On tonight’s season finale of Secrets And Lies, we found out who the killer of young Tom Murphy, Ben Crawford’s son was … And the killer is revealed as … Ben Crawford’s young daughter Abby.
The episode picks up where last week left off, with Ben dealing with crazy neighbor Jess as he tries to find his daughter who he believes is missing. Jess calls the police and falsely tells them that he raped her. Ben breaks into Jess’s house and ends up getting arrested. Detective Cornell confronts him with the bloody blue jacket from Tom’s murder scene that was found soaking in Jess’ laundry room sink. She then lets him know that she knows he is innocent and that he can go home. She also tells him that his daughter is safe and at her uncle’s.
Crawford tells his estranged wife Christy that it looks like Jess is the killer and she says that she can’t believe it. Later on, Crawford hangs out with his friend Dave to celebrate his freedom. Meanwhile, Cornell is interrogating Jess about her allegations against Crawford. In the interrogation, it’s revealed that Jess’s mother had mental problems as well. When confronted with her bloody jacket, Jess insists that she didn’t kill Tom and Detective Cornell tells her that someone is trying to frame her.
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While the Crawford family is starting to believe that Jess is the killer, Ben signs the divorce papers, but has repaired his relationship with his wife a bit. The two are getting along enough to sit down to a dinner together with their children. While Ben is about to have dinner with his family, he finds a pair of his daughter Abby’s sneakers hidden with blood all over them. She confesses that she killed Tom, that she didn’t want to get in trouble. Abby cries that she and Tom were running away because of all the fighting going on in each of their homes and that it was an accident. Abby said she told Tom that his daddy would come back to his mother if they ran away because parents always come back when their kids are in need. She put on Tom’s mother’s blue jacket and she walked Tom into the woods. Tom dropped his toy tank on the ground and decided he wanted to go home. He started running back home upset and Abby was running after him when she hit him in the back of the head with her dad’s flashlight. She tried to help Tom up and when she saw all the blood, she started screaming for help. She said she ran home to get her dad, but he was already gone running and when he got back he was fighting again with Christy. Abby said she was just trying to keep the family together.
Abby’s older sister Natalie insists they need to tell the police, but Christy wants to protect her daughter and doesn’t want them to say anything. Ben Crawford gets up from the table with the bloody shoes and tells everyone not to go anywhere and to talk to no one. He then says that he’s off to fix it. Ben heads off into the woods as Abby runs behind him, pleading with him. She apologizes to her father and he reluctantly tells her that she made a mistake and didn’t mean to hurt anyone. He then burns her bloody shoes, getting rid of the evidence. However, he looks unsure about his decision. Ben gives Christy the $150,000 she’d been hiding and tells her to take the girls with her and leave. Natalie disagrees with her parents’ decision, refusing to go, and Ben Crawford tells Christy he’s going to give Cornell what she wants. Christy hugs Ben goodbye and leaves with Abby.
Ben Crawford sits down with his daughter Natalie and said he has to take responsibility for Abby because he has to protect her. The two have a heart to heart conversation and Natalie begs him not to protect Abby this way. In the morning, Dave and Ben drop Natalie off at her uncle’s and she cries in her father’s arms, telling him how much she loves him. Dave looks on and cries in the background. Ben thanks Dave for always having his back and Dave tells him that he loves him. He then walks in to the police station and tells Cornell that he confesses to the murder of Tom Murphy.
.@RyanPhillippe and @mrdanfogler have been brilliant all season. #SecretsAndLies https://t.co/4KbZqwbWAN
— Secrets and Lies (@SecretsLiesABC) May 4, 2015
Crawford’s attorney shows up at the police station and tells him that he doesn’t believe he really killed Tom Murphy. Crawford then fires his attorney and insists on representing himself so that he’s sure to go to jail. Crawford makes up a new story. He says that he knew Tom was his son and that he knew it was only a matter of time before the news came out. He said he had to do what he had to do, took Tom to the woods and killed him. Cornell asks Crawford if he was angry at Tom because he hit Tom six times. She clearly knows he isn’t telling the truth. Cornell appears to be fighting tears before being called out of the room. Cornell tells her superior the real story, but he insists on locking up Crawford and threatens Cornell’s job. Cornell tells Crawford that he’s made a mistake. She tells him that putting her own daughter in prison was the hardest thing she had to do and that Abby’s killing Tom Murphy was no accident. Crawford will not budge in his decision and is taken away in handcuffs. Cornell retreats to her car and cries, frustrated with Crawford’s decision. Cornell believes that because of Crawford’s choice, Tom will not be Abby’s last victim.
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— Secrets and Lies (@SecretsLiesABC) May 4, 2015
The episode ends with Cornell drinking at a bar when her ex-husband comes to give her support. He also works in the system and knew what Crawford did to protect his daughter. Cornell tells him that she’s going to put Abby Crawford away in prison. Christy is driving Abby and tells her everything will be okay, but then Abby tells her mother that everything would have been okay if she had just gotten Tom to the river. Christy realizes that her daughter is truly a murderer.
In a video clip on ABC Cornell Confidential, the show takes us 14 months later … Cornell meets Natalie and Dave in a diner and Natalie tells Cornell that Abby must pay for her actions. Natalie has turned 18 years old and is about to graduate from high school. Watch the clip below as Natalie tells Cornell she wants to clear her father’s name.