| “ | We've given him everything he wants, I can't keep doing this! | ” |
— Donald
| ||
Donald James Collins was the father and accomplice of serial killer Jeffrey Collins. He appeared in the Season Seven episode of Criminal Minds "A Family Affair".
Background[]
Despite his alcoholism, Donald was a caring husband and father. When his son Jeffrey was a sophomore in high school, he was a rising star in the school's football team. However, that changed when Donald got himself, Jeffrey, and his wife Linda in a car accident while he was under the influence. They all survived, but Jeffrey suffered a critical injury that permanently left him paralyzed from the waist down and unable to play football again. In an effort to cover up his alcoholism, Linda placed the blame of the accident on herself. The ploy worked, but it left Donald with a severe sense of guilt over what he did to ruin his son's life. In the following years, Jeffrey left to attend Georgia State University, while Donald and Linda slipped into apparent marital problems. One day, they somehow found out that Jeffrey murdered a fellow college student and, to protect him, refused to call the police. They also took Jeffrey back into the house when he graduated. When Jeffrey started demanding for prostitutes that he can murder, Donald, at Linda's orders, began asking prostitutes to come to his house and attend to Jeffrey. They would accept and receive $250 from him. When they were killed by Jeffrey, Donald and Linda disposed of the bodies.
A Family Affair[]
In the episode, Donald comes home and greets Linda, who asks him if he picked up milk. When Donald replies that he didn't, Linda berates him. The two then have breakfast with Jeffrey, and when Linda attempts to give Jeffrey his medication, to which he believes it isn't, she tries to get Donald to appeal to his son, but he doesn't. The two later have a short argument over it, and Linda warns him of what happens when he doesn't take his medication before leaving. Eventually, Linda tells Donald that Jeffrey needs another victim. At first, Donald thinks it's too soon, but then agrees after Linda asks him if he wants his son to be happy. Donald then calls in not a prostitute, but a sexual surrogate. He pays her and escorts her to Jeffrey's room. The following night, the girl stumbles out of Jeffrey's room and in front of Donald and Linda, having been stabbed, and pleads for help, but Donald drags her away and kills her.
The next morning, Donald and Linda clean up the girl's blood, and Donald remarks that the murder was just as bad as that of the college student, to which Linda berates him. Donald and Linda later try to convince Jeffrey to take his medication, but he refuses. Donald later watches a press conference held by JJ before taking out a revolver. He is seen by Linda who just stares at him then quietly walks away, he relents and puts the gun away. He then has dinner with Jeffrey, Linda, and Jeffrey's supervisor, Erika Taylor. Donald later goes out and looks at a picture with him and a young Jeffrey before having a flashback of the car accident. He then drives himself into a pole, killing himself instantly. A letter is found in his jacket pocket, in which he confessed to all of the murders, but this doesn't convince the BAU. Jeffrey would later be arrested, with Linda being shot dead, but not before both were informed of Donald's suicide.
Profile[]
See section on the The Collins Family page
Modus Operandi[]
Since Donald only killed one person, the term "M.O." is somewhat misused. When he killed Julie Harmon, he killed her with fatal blunt-force trauma. When hunting for victims for his son, he would stake out in zones frequented by prostitutes to search for potential victims of Jeffrey's, always parking in the loading zones and using a van. Whenever he found a prostitute, he would pay her $250 and then take her to Jeffrey, who would kill her. Donald and Linda would then dispose of the bodies in parks and pose them remorsefully. He later intended to kill Jeffrey by shooting him with a revolver, but relented from doing so.
Known Victims[]
- Unspecified date: Linda Collins and Jeffrey Collins (his wife and son, respectively; indirectly attempted to kill both in a car accident)
- Linda Collins (suffered minor injuries)
- Jeffrey Collins (was left paralyzed from the waist down)
- 2012:
- March 1: Julie Harmon (was non-fatally stabbed by Jeffrey first before being killed by Donald)
- March 2: Jeffrey Collins (intended to shoot, but relented)