Who killed Erin McMenamin? Spoilers ahead

So, we lost poor Colin Zabel, who was called in to help solving a murder case and was dragged into a local sex-slavery market that even in a small town such as Easttown was able to have three girls disappearing and the police not getting this close to even realize what was going on. I wish we had more on Mare’s prejudices making her a bad detective as we met her. But, thanks to Colin, she regained a bit of her old self and now she is finally getting warmer to solve not only this case, but the one closer to her own home.

Since the start I have been posting and betting and tweeting (and being bullied for it) that Erin’s killer was not a man. That’s very obvious, actually. But I sort of missed the real suspect – she annoyed me so much – and found both Lori Ross and Jess Riley highly suspicious. So far, Jess proved me right as not really the most loyal of friends and I was still unsure of Lori, who I thought would have murdered Erin out of jealousy because an affair with her husband. Now, the latter caused many to scream “incest”, “impossible”, but that random Sarah is not fooling me. Erin is the Laura Palmer of Easttown.

BUT, as I do follow weekly the posts of Movie Files, I started to realize I was missing the point and that Siobhan Sheehan might be our killer.

Since the last episode made us believe that Billy Ross is DJ‘s biological dad, I discarded him as the killer. John, whom I don’t think pulled the trigger only because someone beat him to it, is very guilty of criminal deeds (in plural) and should pay for all his lies. My sister insists he is involved with the kidnapping of the girls (since one witness said of the bearded man), but I think that plot is closed. I think John is involved with Erin’s death and his son, Ryan, knows it.

Who and why would Siobhan do it? She seems to have plenty of reasons.

Let’s list the clues that puts Siobhan on the top of suspects list, not in a particular order:

1. Siobhan is obsessed about her older brother, Kevin, and is reliving his death by working on a documentary about him. We only know fragments about Kevin’s condition and demise, and Siobhan’s memories are opposite to everyone else’s. While most think of him troubled, she “sells” him as a light, sensitive soul. It’s as if she’s looking for a person to blame for his problems, which is her mom and now, after the latest footage we saw, someone else possibly too.
   We see Kevin dedicating a song to “the first girl who broke my heart”. Siobhan reacts to that soundbite so distraught that she decides to get high and freaks out. Finally, when Mare is – like she possibly was with Kevin when he was addicted – Siobhan lashes out on her (like Kevin used to), but cries “it should have been you to find the body”. She means Kevin, surely. Or does she?
   
2. Siobhan made it to the suspect’s list for a short time, before being crossed out by Colin, as she was one of the last persons to have been caught on camera with Erin alive. Siobhan’s alibi was being with her ex-girlfriend, Becca, at the time of the murder and is also sustained by Deacon Mark, who was in fact the one who drove Erin back to the woods (by her own request after getting a phone call). But, Becca is usually passed out when high, so, would she actually know if Siobhan left for a couple of hours or not? Remember that Siobhan was not shocked to hear about Erin’s disappearance nor death, didn’t rush to tell her mom she was with her right before she died and only admitted it because of the video, but we never actually hear what she gave Colin as an alibi. She asked about her mom, basically.
   
   
3. The murder weapon. It’s VERY specific, a gun that’s no longer available on the market. Just lime the one Mare’s dad had when he was a policeman, as it was pointed out very clearly. Therefore, few people would have access to one of those, and Siobhan is one of them.
   
4. As pointed out by Movie Files, the murder weapon was not yet found. It could be perfectly kept at home, at the very same attic Mare mentioned that “no one goes up to”, as Mare says. Right? Right!
   
5. On the following night when Mare started investigating Erin’s murder, she confronted Frank as a potential father of DJ. Siobhan made sure to be part of the dialogue and was neither surprised or shocked at the allegation, which at that point put Frank on the suspect’s list. She looked definitely suspicious.
   
6. Is it me or did Siobhan sounded close to a psychopath when she told her current fling she “might not have an option” to be left alone/behind? She looks like to be finding “a new obsession” there
   
7. When Erin’s body was found, two informations were shared quite ostensively: a) she was not raped and not had had sex that night, although her body was naked. As Mare said it: it was staged to look like rape, but anyone could have done it, including women. b) her body was dragged to the river, she was killed somewhere else
   
   Now, Billy and John Ross come (back) in.
   
   The brothers definitely had both had an affair with their cousin’s underage daughter. She could have been blackmailing John (or both) to get the money for her son’s surgery, hence being agitated when she got a call asking for a meeting in the woods, late at night.
   
   Now, and this is important, John has a gun and quite cleverly gave himself an alibi to Mare when defending Frank, showing a picture of him passed out drunk on a couch. So at this point, since Frank was in fact innocent, Mare is not putting John on the list as supposedly he was with Frank at time of the murder. Would Frank be able to confirm or deny it? Not by that picture. So, John and Billy went to meet Erin, but they found her body. They could not explain why would they be there and they had motive, so they decided to get rid of the body. It’s a weak link, I know, but this would have explained the blood on Billy’s clothes and his guilt. It’s either that or they were involved with the kidnapping of the girls… In any case, John doesn’t trust Billy to keep the lie so the last we saw them, he was willing to kill his own brother and possibly put it as a suicide.
   
   
   We are still left with the puzzle of the connection between Dylan and Jess. Jess was one of my prime suspects early on, conveniently holding up information and misleading the investigation more than once. But it might turned out to nothing relevant to the murder itself.
   

Finally, what a messed up Ross family reunion in 2017! As per Lori’s description, it was fine and fun, fishing and swimming, although some remembered it as rainy and therefore forcing everyone to be “inside de cabins most of the time”. And Erin was able to have an affair with TWO grown men and no one suspected? That’s what had put Lori on my list before. Aware of John’s philandering, she confronted Erin in regards of the baby’s paternity, killing the girl out of jealousy. Saying “Sandra” is her husband’s lover sounded like a lie, but I concede that the murder weapon being THAT specific crosses Lori, John, Billy, Dylan and Jess of the list.

Who did it after all?