Who Killed Ben on "Only Murders in the Building?" The Season Finale Cracked the Case

Donna (Linda Emond) is one of the "Death Rattle" producers, and at the end of episode nine, Oliver, Mabel, and Charles are convinced she's the one who killed Ben.

During episode eight, she's very much stressed, and everyone assumes it's because Oliver has invited a critic to the sitzprobe. Donna also calls Ben's performance in the original "Death Rattle" "stiff as a wooden board."

In episode nine, Howard's attempts to piece together the paper shreddings finally pay off, and the team learns that someone shredded Maxine's negative review of "Death Rattle," where she referred to Ben the same way. So, Donna got her hands on an early review, shredded it, and killed Ben to try to save her son's reputation. She sprinkled rat poison on the cookies, knowing Ben could never resist — though she ultimately tells the gang she just meant to make him sick so he couldn't do the show.

But, as we suspected, in the finale we learn she didn't push Ben down the elevator shaft.

Our verdict: Guilty

Cliff (Wesley Taylor) is Donna's son and her producing partner. Their relationship so far is a bit bizarre, but Cliff's motives are unclear right now. In episode seven, we learn that he starts to crack under the pressure of producing.

Mabel, Charles, and Oliver think Donna killed Ben to protect Cliff from a flop, but in the season finale they figure out that Cliff actually pushed Ben down the elevator shaft to protect his mom once he and Ben pieced together that Donna had poisoned him.

Our verdict: Guilty

Charles and Ben have major issues, and throughout the production of "Death Rattle," they are at each other's throats. Their feud apparently goes back to Ben's early days as an actor, when Charles got him fired from "Brazzos." But perhaps more than Ben and Charles's animosity, Charles's biggest motivation is that he didn't want to do the show anymore and was exhausted by the prospect of doing eight shows a week.

However, Charles is in the elevator with Mabel and Oliver when Ben falls down the shaft, so he's innocent.

Our verdict: Not guilty

Oliver has absolutely no motivation for killing Ben. After his death, he's terrified that his show is going to close, panicked that this is his last chance for theatrical success. Though Oliver is stressed balancing the different personalities of the cast, it seems extremely unlikely that it pushed him to murder Ben. Oliver was also in the elevator when Ben died.

Our verdict: Not guilty

Mabel is actually not involved at all with "Death Rattle," and Oliver and Charles both note that they've all been spending way less time together. She has a long-standing crush on Ben, dated to the days when he starred on "Girl Cop." It's not clear how much she and Ben interacted before his death, but she has no motive for the murders. Plus, like Charles and Oliver, she was in the elevator when he died.

Our verdict: Not guilty

Loretta (played by Meryl Streep) is a working actor who wonders if "Death Rattle" will finally be her big break. When Ben apologizes to the cast after his poisoning (and before his ultimate death), Loretta is one of the only people he doesn't actually apologize to, and he calls her a "fellow snake." For her part, she seems to really hate his guts.

In episode five, Loretta and Oliver go on their long-awaited date, and she reveals to him that she called Ben a "f*cking pig" and they got into a big fight before the show. Did she write the words on his mirror? Later, Oliver snoops around her apartment and finds a book she has full of clips of Ben. It's very creepy and potentially very damning.

In episode six, Oliver is pretty panicked that Loretta is the killer, especially when he learns she got into a huge fight with Ben on opening night of "Death Rattle." He seems convinced she's the one who wrote "f*cking pig" on the mirror.

But in episode eight, we get some clarity about Loretta's place in the story. It turns out that as a young girl, Loretta got pregnant and gave the baby up for adoption. That baby? Dickie. Her book about Ben was actually a book about Dickie. She auditioned for "Death Rattle" just to meet and get close to Dickie, and they've clearly bonded in the weeks since Ben's death.

So did Loretta kill Ben to save Dickie from his brother? At the end of the episode, Loretta confesses to the murder, but she's clearly doing it to protect Dickie. When she's talking to Dickie backstage, it feels like she's realizing he's the main person who had the motive to do it. So Loretta only confessed to save her son. We also learn in episode nine that Ben was the one who wrote "f*cking pig" on his own mirror.

Our verdict: Not guilty

Dickie (Jeremy Shamos) is Ben's brother and manager. Mabel finally turns her investigation toward him in episode seven. He's protective of Ben's legacy, but he's also auctioning off all his items to make money. He eventually reveals to Mabel that his parents adopted him when they thought they couldn't have children, but then they had Ben, the golden child. Dickie spent his life protecting him — often from his own actions, like DUIs, sending d*ck pics, and "always f*cking up." Mabel and Tobert also figured out that Dickie was the original creator of CoBro — the Cobra-themed superhero that made Ben famous. As Mabel notes, that's a motive.

In episode eight, Dickie confides in Loretta (not knowing she's his mom) that when Ben first died backstage, he finally felt "free." And then when it turned out Ben was alive, he realized he was "trapped again." If Ben had two killers — one at the theater and one at the Arconia — could Dickie be the second of these? It seems Loretta certainly thinks so since she confesses to the crime to protect her son.

Dickie reveals that he did cover up Ben's blood test at the hospital because he was afraid drugs would be in his system, not poison. He also has an alibi that includes security camera footage, though he admits the police weren't impressed. Mabel, Charles, and Oliver believe him, though.

Our verdict: Not guilty

Tobert is a documentarian hired by Ben to capture his journey to the stage. In episode three, Mabel catches him sneaking around Ben's apartment, but he claims it's because he just wants the documentary footage because he knows he can make a doc about Ben's death. He tells Mabel he doesn't typically get involved, but maybe this time he will. Is he just covering up a guilty conscious?

