Who Killed Graham Foster?

"All our times have come..."
The murder of Graham Foster and the mystery surrounding it was a major storyline that occurred in January 2020.
The storyline saw the departure of fan-favourite character Graham Foster and the surprise reintroduction of Pierce Harris after a three-year absence from the show.
== Suspects ==
===Main suspects===
After Graham's impending death was revealed, seven main suspects soon emerged as the most likely to finally take Graham down.
*Kim Tate - Kim had a long and complicated history with her former right-hand man and ex-husband, Graham, dating back to her initial time in the village in the 1990s. However, it eventually turned toxic after Graham and Rhona Goskirk began dating in November 2019. Graham revealed he never really loved Kim and claimed she was impossible to love, reducing her to tears. To get at him, Kim publicly announced that she and Graham were, in fact, married jeopardizing his relationship with Rhona. In turn, Graham announced his and Andrea's history to Kim meaning that the granddaughter Kim had grown so close to was possibly not her own blood. On the day of his murder, Kim invites Graham up to Home Farm and is shocked when he admits that he and Rhona have broken up. Kim shows her vulnerable side by asking Graham to give their relationship another try and admitting that she loves him. Kim soon changes her tune, though, when after Graham makes a failed attempt to string her along, she discovers that he lied about ending it with Rhona and has been stealing from her too. Wanting Graham dead, Kim orders her new right-hand-man Al to do her dirty work for her and kill Graham before he has a chance to walk away, knowing that he's won and taken everything from her.
*Al Chapman - Kim's business partner Al had clashed with Graham from day one and was shown to have great loyalty to Kim. As he becomes more and more desperate for money to pay of his depth to a nasty loan shark, would he kill two birds with one stone and accept Kim's offer of 250 grand by killing Graham?
*Jai Sharma - Jai and Graham haven't crossed paths very often before but in the lead up to the murder the clashed over their work at Hawksford Outdoor Pursuits where they both worked for Kim. However, the real drama came the day of Graham's death when Jai crashes into Graham while driving under the influence of cocaine, which sparks a row. Big repercussions then follow when Graham decides to warn his girlfriend Laurel Thomas about his relapse and when he fails to come clean she ends the relationship. After attacking his father Rishi he heads out on this drug-fueled rage, hell-bent on revenge.
*Charity Dingle - Graham and Charity have a long history, being on bad terms since his arrival in 2017 when he helped his boss, as well as Charity's former step-son Joe Tate to set up Charity's daughter Debbie in means to get to Charity who Joe blamed for his father's death. In December 2019, he messed with her children again after he came across Charity's teenage son Noah with a bag of drugs and failed to tell Charity of the incident and to top it off had told Noah that if Joe, who was also Noah's half-brother, was still there he would be disappointed in him, which is partly what prompted Noah to consume the drugs, resulting in an overdose. He continued to aggravate Charity by keep having contact with Noah despite her warnings to stay away and mocked her mothering skills. Things came to a head when on the day of his murder, Graham locked Charity's disabled son Ryan in a shed and in the progress ruined her wedding day to her fiancee Vanessa Woodfield. A furious Charity found Ryan and was appalled to hear how Graham had made Ryan feel and went to confront Graham who took little to no responsibility turning it on her, mentioning how she abandoned Ryan at the hospital when he was born, finishing by calling her "a dirty little prostitute who got above her station", causing her and Ryan to plot revenge. 
*Jamie Tate - Jamie has had good reason to hold a grudge against Graham ever since he revealed on Christmas Day that he and Jamie's wife Andrea had slept together in the past which had led Graham to believe he could be the couple's daughter Millie's father. He also roped in girlfriend Rhona to steal a piece of Millie's hair without the parent's consent. Even though the test proved that Millie really was Jamie's, the way Graham had ruined their family could be enough to make Jamie snap. Especially after he messes with the couple again on his final day alive, resulting in a fight between him and Jamie. 
*Andrea Tate - Andrea has a long history with Graham, having a relationship before either of them were in the village. However, she began to hate Graham after he drops the bombshell to mother-in-law Kim that he might be Millie's biological father, causing tension between the Tate family. Andrea had always urged Graham to keep quiet about their one-night stand, but he destroyed her marriage at Christmas by spitefully telling Jamie everything. On the day of his murder, when Andrea discovers that Jamie hired a private detective as part of their feud, she approaches Graham for help to dig up dirt on Kim. However, Graham is quick to double-cross her by telling Jamie what Andrea has done, ruining Andrea's chance at a reconciliation with her husband. Feeling like she's losing both her husband and daughter, would Andrea want to get her own back by taking his life? 
