HARRIS COUNTY, Texas — Jurors handed down a guilty verdict in the murder trial of Benjamin Elliott, who killed his sister more than three years ago.
Now 21, Benjamin Elliott’s defense team claimed that he was asleep when he stabbed her in September 2021. In bodycam video from the night of Meghan Elliott’s death, Benjamin Elliot was heard saying that he was having a dream and then he woke up. He reportedly told a responding deputy, “I don’t deserve respect. I killed my sister.”
Meghan Elliott was sleeping when her brother plunged one of his father’s survival knives into her neck. They were both 17 at the time.
The trial
Monday
Closing arguments began Monday morning in the murder trial of Benjamin Elliot before the jury went into deliberation.
Just before 4 p.m., the jury returned a guilty verdict.
The judge dismissed the jury and announced that he would handle the punishment phase on Tuesday morning.
Friday
The defense called a sleep expert to the stand on Friday who talked about parasomnia research and past cases involving crimes committed during parasomnia episodes, including a chef who could cook in his sleep.
The doctor said you’re not consciously aware while you’re sleepwalking but there can be pockets of memory.
When talking about Benjamin Elliott in particular, the doctor said he usually fell asleep quickly but had trouble waking up and would have no memory of conversations at times. A sleep study showed he scored high on a sleepiness scale and it was unclear what could have turned a normal night deadly. The doctor testified that handling a knife might have been an automatic behavior due to his history with them.
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The doctor recalled Benjamin Elliott saying that he stabbed his sister after coming out of a “dream.”
The sleep expert said a “perfect storm” of factors such as sleep deprivation and the proximity of the knife could have led to Benjamin Elliott’s actions on Sept. 29, 2021.
Dr. Mark R. Pressman was called as a sleep expert for the prosecution.
Closing statements are expected to begin on Monday.
Thursday
Benjamin Elliott’s defense attorney used Thursday to address the “elephant in the room” — Benjamin Elliott’s sleepwalking claim.
“Is this just some made-up bologna or a really creative defense?” Defense attorney Wes Rucker said. “The answer is absolutely not.”
He shared data with the jury after the state rested its case that “parasomnia,” which includes sleepwalking, can occur shortly after falling asleep. He added that, like in this case, it can result in sudden, violent events where there’s a lack of motive and no attempt to cover it up.
“And this is not a rouse, this is not some defense to get Ben off a tragic, tragic set of circumstances,” Rucker said.
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Among Thursday’s witnesses was a forensic psychologist who examined Benjamin Elliott leading up to the trial.
“At the time of my interview, he was reporting some current mental health issues but he reported no mental health issues that were evident at the time of the alleged incident,” Dr. Wendy Elliott, who is not related to the defendant’s family, said.
Benjamin Elliott’s older sister, who testified via Zoom from Georgia, recalled an episode from years ago involving Benjamin Elliott possibly sleepwalking before appearing in a bedroom doorway unresponsive to her and his twin calling his name.
“And I just like touched his shoulder and his eyes were barely open and then we told him to go back to bed,” Elizabeth Elliott said.
A great-aunt also testified about a family history of sleepwalking.
Wednesday
Michael Elliott, Benjamin Elliott’s father, took the stand on Wednesday.
During testimony, it was learned that the weapon used to kill Meghan Elliott was one of his survival knives that Benjamin Elliott was “enamored with.”
It was also revealed that Benjamin Elliott told a detective that he and his sister were good friends and said stabbing her didn’t mesh with anything he believes in. He added it felt like a “realistic nightmare” until waking up above Meghan’s bed.
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“I stabbed her and then suddenly wasn’t,” Benjamin Elliott said during an initial interview with a Harris County Sheriff’s Office detective following his arrest at the family’s Katy-area home.
“I freaked out and, like, put the knife down and put a pillow on her to try and stop the bleeding. Then called, you know, 911 from my phone,” Benjamin Elliott said in the video played for jurors.
Tuesday
Testimony began Tuesday in Benjamin Elliott’s murder trial. The defense waived its opening statement but the state took it as an opportunity to poke holes in any sleepwalking claim.
Prosecutor Maroun Koutani told the jury that phone data shows Benjamin Elliott’s phone was being used not long before his sister’s death and that the phone was locked about 20 minutes before he called 911 to report that he’d stabbed his sister. Any possible motive remains unclear.
“Her last memory is being ripped out of her sleep, her brother standing over her, a knife plunged in her neck and a pillow over her face,” Koutani said.
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In the bodycam video, Benjamin Elliott was seen performing CPR on his sister. A deputy who responded to the scene testified and said he would have intervened but it appeared that he was doing a good job.
The 911 call placed by Benjamin Elliott as he stood over his sister was also played for the jury.
Here’s a potion of the interaction:
- Operator: OK, is there any serious bleeding?
- Elliott: Yes, I stabbed her in the neck (unintelligible).
- Operator: Is she completely alert?
- Elliott: No. She’s barely alive.
- Operator: OK.