Harper’s Island – Who’s the other killer?

Tonight marks the season/series finale of Harper’s Island for Canadians — we U.S.-based folks have to cover our ears and eyes for a couple of days before we get to see the final reveal. Maybe they’re working for themselves or alongside Wakefield, but chances are there’s more than one person killing people besides Wakefield. So, before the spoilers start flying and prior to tonight’s Canadian airing, let’s look one last time at the list of people who could possibly be another killer on the island.

Let’s review the prime suspects, the other “possible” (though unlikely) suspects and why they could be the second killer (and why not). And then, of course, those who couldn’t possibly be revealed as another killer.

The Prime Suspects

These are the characters who we know are definitely alive:

Abby Mills
Why: She has the closest connection to the killer so far, seeing as her mother (and now father) have been killed by Wakefield. Everything we’ve seen so far could have been an act, or she could simply be totally off her rocker from having had to deal with her mother’s death. She’s also probably not all that happy with Henry going off and getting married, when she could have feelings for him.

Why not: She’s the main character and has several clean alibi for many of the killings. There’s nothing to be gained from killing (or helping to kill) all those people, when the only person we’ve seen she’d like to kill is Wakefield.

Trish Wellington
Why: Money. We’ve seen it exchange hands several times for one thing, and with daddy gone, she’s likely going to inherit his fortune. She’d have to take care of sis Shea, though, which is still a possibility.

Why not: Why the elaborate staging of a wedding to concoct all of these killings? She has several alibi as well.


Shea Allen
Why: Again, it’s all about money. The only person she has left to kill is Trish, and then she’s the last person on daddy’s will … well, except her daughter, but she’s not that cold, is she? She could have also known that her husband was a cheating scumbag, leading her to take out a bit of revenge on him and Katherine.

Why not: She just appears too weak to have pulled off anything of this magnitude. A whole lot would have to be uncovered to make any story pointing her out to be some sort of mastermind behind all of this.


Madison Allen
Why: Her purpose to the story seems questionable. She’s ultra-creepy and has always had that feel about her that she knows more than she’s letting on. Wouldn’t a girl of her age be in complete hysterics right about now, not virtually shrugging off the deaths of many, including her father?

Why not: Uh, she’s a kid. No way could she have pulled off any of the murders we saw. Unless she’s not blood relation to Shea and Richard, it makes no sense that she’s involved.


Jimmy Mance
Why: He’s got a criminal past and has all of the knowledge and know-how to pull off everything we’ve seen happen. He has a very weak or no alibi for many of the killings. He had a thing with Abby, and now he’s getting rid of anyone in his way. Wakefield also let him live for some reason, so could it be that he’s working with him and/or is his son?

Why not: The second killer is most likely linked to the money, and Jimmy just doesn’t care about that nor did he know about it. He’s appearing more of a red herring than as a prime suspect at this point.


Henry Dunn
Why: There are so many clues pointing to Henry having something to do with all of this. We’ve heard Henry’s friends mention things about his past with brother J.D. that don’t add up yet. The fact that Henry’s parents are no longer alive is a big eyebrow raiser. How about him dragging Abby out to the island in the first place? He could also be after money to some degree, having taken care of Cousin Ben early on and then Uncle Marty, just to get to that suitcase of cash. But there’s much more to his motive than that.

Why not: Why would he want all or most of his old friends dead, just to get to the people he really wanted dead? He doesn’t stand to inherit anything with anyone dead, and the bag of money seems like very little to fuss over.


Danny Brooks
Why: He’s been hanging around in the background for way too long. He’s either due to be killed soon or will be a surprise reveal as being Wakefield’s accomplice.

Why not: We’re all assuming the accomplice is Wakefield’s and Abby’s  mom’s child, so that pretty much takes Danny out of the equation. He’s just along for the ride as far as the wedding goes, so how would he have planned for such an elaborate killing spree?


Christopher Sullivan
Why: He could be the long-lost Wakefield offspring; we still have no idea who that person is. He knows a bit about Henry and J.D.’s past and might harbor some resentment toward Henry having such a great life ahead of him.

