The brother of a transgender woman accused of murdering an elderly millionaire and squatting in his home for weeks was shocked to hear of his sibling’s alleged crimes.
Elanor Beaulieu, 39, was arrested after a seven-hour siege of the $6.3 million oceanfront property in Hermosa Beach, Los Angeles, on Saturday.
She finally emerged from the home dressed like a Blues Brother and was locked up in the county jail, under her legal name Robert Phillip Simmons, charged with murder.
The decomposing body of retired property developer Demetrius Doukoullos, 92, was found inside, which the medical examiner said had signs of trauma.
Across the country in Kingston, Massachusetts, John Simmons knows Beaulieu as his long-lost older brother Robert, and had no idea she was an alleged killer.
‘I haven’t heard from Robert in years… I’m not even sure how many,’ he said after the Daily Mail informed him of Beaulieu’s arrest and alleged crimes.
‘I have no idea what he’s been doing, I really can’t help you with that, I’m sorry.’
Simmons, 37, was unaware that his sibling was identifying as a woman or going by the name Elanor Beaulieu – or how she could be accused of murder.
‘I don’t know why he would do something like that,’ he said.
Elanor Beaulieu, 39, surrenders to police after a seven-hour siege inside the home of retired property developer Demetrius Doukoullos, 92
A SWAT team outside the oceanfront home on The Strand in Hermosa Beach, Los Angeles, on Saturday with Beaulieu barricaded inside
The stunned brother declined to say whether Beaulieu had a history of mental illness, or reveal details of her life before they lost touch.
Beaulieu grew up in Brockton, Massachusetts, and went on frequent vacations to Tampa, Florida, where her family owned a holiday unit.
Her mother Terese Simmons sold the family home after her husband, Robert Simmons Sr, died in 2012.
She now lives in Marshfield near Simmons and her two grandchildren in a house owned by her daughter-in-law’s parents.
Beaulieu eventually moved to Fresno, California, and bought an 802sqft, one-bedroom apartment for $83,000 in April 2021.
But by early 2023 she had defaulted on the mortgage and a trustee was appointed by the lender to foreclose the property, according to court documents.
Developer group Compass Homes was the highest bidder at $57,000, and sued Beaulieu on July 7, 2023, claiming she refused to move out.
Beaulieu eventually surrendered the property more than a month later on August 16, 2023.
A SWAT team huddles behind a BearCat armored vehicle ready to breach the door
What she did after that is unknown until she was arrested for second-degree robbery in Los Angeles in February 2025, but she was released the next day and the charge later dropped.
Beaulieu was then arrested by police in Redondo Beach, just south of Hermosa Beach, for shoplifting on February 23 this year and given a citation.
Neighbors along The Strand regularly saw Doukoullos relaxing on his front porch, overlooking Manhattan Beach and the Pacific Ocean.
But when he stopped coming out for weeks and the blinds stayed closed, they began to worry. Then they saw a strange man in a suit and fedora coming and going.
The relationship between Doukoullos and Beaulieu, if any, is unknown. She is alleged to have killed him between March 7 and March 14.
Doukoullos was for decades a prominent developer of luxury oceanfront properties in Hermosa Beach, many of which were his neighbors.
His biggest success was a five-bedroom, eight-bathroom 7,000sqft three-story house that sold for a Hermosa Beach record $19.5 million in 2023.
The property, bought by veterinary chain boss Greg Hartmann, featured walls of glass with views stretching from Malibu to Catalina and Palos Verdes.
Beaulieu finally surrendered soon afterwards, about 7.45pm, and walked out of the home with her arms raised before she was handcuffed and hauled away
She was wearing an ill-fitting black suit, sunglasses, and a fedora
The developer set an earlier local record of $18.4 million in 2017, a huge profit after buying and rebuilding the property for just $9.9 million three years earlier.
Doukoullos also built an almost as big home nearby that was later bought by Rockstar Energy Drink founder Russell Weiner, who sold it for $14 million in 2020.
Most of his biggest sales were secured by real estate agent Raju Chhabria, who died last summer, and Doukoullos was renting the unit where he was killed from Raju’s son Neil.
Doukoullos had lived alone since his wife Fredda died aged 75 in 2012 and sold his own stunning 2,244sqft four-bedroom, five-bathroom home for $7.5 million in 2023.
Planning documents revealed the house would be knocked down and an even bigger 3,608sqft monstrosity with a huge roof deck built in its place.
Doukoullos retired and moved into the two-bedroom unit in Chhabria’s $6.3 million building, paying $6,900 a month.
Chhabria said his relationship with his father’s old pal was ‘strictly business’ and they hadn’t spoken in months, and had no idea who would want to kill him.
‘Demetrius was very active despite his age, and was still driving,’ he told the Daily Mail.
‘He probably built more homes on the Hermosa Beach and Manhattan Beach Strand than anyone else.’
Neighbors along on The Strand regularly saw Doukoullos relaxing on his front porch, overlooking Manhattan Beach and the Pacific Ocean
Then last week Doukoullos’ upstairs neighbor smelled a foul odor coming from the unit and a suspicious person was in the unit, and called Chhabria’s office.
Chhabria called Hermosa Beach Police for a welfare check and to investigate the suspicious person, and officers arrived at 12.37pm on Saturday.
‘The reporting party stated that a tenant who lives alone had not been heard from in several days,’ police said.
‘With the assistance of the landlord or the realtor, they granted us access to go inside and they located somebody that was inside that did not match the description of the resident.’
When officers entered the unit, they saw a woman run into the bedroom and locked the door.
‘That person made some type of statement that she was armed and barricaded herself inside of the residence,’ police explained.
Officers tried to negotiate with Beaulieu on the phone for hours and called in the Hermosa Beach/Hawthorne SWAT team.
Heavily armed officers flooded the usually quiet street and evacuated surrounding homes as the siege dragged on past sundown and into darkness.
The suspect donned an outfit identical to the ones worn by The Blues Brothers, played by Dan Akroyd (left) and John Belushi (right) in the hit 1980 action movie
Finally, one officer grabbed a bullhorn and warned Beaulieu they would force their way in, as SWAT readied breaching tools.
‘Elanor, come out with your hands up. This has been going on long enough,’ the officer yelled repeatedly.
Beaulieu finally surrendered soon afterwards, about 7.45pm, and walked out of the home with her arms raised before she was handcuffed and hauled away.
Photos of Beaulieu on the porch of the property show her in a black suit, white shirt, black tie, black trilby hat and black Wayfarer sunglasses like the characters in the hit 1980 action movie Blues Brothers.
Beaulieu faced court again on April 2 and was remanded into custody at the Los Angeles County Men’s Central Jail on a $2 million bond.
