The Bold & Beautiful Murder Mystery That Would Have *Everyone* Wondering Whodunit — Plus, Your Chance to Pick From the Long List of Suspects
Friday, August 27th, 2021
Sheila Carter’s days may be numbered.
If you or we were The Bold and the Beautiful villainess Sheila Carter, we’d have steered very clear of Los Angeles and the many, many people there that we’d wronged. (And that’s not even counting the ones that we… er, she tried to kill.) But the soap-hopping psychopath plays by her own rules, the kind that only make sense when one doesn’t just have a screw loose but all of their screws loose. So the she-devil resurfaced in the City of Angels to (cough) bond with her newly revealed son and grandson, in the process adding to her mile-long list of enemies.
More: The big problem with the character of Sheila
Now, if we were betting folks — and you bet we are — we’d wager that the soap is setting up a “Who killed Sheila?” storyline and planning to at last deliver the murder mystery that we were told Vinny’s death was going to be (but most definitely wasn’t). That wouldn’t mean, of course, that the show couldn’t dig up and dust off its version of Freddy Krueger anytime it wanted to in the future; Sheila’s already died and come back with such regularity, she could be a boomerang. It would just mean that we’d be getting treated to a classic soap murder mystery, one in which just about the entire canvas had a reason to want to see the deceased modeling the latest in toe tags.
More: Sheila’s life and crimes [PHOTOS]
In anticipation of the killer twist that we suspect is coming, we’ve compiled a list of all of the characters who, as of this writing, would be tempted to dance on Sheila’s grave.
Take a look at our guide to the potential suspects in the below photo gallery.
Image: CBS screenshot
1/24
<p><strong>Why She Would Kill Sheila:</strong> To protect Hayes from the walking nightmare that is his Maw Maw, obviously. On top of that, the baby’s mom could consider a switchblade to Sheila’s heart — or empty chest cavity, anyway — payback for Finn’s “death” and her own shooting. <strong>Why She Wouldn’t Kill Sheila:</strong> Having seen how close ex-husband Liam came to being separated from his family after turning Vinny into Poor Dead Vinny, Steffy would probably think twice before committing a crime that could get her sent up the river and away from her kids.</p>
Image: Howard Wise/JPI
2/24
<p><strong>Why He Would Kill Sheila:</strong> The woman singlehandedly pushed his wife Brooke off the wagon and into ex-lover Deacon’s arms, in so doing, taking a wrecking ball to the couple’s “destiny.” On top of that, it was Sheila who landed his daughter in a coma. <strong>Why He Wouldn’t Kill Sheila:</strong> Ridge has too much to lose, from yet another chance with Brooke (and/or Taylor, depending on the week) to his future doting on his grandkids. Plus, having put the maniac behind bars once, he might think that maybe the second time’s the charm.</p>
Image: CBS screenshot
3/24
<p><strong>Why She Would Kill Sheila:</strong> Look at that face! Sheila did that! She spitefully blew up “Bridge,” thinking that if she reunited Ridge with Taylor — her onetime “murder victim”! — she’d stand a better chance of being invited to family dinners. <strong>Why She Wouldn’t Kill Sheila: </strong>Gloating is more Brooke’s m.o. So she’s less likely to put Sheila six feet under than sling well-deserved mud in her direction.</p>
Image: CBS
4/24
<p><strong>Why He Would Kill Sheila:</strong> At this point, he’s in so deep, it may be the only way that he can kick his addiction to the lover that he went from rejecting to protecting. <strong>Why He Wouldn’t Kill Sheila:</strong> Having gotten out of jail not too long ago, Deacon isn’t looking to do anything that will get him sent back. Well, anything but cavort with L.A.’s public enemy No. 1.</p>
Image: CBS
5/24
<p><strong>Why She Would Kill Sheila:</strong> Hey, turnabout is fair play — and the unhinged harpy <em>did</em> once “kill” Taylor. Plus, the shrink already has a history of taking aim in defense of her daughter. Remember, she opened fire on Bill Spencer after he used Steffy’s vulnerable state to get Liam’s then-wife into bed. <strong>Why She Wouldn’t Kill Sheila:</strong> Having <em>just</em> put Bill’s shooting well and truly in the past, Taylor would only ever pull another trigger over her own dead body. She might, however, try to paint Sheila into a corner she couldn’t get out of!</p>
Image: Howard Wise/JPI
6/24
