Kate Dutton (Murder, She Wrote)

Kate Dutton (Nancy Dussault) is the main villainess from "The Way to Dusty Death," episode 4.05 of Murder, She Wrote (airdate October 25, 1987). She is the wife of Tom Dutton, who was working for business tycoon Duncan Barnett.
The Duttons (among others, including Jessica Fletcher) were guests at Duncan's estate, and similar to many of the guests, Kate figured that Duncan would announce his retirement, and that Tom would be named as his successor. Instead, Duncan announced that he would be staying on as chairman of his company, and even laughed off the possibility of Tom being promoted. The news enraged Ginny McCormack to the point that she poisoned Duncan's brandy with digitalis from his heart medication. 
However, Kate was even more enraged, and on that same night, she confronted Duncan while he was in his hot tub and made a plea for Tom to be promoted to chairman, only for Duncan to brush her off and ask Kate to move the television stand. Kate later picked up the television and intentionally dropped it in the tub, fatally electrocuting Duncan in a fit of rage. She had avoided suspicion due to the death being ruled as occurring under natural causes, but once it was classified as a murder, the evil Kate attempted to cover her tracks by pinning the murder on Serena, Spruce Osborne's date, claiming that she spotted Serena in the room with Duncan.
After Jessica pinpointed Ginny's role in the failed attempt, Ginny revealed everything that occurred during her plan, including the fact that a woman was heard in the room and the door was closed. The door being closed ended up outing Kate as the killer, as only she could have known that Serena was inside, and she knew by opening the door. The villainess attempted to lie her way out of suspicion, but after failing to do so, Kate confessed; voicing her anger at Duncan for not promoting Tom. She also expressed pride in killing Duncan, claiming that he was a horrible man who used his employees, after which she was arrested (off-screen).
Category:1980s
Category:Ambitious
Category:Brunette
Category:Callous
Category:Deceiver
Category:Hero's Lover
Category:Live Action Villainess
Category:Makeshift Weapon
Category:Murder: Electrocution
Category:Murderer
Category:Villainous Reveal
Category:Fate: Arrested