So, who are the main suspects? Honestly, at this point, it’s everyone in the building. Here’s what we know: The victim, Tim Kono (Julian Cihi), was struggling financially, possibly in a relationship (or two?) with a mystery woman (or women?), investigating a grave-robbing crime ring, and had been keeping quiet about an accidental death he witnessed at the building a decade prior. Mabel Mora (Gomez) knew him when they were kids, when they played Hardy Boys-style sleuthing around the building. Tim was shot, but a toxicology report found he was also poisoned. Could there be two, independent killers who unknowingly offed him in tandem? One who poisoned him and one who then shot him, not realizing he was already dead or dying (á la the Robert Altman murder mystery flick Gosford Park)? But who could the killer, or killers, be? Let’s round up Only Murders’ usual—and unusual—suspects and investigate all the theories.
Is Jan the killer on Only Murders in the Building?
The current lead suspect among many fans is Jan Bellows (Amy Ryan) the new girlfriend of amateur detective/podcaster Charles-Hayden Savage (Martin). She said was the first chair bassoonist at the symphony—but in Episode 9’s cliffhanger, we learn she lied about this, and the first chair is actually a young woman named Allison. Some fan theories have it that Allison was dating Tim, and Jan meant to poison Allison (because she was jealous of her first-chair position) but got the wrong person. Or maybe Tim was dating Jan (or two-timing Jan with Allison) and she got the right person? Mabel and Oliver (Short) also found a bassoon-cleaning gizmo in Tim’s treasure trove of sex toys in his apartment; does that prove he’d been dating Jan and/or Allison? Or did he simply receive the bassoon cleaner by mistake? Also, Jan was found stabbed in Episode 8. Did she stab herself to make it look like she was attacked, and therefore not the murderer? Other theories suggest Jan is connected to the grave-robbing Dimases, Teddy (Nathan Lane) and his son, Theo (James Caverly). She tells Charles she took a class in non-verbal communication, and Theo is deaf and uses ASL. Teddy, who sponsors the podcast, also handed them a check that eagle-eyed fans noticed looks like was signed by “J Boswell,” an anagram for Bellows. Could Jan be Theo’s mother? And if so, does this somehow give her motive to kill Tim, who had witnessed Theo’s involvement in the accidental death of a young woman named Zoe (Olivia Reis) in the building 10 years ago? Or, could Jan somehow be related to Zoe?
Are Teddy and Theo the killers on Only Murders in the Building?
Sometimes red herrings turn out to be the real thing. The father-son duo were ruled out as suspects at the end of Episode 8, as time-stamped images revealed that they were both outside the Arconia when the murder took place. However, it’s possible they still could have left the poison for Tim prior to that. Their motive? Tim could have exposed both their grave-robbing jewelry business and Theo’s hand in Zoe’s death. It does appear that neither one shot Tim, although they could have hired someone to do it.
Is Bunny the killer on Only Murders in the Building?
The old biddy who runs the building’s board, Bunny (Jayne Houdyshell) had it out for Oliver (Short) as he fell behind on his building fees, and now she wants all the podcasters evicted. She holds quite a bit of power in the building, and was also not a fan of Tim Kono. Bunny had been accidentally (or on purpose?) receiving Tim’s packages, including an engagement ring that was delivered to her the day he died. Could killing Tim somehow help her maintain the iron fist she wields over the building’s residents?
Is Oscar (a.k.a. Tie-Dye Guy) the killer on Only Murders in the Building?
The trio’s initial suspect was Oscar (Aaron Dominguez), as he was seen going up the stairs wearing a tie-dyed hoodie right before Tim was murdered. Oscar, the super’s son who had just got out of prison for Zoe’s death (although he was innocent) admitted he was going to see Tim that fateful night, but that he heard a gun shot and fled. Was he telling the truth? Tim’s silence, after all, was what led to him losing a decade of his life behind bars. Tim’s murderer also could be Oscar’s father (Anthony Ruiz), the super, who we’ve only met briefly but also has a motive: revenge for his son.
Is Howard the cat guy the killer on Only Murders in the Building?
Howard (Michael Cyril Creighton) is definitely a strange one, but is he a murderer? He says that his beloved cat, Evelyn, was killed by the same poison that killed Tim (although how exactly would he know that?), and there were bloody paw prints near Tim’s body, so it’s clear the cat was in the apartment at the time of the murder. Tim had complained about Evelyn because of his cat allergies, so Howard could have been trying to stop the complaints by poisoning Tim, killing his own cat accidentally in the process. He faints at the sight of blood—or so he says—so it doesn’t seem he would have shot Tim, though.
