donald)
Notes[]
- Jeffrey appears to have been inspired by at least five unsubs from the show's past:
- Season Two
- Ronald Weems ("Sex, Birth, Death") - Both are serial killers who targeted prostitutes, killed their victims by stabbing them, and targeted the same number of people (five, though Weems failed to kill his fifth victim). Additionally, Jeffrey's father falsely confessing to committing his murders could be an allusion to Nathan Harris, a teenage boy who was the prime suspect for Weems' murders.
- Season Four
- Robert C. Parker ("52 Pickup") - Both are serial killers who were active in Atlanta, targeted prostitutes (though Parker also targeted other victims), lived with their parents, had a stressor involving illnesses (Collins was paralyzed from the waist down, while Parker's mother had an unspecified kidney disease that required dialysis), used a knife in their murders (Collins would stab his victims using the knife, while Parker would use the knife to disembowel his victims and then slash their throats with it), had a period of dormancy following their first murder(s), and killed four people before being caught.
- Ian Coakley ("Roadkill") - Both were serial killers who began their murders after being paralyzed in car accidents with a relative involved (Coakley's wife, and Collins' parents).
- Mason Turner ("To Hell and Back, Part 1 & Part 2") - Both were serial killers (by proxy in Turner's case) who became paralyzed in an accident involving relatives (Turner's brother and Collins' parents), began their murders some time after their paralysis, were the leaders of killer families, targeted prostitutes (though Turner also targeted other victims), and forced their relatives to get involved with their crimes (Turner forced Lucas to kill directly, while Collins forced his parents to act as his accomplices.)
- Season Six
- James Thomas ("Compromising Positions") - Both were serial killers who started killing after becoming sexually impotent (albeit under different circumstances) and killed their female victims by stabbing them.
- Suspect Behavior
- Matthew Keane ("Nighthawk") - Both were serial killers who lived with their parents, targeted women, killed them in their bedrooms, targeted five people (though Collins failed to kill his fifth victim), and had fathers who became murderers sometime after their son began their own murders. Additionally, Donald committing suicide after looking at a picture of Jeffrey before his paralysis is similar to Leonard keeping Matthew's baseball bat and pictures of him during happier times in his car.
- Season Two