 Eric in 1976 | |
 Eric in 2003 | |
| Eric Whitley | |
| Portrayed by | Finn Wittrock (1976) Michael Reilly Burke (2003) |
| Episode | Look Again |
| Status | Arrested |
Eric Whitley is the alcoholic, unemployed brother of successful lawyer Todd Whitley, the real murderer of Jill Shelby, Todd's then girlfriend. Eric was never better than his brother at anything, that is until he managed to make the wrestling team, something Todd failed at. However, Todd's natural need to be better than his brother at everything refused such a reality and resulted in him stealing Eric's Letterman jacket and claiming it as his own.
In 1976, Eric watched his brother murder Jill, who he secretly crushed on, with a tennis racket, but did nothing to stop it. The two covered it up and kept it a secret until 2003, likely because Eric knew he would be the one blamed.
The incident affected Eric far more than his sociopathic brother for the next 20 years. Unable to hold a job or a relationship, he fell into the bottle. Eric did manage to become sober prior to the episode, but fell off the wagon when the case started up again.
Eventually realising he was cornered, Todd pinned the blame on Eric for killing Jill, to which Eric finally reveals what happened when they were teens, and provides enough proof to get Todd arrested.
Despite not being the actual killer, Eric was arrested as well for being an accessory to murder, having covered up the incident without telling the police (probably out of fear), and not stopping Jill's murder.