*Marlon Dingle - Marlon was apprehensive about Graham's growing relationship to his ex Rhona Goskirk from the beginning especially when she wanted to introduce him to their son Leo. Marlon eventually relented and let Rhona introduce them but remained skeptical due to Graham's inclination to violence and lies to Rhona about his marriage to Kim Tate. Things took a turn for the worse when on Christmas Day 2019, Marlon found out about Rhona and Graham's plans to move to France and take Leo with them. Marlon confronted them, attacking Graham and threatening him to not take his son away, causing the couple to change their plans. However, they soon took up their plans again in secret, keeping Marlon in the dark. The day of Graham's death things escalated when Graham drove Leo and Marlon's daughter April in his car, making Marlon falsely believe Graham to have taken them away from him out of spite which resulted in a violent outburst, which Victoria Sugden witnessed and managed to calm him down. Rhona finally confessed to Marlon about her plans to move to France with Graham and take Leo with them, leaving him in a rage. But would he go so far as to murder in order to stop his son from being taken away from him? 
===Alternative suspects===
*Rhona Goskirk - Despite happily planning their move to France together and seemingly being completely behind him, some speculated that Rhona would find out about Graham's many lies and horrific actions and turn on her boyfriend.
*Pierce Harris - Pierce is Rhona's ex-husband who was sent down for raping Rhona back in 2017 but in December 2019 it was revealed that Pierce was up for parole which was part of what prompted Rhona to want to go through with the move. Some speculated that there was no accident that he was mentioned again and that a vengeful Pierce would return to the village and murder Graham to get Rhona back.
*Vanessa Woodfield - As Charity's fiancée and Rhona's best friend, some speculated that Vanessa would have a double motive after everything Graham had done to her step-children and ruining her wedding day coupled with her disapproving of his relationship with Rhona and their plans to move to France with Leo. 
*Ryan Stocks - As Charity's son, Ryan was a big part of her motive to want Graham dead but it was also speculated that he himself could end up doing the deed. Ryan previously made a deal with Graham to help him transfer money from Kim's account to his own, with the promise of a cut going to both him and his little brother Noah. However, when Ryan starts having second thoughts, Graham threatens him to continue, reducing him to tears. When Ryan puts his foot down, refusing to continue the deal, Graham forces him to do it anyways and then locks him up in a hut to keep him quiet. Feeling of betrayed and humiliated, would he resort to murder? 
*Pete Barton - Pete did not have much motive to kill Graham but shares a history with Rhona as they used to be engaged before ending it in July 2019, possibly giving him a motive to take on Graham if he thought that his ex-partner was making a mistake by leaving with him as well as taking Leo away. This speculation was also fueled by news that Pete's actor Anthony Quinlan was set to leave the show in the foreseeable future. 
*Joe Tate - The possibility of a shock return for Joe was long speculated ever since he was confirmed to be alive back in April 2019. Joe wanting Graham dead would be huge shift from his character in autumn 2018 after the lengths Graham went to in order to protect him, but Graham's involvement with Joe's little brother Noah's overdose could possibly give him a motive and Joe's return and murder of Graham would come as a shocking twist.  
==Plot==
===Build-up===
Months before January 2020, Graham Foster made numerous enemies in the village. These included Al, Kim, Jai, Charity, Jamie, Andrea and Marlon. By the end of 2019, he was disliked by the above people so much that they all wanted him either dead or out of the village.
On 20th January 2020, Graham drives to Hawksford Outdoor Pursuits, listening to the Blue Oyster Cult song "Don't Fear the Reaper". He stops the car and gets out of it, then looks in his car's window mirror to straighten his tie before heading into Hawksford. Graham then walks with Priya Kotecha and tells her that he likes living dangerously.
=== Kim and Al's perspective ===
Graham meets up with Kim and Al at Hawksford Outdoor Pursuits' official opening. After a tense conversation, Al questions why Kim hasn't confronted Graham over his secret move to France. Kim and Al argue about the business and once again brings up Al's debt problems. They decide to put their differences aside and Al assures he'll make this day a success.
Later on, Kim invites Graham to Home Farm where she confronts him over leaving the village with girlfriend Rhona Goskirk without saying anything, but he lies and tells her they've broken up and he's going alone. Kim starts reminiscing about their relationship and admits that she still loves him despite everything that's happened and ask him to give their relationship another shot. They kiss and he promises to consider it, giving Kim false hope. However, Kim soon discovers that Graham lied about ending things with Rhona after seeing a photo of the two of them kissing and on top of that, also discovers that someone has been transferring money from her account, realising that Graham is responsible. A furious Kim calls Al to Home Farm where she asks him to kill Graham in exchange for a large sum of money, as she knows he is in financial difficulty. Al initially refuses and talks her down.
Kim thinks things through while Al meet up with the loan shark who he owns money. After he threatens to hurt his son unless he pays him 60 grand within the next 24 hours, Al returns to Home Farm telling Kim he'll do the job. She is reluctant at first but he assures her that this has to be done.
