The Elgins were a killer couple who appeared in the Season Fourteen episode "Starter Home".
Background[]
The Elgins were a couple who lived a reclusive life in rural Varnville, South Carolina. They had a daughter named LeeAnne, who they were very protective of and would not let her interact with anyone else that was her age. As she got older, LeeAnne rebelled against her parents and snuck out to see a boy named Steve Milburn, who lived right nearby the Elgin property. This eventually led LeeAnne to become pregnant with their child.
When Karl and Dorothy learned that LeeAnne was pregnant, they became extra protective of her and forced her to give birth in their home. Eventually, LeeAnne ran away from her parents again, only this time permanently. However, the Milburns told her to leave the baby with them.
Karl tracked down the Milburns, killed Steve and his parents, and staged the scene to make it look like a murder-suicide. He then abducted his grandson and took him back to their home to raise him.
Since Dorothy was extremely distraught over the loss of their daughter, Karl began abducting high-risk victims that would bear a physical resemblance to LeeAnne. These women would become surrogate mothers for their grandson and forced them to write letters to their families that stated that the couple treated them like their own daughter and that they were happy. However, after a period of time, the women were poisoned, mummified, and placed behind the walls and under the floorboards in the Elgin household.
Starter Home[]
At some point prior to "Starter Home", Karl presumably died of natural causes while his wife, Dorothy, was taken to a nursing home.
Tara Lewis and Spencer Reid are sent to the nursing room to conduct an interview with Dorothy upon hearing of a series of bodies found in the Elgin household. At first, she does not answer them and continues sewing something. When they ask her again after searching her room and upon getting word of two additional corpses being found at the house, she begins to become stressed and saying, "It won't work" and "It's not the same" before turning away from the agents.
Later in the day, she goes back to sewing as Reid and Lewis speak with her again. The caretaker enters the room and informs the agents that it is time for Dorothy to take her medication. Before they leave, Reid asks about the phrases she said earlier, which confuses Dorothy and she tells him and Lewis that she doesn't remember saying anything of that nature. The caretaker tells Reid and Lewis that she'll bring Dorothy back within a few minutes if they would like to wait for a bit. However, just as Dorothy and the caretaker are about to leave the room, Dorothy grabs a nearby metal fork and stabs herself in the neck, effectively committing suicide and taking any information she had withheld from the agents with her.
Modus Operandi[]
The M.O. of The Elgins mainly consisted of abducting young runaway teenagers and women as a surrogate for their daughter, LeeAnne, and have them look after their grandson. The teens supposedly stayed with the Elgins willingly and were coerced by both Karl and Dorothy to write letters to their families to make sure they weren't reported missing. Eventually, Dorothy would poison the women as they reminded her too much of LeeAnne while Karl mummifies them and places them in the walls and floorboards of their home.
Real-Life Comparison[]
The Elgins are primarily inspired by Fred and Rosemary West - Both are serial killer couples of teenagers they abducted under the ruse of wanting to hire them as nannies, had a daughter they abused, buried the remains of their victims in the walls and floors of their homes, and the dominant spouse covered for the submissive spouse by being uncooperative with police, then committing suicide.
The Elgins also appear to be inspired by Ray and Faye Copeland - Both are elderly serial killer couples with children, targeted victima of specific genders (female with the Elgins, male with the Copelands), operated from their family properties in rural areas, their murders involved some sort of fraud (the Elgins made their victims write fake letters to their families, the Copelands made their victims deliver bad checks), buried the victims on their respective properties, and at least one spouse of each couple passed away naturally.
The Elgins also appear to be inspired by John Edward Robinson - All are serial killers operating from farms, targeted female victims to abduct and hold captive, sent fake letters to their families to not arouse suspicion, abducted the infant child of at least one of their victims to raise as their own, and buried the victims' remains on their properties.
Known Victims[]
- 1988: The Milburn family (killed by Karl)
- Roger Milburn (father; shot along with the next two victims)
- Mrs. Milburn (mother)
- Steve Milburn (son)
- The unnamed grandson (Steve's son; abducted)
- Unspecified dates from 1988 to 2008 (all poisoned)
- Laura Burgess
- Delta Coughlin
- Penny Cumbre
- Daria Underwood
- Three unnamed women