In episode five, he goes on a "stakeout" with Mabel that is maybe more of a date, and they see Jonathan performing a weekly cabaret show. Tobert admits he doesn't think he's a suspect. In episode six, we learn he and Mabel slept together, and he keeps inserting himself into the murder investigation. Is he trying to keep suspicions away from himself?

In episode nine, we learn that Ben yelled at him on opening night, and that's how he ended up with Tobert's camera.

Williams seemed like to much of a big-name actor to be completely uninvolved in the murder, so while we expected a last twist that implicated him in some way, he's innocent. Sorry, Tobert.

Our verdict: Not guilty

Joy (Andrea Martin) is briefly introduced in season two as a stylist on the set of Charles's "Brazzos" revival. The two finally agree to go on a date at the end of the last episode. A year later, when season three picks up, they're in a committed relationship. She tells Charles that it's OK for him to be happy that the show is over. In episode four, she tells Charles, "I'm gonna look out for you Charlie, just like I did with Ben Glenroy. He knew if he touched one hair on your gorgeous little head, he was gonna have to deal with me." That's some pretty damning evidence. Later, Mabel, Charles, and Oliver reveal that someone wrote "F*cking pig" in lipstick on Ben's dressing room mirror, and Joy reveals that it was her lipstick that was used. Probably all of this is a misdirect (it's quite early in the season to figure out the murderer), but it is compelling.

In episode five, Charles makes clear to Joy his suspicions that she's the murderer, and (understandably) she does not take it well. She reveals she was on backstage opening night — to cover a mysterious red mark Ben had on his face right before the curtains rose. She also breaks up with Charles.

Our verdict: Not guilty

Gregg is Ben's stalker, and the police believe he's guilty. But Mabel is convinced they're wrong. And in episode seven, she finally gets some proof that he's innocent. Ben, it turns out, purposefully always turned the time on his watch back so he would be late for things. The police used his broken watch to time his death, but with the new info, it's clear Greg had left the building by the time Ben was killed. In episode eight, we learn he's been released and is no longer a suspect.

Our verdict: Not guilty

Howard (Michael Cyril Creighton) starts dating Jonathan (Jason Veasey) midway through season two, and Jonathan is a Broadway actor. In season three, he's Ben's understudy. Though Howard has always dreamed of being a Broadway star himself, he settles for being Oliver's assistant. In episode six, he reveals his own guilt over the murder — because he believes the theater is cursed and he didn't take the steps needed to prevent the curse. However, he's not actually involved in the death.

Our verdict: Not guilty

If Howard didn't do it, maybe Jonathan did. After Ben's near death, he notes that he told Jonathan he'd never set foot on the stage even though he's the understudy. In episode five, we learn he performs in a secret cabaret show and is getting some sort of info — or drugs — from Ben's doctor, Dr. C. But in episode six, we find out it's just because he's so stressed about being the lead, which he really, really didn't want. He's probably the person who most wanted Ben to go on as the lead.

Our verdict: Not guilty

Bobo (Don Darryl Rivera) is another cast member we don't know much about. Ben notes of their relationship, "All I ever do is say no to you," but doesn't explain what that means. But since Bobo really hasn't had a presence in the season, we were always pretty sure he wasn't involved.

Our verdict: Not guilty

Ty is another cast member who could have lingering issues with Ben. Like Bobo, he's not really played a role in this season, so it's not shocking he wasn't involved in the crime.

Our verdict: Not guilty

Kimber (Ashley Park) is the ingénue of the cast, and Ben says things got "so messy" between them. In episode three, Charles thinks she might be the murderer because she doesn't have Ben's opening night gift anymore, but in the next episode, she tells Mabel she sold it on eBay. Their fight, she says, was because he was going to endorse her line of skin care, but ultimately bailed. She was otherwise not involved.

Our verdict: Not guilty

KT (Allison Gunn) is the stage manager to whom Ben gave a very hard time. Did she snap and take him out? KT plays her biggest role yet in episode six, though nothing incriminating arises. We do know that her office door was locked on opening night when she claims to never lock it, and she has all sorts of documents and a paper shredder. Mabel finds rat poison in her office, and Howard tries to figure out just what was being shredded the night of Ben's murder. In episode nine, they're convinced it was Donna who was in there, and KT remains a stern and stubborn stage manager.

Our verdict: Not guilty

In episode six, Oliver learns that Jerry Blau (Peter Bartlett) is squatting in the theater after he got fired from directing "Death Rattle" himself. Jerry, it turns out, witnessed an altercation between Loretta and Ben on opening night, when she called him a "f*cking pig," and Charles ended up punching Ben.

Jerry's role in the show was mostly to be an eyewitness, and he returns in the finale to watch the play. But he didn't get wrapped up in the crime.

Our verdict: Not guilty

Will (Ryan Broussard) is definitely protective of his dad Oliver, but he's not really involved in "Death Rattle" and we rarely saw him all season.

Our verdict: Not guilty

Sazz (Jane Lynch) was not a major force in season two, but viewers will remember that she's Charles's stand-in and body double. She appeared in episode five of the new season, but she was completely uninvolved in the "Death Rattle" drama. She also returned in the season finale, but that's relevant for the next murder.

Our verdict: Not guilty

Jan (Amy Ryan) is also not a major player in season two, but she does reiterate her obsession with Charles when he visits her in prison. But if Jan was involved in Ben's death, it would make her some sort of elite criminal mastermind, and it strains credulity.

Our verdict: Not guilty

Lucy (Zoe Colletti) and Charles had a very close relationship, so it seemed possible that she was the one who killed Ben, out of protection for her surrogate father figure. But Lucy isn't in season three at all.

Our verdict: Not guilty