Is Mabel the killer on Only Murders in the Building?
Mabel initially lied to Charles and Oliver about the fact that she knew Tim when they were younger, so we know she’s not the most trustworthy of people. Plus, in the opening flash-forward scene of the first episode, Oliver and Charles find a blood-covered Mabel kneeling over the body of a person in a tie-dyed hoodie; she tells them, “It’s not what you think.” The body appears at first glance to be Oscar—does she realize he’s really the killer and kills him in self defense? Or was it someone else wearing the hoodie, which is now being sold as a merch item for the increasingly popular podcast—perhaps one of the super fans we met in episode 8? Or is Mabel really a murderer after all?
Is Sazz Pataki (Jane Lynch) the killer on Only Murders in the Building?
Sazz, played by the always amazing Jane Lynch, was Charles’s stunt double for his 1990s crime show, Brazzos. She’s a late addition to the cast, making it a bit unlikely that she’s the murderer; but her sudden appearance is still suspicious. Fan theories also point to her possibly being mistaken for Charles and killed in his place in the final episode.
Is Ursula the killer on Only Murders in the Building?
The building manager, Ursula (Vanessa Aspillaga) has all the inside scoop on what’s going on in the Arconia. She’s in possession of the official building complaints residents have made about each other; she also runs a multilevel marketing business of something called Gut Milk—could this have been the mode of delivery for the poison? We don’t have a motive, but she seems suspicious.
Is Ndidi Idoko the killer on Only Murders in the Building?
We haven’t found out much about Tim’s neighbor (Zainab Jah), but she did tell Mabel and Oliver that Tim was dating a “very loud” woman. She also coveted his apartment, which could give her a motive; but that wouldn’t really be a satisfactory enough reason for viewers at this point.
Is Cinda (Tina Fey) the killer on Only Murders in the Building?
Fey (who’s Martin’s real-life Upper West Side neighbor!) plays a famous and very professional podcaster who reeks of NPR-like intellectualism, but is it possible she’d stoop to killing to advance her career? We know from a mid-season flash-forward that she will be producing her own podcast about everything we’re witnessing that she’ll call Only Murderers in the Building; could she be so obsessed with making sure she’s got a “killer” story to tell that she’d actually murder someone for a scoop? In the scene at her office with the three amateur podcasters, she took a phone call where she told them she’d been “acquired” for $30 million. This show has proven that no detail is put out there without a reason, and so far, that particular (and very specific) nugget hasn’t resurfaced… yet?
Is Sting the killer on Only Murders in the Building?
Musical superstar Sting has a hilarious cameo playing himself in the show. Tim (who worked as a financial advisor) lost a lot of Sting’s money, but the rock icon was still ruled out as a suspect earlier on. However, it’s always possible he could return for a shock ending. Could the “I’m watching you” note left on Jan’s door be a reference to the lyric “I’ll be watching you” from his stalker anthem “Every Breath You Take”? And could the creepy notes in the garbage bag Tim was carrying be lyrics Sting was working on—possibly with Jan, who’s also a musician? Anything is possible.
Is the killer on Only Murders in the Building a character we haven’t met yet?
Besides Theo’s mother, several characters have been talked about who we’ve never seen—could one of them make a late appearance as the killer? For example, where is Mabel’s aunt, whose apartment she lives in and is supposedly renovating? What has happened to Oliver’s ex-wife, who we see once in a flashback but then never again? Perhaps the most suspicious of these characters is the mysterious Lucy, whose mother Charles once dated—when they broke up, he was cut off from the child, with whom he had formed an attachment, and it’s clear Charles grieved this loss. We know Charles’s neighbor’s family, though, still keeps in touch. Is it possible the now-grown Lucy will show up, somehow be linked to Tim and would have wanted him dead?
How to watch Only Murders in the Building
The first nine episodes of Season 1 of Only Murders in the Building are available to stream now on Hulu. The Season 1 finale, a.k.a. Episode 10, drops Tues., Oct. 19 to stream exclusively on Hulu. Next, Inspire Your Inner Sleuth with the 15 Greatest Murder Mystery Movies of All Time
