Okay, so if this really is the last season of Monk, then I am going to go out on a limb and make a wild and crazy prediction as to who will be revealed as the master mind of Trudy's murder, assuming that is, that the writers choose to end the series with the culmination of Monk's greatest mystery. I think the killer was under Monk's nose the whole time, and pulling a Monk by guessing the ending from the first page, I'm going to say it's Harold.

Yea, everyones on the Capt, but it's probibly going to be someone so un obvious. I thought Harold at first, but he did not know Adrian untill after Trudy was killed cuz they met in Dr. Kroger office, and don't quote me on this but I beleve Monk didn't see Dr. K till after Trudy's death. (that's what sent him over the edge.)

Then I thought Ambrose,(jealousy, maybe he loved her) but I hear rumors that he won't be back for the last season, again don't quote me.

Then ther is good al Sharona, well thats just stupid, no motive. And again she ( or Nat) didn't know him before so thats rediculous.

So let's not fall asleep on ditsy Randy. To me that would just be the one EVRYONE would least expect. And a motive could be that A. she came accross evidence that he was involved in somethng to get in the force, or B. that he simply wanted Monk's job, because remember, Monk and Stottle where partners. But even that sounds stupid and Andy (the writter) is much more talented than that.

So because of that, I really don't think it was someone we know so far (For some reason not even Dale the Whale, that doesn't seem right)

I am confident that the writter's that brought us such a quality show for so many years will put together a msterpiece of and end, and not just throw some crap together.
None of us will see it coming!!

I think that whoever killed Trudy was right by Monk for the past seasons. Someone who pretended to feel sorry for him when they were really jumping for joy on the inside. Monk will without a doubt solve his greatest mystery of all!!!!

Anything is possible, certainly. Seeing that Harold has apparently seen the light, I think we can logically rule him out now too (while he did seem somewhat possible for a while, the fact he likely knew nothing about Monk till they first met on camera worked against his candidacy in the end besides, as was mentioned earlier in the thread). Right now, I'm close to locking in my final guess before the revelation as Harrison Powell from Takes the Stand a few weeks ago, that Trudy caught him tampering with evidence to get a significant and guilty as sin client off, and he killed her to perserve his perfect record (the manner he conducted himself strongly suggests he wouldn't be above cheating or other harsh methods to preserve his streak if he felt it was the only way, and you'll have to admit that would make a nice role reversal for the summation from what we saw in the episode, with Monk becoming the hard-pounding interrogator as he laid out how Powell had done it, and the hithertofore unflappable Powell pathetically begging, sobbing, whimpering, pleading with Monk to understand how he felt, perhaps trying in desperation to buy our hero off, with predicable results, to not ruin his career).


Looking further up the thread, I wouldn't quite agree that Disher would be the one we'd least expect; I'd say that, if they'd dared to go that route, it would be Natalie we'd absolutely least expect to have done it--not least of all since there would seem, as mentioned before, to be no logical reason she would--but that doesn't mean she wouldn't have known anything, even if she, as is likely the case, isn't the Judge; much as no one wants to see it be so, it's conceivable she knew what was going on back then, particularly if it turns out Mitch wasn't who she's told Monk he was, but kept silent, first not to break Julie's heart and leave her without both parents given Natalie likely would have been arrested as an accessory if true, and later on for Monk's sake because she genuinely has come to like him and doesn't want to see him go to pieces.

Some years ago I considered writing a FF story implicating Natalie, not so much as the one who pulled the trigger but more like a mole sent to spy on Monk but seeing how the writers were carefully grooming her for something more than just a mere servant-assistance, coupled with her milllion dollar smile (not to mentioned the complexity of such a story), it never got beyond ths daydreaming stage.

KF

That's the primary reason I just can't shake the feeling she's hiding something major, that so far she seems a little TOO caring and flawless. Call me cynical, but that what's running through my mind, although I hope I'm wrong.

Maybe Trudy killed herself.

It's almost certainly Dale the Whale who did it indirectly. In the very least he is involved.

Yes, to an extent it would be a let down for it to have been the obvious person from the start, but if it isn't him then it isn't likely any known character.

I don't think it's Dale who killed Trudy cause Dale hates everybody so why he'd kill Trudy? I think Trudy had discover something about an important member of the American's government so they killed her and like Dale hates Monk he love the taken on wrong way by the way Trudy is really dead cause the bomb was under the seat of the driver and the Trudy's eyes are in Maria

He might very well know who it is - the assassin guy who placed the bomb was introduced very credibly over just 2 episodes, and we hadn't heard of him before.

If I read it correctly, the last 5 eps will be closure on this? Meaning it won't be a last minute thing,



I think she just had a succession of lousy jobs, got introduced to Mr M and realised that this was a job that her nurturing and other skills could be used in, while she was also making the world a better place.

I could be wrong, but wouldn't most of us if we've ever had tedious work, have loved to suddenly find ourselves plucked out of it, and doing a job where we made a difference, and found ourselves challenged with interesting stuff, and helping people out?

You're probably right, and I'm probably trying to read too much into what isn't there. Still, just be prepared in the unlikely chance that IS the path they've happened to have chosen; I doubt they would, since they likely stop in here every now and then and would thus know that isn't what we want to see, but stranger things have happened.

i would agree with you, in the group therapy episode, harold said he made over $250,000 in one year, and he said his job is on the city council. So im wondering if trudy discovered something HUGE that harold wanted no one to find out about, using his money and status he got trudy killed, then did research, and became monk's friend/enemy to keep off of his radar. he could have made up the whole ocd thing just to get close to him. thats all i got comment how you please.

