‘Presumed Innocent’ Ending Explained: Who Is the Killer?

Note: This story contains spoilers from “Presumed Innocent” Episode 8.

In the nail-bitingly tense finale for Apple’s gripping courtroom thriller “Presumed Innocent,” audiences finally learned who killed lawyer Carolyn Polhemus (Renate Reinsve), the former lover of Jake Gyllenhaal’s character Rusty Sabich, who was charged and tried for the murder.

In last week’s episode, Tommy Molto (Peter Sarsgaard), who relished the opportunity to prosecute his longtime rival, was ruled out as a suspect, as director Greg Yaitanes confirmed to TheWrap.

Tommy came home to find someone had left a fireplace poker — possibly the one used to kill Carolyn — in his house, with an unsigned, hand-printed note that read, “Go f—k yourself.”

The Verdict

Despite the probable cause for a mistrial, both sides decided to proceed in the finale, appropriately titled “The Verdict,” with Rusty presenting the summation himself, despite Ray’s reservations.

Rusty told the jury that he was only guilty of having an affair with Carolyn, nothing else. He argued that Tommy’s prosecution of him was a personal vendetta based only on circumstantial evidence.

He mentioned two other people who “had fixations” with Carolyn, including her son Michael Caldwell (Tate Birchmore) and his father, Dalton (Matthew Alan), both of whom were “very, very angry” with the dead woman, hoping to plant a seed of doubt with the jury.

In his closing argument, Tommy said Rusty’s love for Carolyn was more of an obsession. And that if Rusty wanted so desperately to get the murderer, why did he withhold information and fail to disclose his relationship with Carolyn? He called Rusty “a very, very good liar” and a “murderer.”

The jury didn’t deliberate long before rendering a verdict: Not guilty. Rusty’s family looked relieved, as did Raymond, but Rusty’s facial expression remained grim.

Rusty told the media that he was “gratified” that “legal and moral justice was done,” but that the prosecution failed Carolyn, because her killer was still out there.

Killer revealed

Later, Rusty confronted Barbara in the garage, where she was obsessively riding the stationery bike. She had packed a bag… not to leave him now, but as a warning of what she would do if there’s a “next time.”

He told her that he’s known since the first night that she killed Carolyn, and admitted that he was the one to stage the body so it resembled the murder of Bunny Davis. He said everything he did was to protect her and the family, and that it was a clear case of disassociation, such as what their daughter Jaden (Chase Infiniti) had mentioned in a previous episode. Barbara was shocked and adamantly denied his accusation.

Rusty still didn’t believe her, because he had put a tracker in Barbara’s car, so he knew she was the one who drove to Tommy’s house to plant the poker.

That was when Jaden quietly joined them in the garage and admitted that she was the one who killed Carolyn. As Barbara began sobbing uncontrollably, Jaden described how she went over to Carolyn’s house the night of the murder to tell her to stay away from her father. When Carolyn said she couldn’t stay away completely because she was pregnant with Rusty’s child, Jaden grabbed the fireplace poker and struck her repeatedly.

Jaden drove home, thinking that it had all been a dream, at first. She cleaned the car and buried the poker in the yard. Rusty told her that this was all his fault, because he set the events in motion. He vowed that they will “never speak of this again.”

We later see the family happily celebrating Thanksgiving, as if none of this had ever happened. But Barbara and Rusty exchanged a somber look that clearly said neither of them would ever forget. It appears that Jaden’s brother Kyle (Kingston Rumi Southwick) never learned the truth.

What we know about Season 2

“Presumed Innocent” was renewed for Season 2 on July 12, ahead of the release of the season’s final episodes.

Gyllenhaal is listed as an executive producer for the next season along with David E. Kelley and J.J. Abrams, as well as EPs Rachel Rusch Rich, Dustin Thomason and Matt Tinker. And while Apple TV+ confirmed the show will tackle a new case, it’s unclear whether Gyllenhaal will reprise the role of Rusty or if there’ll be an entirely new cast.

Scott Turow, who wrote the thriller the series is based on, is set to return as co-executive producer, which could indicate that Season 2 will be based on another of the author’s novels.

All episodes of “Presumed Innocent” are now streaming on Apple TV+.

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