| “ | I've always told you...that Mommy would take care of everything. | ” |
— Linda's last words
| ||
Linda Collins was the mother and accomplice of Jeffrey Collins. She appeared in the Season Seven episode of Criminal Minds "A Family Affair".
Background[]
Linda was a caring mother who has stated that she never wanted another child beside her son Jeffrey because she felt she could never love another child beside him, and that she didn't have enough room in her heart for anyone else. One day, while Jeffrey was a high school student, her husband Donald, an alcoholic who was under the influence at the time, crashed his car with Jeffrey and her inside. All survived, but Jeffrey was left paralyzed from the waist down. Not wanting her husband's alcoholism to be revealed, Linda placed the blame of the accident on herself. Little did she know that it caused Jeffrey to bottle up anger inside him, anger that was mostly directed at her. In 2007, she and Donald somehow found out that Jeffrey murdered a college student during his time attending Georgia State University. However, instead of reporting him, they became his accomplices, disposing of the bodies of prostitutes Jeffrey killed. All of this was done in an effort to protect their son.
A Family Affair[]
In the episode, Linda asks Donald if he bought the milk when he returned home and berates him when he replies that he didn't. Later, during breakfast with Jeffrey, Linda tries giving her son his medication, but Jeffrey refuses to take it and Donald doesn't back her up. Linda later warns Donald of what Jeffrey will do once he is off of his medication. Later, Linda overhears a conversation Jeffrey has with his physical therapist Erika Taylor and hears Erika's comment that Jeffrey is making good progress. She then tries to give Jeffrey and Erika drinks, but Jeffrey shuts the door in her face while Erika isn't looking. Linda then tells Donald to get Jeffrey another victim, to which he summons a sexual surrogate. The following night, Jeffrey attacks the girl, but she escapes, only to be cornered by Donald and Linda and killed by the former.
As they scrub the girl's blood off the floor, Donald compares the latest murder to that of the college student to Linda, to which she replies that she doesn't want the incident to be brought up. Linda and Donald try again to give Jeffrey his medication, but when he refuses, Linda decides to improvise, putting his medication in the sandwich she plans on giving him. However, she is spotted by Jeffrey, who pulls out a knife, but leaves. Linda later hallucinates of Jeffrey being able to walk again before having dinner with Jeffrey, Donald, and Erika. Linda tells Erika of why Jeffrey is an only child before Donald leaves. When Erika finds the necklace of one of Jeffrey's victims, Linda confronts her and assaults her with a gun. She then holds Erika at gunpoint in front of Jeffrey before the BAU burst in and tells the both of them that Donald committed suicide via car accident. Linda refuses to let her son be arrested before trying to shoot Jeffrey in order to spare him of incarceration, only to be shot to death by Rossi. Jeffrey looks at Linda's corpse remorsefully as he is arrested.
Profile[]
No official profile of Linda was made, since the BAU were mostly focused on Jeffrey and Donald, as they initially believed themselves to be dealing with a two-person killing team. However, Reid notes that the mother may have passed on psychopathic tendencies to her son through the X-chromosome. She was also seen to be the dominant partner, at least in regards to her and Donald's relationship. Because the mother 'fixes' things, she manipulated Donald into making up for his failure and was also the one to orchestrate the endgame of her husband's suicide.
Known Victims[]
- March 2, 2012:
- Erika Taylor (Jeffrey's physical therapist; assaulted, held at gunpoint and intended to kill)
- Jeffrey Collins (her son; attempted to shoot)