On-screen deaths have probably never happened in the same ratio as in the past few years. They have gotten bloodier and more intense as time passed, and there have been various TV shows that adapted to the new "trend." However, there is one television series that specializes in integrating these deaths into the plot, creating a compelling murder mystery in every season: How to Get Away with Murder.
How to Get Away with Murder tells the story of lawyer and professor Annalise Keating (Viola Davis) and her five chosen students to learn with her: Laurel Castillo (Karla Souza), Michaela Pratt (Aja Naomi King), Connor Walsh (Jack Falahee), Asher Millstone (Matt McGorry) and Wes Gibson (Alfred Enoch). They help Annalise's clients get away with murder, while also learning a trick or two to use in their own lives.
The series doesn't disappoint and does deliver what the title promises. In six seasons, there have been a high number of murders, most of them done or at least deeply connected with the lead ensemble cast. Here are some of the most important deaths done by the main cast or that impacted the storylines in a big way.
Who Killed Lila Stangard?
This was the murder that set everything that happened in the first season. At first, this didn't seem to be deeply connected with the characters, but they quickly learned that that was not the case. After having an affair with Annalises' husband, Sam (Tom Verica), Lila (Megan West) becomes pregnant.
Sam urged her to get an abortion, but she denied it and threatened to tell his wife about their affair. This leads Sam to blackmail Frank (Charlie Weber) and make him strangle her. This murder was the reason for one of the most iconic lines said by Viola Davis on the show, "What's your penis doing on a dead girl's phone?"
Who Killed Sam?
The first big mystery of the show is who was killed on the night of the bonfire. For half the first season, the viewers wondered who killed who, and things are always more complicated than they seem in this show. It could be said that killing Sam was a group effort by the Keating Four (as Asher was not involved in this particular murder), but it was Wes who took the killing swing and killed his teacher's husband with her statue.
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They figure out that Sam planned Lila's murder and Rebecca (Katie Findlay) was trying to get information from his computer to prove it. Sam was about to become violent to prevent that from happening which led to an unavoidable conflict that resulted in his death.
Who Killed Rebecca Sutter?
Rebecca was an important character in Season 1 because she was friends with Lila and was Wes' girlfriend. However, she knew too much and became a possible liability for turning in the Keating 5 and Annalise regarding Lila and Sam's murders to the police. She was then trapped in the basem*nt, so they can think of what they should do. It is Bonnie (Liza Weil) who picked up a plastic bag and killed her, protecting her beloved Annalise and her students.
Who Killed Helena Hapstall?
Then, we enter Season 2, and rest assured, there are no fewer murders than in the prior season. After everything (and every death) that happened in Season 1, Annalise picked a high-profile case where the adoptive children of a rich couple were accused of killing their parents.
Helena Hapstall (Joan McMurtrey), the main witness, had a brutal and bloody death when someone entered her car and slit her throat. In a shocking reveal, it turned out that the kids were guilty, and Caleb (Kendrick Sampson) also killed his aunt — completely changing the course of Annalise's case.
Who Killed Emily Sinclair?
Nothing is as simple as it seems, and Emily Sinclair's (Sarah Burns) murder is an example of that. She was the prosecutor on the high-profile case against Annalise. She saw Asher as the weak link and started to put pressure on his family, who are involved in politics and the judiciary system. This resulted in Asher's father committing suicide.
Propelled by grief and anger, Asher ran over Emily Sinclair with his car on a night when a lot of murders and cover-ups happened. It was a big moment for the character, as he didn't participate in Sam's killing. They cover it up by pushing her already dead body from the roof of Hapstall's mansion.
Who Killed Annalise's Baby?
The identity of Wes' parents became a huge topic in Season 2. This led to a revelation that while many thought he was Annalise's son, she actually lost the baby she was pregnant with in the past. In a terrible car accident that turned out not to be an accident at all, the rich Wallace Mahoney (Adam Arkin), who was about to be exposed in her case, ordered Frank to kill her baby.
This explained why Frank was so submissive to Sam (who knew what he did) and why Frank did everything Annalise asked. However, when Annalise found out, she cast him out of the group, and he became desperate to be reintegrated. This, like many of the other deaths, led to two more murders: Bonnie's father, as a way for Frank to try to make amends that are simply impossible, and Wallace.
Who Killed Wes Gibson?
The big plot twist of Season 3 that no one saw coming was that Wes Gibson was the body found in the fire in Annalise's house. Her favorite student died inside her home, and the feelings of guilt that were building up to Season 3 culminate at this reveal.
Turns out that Wes was also feeling guilty, like most of the characters, and decided to come clean about what happened with Sam. Dominick Flores (Nicholas Edward Gonzalez), associated with Laurel, was ordered by her father to kill Wes because he could implicate complications for Laurel and her family.
Who Killed Dominick Flores?
In Season 4, Laurel didn't take the fact that her family ordered her to kill her boyfriend and the father of her child very well. Or that her father was deeply involved with Caplan and Gold, where she, Annalise, and the rest of Keating 4 worked. Frank kidnaped Dominick and tortured him for information about where the stolen hard drive is with important information about Laurel's dad's dirty deals. Dominick played with Frank's emotions, reminding him he is not the father of Laurel's baby. At one point, Frank had enough and broke his neck.
Who Killed Rob Miller?
In Season 5, after Nate's father died in prison, Nate (Billy Brown) became desperate with grief and anger. When he discovered Rob Miller (John Carter Hensley) facilitated his dad's transfer to another prison which led to his death, Nate almost killed Miller by beating him. Bonnie found them and suffocated Miller, her boyfriend at the time, to spare Nate. Later, it became clear that he was not involved in his father's death as Nate assumed, which only increased his guilt about what happened.
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Who Killed Asher Millstone?
If there is one thing that is certain about this series is that no one is safe. The last season was an intense one for the characters and the viewers. The lead ensemble changed sides quite a lot throughout the seasons and especially in the last one, including Asher. He became an informant for the FBI to help them nail Annalise. However, he was killed in a poker game by none other than the FBI agent he was talking to, Denise Pollock (Deborah Levin). It turns out she was an informant for the Castillo family.
Who Killed Frank Delfino and Bonnie Winterbottom?
In the series finale, Frank and Bonnie had a shocking and brutal end to their story when both died as victims of gun wounds at the steps of the courthouse. Frank decided to kill Governor Birkhead (Laura Elizabeth Innes) after discovering his true parents were brother and sister, Hannah and Sam Keating, which also explains why Sam was so close to him. He killed the governor, but her guards fire back killing him and Bonnie, who was by his side. Frank died in Bonnie's arms, and then she realized she has been hit, and died in Annalise's arms.
