Fans believe they’ve found a secret killer amongst the residents of the Dales

Emmerdale fans are convinced they’ve spotted a secret serial killer in the Dales as the first death of 2025 will take place in upcoming scenes. The ITV soap has revealed that villain Anthony Fox will face his comeuppance next week when his body is found after being shot, and the mystery murderer could be John Sugden.

Oliver Farnworth made his Emmerdale debut in August 2024 and was revealed to be Victoria Sugden’s half-brother due to their shared father. At the time of him joining the village, The Express reported he was “enigmatic” and considers himself a “lone wolf” thanks to his military past.

Oliver previously shared: “I am absolutely delighted to be joining the cast of Emmerdale. The show has such a rich history, and the Sugden family is integral to that. I’m looking forward to bringing my character to life and working with such a talented and dedicated team.” Fans may also recognise the actor as playing the role of Andy Carver in Coronation Street before he was killed off by Pat Phelan – twice.

As the ITV soap shared, next week will see Anthony Fox be killed off after the truth of him abusing daughter Ruby as a teenager comes to light. There are various theories as the murder will be a classic ‘whodunit’ style, meaning at least four character’s will be on the suspect list.

However, John has been treated with suspicion by some fans who believe that his chequered past might be hiding more than we currently know. Earlier in 2024, @emmerdale2dae theorised: “could he kill someone? I’m thinking possibly Mack or Nate! Nate has been confirmed to be leaving” before adding: “he has an army background, is he not the real John Sugden?”

As John has settled in the village, particularly with thanks to his relationship with Aaron Dingle (who used to be married to John’s brother Robert), some fans are still convinced that he is not to be trusted. Taking to X (formerly known as Twitter), @hughesjg wrote: “Don’t worry, secret serial killer, John Sugden finds out and murders Anthony next week. Perhaps, one day, we might find out where he’s buried Nate’s body, too…”

They continued the theory: “‘Went to the Hebrides’, apparently, several months ago and hasn’t been heard from since. I mean, you would think *someone* would start to wonder by now. They received a text *saying* he had arrived. Since then, complete radio silence.”

Fans think they’ve “worked out” that Nate could be dead as the Cain Dingle flashforward scene shows him standing at a grave. Seeing as Nate left in a hurry and no one has heard from him since, viewers are convinced they’ve figured out the soap’s secret.

@krishanmaharaj also believes John could have killed Nate: “I still think it is Nate but my question is who would kill him & why? I do remember that the first character shown after Nate left being shady was John busy in his van.” John was the last person that Nate spoke to before disappearing from the village. He was then spotted looking rather shifty after he had encouraged Nate to move to the Shetland’s – but was he covering his own tracks?

@LoveSoapsntv furthered: “John killed Aidan and Nate”, before adding: “In terms of Nate, I’m pretty sure Nate’s final scene was with John which was very very random, also John was in the army so he is trained.” While one fan questioned why they wouldn’t have killed Nate off in the barn fire, the user responded: “He must have hid the body, also in terms of other storylines killing off Nate when Cain was dealing with Moira being diagnosed with a brain tumour wouldn’t have had as big of an impact.”

While Nate’s death is unconfirmed as of yet, perhaps John will be revealed as Anthony’s secret killer as a week full of twists and turns is set to take place in the village.

Emmerdale airs on weekdays at 7:30pm on ITV1 and available to stream on ITVX.