Parris Donovan (Women's Murder Club)

Parris Donovan (Susan Ward) is the villainess of "Play Through the Pain", episode 1.06 of Women's Murder Club (airdate November 15, 2007). She was the wife of star quarterback Joe Donovan, with whom she had two sons. The episode began with Joe being found dead in their hot tub of an apparent suicide, with Parris appearing devastated by her husband's death.
But as revealed in the episode's conclusion, Parris' heartbroken demeanor was really a mask for her callous and greedy personality, as she had actually killed Joe and staged his death as a suicide. Her motive for doing so was monetary, as Joe had developed Parkinson's Disease over the course of his career and was preparing to come forward with his illness, which would most likely put an end to his sporting career.
Parris committed the murder by returning home from a social event she was attending, driving there in the car belonging to her family's maid Julie Gits. Parris prepared herself and Joe drinks, secretly dosing Joe's with pills that eventually rendered him unable to fight back, allowing the evil Parris to slit his wrists with a knife she stole from the dinner event. Parris driving Julie's car initially caused the investigating police to believe Julie killed Joe, but when Julie commented to Lindsay Boxer and Warren Jacobi that Joe wanted to "stand up and be counted", Lindsay realized Parris' villainous deed and brought her in for interrogation.
During the questioning, Lindsay initially claimed that they believed Julie was having an affair with Joe and had killed him during a tryst, which Parris adamantly refuted. The interrogation had Parris confessing to Joe having Parkinson's, claiming that Joe wanted to keep his condition a secret in order to continue playing. Parris then prepared to leave, only for Lindsay to tell her to stay so they could "discuss" her confession. Lindsay then revealed that Joe had told Julie he feared Parris wouldn't stay with him when his disease grew more severe and that video enhancement could prove Parris was driving Julie's car on the night of Joe's death. The final piece of evidence against Parris, however, was the knife; it contained an imprint specific of the silverware for the catering company that held the social event Parris was at the night of Joe's murder. Lindsay advised for Parris to confess for the sake of her children, only for the callous villainess to instead ask for a lawyer. Lindsay complied and began to leave the room, but not before telling Parris that a judge would have no sympathy on her for her lack of remorse in killing Joe.
== Trivia ==
* Susan Ward also played evil adulteress Michelle Cullman on Monk.
* Parris Donovan is similar to Sandy Walsh, a villainess from Crossing Jordan; both are the wives of professional athletes who kill their husbands when they develop a debilitating illness that threatens to end their lucrative careers. A difference between the women is that Sandy coerced someone else into killing her husband, while Parris murdered her husband herself.
== Videos ==
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Category:2000s
Category:Brunette
Category:Callous
Category:Deceiver
Category:Greedy
Category:Hero's Lover
Category:Incapacitator
Category:Knife
Category:Live Action Villainess
Category:Mother
Category:Murderer
Category:Murder: Staged Suicide
Category:Rich
Category:Villainous Reveal
Category:Fate: Arrested