Convicted killers Andrew Charles Beard and Holly Elkins gambled on a racist stereotype to avoid detection and almost got away with it. The 33-year-old Beard, a white man from Texas, was disguised in blackface when he brazenly killed his ex-girlfriend in broad daylight, whom he shared a daughter with.
The Nov. 16 episode of “48 Hours” took a closer look at the Alyssa Burkett murder case, explaining the shocking — and infuriating — lengths to which Beard and his fiancé Holly Elkins went to throw police off their trail.
Holly Elkins had “dreamt of a life” with Beard, prosecutors told “48 Hours,” and orchestrated the twisted plan to get Burkett out of the way so the couple could raise her daughter, Willow Ann, as their own.
The toxic couple had spent months terrorizing and stalking the 24-year-old, and on October 2, 2020, things took a deadly turn.
Donning dark foundation makeup and fake facial hair, Beard followed Burkett from her home to her workplace, even purchasing a new SUV for the occasion, according to a press statement from the United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Texas.
Burkett had just parked in her usual spot in the lot of Greentree Apartments, where she was a manager, when Beard stepped out of his vehicle holding a gun and opened fire, blasting through her car window. Her face was severely injured, but she miraculously survived and managed to stumble to the landing of the building where her co-workers were inside.
Beard sprinted after her, brandishing a large hunting knife, and slashed her 44 times; her co-workers, thinking it was an “active shooter” situation, did not come outside, according to witnesses.
Police later noticed a bloody handprint on a window from where she desperately tried to fight for her life. After he fled, her co-workers came out to help and called 911 as she was “gasping for air,” but by the time first responders arrived, she was dead.
Beard and Elkin’s attempt to throw off police with blackface and avoid detection by security cameras worked. Two witnesses described the attacker as a Black man, and the investigation would have quickly gone sideways if it weren’t for the victim’s mother speaking up.
When Teresa Collar arrived on the scene, she told police there was more to the story than a random “Black” attacker; her daughter was in a bitter custody battle with Beard over their 1-year-old daughter and she believed he and Elkins were “evil” enough to murder, reported 48 Hours.
Two hours after the attack, police pulled over Beard and Elkins for an alleged traffic violation in a white pickup truck. A search of the vehicle turned up a mountain of evidence, including the makeup used for the blackface disguise — a foundation called “Java” — that Elkin had purchased from a drug store two-and-a-half weeks earlier, read a press release from the District Attorney’s office.
A day later, the SUV used during the murder was discovered abandoned less than a mile from his house. Inside it was a black curly beard and adhesive that detectives believed came from a Halloween costume, in addition to blood that was confirmed to be Alyssa’s. It was enough for an arrest warrant.
In 2022, Beard was sentenced to 43 years after pleading guilty to cyberstalking resulting in death and using a firearm in a violent crime. Elkins got two life sentences for orchestrating her murder. But they may have gotten away with it if their ruse had worked.
“Thank God for her Mom! So sad. He bought foundation in the color a black woman would wear to hide his skin color. Not a hat. Not a long blonde wig. Not a ski mask. He wanted a black man to go to jail for it. This is Texas. Huntsville here he comes!” read one recent comment on the 48 Hours Instagram account.
“He knew without a doubt that the cops would not think twice to pin it on a black guy. No mask, no wig… just change the color of his skin,” pointed out another.
According to the NAACP, a Black person is five times more likely to be stopped without just cause than a white person. What’s more, 87 percent of Black adults say the U.S. criminal justice system is more unjust towards Black people — and 61 percent of white adults agree.
Beard and Elkins tried to leverage this to their advantage, and came close to succeeding. As one put it on Instagram, “I hate that my black people are always being criminalized. Praying for her family…this was awful! 😥🙏🏽”
