Editor’s note: The below contains spoilers for Season 3 of Only Murders in the Building.
Only Murders in the Buildingis in the midst of its third season, and the race is on to find out who killed successful but obnoxious actorBen Glenroy (Paul Rudd). With only one episode left inSeason 3, some characters are looking like much more viable suspects than others, although there is still room for a few final twists. Given what is known about the series, characters, and themes, as well as the general history of the murder mystery genre it is possible to note which characters are more likely to be involved than others. So, without further ado, here are Season 3’s possible killers, ranked from least likely to most likely to have committed the crime.
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To be clear, it’s incredibly unlikely that any of the series’ three main characters were involved in Ben’s death.Only Murdersmay feature plenty of serious, even dark elements spread throughout its comedic shenanigans but at the end of the day it’s clearly meant to be a more lighthearted, easily enjoyable show, and much of its appeal comes from the friendship betweenSteve Martin,Martin Short, andSelena Gomez’s characters. That core dynamic would be irrevocably altered if any of the trio became a killer, likely in a way that would ruin the series — and Charles-Haden Savage, played by series co-creator Martin, is even less likely to be the culprit than either of his friends.
While it’s true that Charles and Ben didn’t get along during their time working together on Oliver Putnam’s (Short) play,Death Rattle, the second episode of the season revealed that this was more Charles’ fault than Ben’s. A flashback showed Ben telling Charles that years ago he had fired a young Ben from a guest role on Charles’ hit TV showBrazzos, which was supposed to be his first major acting job. Charles barely remembered the younger man, highlighting the self-centered nature of his younger self. In the present, he feels guilty for his past behavior, and his story for the season has revolved around him trying to be a better, more caring person going forward. Murdering one of the people he wronged would go completely against this idea.
The fourth episode of the season emphasized how severe Charles' stage fright has gotten. At several stressful moments, he lost time, imagining himself in a mental space his fellow performers refer to as"The White Room"while his body acted out in unseen, bizarre ways. The creators may want the viewer to wonder if this had actually happened previously and Charles could have killed Ben without realizing it to stop the play from going forward, but his role in the main trio still discounts most of this suspicion. Besides, the “White Room” scenes already served an important function by leading to Charles' unintended proposal to Joy (Andrea Martin). Episode 5 did reveal that Charles punched Ben when it looked like he was harassingLoretta (Meryl Streep)the night of the play’s premiere, which was also the night of his death, but there’s no reason to think hostilities between them went beyond that yet.
Oliveris ranked higher than Charles simply because he’s more involved with the season’s exploration of the passion of artists so far. He’s pretty desperate to makeDeath Rattle(or as he’s now calling it,Death Rattle Dazzle) a success so he can mount a return to Broadway. In some alternate universe where the series had bad writing that could be used as a motive for murder if he believed Ben was more of a hindrance to the show than a help. Fortunately, in this reality, there’s almost no chance he’s the killer.
The final member of the main trio is the only one the series has made seem like an even remotely possible suspect so far. At the beginning of the season,Mabel Mora (Gomez)was itching to get back into the amateur detective game. She admitted to Oliver that her first thought after seeing Ben collapse was wondering if he was murdered and hoping they and Charles could investigate and make a new season of their podcast about his death. If she wasn’t a main character that would make her a pretty obvious suspect. But she is a main character so the chance she did it is still pretty slim. She was also shown talking to a vision of Ben, who reassured her that she would find out who killed him, and she later told Charles that the case was personal for her as she treasured the memories of watching one of Ben’s TV shows at the same time as her mother.
If she turned out to be the killer, the series would have to engage in some seriously convoluted storytelling to make those scenes make sense. If any of the Big Three ever do turn out to be killers, Mabel would probably be the most believable choice — but the only time that could really conceivably happen would be if the show was ending and wanted to go out on the most dramatic possible terms. While a fourth season has yet to be announced,there’s also been no indication the third will be the show’s last, so viewers can rest easy as the trio almost certainly won’t be broken up by one of them going bad yet.
A major suspect from Season 1, Theo Dimas (James Caverly) developed a friendship with Mabel in Season 2. He made his first Season 3 appearance in Episode 7, helping Mabel move out of the Arconia before joining her new investigation/podcast team with Tobert (Jesse Williams). His sudden return might draw some viewers' suspicions, but there’s practically no chance he’s the killer. First of all, he played a major part in the first season’s case and was even revealed to truly be responsible for a death, just not the main one. Having him be the main killer this time would be as repetitive as it would be random given how late he entered into this year’s narrative. His role is almost certainly just what it appears to be, a supporting part in Mabel’s story while she was separated from the guys.
A cranky resident of the Arconia, Uma Heller (Jackie Hoffman) received a larger role than usual in Season 3, Episode 7. The opening sequence, which she narrated, revealed that she has a habit of stealing small items from people, which she claimed she does as a way to remember them when they inevitably exit her life, though this justification didn’t seem especially believable. After Ben’s actual death, she took the bloodstained handkerchief from his body. While finding this out made Charles understandably suspicious of her it seems like her choice to take the handkerchief was just another example of her sticky-fingered tendencies, as she sold it, rather than trying to hide or dispose of it, which she presumably would have done if she was the killer. Uma has also served as an amusing foil to the trio throughout the series, so the creators might not want to end her involvement with the show, which they probably would have to at the end of the season if she was the killer. Even more than revealing the whereabouts of the handkerchief, her part in the episode was mostly about showing Charles the kind of lonely life he wants to avoid, which encouraged him to try to make amends with his friends.