<p><strong>Why He Would Kill Sheila:</strong> If he really wanted to make his frenemies and family forget how at-home he looks in devil’s horns, he might take it upon himself to usher their tormentor straight to hell. <strong>Why He Wouldn’t Kill Sheila:</strong> <em>Bold & Beautiful</em> storylines rarely intersect. And since he’s not currently in Sheila’s orbit, she’s safe. From him, at least.</p>
Image: Howard Wise/JPI
7/24
<p><strong>Why He Would Kill Sheila:</strong> Simple — to protect his family. He wanted to give the (Worst) Mother of the Year the benefit of the doubt, but she worked overtime to prove that she didn’t deserve it. <strong>Why He Wouldn’t Kill Sheila:</strong> Even after she tried to murder Steffy, held him prisoner, attacked adoptive mom Li and raced into Bill’s arms to elude the long one of justice, Finn couldn’t let Sheila die. So he certainly isn’t going to hasten her demise.</p>
Image: Howard Wise/JPI
8/24
<p><strong>Why He Would Kill Sheila:</strong> She “killed” Finn, simple as that. Add in the fact that his past with Sheila dealt a fatal blow to his marriage to Li, and we’d be surprised if he wasn’t already (cemetery) plotting. <strong>Why He Wouldn’t Kill Sheila:</strong> Bless his idiotic heart, Jack still seems to be vulnerable to his former lover’s machinations.</p>
Image: Howard Wise/JPI
9/24
<p><strong>Why She Would Kill Sheila:</strong> To avenge Finn and her own near-deaths and ensure that Sheila doesn’t come any closer to burying their son than she already has. <strong>Why She Wouldn’t Kill Sheila:</strong> Once, we would’ve said that murder just doesn’t strike us as Li’s style. But that was before Sheila “killed” her.</p>
Image: Aaron Montgomery/JPI
10/24
<p><strong>Why He Would Kill Sheila:</strong> We could well imagine the Forrester family’s patriarch feeling so guilty for having brought the sinister scheme weaver into their lives in the first place that he might take it upon himself to remove her from the equation — permanently. <strong>Why He Wouldn’t Kill Sheila:</strong> Eric is basically a good guy. Yeah, he thinks with his zipper a bit too much, but down deep, he’s a decent fella. Albeit the kind who can get so mad that he might try to run down the object of his rage (as he did Deacon after he broadcast his deflowering of Eric’s daughter, Bridget). On second thought, maybe he really <em>would</em> take a shot at exterminating Sheila!</p>
Image: CBS
11/24
<p><strong>Why She Would Kill Sheila:</strong> Hope’s the longest of long shots, we’ll grant you. But if doing away with Sheila was the only way she could keep dad Deacon out of her clutches, <em>maaaybe</em>. <strong>Why She Wouldn’t Kill Sheila:</strong> That’s <em>Hope</em> that we’re talking about. Don’t be silly. It’s unthinkable. Or <em>is</em> it? She <em>has</em> been acting super weird lately.</p>
Image: Howard Wise/JPI
12/24
<p><strong>Why He Would Kill Sheila:</strong> He’s with Hope. He loves Hope. He’ll always love Hope. But he also loves Steffy, and knowing that Sheila “widowed” her nemesis and tried to blow her <em>all</em> the way away, Kelly’s dad could, as he has in the past, act impulsively. <strong>Why He Wouldn’t Kill Sheila:</strong> Let’s be real. Liam fainted after <em>accidentally</em> turning Vinny into Poor Dead Vinny. He doesn’t have a murderous bone in his body.</p>
Image: Howard Wise/JPI
13/24
<p><strong>Why He Would Kill Sheila:</strong> Bill already went to sextremes to obtain a murder confession from his ex-fiancée. If that doesn’t keep her out of circulation, he could decide to rip a page from her playbook and try murder himself. <strong>Why He Wouldn’t Kill Sheila:</strong> The whole Poor Dead Vinny sitch taught him that he prefers pinstripes to prison stripes. So if Sheila gets sprung from jail, he might just go the DIY route and toss her in Justin’s cage.</p>
Image: Howard Wise/JPI
14/24
<p><strong>Why She Would Kill Sheila:</strong> After the horror of seeing Bill cozy up the waking nightmare, Katie might resort to desperate measures to keep him from “playing hero” again. <strong>Why She Wouldn’t Kill Sheila:</strong> Katie is as likely to commit murder as Finn is to wear a shirt.</p>
Image: Howard Wise/JPI
15/24
<p><strong>Why He Would Kill Sheila:</strong> It would take a lot to turn the president of the I Heart Sheila Fan Club against her. If, however, he finally woke up to the fact that she’s nuttier than a jar of Jiff, he <em>could</em> attempt to atone for some of his aiding and abetting by ensuring that she couldn’t hurt anyone again. <strong>Why He Wouldn’t Kill Sheila:</strong> There are dogs that are less devoted to their owners than Mike is to Sheila. So it’s easier to picture him doing life for her than ending <em>her</em> life.</p>
