Ten fan theories as to who killed Lucy Beale

Who do you think killed Lucy Beale? Picture: BBC

With theories sweeping the internet and even the bookies getting involved, (apparently Bobby Beale is the favourite, if you fancy a flutter). We take a look at some of the prime suspects and also some of the weirder fan theories out there.

Five main suspects

1. Bobby Beale

Lucy’s younger brother Bobby, is perhaops surprisingly, the prime suspect if you go by the odds online. Bookies favourite, Bobby, Lucy’s 11-year-old brother, would certainly be a surprise choice if it does turn out to be him. The only clue linking him with the death is that he lives in the house where the murder allegedly took place. Perhaps the bookies know something we don’t.

2. Jane Beale.

This one is obvious, Jane Beale has just married Lucy’s father Ian, and of course the wedding just so happened to coincide with the big reveal tonight. As everyone knows in soapland, that usually means that things are about to go awry for the couple involved.

Her husband Ian, is another suspect but is perhaps too obvious a red herring due to his involvement in most of the BBC soap’s recent major plots.

Jane has also been seen to be acting strange on several occasions and even fled the square for a short time in the aftermath of the murder, perhaps to hide her involvement?

And surely Ian’s luck is the best clue to her being the murderer. As the man with the second worst luck in Eastender’s history (behind Billy of course), it would make sense that his newly wed wife would be the killer of his daughter, well in soap land anyway.

3. Peter Beale

Peter has previously revealed that he supplied drugs to Lucy so a theory is that it was a drugs deal gone wrong. Many fan theories centre around Peter being the prime suspect and with Ian due to send him away from the square, perhaps the father is covering up for the sins of the son. Another clue being that he overheard Ian telling Lucy that she was his favourite, the theory is then that Peter killed her in a fit of jealousy.

4. Cindy Williams

A bit of a stretch this one but Cindy, Lucy’s sister, has several connections to Lucy’s death that can’t be ignored. First off, is the revelation to Ian that Lucy had stored her drugs in her music box, leading to a heated family argument. The second is the music box itself, it was the last thing Lucy heard and yet it seems to pop up in connection to Cindy quite a lot. Perhaps Cindy killed Lucy in defence after her sister attacked her for exposing her addiction.

5. Abi Manning

Another obvious one, perhaps too obvious. Abi had reason to hate Lucy, had motive and possibly means, she even admitted that she wishes she had killed Lucy. Her father Max even believes she did it. The evidence is far too overwhelming for a character that is clearly being painted as an obvious red herring. However, many fans believe the writers are opting for exactly that kind of misdirection.

Other notable entries: Max Branning (had an affair with Lucy), Ben Mitchell (has previous), Lauren Branning (drink problem), Whitney Dean (jealous of Lucy’s relationship with Lee)

Five out of left field theories

1. Billy Mitchell

The odds on Billy have tumbled from 33/1 to 5/1 and he is now the second favourite behind Bobby Beale at 7/2. The clues? Lee Carter revealed that he had seen Billy in a heated confrontation with Lucy hours before her death, but was unsure if Billy had followed her or not. Could Billy have murdered her following a business deal gone wrong?

2. There was no murderer, it was suicide

This one seems to be a firm favourite online, with many saying that Lucy took her own life. The theory seems to have ignored the key plot line that Lucy was killed elsewhere and moved to the Green after her death. Another theory is that it was an accident but then again why move the body afterwards if this was the case.

3. Lee Carter

In the Children in Need Eastender’s special, Lucy - in the form of a ghost - appeared to Ian in a dream. When Ian asked Lucy who killed her, she nodded at a crossword on a newspaper which had the words: “I love you”.

Underneath, an eagle-eyed viewer, who then posted their theory online, noticed that “Lee stop it!” was written. Could it be Lee Carter?

4. Dot Cotton

Fresh from her revelation that she killed Nasty Nick, Dot Cotton’s name had to appear on this list. One theory is that perhaps she went on a murderous rampage and poor Lucy just happened to be another victim to sate her murder lust. To be honest the idea of Dot being a serial killer is definitely our favourite, though we wouldn’t be putting any money on it.

5. Jim Murphy

There’s a twitter campaign currently running that claims to know exactly who killed Lucy Beale. Strangely enough they are claiming it was Scottish Labour leader Jim Murphy, the link is tenuous at best but far stranger things have happened in soap land.

Parody account @ScottyNational jokingly tweeted: “Crime:Shock as Jim Murphy unable to provide alibi for when Lucy Beale was murdered.#45ers demand his arrest and deportation to Albert Square”

Honourable mentions: Dirty Den (odds of 100/1), Nasty Nick (because he’s nasty), Grant Mitchell and Ken Barlow.