Why not: He’s come too far in the story, from being the bully asshole to someone who clearly wants to change and do good. In the end, he’s likely to come out much more of a hero than a all-for-himself jerk.

Other Possible Suspects

These characters have been presented as dead to us and, in come cases, also to characters on the show. However, there might be some conclusive evidence missing:

Hunter Jennings
Why: We didn’t see a body.

Why not: There’s no motivation for him to go on a killing spree when it was pretty clear all he wanted was money and/or Trish. If he’s not dead, he lost an awful lot of blood.

Nikki Bolton
Why: She’s a local who knows quite a bit of the island’s secrets and is no stranger to the Wakefield story. What was her purpose for being on the show? At one point, outside the Cannery, Wakefield left her alone, only to seemingly kill her in front of everyone inside later.

Why not: We don’t know enough about her to call her out as truly suspicious. Why stage a death in front of everyone at this point?

Malcolm Ross
Why: Were those really his bones in the furnace?

Why not: He’s a sniveling coward who only cared for himself and that big bag o’ dough. Even if he is alive, he’s not standing behind Wakefield.

Maggie Krell
Why: She could have faked the hanging. Like Nikki, she’s a local who clearly knows how to get around.

Why not: She was clearly hanging outside the bar window for a long time, so to say she’s alive would take her quite a bit of patience and skill.

Lucy Daramour
Why: Last we saw of Lucy she was getting pretty toasty in the bottom of a pit, though it’s possible that pit was simply an entryway to the passages around the island and she got away. We’ve seen her dog still running around the island, so could it be that she’s mulling about wherever the rat dog is?

Why not: There were no witnesses at all to her being torched, so to find out later she faked her death would make no sense at all. She should probably be put in the “clearly dead” category just for that.

Joel Booth
Why: He had the lamest death on the show so far, so much so that many believe he staged it. We haven’t seen his body yet, even though a few of the guys set out at one point to find it. Why would they bother to set up a story point to find Joel’s body at all if we were never meant to see it?

Why not: He looked pretty scared while walking alone in the woods with the bag of money. How would he have staged the blood loss with Malcolm getting a clear view of the wound?

J.D. Dunn
Why: He looked mortally wounded, but did we ever see his clearly lifeless body? He has quite a shady past, and the show at least set him up to look guilty a few times. He’s got a connection to people on the island and isn’t all that well liked.

Why not: Why stage a death at this point? He was likely checked out quite well and not left alone on the docks, so he could probably sit in the “clearly dead” category.

Chloe Carter
Why: A commenter noted that Chloe made mention of being an expert diver in a past episode, though we can’t confirm that. If so, that detail seems to possibly spell out that she survived the jump.

Why not: Even an expert diver wouldn’t have survived the fall she took, clearly not in a diving form when she fell.

Cal Vandeusen
Why: The only reason would be that nobody checked for a pulse. However, why would the story bother showing his very serious gunshot wound getting mended when he was only going to die hours later?

Why not: Not only was he seriously wounded with a gunshot, but it appeared pretty clear that he was mortally stabbed by Wakefield in front of witnesses. On top of that, he would have had to survive the 100+ foot fall into the river, then float face-down for a spell.

Out of the Running

These characters are dead as doornails — there’s just no question about it, unless there’s a special effects expert on the island:

Thomas Wellington
His head was split open by a headspade.

Sheriff Charlie Mills
He was pulled from an upper-story window by his neck and, when last we saw him, was left dangling and lifeless.

Uncle Marty Dunn
Was sliced in half and later found with both parts dangling from the trees.

Richard Allen
Was impaled by a harpoon and was last seen stuck to the side of a tree.

Kelly Seaver
Hanged herself and went through an intensive autopsy.

Katherine Wellington
Seen very dead looking, by us and the characters, with a pair of shears through her lower back.

Beth Barrington
Suffered a similar fate to Uncle Marty, though her lower half has yet to be found.

Shane Pierce
Had a clearly one-on-one battle with Wakefield and lost … badly. Then he was left strung up for all to see.