Image: Aaron Montgomery/JPI
16/24
<p><strong>Why She Would Kill Sheila:</strong> For one thing, it would be a terrific plot twist to have Sheila’s long-lost daughter with James Warwick sneak back into town and keep Mom from adding to her litany of sins. And it would make sense, too, seeing as the last time Mary was on the canvas, she read Sheila for filth for trying to fill her mind with the sorta malevolent nonsense that’s made the supervillain persona non grata on not one but two soaps. <strong>Why She Wouldn’t Kill Sheila:</strong> Because committing a murder would make Mary the last thing she ever wanted to be — just like her mother.</p>
Image: Sean Smith/JPI
17/24
<p><strong>Why He Would Kill Sheila: </strong>Being one of her spawn set his life down a one-way path that was marked at every turn “dead end,” “dead end,” “dead end.” Perhaps all these years since he last passed through <em>The Young and the Restless</em>, he’s been dreaming up ways to “thank” her. <strong>Why He Wouldn’t Kill Sheila:</strong> Unlike Mom, Ryder wasn’t really bad, he was just drawn that way.</p>
Image: Howard Wise/JPI
18/24
<p><strong>Why She Would Kill Sheila:</strong> To once and for all get a good night’s sleep. For crying out loud, the <em>Young & Restless</em> heroine has been stalked and terrorized on not one but two shows by Sheila, and repeatedly thought that her tormenter had been sent back from whence she came — hell — only to discover that rumors of her death had been greatly exaggerated. <strong>Why She Wouldn’t Kill Sheila:</strong> For the moment, at least, Sheila seems preoccupied with Finn and Hayes. So Lauren might not want to draw attention back to herself, should an attempt on Sheila’s life not succeed.</p>
Image: Howard Wise/JPI
19/24
<p><strong>Why He Would Kill Sheila: </strong>Once, his dark side was almost as wide as Sheila’s. Were he to learn that she was on the loose again, he might take it upon himself to revert to his wicked ways just long enough to protect wife Lauren from getting whiplash from looking over her shoulder all the time. <strong>Why He Wouldn’t Kill Sheila:</strong> Honestly, the only reason we can think of is that no one on <em>Bold & Beautiful</em> has tipped off anybody on <em>Young & Restless</em> to Sheila’s resurrection. It’s called a phone, people!</p>
Image: Howard Wise/JPI
20/24
<p><strong>Why He Would Kill Sheila:</strong> The eradication of Lauren’s would-be killer would be the perfect Mother’s Day gift, no? It would also make a fine present for Christmas, Arbor Day… you name it! <strong>Why He Wouldn’t Kill Sheila:</strong> The odds of Fen rubbing anybody out are on par with the odds of <em>Young & Restless</em> giving him a real storyline: nonexistent.</p>
Image: Howard Wise/JPI
21/24
<p><strong>Why He Would Kill Sheila:</strong> Fen’s surprise <span style="text-decoration: line-through">plot point</span> boyfriend is such a Lauren superfan that he might take out Sheila to endear himself to his future mother-in-law. <strong>Why He Wouldn’t Kill Sheila:</strong> <em>Young & Restless</em> didn’t care enough about the character to even give him a last name, so the show certainly isn’t going to give him the honor of bumping off its longest-running villain.</p>
Image: John Paschal/JPI
22/24
<p><strong>Why He Would Kill Sheila:</strong> She gave him baby’s first trauma when she kidnapped him as a newborn. And in his time away from Genoa City, the investigative journalist could have been researching her whereabouts. <strong>Why He Wouldn’t Kill Sheila:</strong> It would be something interesting for Lauren’s older son to do, and looking at his history, “interesting” really isn’t in his wheelhouse.</p>
Image: Sean Smith/JPI
23/24
<p><strong>Why He Would Kill Sheila:</strong> That it would thrill fans of <em>The Young and the Restless</em> would be a good enough reason. In addition, though, Paul, as well as anyone, knows what Sheila is capable of. He’s seen what she’s put his ex Lauren through. And if he thought that he could discreetly pop into and out of L.A. to ensure that Sheila never does that to anyone else, Genoa City’s top cop might consider it the ultimate good deed. <strong>Why He Wouldn’t Kill Sheila:</strong> It might be awfully tricky for him to justify to estranged wife Christine; she’s pretty down on murder and so forth.</p>
Image: Sean Smith/JPI
24/24