At night, Al drives his car whilst Kim contemplates texting Al to not do it, but changes her mind. Al then discovers Graham's body in the woods and returns to Kim telling her the deed is done and that he wants his money.
=== Jai's perspective ===
A stressed-out Jai arrives at Hawksford's opening day and is distressed to see the lack of visitors. Jai's girlfriend Laurel Thomas gives him a pep talk and tells him to figure it out and do whatever he needs to do to make the day a success. In a misguided way of following Laurel's advise, Jai takes some cocaine to get through the day and manages to turn the day around with the help from Laurel. Later, when an ecstatic Jai is driving back to pick up Laurel's daughter Dotty, he sees Graham's car approaching and has to swerve out of the way to avoid a collision. This leads to conflict between the two men, and Graham eventually finds Jai's drugs in the car and takes them along with his keys when he isn't looking. Jai runs after Graham to try and get the drugs back, but Graham refuses and drives off.
A furious Jai returns to the village to sort out new keys for his car at the garage and lies to Laurel that the accident was Graham's fault. Believing Jai's lies, Laurel confronts Graham who gives her the drugs and explains everything to her. Meanwhile, Jai is shown not being able to cope at Hawksford and starts hallucinating without the drugs. He returns to get more but is confronted by Laurel who tries to make him take responsibility for his drug use but when he refuses to admit it she decides to break things off with him.
Jai returns home and orders another "pizza" but is horrified when his father Rishi discovers the real content and tries to stop him from taking the drugs. Jai attacks his father before heading out into the night high on cocaine and vowing revenge at Graham.
Graham is shown to be hit on the head by an unknown assailant and falling over before Jai stumbles back to Holdgate Farm with bloody fists and collapses outside.
=== Charity's perspective ===
Charity planned to get married to fiancee Vanessa Woodfield, with only their closest family, including Sarah, Noah and Ryan present. Ryan agrees to go home and get changed but instead meets Graham at Hawksford where Graham tells him to complete the money transfer from Kim's account. Despite Ryan saying he won't, Graham pressures him into doing it, with the agreement that he and Noah will receive a cut of the money. However, as Ryan realises that Graham won't give him anything, Graham lifts him up and locks him in a shed to prevent him from saying anything to Kim.
Meanwhile, Charity is being increasingly nervous by Ryan not turning up, and is even more worried when Ryan's phone is answered by Dawn Taylor who explains she's found it in the woods at Hawksford. After getting a taxi, Charity meets up with Dawn, and a two walk in the forest to try and find him. She then screams his name a few times, and Ryan hears the screams and tells her that he's in the shed. Charity then unlocks the shed, releasing her son. After finding out Graham was the one who locked him in, she comforts Ryan and takes him back home.
Charity calls off her wedding to Vanessa to be there for Ryan who explains the story of how he was bribed into doing the transfers from Kim's account, believing Graham's lies and promises. Ryan admits he feels like an idiot for not being able to get out of the shed due to his disability and cries saying he hates Graham for what he's done. After comforting Ryan, a furious Charity leaves the house and angrily confronts Graham.
She finds him in the street and attacks him for everything he'd done to Ryan, Noah and Debbie and asks what she had ever done to him to make him hate her so much. Graham then says some more spiteful things to Charity, finishing by calling her a dirty prostitute, enraging her. Charity and Ryan head out to get their revenge on Graham.
Later on, Graham's body is shown to be rolling off the edge of a bridge. Elsewhere in the village, Charity and Ryan exclaim that they have "no regrets".
=== Jamie and Andrea's perspective ===
Up at Hawksford, Andrea meets up with Jamie and Millie and act civil for Millie's sake. Andrea takes Millie and apologises for things being tense between her, Jamie and Kim. However, she soon discovers that Jamie has hired a private investigator to spy on her and furiously confronts him at the vet's. Jamie tries to justify is actions, saying he only did it to assure Andrea didn't leave with Millie but Andrea is having none of it. She is then horrified when she realises Millie has heard them shouting and leaves her with Leyla to sort things out.
In desperation Andrea asks Graham for help to dig up dirt on Kim as a precaution, claiming he owes her that after ruining her life. Meanwhile, Jamie talks things through with Belle Dingle and realises he was wrong in spying on his wife. Jamie goes to apologise to her and the two take a walk sorting out their issues. However, Graham come across them and reveals what Andrea has been up, making Jamie furious at them both and a fight breaks out between Jamie and Graham which Andrea has to stop.
Jamie talks to Belle whilst Andrea has another run-in with Graham after witnessing his confrontation with Charity. Jamie concludes that everything bad that happens is down to Graham, and Andrea has a drink before them both head out in their cars, furious with Graham for ruining their lives.
Graham is shown to have been hit by a car making him fall off the bridge. A shaken up Jamie sits in his car whilst a crying Andrea is shown running through the woods covered in blood.
