Presumed Innocent: Which of the Finale’s Killer Reveals Shocked You Most?

The following contains major spoilers from the Season 1 finale of Presumed Innocent , now streaming on Apple TV+.

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Ahead of the premiere of Apple TV+’s Presumed Innocent , showrunner David E. Kelley told TVLine of his adaptation of the Scott Turow novel and Harrison Ford-led film, “There may be some twists and turns — and there may be some twists you expect that don’t happen.”

When all was said and done, was he telling the truth?

The Season 1 finale, titled “Verdict,” opened not long after where last week left off, as DA Nico and the Chicago PD arrived at the home of Tommy Molto to document, process and try to make sense of the fire poker left on the chief deputy prosecutor’s kitchen counter.

As first suggested by the finale sneak peek, the elusive, suspected murder weapon could/would not be admitted as evidence, as it was devoid of any DNA or fingerprints, and even Carolyn’s housekeeper could not affirm that it absolutely was the missing piece of the deceased’s fireplace set.

Instead, the trial resumed with the defense calling hired expert Mary Lynn Rajskub to call into question the time of death, by citing the lack of take-out Chinese food in her (all together now!) duodenum .

Tommy did his best to taint that testimony, but it would be for naught. After the defense rested, Rusty (against Raymond’s wishes) effectively delivered his own closing remarks, fully acknowledging that while he may be a cheating garbage person of a husband, and though there is proof that he was at Carolyn’s house the night she was murdered, there was zero evidence pointing to him as the killer. Rather, he shamelessly noted, there was every possibility that Tommy, or Carolyn’s own son, could have done the heinous deed.

Tommy just as effectively countered that with his own closing argument, zeroing in on the frighteningly obsessive nature of Rusty’s love for Carolyn, and his propensity to “snap” and get violent. He also lawyer-shamed his colleague for casting aspersion on, specifically, teenage Michael.

It would not take the jury long to arrive at a verdict, finding Rusty “not guilty” of the murder.

Tommy spiraled a bit after losing/not successfully avenging Carolyn’s death, but Nico immediately set out to talk him off the proverbial ledge. As for Rusty, some time afterwards, he interrupted Barbara’s spin session in the family shed to A) note that he saw she had a bag packed, at the advice of Dr. Rush, for the “next time” Rusty deigned to possibly destroy their family, and B)… confront his wife about what he assumed she had done the night of Carolyn’s death.

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Barbara’s face alternately tensed up and withered as Rusty revealed that it was he who had tied up Carolyn à la Bunny Davis, after arriving at his lover’s home and finding her brutally slain. Assuming that Barbara was the only one inclined to do such a thing, he aimed to protect her by obfuscating the crime scene. Rusty then told Barbara that he knew she planted the fire poker at Tommy’s, seeing as he had put a GPS tracker in her car (after the whole artist/bartender disclosure) and saw that it was at Tommy’s home that night.

But that was not Barbara driving the car.

It was Jaden , their daughter, who arrived at the shed just then to confess her role in Carolyn’s death.

Jaden (played by Chase Infiniti) shared with her gobsmacked parents that she (apparently and quietly knew about her dad’s affair and) went to confront Carolyn that night. Specifically, the teen demanded that Carolyn not just leave her dad alone but quit her job at the DA’s office! Carolyn asserted that things were over with her and Rusty romantically, though their lives would remain forever entwined given that she was pregnant with his kid.

It was Jaden who then “snapped” and reached for the nearby fire poker and bludgeoned her father’s mistress. Jaden explained to her parents that she felt like she was in a dream-like haze on the drive home, but the next day had the wherewithal to wipe clean the family car of any evidence.

Rusty told Jaden in no uncertain terms that the three of them would never speak of this again, before suggesting, for the legal record, I suppose, that she was acting in self defense and due to a series of events set in motion by her father’s infidelity.

Cut to a closing montage of Raymond (go, Cubs Bears!) and Lorraine happily tending to their garden… a carefree Tommy (and his cat!) enjoying some sports on the telly… and the Sabich family enjoying this new phase of their existence, though Rusty and Barbara (and Jaden) will always know the dark truth about what transpired.

“There are a lot of jolts in the evolution of the series, episode by episode,” David E. Kelly told TVLine ahead of the season, “and I think the ending will be satisfying on that front as well.”

Was it satisfying, though? Grade Presumed Innocent ‘s finale below, then weigh in on the killer reveals.

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