On General Hospital, a major whodunit has just kicked off: Who shot Drew Cain (Cameron Mathison)? The detested congressman had no shortage of characters gunning for him, so the list of suspects is long. While it remains to be seen how well this mystery stands up to the legendary GH whodunits of the past, Soap Opera Digest decided it was the perfect time to look back at some of the twistiest, turniest, most compelling mysteries in GH history, including the murder of Drew’s own mother, Susan Moore, the grisly demise of Luis Alcazar (Ted King) and the infamous Text Message Killer story.
Beloved nurse Jessie Brewer’s philandering, serial rapist ex-husband, Phil Brewer (Martin West), was despised by many in Port Charles. When he was found dead in 1974 after taking a blow to the head, suspicion fell on Jessie, as she was discovered hovering over his body, whispering, “I’m sorry.” But earlier that night, Peter Taylor had threatened to kill Phil within earshot of Dr. Steve Hardy. Peter had impregnated nurse Augusta McLeod (Judith McConnell), and Peter was going to reveal this to Peter’s wife, Diana. Other people had motive to kill Phil, too, including Diana and alcoholic doc Jim Hobart, whose medical career Phil had destroyed. Jessie was arrested, but before her trial, Diana came forward with the murder weapon (a paperweight) and confessed to the crime. Diana was convicted, but Peter believed his wife had taken the rap because she believed he was the killer! Peter eventually coaxed the truth out of Augusta, who spilled that she had killed Phil! Diana was freed, and Augusta went to jail.
In 1981, GH unfurled one of soaps’ finest mysteries when Diana Taylor’s body was discovered on her kitchen floor — and beside her, scrawled in the victim’s own blood, was the name of the ostensible culprit: Anne (as in Anne Logan, Heather Webber’s rival for Jeff Webber’s affection)! An elaborate plot by Heather, who got a terrific thrill from both dispensing of Diana and setting Anne up to take the fall, led to this moment. Anne was quickly cleared by forensic evidence, but Heather was confident she’d emerge unscathed given her seemingly airtight alibi (she was confined to a mental institution on the night of the murder). Eventually, Heather was arrested when she was caught red-handed with the murder weapon — but she was exonerated when Det. Joe Kelly discovered that the real killer was Heather’s own mother, Alice Grant! Alice had walked in on Diana and Heather struggling over a gun and fired the fatal shot while she tried to wrest the weapon away from Diana.
In 1983, Alan, Monica and Edward Quartermaine and Jackie Templeton found the scheming, blackmailing Susan Moore (Gail Ramsey) — the biological mother of Jason (and Drew, thanks to a history tweak introduced by the writers decades later) — dead in her home of a gunshot wound. The suspect list was massive. Her ex-lover Alan, who Susan had been blackmailing, had gone to see her the night she was killed and the gun used in the crime was registered to him. Monica, Alan’s wife, also dropped in on his former mistress the night she died and had threatened to kill her. Edward and Lila had also gone to see Susan on that fateful night, because she was in cahoots with Lila’s first husband, Crane Tolliver, to bilk millions out of Lila. Scotty Baldwin, Susan’s hubby, fell under suspicion as well. Scott had married Susan to get his hands on Jason’s money, and when Susan found out what he was up to, she was ready to have him prosecuted. Heather Webber, Susan’s cousin, had been having an affair with Scott. The night Susan died, Heather sneaked into her cottage to try to talk her out of pressing charges against Scott — and she left her lipstick behind. The killer could also have been Heather’s mom, Alice Grant, who had overheard a dust-up between Scott and Susan in which he had spat that he wished Susan was dead. A watch pin with Alice’s fingerprints on it showed up at the scene of the murder. Eventually, viewers learned, the killer was actually Crane, who shot his co-conspirator dead when she decided to back out of their plan to blackmail Lila. Robert Scorpio made sure that Crane overheard that Heather was an eyewitness to the crime (she’d been hiding in the victim’s closet). When Crane went after Heather with a knife, Scorpio saved the day.
In 2002, Luis Alcazar (Ted King) was wanted dead by many Port Charles players. Both Brenda and Sonny threatened to kill him; Alexis (who, among other things, held him responsible for the death of her sister Kristina) attacked him in public. On the night that Jason planned to execute the plot to murder Alcazar that he and Sonny had concocted, he had to call it off because he feared AJ was on to him. Brenda went to Alcazar’s hotel suite and an altercation ensued in which she stabbed him with a knife. She fled, and later, someone else entered his room and pushed Alcazar off the 14th-floor balcony to his death. Brenda and Jason were put on trial, with Alexis defending them. Finally, Skye remembered seeing the real culprit — Alexis — at the scene of the crime on the night of the murder.
In 2007, Michael and Morgan’s longtime nanny, Leticia, was found dead in 2007, and several characters began receiving threatening text messages saying that someone else was going to die. At the Black and White ball Emily and Nikolas (Tyler Christopher, r.) threw at Wyndemere, someone nearly strangled Carly, but she was saved by Johnny Zacchara (who became a suspect himself). That night, the murderer — who came to be known as the Text Message Killer — did succeed in murdering poor Emily. As the menacing text messages continued to pour in, Georgie fell victim to the killer. Suspicion fell on Coop Barrett, and when he was found dead, the cops believed he had committed suicide and that the case was closed. But Coop was exonerated posthumously as the violence continued with an attack on Sam (who survived). In 2008, the true culprit was revealed to be a vengeful Diego Alcazar (Ignacio Serricchio), who had been presumed dead since 2006, who unmasked himself while trying to kill Sam. After attacking Liz and kidnapping Nadine, Nikolas tracked him down and Diego nearly killed him. Nik summoned his strength and caught up to Diego, who was preparing to do in Maxie and Spinelli. The men fought, and Diego wound up accidentally hanging himself, finally ending his reign of terror.