=== Marlon's perspective ===
Marlon and colleague Victoria Sugden are at Hawksford sorting out the food for the opening, when all of a sudden they find out Marlon's children April and Leo have gone missing. They search the area for them, and later discover April and Leo got in a car with Graham. A furious Marlon believes Graham to have taken them, but April reveals that he had only driven them after she had lied, saying that Marlon had allowed them to go. Marlon later has a breakdown at Hawksford and attacks Graham, threatening him with a torch. Victoria manages to calm him down.
Later on, Marlon goes to talk to Rhona and they have an emotional conversation where Marlon admits that he is partly jealous, questioning what he is doing wrong as nothing never works out for him in terms of relationship and family. Rhona reassures him that he is a wonderful man and that Graham will never take his place in Leo's life, emphasising that he means a lot to her. However, Marlon misreads the situation and leans in for a kiss, upsetting Rhona who finally admits that her plan to leave with Graham to France is back on. Marlon expresses his hatred for Graham and angrily insists that she does not have any right go with his son, to no avail.
Graham later asks to meet Marlon in the woods to sort things out. By the end of day, Marlon was set to meet Graham in the woods by Hawksford Outdoor Pursuits to talk things through but before Graham could reach him, he was hit over the head by a hooded figure who was soon revealed to be Rhona's rapist and ex-husband Pierce Harris. 
== The murder ==
=== Graham's perspective ===
As Pierce dragged Graham's body through the woods after hitting him over the head, Graham regained consciousness and the two got to talking. It was revealed that Graham had visited Pierce at his apartment after he got released from prison on 13th January 2020, and had proceeded to warn him to stay away from Rhona before beating him up. Pierce had then returned to the village and spied on Rhona. He also revealed he was the one who had taken Leo's passport, which Rhona had blamed Marlon for. After realising she was planning to move away to France with Graham, he decided to take him out before they had a chance to. 
Graham attacked Pierce and a fight ensued where Graham got the upper hand. However, he refrained himself from killing him in an act of mercy which he later came to regret when Pierce came after him again. Pierce hit Graham with his car, causing him to fall off a cliff. Graham was surprisingly still alive and another deadly fight brought out ending when Pierce struck him with a final fatal blow to the head. Pierce covered him with some leaves and hid when Al came onto the scene, discovering the body. 
Later, Pierce returned to the village, looking upon Rhona's house as she talked to Marlon, worried about Graham's whereabouts. 
==Aftermath==
The next day, Graham’s body was found by Priya Kotecha and Billy Fletcher while Jai woke up outside his house with bloody fists and no recollection of the day before. The news of Graham's murder spread around the village, forcing Charity to confess to Vanessa that she and Ryan stole Graham’s money the night before and causing Marlon to be arrested after Priya told the police about his and Graham's fight the day before. Meanwhile, Kim still believed she was responsible for Graham's death due to Al’s lies while Jai thought he could have been the murderer due to his lack of memory and vengeful state he was in the day before. In the following days, Jai found out the reason for his bloody fists was not that he murdered Graham but that he had rather attacked Jimmy King and thus decided to go back to rehab. It was revealed that, on that faithful night, Andrea had run over the Sharmas' dog Tip whom she buried in the woods whilst Jamie had gone back to Belle Dingle who he ended up sleeping with. 
Marlon was brought in for questioning where he became the prime suspect due to his very public altercation with Graham earlier that day and CCTV capturing Graham going into the woods shortly after Marlon but only Marlon going out. Marlon's house was searched where the police found the murder weapon, the same torch Marlon threatened Graham with and with Graham's blood on it, planted there by Pierce. Marlon was thus charged with Graham's murder. After he was denied bail at his plea hearing, Marlon was to be kept in jail until his trial in June. Meanwhile, whilst the Dingles were starting a "Free Marlon" campaign, Rhona became determined to find the real killer and clear Marlon's name. Meanwhile, Pierce returned to the village, stalked Rhona, even going as far as breaking into her home and watching her sleep, and planned to win her back. On 13th February, Pierce revealed the truth to Vanessa whilst holding her and her 4-year-old son Johnny captive at Mulberry Cottage, making her the first person to know Graham's true killer.
Pierce's reign of terror reached its conclusion on 25th February 2020 when Rhona met up with Pierce, in order to save Vanessa and Johnny, and managed to live-stream Pierce confessing to the murder. Pierce was finally arrested and charged kidnapping, false imprisonment and murder while Marlon was let out at last. In March 2020, Pierce pleaded guilty to his charges and was later sentenced to life in prison for his crimes. 
== Background information ==
*On 23rd December 2019 a trailer (watch it here) was released on Emmerdale's YouTube channel, confirming Graham was set to die the following month. The trailer featured Graham walking in and around the village, trying to avoid a hooded assailant, whose face kept changing to show the different suspects.
Category:Events