325. The Twin Sleepwalking Murder

Our sources for this episode are longcrime.com, dailymail.co.uk, sandhillsexpress.com, thedailybeast.com, kens5.com, medium.com, abc13.com, moviedelic.com, courttv.com, thecinemaholic.com, people.com, symbiotica.com, cbsnews.com, khou.com, fox26houston.com, aetv.com, and aol.com.

AOL? I haven't used AOL in years.

I think it's fair to say that the relationships we have with our siblings can become some of the most complicated in our life.

That constant shift between love and affection, annoyance and competition.

One day they're your best friend, the only person who could possibly understand you, and the next you can't stand to be in the same room with them.

So take that and imagine being a twin.

It's a connection that most of us could never understand.

Sharing a womb, sharing a life every step of the way, literally sharing the same DNA.

There's even theories that suggest twins might be telepathically connected That they can feel each other's emotions, sense when something is wrong without a single word being spoken.

It's a bond that's never supposed to break, so when it does, it's not just shocking, it's unthinkable, especially when those ties are severed from the inside.

Which is why the question we'll be asking in today's case is, was this intentional or do stronger bonds lead to more devastating destruction? And disclaimer before we start, this episode does include discussions on the death of a minor, so please, as always, listen with care.

And today, I want to take you to a little suburb outside of Houston, Texas, and this suburb is called Katy.

It is here in this town of about 25,000 people that Michael and Kathy Elliot have chosen to raise their family, their three kids, including their 17-year-old twins, Benjamin and Megan Elliot.

Okay.

So this, this suburb, Katy, is the kind of place you imagine when you think of an all-American slice of life.

I'm talking freshly manicured lawns, kids riding their bikes, the streetlights coming on just before dark.

And while most kids work hard to make and maintain friendships, even in a place as cute and picturesque as this, Ben and Megan haven't ever had to feel lonely because they're twins.

They have each other.

And according to everyone who knew them, they really were best friends.

They were inseparable since the day they were conceived.

Ben always looked out for Megan.

She was his safe space, the one she'd run to when she felt overwhelmed, bullied, shy.

And he loved being her protector, the one who she could always count on.

They went to the same school together, they ran in the same group of friends, they had a lot of the same interests, but they had their own little quirks as well.

Benjamin was a little bit more soft-spoken.