This Sunday, Secrets and Lies closes a season of mystery, affairs and torture, but most of all a season of secrets and lies. Yet the biggest secret of the show has not been revealed: who killed Tom Murphy? There have been lots of hints as to who the killer is, but we won't know the identity of the murderer till Sunday's finale. However, we can always speculate and that is exactly what I'm going to do for this preview. Below, I look at the ten characters that are either series regulars or have heavily recurred throughout the season. I rank these characters from least likely to be the killer to most likely, and give me pros for and cons against him or her being the killer. Please note that I have not seen the season finale so this list is just based on my own guesses. Your guess is as good as mine, so further below I have included a poll so you can vote on your prime suspect.
Pros: If this hard-boiled detective is not afraid to put her own daughter in jail, would she be afraid to kill a young boy? I don't think so. Plus, she had all the means to frame Ben for the murder.
Cons: She might have had the means, or the opportunity, but she has no motive. I can't think of a good reason why she would kill Tom and/or frame Ben. Also, if the show is renewed for season 2 (which is a safe bet given last Sunday's series high ratings), she is the only character of the show that will return. That would be kind of difficult if she were in jail.
9. Elaine Williams
Pros: Remember her husband Kevin? He was Ben's stalker and tortured him to confess to Tom's murder. Kevin told Ben his wife had an affair while he was serving in Kuwait. Even after her husband's arrest, Elaine continued to give Ben suspicious looks. Maybe she wanted Ben arrested so she could get away with Tom's murder? There is just something about her that I don't trust, but I can't exactly pinpoint what it is.
Cons: Again, I had no idea why she would kill Tom. Maybe she thought he would be better off dead than with a psychotic mother? Perhaps her suspicious looks are just because her husband is in jail.
8. Ben Crawford
Pros: He had the means, the motive and the opportunity. That's all we need for a conviction, right? He had the murder weapon with probably Tom's blood all over it and chose to bury it. He had no memories of the night until a few weeks ago. And he was still the last person to see Tom alive other than his killer. Maybe the show fooled us all along into thinking it was someone else when the killer really was and always will be Ben Crawford himself.
Cons: The show has given me enough reason not to suspect Ben too much anymore. He really cared for Tom, even though he didn't know it was his son. Plus, when he played the tooth fairy the night of Tom's murder, it seems he wasn't all that drunk anymore.
7. Natalie Crawford
Pros: She used to babysit Tom and as a result spent a lot of time with him. Maybe Tom said something that might have made Natalie think her father had an affair with Jess. Also, she left Tom one night to go out partying and perhaps she didn't want Jess to know about this. I think her sudden change of behavior throughout the series was suspicious as well. In the first five or so episodes, she hated her father and even thought he might have killed Tom. Later on, she was much more supportive of Ben. It is possible this is just due to her being a teenager and all that, but could there be something more going on?
Cons: There is once again no clear motive here. She might have left Tom alone, but would she really kill him for that?
Pros: Comic reliefs always hide something, don't they? Dave has been a big friend to Ben, even supporting him when Ben threw him out. He helped him get rid of the evidence and even saved him when Cornell almost found his flashlight in the woods. But maybe Dave has been so supportive, because he is Tom's killer? Perhaps he overheard the fight Ben and Christy had the night of the murder and killed Tom with Ben's flashlight to hide his friend's affair. And being the lazy man he is, he just put the murder weapon right back where he found it.
Cons: Dave has been very supportive of Ben, but would he really kill for him? I don't think he is some kind of hit man. Maybe he is just the comic relief after all?
5. Nicole Mullen
Pros: She slept with Jess' ex-husband Scott. She knew Jess was psychotic and violent. Jess might have had a bad influence on Tom, but Nicole knew Scott would never get custody over Tom. So she killed Tom to protect him from his mother. There was no other option for her to protect her nephew. Or even better, she left Tom wandering alone through the woods to prove that Jess is not a good mother. However, something went wrong and she had to kill Tom, so his death was just an accident.
Cons: These theories sound pretty far-fetched. Also, the promo shows Cornell saying it was a premeditated murder, so it can't be my second theory.
4. Michael James
Pros: Christy's brother seems like the kind of guy who handles things. He seems like someone who would come to his siter's aid any minute she called him. Maybe Christy called him after her and Ben's fight at the night of the murder, and he decided to kill Tom to destroy Ben. He seems to hate Ben a lot and wants him out of his sister's life more than anything. Also, he gave Christy a lot of cash throughout the years just so she could leave Ben. Framing Ben would finally give Michael what he wants.
Cons: The killer's m.o. was female according to Cornell. However, I could see Michael easily using drowning to kill Tom.
3. Christy Crawford
Pros: Christy is a smart woman. After her big fight with Ben, she connected the dots to conclude that Tom was Ben's son. She subsequently killed him in the woods. And as an extra bonus, she framed her husband so she could finally divorce him. She had enough money from her brother to start a new life far away. She didn't need her brother to kill Tom, that was something she could do herself.
Cons: Would she really kill her husband's extramarital son? And would she really put her kids through the misery that they have gone through?
Pros: Last week's episode revealed that Jess had bipolar disorder, was psychotic and could be violent if she didn't take her pills. She also had another child, a daughter named Jane, that died within a year after she was born. According to Nicole, Jane died of sudden infant death syndrome, but Ben thinks it might be murder. Perhaps she killed her second child as well. Jess also said that Ben and her can make another one after having sex, which is kind of a weird thing to say from a mother who just lost her child. Could she have had a psychosis at the night of the murder and (accidentally) killed her son?
Cons: Despite being heavily unstable, she loves Tom. That should count for something, right?
1. Abby Crawford
Pros: Abby is a daddy's girl, she said it herself in the latest episode. She overheard the fight between her parents at the night of the murder. She was afraid her parents would separate, so she made sure he had to stay. A death in the neighborhood surely lead to her parents comforting each other and growing closer, right? Alternatively, she might have been jealous at Tom because her father give him a lot of attention. So she killed her half-brother, a fact which she couldn't have known. All in all, Abby has shown a lot of signs of being a sociopath.
Cons: Killing Tom would make her lose her father anyway. She might have unknowingly framed her father by putting that flashlight back in the garage. During the entire investigation, she could have done something that would throw Ben off as the prime suspect, but she didn't. And most of all, if she knew Ben had an affair with Jess, she should have known that Jess would turn to him if her son was dead.
Other suspects
Is it possible that somebody else killed Tom? I'm not ruling out anyone, so here is an overview of other characters that could have had a hand in Tom's death:
-Scott Murphy
-Joseph Richardson
-Vanessa Richardson
-Kevin Williams
-Lisa Daly
-Matt Daly
-Tyler Daly
-Arthur Fenton
-John Garner
However, I must say, if one of them turns out to be the killer, I will be slightly disappointed. Of these characters, only John Garner is mentioned as a guest star in the press release for the finale. Then again, Nicole and Michael aren't credited in the release either, yet they are still on my suspect list.
Okay, now it's your turn! Who do you think killed Tom Murphy? You can vote for one option in the poll below. I would also love to hear your theories, crazy or not, in the comment section below. And of course, don't forget to watch the season finale this Sunday at 9/8 c on ABC. A promo for the episode can be found below the poll.
