Ever since the shocking Only Murders in the Building season 3 ending saw Charles' (Steve Martin) longtime stunt double Sazz Pataki (Jane Lynch) shot down by a sniper, we've been dying (no pun intended) to know who was behind the murder. Did they mean to kill Sazz or was Charles the target? With Only Murders in the Building season 4 officially back, it's time to put together an official list of suspects.
I'll be updating this list every week as new episodes of OMITB season 4 debut and we get more information on the crime and just who may be responsible, moving people off the board if they are proven innocent and ranking who I believe is our most likely killer based on the information we have available. Help keep track of your own list by reading our in-depth Only Murders in the Building season 4 recaps.
So, who do I think killed Sazz? Here's my list of current suspects (SPOILER ALERT if you are not caught up with Only Murders of the Building season 4's most recent episode):
Suspects
Dudenoff
We have yet to meet Dudenoff, but whoever they are there are a lot of questions. Not only did the murder take place in their apartment, but we see that Vince has a picture of his fellow Westies, but one person's face is covered up: is this Dudenoff? What could have happened that Vince would remove them from the picture? Mabel intends to get answers as she decides to invoke squatters rights by staying in Dudendoff's apartment, which if they want back will force them to confront the OMITB team.
Ana
Two Westies were cleared in OMITB s4 e3 (as we detail below), but Ana (Lilian Rebelo), Inez (Daphne Rubin-Vega) and Alfonso (Desmin Borges) were omitted from the episode, so are still on our suspect board. While Inez and Alfonso both hint at potential motivations to target Charles (Inez a potentially unhealthy obsession with him and Alfonso potentially being jealous of his wife's infatuation), I still think if any member of the Sauce family was involved in killing Sazz, Ana is the best bet. We don't get a great deal of her in this episode, outside that she is very much part of this older group of Westies, but that may be more alarming, as the show may be placing her in the background for now as a misdirect.
Bev Melon
Hollywood producer Bev Melon (Molly Shannon) is the one who brought the OMITB team out to talk about making a movie about them, so why would she be a suspect? Well, what we see of her early on is someone who is determined to get what she wants — she says herself that when she sees a project she likes she goes after it hard. Could that include dipping into murder to ensure that there's good material or publicity for the movie to capitalize on?
Considering it was Oliver's Broadway producer Donna and her son Cliff behind the murder of Ben Glenroy in season 3, I highly doubt the show would follow a similar trajectory with Bev Melon this season. But again, until the show unveils some more suspects, she at least has to be on the list.
Marshall
In a similar vein, the Only Murders in the Building movie screenwriter Marshall (Jin Ha) seems like a long shot, but he did raise my antenna a little bit. He's clearly excited about telling the story behind the Only Murders team. Did that boil over into a potentially murderous mentality?
While Bev Melon feels too close to Donna and Cliff, Marshall feels too similar to Poppy White from season 2 to be a stronger contender. But until I can cross him off the list, I'll keep an eye on anything else that may point to him as the potential killer.
Proven Innocent
Jan Bellows
Well, having Jan (Amy Ryan) pop up in the second episode was certainly a surprise for both Charles and us. While she still has fantasies of murdering Charles, she is adamant that she wouldn't because of how much she cared for Sazz (and she had plenty of opportunities to do so when the two of them were alone). So with that and the fact that we're unlikely to see her again this season now that she is on the run from the police, Jan looks to be innocent of this murder.
Vince Fish
Charles (and his shadow Eugene Levy) thought Vince (Richard Kind) may have been hiding a bruise from the sniper rifle underneath his eye patch that would reveal him to be the killer, but instead they confirmed he indeed has a severe case of pink eye. Not only that, but Vince reveals he has no ill will toward Charles, always thinking that it was Charles who for some reason didn’t like him; turns out they're both just awkward, not homicidal.
Rudy Thurber
We finally get to meet Rudy (Kumail Nanjiani), aka Christmas-all-the-time guy, to see if he could be the murderer. Despite the rifle mounted on his wall and the deer heads suggesting he may have an affinity for hunting (all potential aspects of the killer), Rudy is cleared pretty quickly. The gun he has is a toy (inspired by A Christmas Story) and his potential motive for wanting Charles dead for banning real Christmas trees in the building is debunked when he reveals he actually hates Christmas, trapped in the ruse to boost his influencer status. And that silver strand Mabel found in the Dudendoff apartment, it's not actually tinsel as it is not flammable. So cross Rudy off the naughty/murder list.
Expect more suspects to come out of the woodwork in the coming episodes, so check back in as I update the list. Watch Only Murders in the Building season 4 on Hulu in the US and Disney Plus in the UK.
