The Young and the Restless spoilers: Daniel goes on trial for Heather’s murder?

Many fans of The Young and the Restless found themselves shocked when an unhinged Sharon (Sharon Case) went to Daniel’s (Michael Graziadei) to poison him as a part of a twisted plot of revenge. These fans then went from shocked to completely stunned when Sharon failed to go through with her murderous plans and wound up killing Heather (Vail Bloom) by mistake instead. Not only that, but Sharon managed to do a clean-up job around the penthouse and dispose of her body. 

Now we should take a minute here to reiterate our theory that Heather may not be dead. The circumstances surrounding her death are murky given Sharon blacked out and Sharon is currently deep in a mental health crisis. Plus, as of publication, it hasn’t officially been announced that Vail Bloom has exited the show. But until it’s confirmed that Heather is alive, we’ll operate under the assumption she is in fact dead. 

With that being said, on the surface, it would appear Sharon is in trouble. Heather isn’t the type to just up and leave her family, especially her daughter Lucy (Lily Brooks O’Briant), so her disappearing all of a sudden would be beyond strange. Plus, Heather recently just interviewed for a few jobs in town and confirmed with Daniel she wanted to stay in Genoa City. He even relayed the plans for his family to stay in town to Phyllis (Michelle Stafford) and Summer (Allison Lanier). 

Then there’s Heather’s phone. Sharon took the phone with her when she ran out of the penthouse. In this day and age of technology, it should be easy to trace its location. Now based on the following preview clip, it looks like Daniel receives a text message from Heather suggesting she left town. We can assume Sharon sent it. However, did she send it before tossing the phone somewhere to get rid of evidence? Again, Sharon isn’t exactly thinking clearly these days, so she may not make the wisest decisions to cover her tracks.  

We also have to talk about the clean-up job Sharon did in the penthouse. She wasn’t expecting to murder Heather and she was in a rush to get out of the apartment, so she likely missed something. Let’s say Daniel eventually comes to report Heather missing and the police come by his apartment to look around. They could find more broken glass or blood splatter, leading them to suspect foul play. 

Should that be the case, we ironically don’t think Sharon would be suspect number one. However, that unwanted honor may come to belong to Daniel. Authorities always look at the spouse or boyfriend in these types of cases. If the police take a deep forensic look at the apartment, they may find more evidence suggesting Heather was murdered, and with Daniel’s name on the deed to the penthouse, that’s strike one. 

Strike two is the fact the authorities don’t have a body, so if they believe Heather has been murdered, it becomes harder to pinpoint a time of death. So yes, in real-time, Daniel was with Lucy at the Athletic Club eating ice cream when Heather was murdered, that alibi becomes a bit flimsy. 

Now what Daniel does have going for him is his lack of motive. He had no reason to want Heather dead. However, a prosecutor may paint the picture Heather wanted to leave Genoa City and threatened to do so with or without Daniel, suggesting she’d take Lucy. Not wanting to be away from his daughter again, Daniel killed Heather. With cards like these stacked against Daniel, he’d be in need of a great lawyer. Enter Christine (Lauralee Bell). 

Looking at Instagram, it looks like Bell has recently been back on The Young and the Restless set, so viewers can expect to see her soon.  Is Christine back in town to defend her godson in a murder trial? 

Should our theory prove true, Sharon may feel like she dodged a bullet. However, we think Phyllis would put on her "Super Mom" cape and come to her son’s rescue. While police may work to prove Daniel’s guilt, she would probably work to find the truth. Considering she knows how erratic Sharon has been lately and witnessed the Cassidy First owner verbally attacking Heather, Phyllis may try to prove Sharon did something to her. 

Phyllis is as relentless as they come, so Sharon should grow concerned if Phyllis has her in her sights. Nick (Joshua Morrow) will probably try to intervene, claiming Sharon would never kill someone, but that’s likely to do nothing but irritate Phyllis and make her even more determined to prove Sharon would. 

As this storyline continues to unfold with more twists and turns, we’ll be watching. 

New episodes of The Young and the Restless air weekdays on CBS. Episodes become available to stream on Paramount Plus the next day.