Season 3, Episode 4 saw the reintroduction of Cinda Canning (Tina Fey), another true crime podcast hostwho served as a rival to the trio in the first two seasons. Although she’s publicly adopted a new persona promoting mental health awareness secretly she, like Mabel, has been itching to get back to investigating and offers Mabel the chance to be partners and produce a new podcast starring the latter. She also notes how lucky Mabel is to be closely connected to yet another murder, which could imply that she killed Ben to cash in on the investigation. That said, the chance she actually had anything to do with it is pretty low. Like with Theo, having the killer be someone who was entirely absent from the beginning of the season would seem like cheating. In addition, Cinda was one of the major suspects in last year’s killing with virtually the same hypothetical motive. To have her actually be guilty this time around would be uncreative. Her purpose this season seems to have been to set up Mabel’s decision to investigate without the guys. She’s also only actually appeared in one episode so far, so her role hasn’t been big enough to make for a satisfying killer.
8Jerry or K.T.
Season 3, Episode 6 put two new characters in the spotlight. Jerry Blau (Peter Bartlett) is a struggling theater director and acquaintance of Oliver’s who has secretly beenliving backstage at the Goosebury Theater, whereDeath Rattle Dazzleis to be performed. K.T. (Allison Guinn) is the play’s stage manager who has worked at the Goosebury many times. Oliver discussed the possibility that Loretta is the killer with Jerry, who had witnessed her fight with Ben and Charles punching him. K.T. showed Howard (Michael Cyril Creighton) a new way to ward off the ghost he believes haunts the theater which involved him using the acting skills and passion he’s long suppressed because of his mother discouraging him.
Although it is revealed that Jerry was supposed to directDeath Rattlebefore Donna (Linda Emond) fired him, which could give him a grudge against the show and those involved, there isn’t much chance that either he or K.T. is the killer. The latter was at least around for the season’s first two episodes, but her role was still minimal and this is the first time Jerry’s ever appeared. Making such minor figures the killer would take away some of the series' appeal, as there was no way the viewers could guess that Jerry did it, as they didn’t know he existed, and almost no way to do so for K.T. Jerry also comes across less like an actual individual character and more like a cartoonish representation of what could happen to Oliver if he doesn’t get his life and career back on track. It seems pretty clear that Jerry and K.T. are intended more to be supporting players in Oliver and Howard’s stories than serious suspects.
Episode 4 made Charles' makeup artist-turned-girlfriend look overtly suspicious, but as expected the following week’s installment mostly undid this. Joy freely admitted that the lipstick found in Ben’s dressing room was hers but had a perfectly reasonable explanation for why it would be there, as she had had to touch up Ben’s makeup after Charles hit him, so it probably just fell out of her purse. Her justified decision to call off the engagement in light of Charles' suspicions made it clear that this storyline was more about highlighting how he sabotages his relationships than it was about offering a strong theory on the crime. Plus, this season has frequently poked fun at the idea of Charles dating another killer after Jan (Amy Ryan), so the odds of the show actually having him do so are pretty low.
Kimber (Ashley Park) looked less glaringly guilty after Episode 4, although she wasn’t completely disqualified as a suspect as some might have expected her to be. She still had reason to be mad at Ben after he backed out of promoting her skincare products. And the fact that she’s conducting her business out of the shuttered theater is definitely odd, suggesting that she might be in desperate financial shape. But she also confirmed that there wasn’t anything romantic going on with her and Ben and said that despite his negative qualities he could be sweet. And making the airhead TikTok star the killer seems like too ham-handed an attempt at social commentary for the more witty series. With one episode left and Kimber having sat out a significant part of the season, it doesn’t seem likely that the investigation will come back around to her.
In Episode 5, Tobert was briefly suspicious of Jonathan (Jason Veasey), Ben’s understudy and Howard’s boyfriend, but then surmised that he wasn’t the killer and enjoyed his cabaret performance, even tricking Mabel into watching it with him on a date. However, the pair later saw Jonathan meeting and exchanging envelopes with a man whom Tobert recognized as “Dr. C,” a guy who provided private, possibly illicit, medical services to Ben, as well as other celebrities. But when they confronted him in Episode 6 Jonathan admitted to getting an assortment of drugs from Dr. C, saying that he hoped they would help him with nerves as he doesn’t actually like being the leading man given all the pressure that comes with that position. He could of course be lying or may have killed Ben to take the lead role before discovering that he doesn’t enjoy it but the matter-of-fact way he admitted to the drug problem didn’t make it seem like he was hiding anything else. The sassily lovable Howard is also one of the foundations of the show and his romance with Jonathan, which dates back to last season, has been a source of wholesome sweetness so far. Blowing that up to make the latter the killer seems like too depressing a move for the show.
