Who killed A.B. in The Residence? Details explored
Released on March 20, 2025, The Residence is a mystery drama series created by Paul William Davies and produced by Shondaland. The Netflix drama was inspired by Kate Andersen Brower’s book The Residence: Inside the Private World of the White House. The killer of A.B. is finally revealed in the last episode. It was Lilly Schumacher, the White House social secretary.
The plot of The Residence is about lead detective Cordelia Cupp (Uzo Aduba), who is looking into a shocking murder that happened in the world's safest building. The victim is A.B. Wynter, played by Giancarlo Esposito, who is the respected chief usher at the White House. As things get worse, suspicion falls on different staff members.
The show's eight episodes take place in the White House and deal with themes like betrayal, loyalty, and personal ambition. To get to the truth, Cordelia has to sort through many layers of lies and hidden goals. In the end, the mystery is solved in an unusual way that no one could think of.
A detailed look into the murder of A.B. Wynter in The Residence
When Cordelia Cupp states that Lilly Schumacher is the killer in the last episode of The Residence, the tension reaches its highest point. The real killer had been hiding while people like Bruce Geller, Elsyie Chayle, and Patrick Doumbe were being suspected. Lilly killed A.B. Wynter because she hated everything about the White House.
The crime started when A.B. told Lilly that she was involved in bad things, like dealing with people in an unethical way and even breaking the law. A.B. was angry with Lilly, so she took a page from his personal journal. She realized it could be seen as a suicide note after reading it later. This gave her the idea to make his death look like he turned it in himself.
Lilly stole paraquat, a dangerous herbicide, from the White House garden shed. Amy Mackil, the gardener, gave her a dish that she used to sneak the poison inside. She then called A.B. and asked him to meet her in the Yellow Oval Room. She pretended to be First Gentleman Elliot Morgan and told the Secret Service to leave the area so they wouldn't be interrupted.
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Lilly took the paraquat from the living room and poured it into a glass in the Yellow Oval Room. She then added scotch to hide the taste. After A.B. and Elsyie had a short fight that Lilly saw, she went up to A.B. as if to make peace. She gave him the poisoned drink. As soon as he drank it, he knew something was wrong. Lilly threw a vase at him out of fear. She then hit him with a heavy clock when that didn't work, which killed him.
She put the clock in a secret passageway between the Yellow Oval Room and the Treaty Room to hide the gun. Then she went back to the ongoing State Dinner and pretended to be normal to make an alibi.
Lilly carefully planned the murder, but it didn't turn out the way she thought it would. She went back to the Yellow Oval Room later, but A.B.'s body wasn't there. After that, there was confusion as other characters helped move the body because they thought they were protecting or helping someone else.
When Bruce Geller found A.B.'s body first, he thought Elsyie was to blame. To keep her safe, he dragged the body to the Lincoln Bedroom on the second floor and then to room 301. Tripp Morgan woke up there and got scared when he saw A.B.'s body next to him.
Tripp took the body to the Game Room because he was afraid of being blamed. He made it look like A.B. killed himself with kitchen knives and painted over blood in room 301. His attempt to hide what happened added a new twist to the investigation.
In the end, Tripp told George McCutcheon everything in a rushed and awkward conversation. He also revealed what he did to help move the body. But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't hide what really happened for long.
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Reasons why A.B. got killed
It's clear from The Residence that Lilly had many reasons to keep A.B. Wynter quiet. He was going to disclose all of her wrongdoings, like fraud, favoritism, and bad influence. She had stolen money, done shady business, and even let an unlicensed energy healer tell her where to sit at a State Dinner; A.B. kept track of everything.
Lilly also hated what the White House represented. A.B. was everything she couldn't stand because she cared about its traditions and honesty. It wasn't just to hide her crimes that she killed him; it seemed personal.
Molly Griggs, who played Lilly, said that the character saw other people as things that helped her get where she wanted to go, which made her risky. She seemed happy and crazy, but behind that was a cold and cruel mind.
The Residence is available to stream on Netflix.
