GRACEPOINT: Who Killed Danny Solano - Your Suspects So Far



Gracepoint kicked off last week with the murder of Danny Solano and an introduction to some of the key players in the drama which will unfold over the next nine weeks. It's early days yet in the investigation, but here's our first run down of the main suspects and clues from the first episode. 

And if you saw the UK's Broadchurch, the original series on which Gracepoint is based and you're feeling pretty confident that you already know the murderer, you might want to think again. The producers of the show have already stated that there will be new plot developments, new suspects and a new killer. Anyone could have done it. So it's time to start checking out the clues and trying to put together the pieces of the puzzle to track down the Gracepoint killer.

The murder

Twelve-year old Danny Solano was found dead on the beach at Gracepoint below some cliffs. The body was arranged to look like he had fallen; however forensic evidence has shown that nobody was up on the clifftop the night before and the body was moved from somewhere else to that location and arranged to look like an accidental fall or suicide.
The cause of death was a blow to the head. Danny would have been facing his killer. There was no evidence of any sexual violence. The time of death is given as between 10pm on the Thursday night and 4am on Friday morning.
Danny’s mother Beth looked in on him at 9pm in the evening and he was in bed reading. His room was not checked again till the following morning when it was found to be empty with the bed made. It was assumed that Danny had gone early to his wildlife observation group and then on to school. It was later found that he had turned up to neither.
There was no evidence that someone had forcibly entered the house and abducted Danny. CCTV footage revealed a boy who appeared to be Danny riding his skateboard down the deserted main street of Gracepoint late at night. Neither the skateboard nor his cellphone have so far been recovered.

Suspects

Detective Emmett Carver
(David Tennant)
Carver is a newcomer to the small town of Gracepoint. He’s rude, taciturn and certainly doesn’t seem about to open up about his life to his colleagues, least of all Ellie Miller. We don’t yet know the circumstances of his arrival, other than he is supposed to be keeping a low profile which has something to do with the ‘Rosemont’ investigation. San Francisco Renee Clemons seems to have reason to want to keep a close eye on him – just what does she know about his mysterious past?

Detective Ellie Miller
(Anna Gunn)
Ellie was born and raised in Gracepoint and knows the town backwards. She knows everyone and seems reluctant to pin the blame for the killing on any of her neighbours. Her son Tom was Danny Solano’s best friend. But if there were problems between Danny and Tom, how far would Ellie go to protect her own child?

Mark Solano
(Michael Peña)
Plumber Mark is known and respected throughout the town. He and wife Beth were childhood sweethearts: they married young and were parents as teenagers. On the night of Danny’s murder Mark was apparently out on a call. He also says didn't check Danny was OK on his return so the boy’s absence wasn't reported till the next day.

Beth Solano
(Virginia Kull)
Frantic with worry Beth tore up the town searching for her son. On learning about the body found on the beach her worst fears were realised. Beth remains outwardly distraught over Danny’s murder – but is her grief hiding a bigger secret?

Chloe Solano
(Madalyn Horcher)
Chloe was apparently home on the night of the murder. She too is in emotional collapse after the news of her brother’s death. However, Chloe too has her secrets, and more is yet to emerge about her mysterious boyfriend Dean.

Joe Miller
(Josh Hamilton)
Former EMT turned house-husband Joe supports wife Ellie’s career and looks after their two sons Tom and Dylan while she works. Like Ellie, his protective side could come out if he thought that either of his children were under threat.

Tom Miller
(Jack Irvine)
Twelve-year old Tom was apparently Danny’s best friend. However, on learning about his friend’s death one of his first questions was whether the police would need to speak to him. His next actions, once alone, were to delete Danny’s texts from his phone and clear his computer’s hard drive. He appears more worried than upset over his friend's death.

Jack Reinhold
(Nick Nolte)
Jack is one of the older residents of Gracepoint. A single man, he runs the kayak rental shop and a nature observation group for the kids of the town. Danny was a member of this group and was due to attend on the morning of his death. When Danny didn't show, Jack did not contact anyone to find out why.

Owen Burke
(Kevin Zegers)
Owen is a junior reporter on the local newspaper. Far more used to covering small local events, such as the school field day, he is staggered to discover a major story breaking on his doorstep. Owen is the nephew of Ellie Miller and uses his connection to extract information from his aunt. He then puts his own ambition first and makes information about the murder public. Owen sees the scoop as a way out of Gracepoint, begging the question of how far he might go for professional success.

Renee Clemons
(Jessica Lucas)
The ambitious big city reporter has recently started working on the San Francisco Globe after time on the local paper in Rosemont, where she first encountered Emmett Carver. She sees Owen’s post about the murder as an opportunity to prove herself. It’s not clear what she knows about Carver’s past.

Kathy Eaton
(Alisen Down)
The editor of the local paper in a town where very little happens. A big murder story could certainly raise her profile – she just wants to make sure that it is all covered properly.

Hugo Garcia
(Darcy Laurie)
As CSI on the murder case, he would be perfectly placed to tamper with, create or lose evidence. But what would be his motive?

Dean Iverson
(Kendrick Sampson)
Dean is Chloe Solano’s older boyfriend. He works in a restaurant in the town. Chloe is keen to keep him a secret from her family

Gemma Fisher
(Sarah-Jane Potts)
The English-born hotelier knows the Solano family and seems flirty with Mark – but how well do they know each other? She is worried about how the murder will affect her own business.

Other residents we have yet to meet properly:

Susan Wright
(Jacki Weaver)
A mysterious woman who seems to be very interested in the goings on down at the beach.

Paul Coates
(Kevin Rankin)
The town’s minister. What was the ‘something’ that kept him from the kids’ soccer game?

Vince Novik
(Stephen Louis Grush)
The apprentice in Mark’s plumbing firm. He has access to Mark’s van.

Raymond Connelly
(Adam Greydon Reid)
Works as a telephone engineer. So far he seems to have no apparent connection to the family

You can vote for your number one suspect on the Fox TV Suspect Everyone page. Cast your vote and check the results in the online poll – and you can vote as many times as you like, so you can change your mind when new evidence arises. The site will soon allow you to examine evidence and vote for important clues. Don't rule anyone out!

As of this morning your Top Five suspects are:

1.   Tom Miller (23% vote)
2.   Joe Miller (14%)
3   Mark Solano (10%)
4.   Paul Coates (10%)
5.   Vince Novik (10%)


Episode 2 of Gracepoint premieres tonight on Fox in the USA and Global in Canada at 9pm ET. Viewers in Australia can watch on the Universal Channel at 8.30pm, Friday 10th October.




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