Where Is Benjamin Elliott Now? Inside His Life After He Stabbed His Twin Sister

Benjamin Elliott told police he thought he was dreaming when he stabbed his twin sister — but the attack was tragically very real.

CBS’s 48 Hours covered the case in a September 2025 episode and investigated the then-17-year-old’s claim that he had been sleepwalking when he killed Meghan Elliott in 2021. Though police and prosecutors also struggled to find a motive, they claimed his defense was null because he had the wherewithal to call 911, according to ABC13.

“I just killed my sister,” Benjamin told the emergency operator, per 48 Hours. “Oh my God … I thought it was a dream.”

Nearly four years after Meghan’s death, her twin brother was sentenced to 15 years in prison. In a jailhouse interview with 48 Hours correspondent Erin Moriarty, Benjamin said he would have “never” done that to his sister and that she was his “best and closest friend.” She was 17 when she died.

Here’s everything to know about Meghan Elliott’s murder and where Benjamin Elliott, her twin brother and killer, is now.

Benjamin stabbed his twin sister in September 2021

On Sept. 29, 2021, Benjamin called 911 around 4:40 a.m. to report that he had killed his sister, per 48 Hours. The weapon he used was an Air Force survival knife given to him by his dad earlier that day.

“I freaked out and, like, put the knife down and put a pillow on her to try and stop the bleeding,” he can be heard telling detectives in a recorded interview played at his trial, per KHOU 11. “Then called, you know, 911 from my phone.” 

When police arrived, they found him in his sister’s room performing CPR on Meghan, per Fox26 Houston. She was pronounced dead at the scene. His parents, Kathy and Michael Elliott, were asleep at the time of the killing.

He claimed he was sleepwalking

Benjamin told the 911 operator and the police that he thought he was dreaming when he stabbed Meghan. According to 48 Hours, he and other relatives had a history of sleepwalking. One of his childhood friends even told Kathy and Michael that during a sleepover, they found Benjamin eating a donut on the couch while asleep.

His defense team had neurologist and sleep disorder expert Dr. Jerald Simmons examine the teen with two sleep studies. He determined that Benjamin could quickly fall into slow-wave sleep, a phase of slumber during which sleepwalking can occur.

“Ben definitely killed his sister,” Simmons told 48 Hours. “He did it, there’s no question, he’s the one that had the knife and he stabbed her. But … he didn’t do this voluntarily. There was no motivation.”

Prior to the stabbing, the teen had been on his cellphone. However, there was a 24-minute period where his phone was reportedly inactive.

Simmons said it took Benjamin only 11 minutes from the time they turned the lights off to fall into that slow-wave sleep during the sleep study.

Prosecutors couldn’t find a motive

Though his family hoped he wouldn’t go to trial, the grand jury indicted Benjamin of first-degree murder in April 2023.

Prosecutors Megan Long and Maroun Koutani told 48 Hours that they looked for evidence of problems between Benjamin and Meghan, but were unsuccessful. However, they didn’t fully believe his sleepwalking defense and alleged that Meghan’s two stab wounds told a different story.

“So he’s saying that he stabbed her in the neck, removed the knife,” Long told 48 Hours. “With where she was stabbed … you should see some sort of blood spatter on the walls. And there isn’t any of that.”

The prosecutor claimed that the lack of blood spatter on Benjamin’s walls was because he covered Meghan’s face with a pillow after the attack. Meanwhile, he told police he used a pillow to stop the bleeding.

“I think he wanted to cover her face, I think maybe even muffle if she were to scream or anything like that,” Long said on 48 Hours. “The only way for there not to be that blood spatter is it had to be there when he took the knife out … it wasn’t there for lifesaving measures.”

He was sentenced to 15 years in prison 

In February 2025, Benjamin was found guilty of felony murder for Meghan’s death and was later sentenced to 15 years in prison, per Fox26 Houston. According to 48 Hours, prosecutors had initially asked for a 40-year sentence, but a juror asked the judge for leniency out of concern for the family.

“I remember hearing guilty, and I was completely shocked,” the now-21-year-old told 48 Hours in 2025. “I feel like this has been a I don’t know, a miscarriage of justice, I guess … I am not guilty of murder for my sister Meghan Elliott.”

Where is Benjamin Elliott now?

Since his sentencing, Benjamin has been serving his sentence at the John B. Connally Unit in Karnes County, Texas. The Houston native appeared on 48 Hours in September 2025 and continued to maintain his innocence in Meghan’s death.

“I don’t think this is my fault at all,” he said. “I used to blame myself for it cause it’s like, you know, I — I was the one holding the knife, right? But, I mean, I’ve come to realize that I’m not. You know. I couldn’t have done anything, any different than what I had done.”

Benjamin will be eligible for parole in 2032 when he is 28 years old. According to 48 Hours, he has plans to appeal his conviction.