One thing I've noticed (this is a general comment and not a reply to any specific post) is that throughout the series, the bad guys are never shown as comical in an endearing way - if at all.

I'm not sure how to illustrate that but if you take any of the cases up to S6, which is all I've seen, the murderers are usually played straight and we're pretty much never encouraged or invited to sympathise with them - rightly so, really.

Don't know how that would affect speculation etc, but it's mainly for that reason I don't think that anyone close to Monk would be involved in anything hostile to him, the whole series has built us up to like these people, so making them evil goes against the grain of the writing to the point I've seen: this isn't a series where people have complicated motivations, and there's little moral ambiguity in the main characters.

I'm behind by 2 seasons there though, so it's just a thought.

It was revealed in a previous season that Trudy's death was ordered by someone called "the judge". My guess is that the identity of "the judge" will be hinted at within the last season before the finale. Probably as early as the next episode or maybe the one following. Keeping my ears and eyes open.

Before he died, I actually thought that Dr. Kroger was the killer. However I don't think they'd go that route now.

But if we are to look at people other than main characters, here are some ideas on who culd be "the judge".

1. An actual judge, perhaps he or she was a city judge at the time and is now being nominated to the supreme court. Trudy had information that could bring down his or her career and the Judge couldn't let that happen.

2. Whoever was Governor at the time of the murder. This is along the same lines as the first but instead of being nominated for the Supreme Court, the governor is now a senator and is a likely candidate for the next presidential election.

3. Trudy's editor

One Theory that I have is that the killers and those involved go back to episode number 1 and 2. The bottomline is I think Kelly Street was somehow connected...because the primary substance used in making the bomb was magnesium...also used in taxidermy. I think that Stottlemeyer's new girlfriend may be "The judge" but not the primary ringleader. I believe that this some how goes back to Jesse Goodman....Warren St. Clair's right hand man. I believe that he and Mrs. St. Clair are in cohoots somehow filtering monies out of the St. Clair Corp...I think that Mr. St. Clair was talked into running for office to keep him away from the business...so that whatever Goodman and Mrs. St. Clair are up to could be done without close attention being paid by Mr. St. Clair. I believe that Kelly Street is probably connected with Goodman and Mrs. Sinclair somehow and was a part of this elaborate chain of criminals...I think Goodman planned or Mrs. St. Clair planned/plotted the whole thing...using all of these people to keep the eye of Monk away from them not all the pieces are firmly together...I know...I believe Dale knew about what was going on...but not behind it...maybe Goodman is in Dale's pocket ...
I think Trudy had stumbled on to something...so it wasn't a story she had yet written...she probably found some information during investigations of Dale the Whale and the corruption in the Union and with the businesses dealing with the Union....and from these two stories was going to unravel a multimillion dollar empire....The St. Clair Corporation...
Just a guess...but based on some substance....What do you think...

It certainly has a good deal of merit and is rational given what we know (let's face it, there was good reason Monk fixated on Miranda St. Clair for a while there; even though innocent in that instance, she carries the air of a guilty woman about herself). You may indeed be right, and dramatically going back to the beginning might make for an interesting wrap-up.

The big question may be exactly why Dale would seem to know what he seems to know. If we could take a look at his exact moves over the last, say, 7 years before Trudy's murder were that option open to we the fans at this juncture, we might have a better chance of figuring it out. I think he may well have had a somewhat indirect stake in the murder (my thoughts in going with Harrison Powell at the moment involve the thought that Dale would have been connected to whichever client Powell might have been cheating to get off in the scenario that seems most likely to me, perhaps as someone who'd taken bribes from Dale in exchange for higher office or what have you), but was smart enough not to get directly involved, perhaps only providing the money for the assassination team's individual payments from his comparatively untraceable offshore accounts. He then likely would have easily taken all the steps to erase any direct trail leading to himself. Keep in mind, though, that this scenario can just as easily relate too to everyone in Monk's inner circle if the person in question has something terrible in their past (or in Sharona's case even more terrible than what we already know occurred) that Dale through his meticulous research has found out about and has been holding over them one way or another since then as leverage that they don't give in to guilt and blurt out a confession to Monk at any given time.

I think Dale figured out the indentities of Tennyson and Nunn because he was familiar with their work. He may have hired them himself at one time. However, you would think if he knew or even suspected who had hired them to kill Trudy he would have used that leverage in his current situation, particularly if "the judge" is someone in power. How could it benefit him to keep quiet about it at this point? If it were Dale himself, Monk would have already caught him. It's not like he would have overlooked a suspect who was Trudy's biggest enemy (in every possible way) and also knew both of her assassins.

My money is now on someone not yet on the canvas, but look for him/her to pop up in an episode soon. I also think we can take Dale at his word that Monk is not responsible for Trudy's death. She was the target and the killer is someone connected with her life or career. I'm picking career and I think the killer is a corrupt political official of some sort.

That is so right. I lve the way, how the writers have almost always made the murderers unsympathetetic personalities, so that there is no danger, that we could feel sorry for them. I think, this is the right spirit of this kind of series like Monk (oh, of course no show is like Monk... ). I have always disliked for ex. Dexter, where the cold-blooded murderer is also a hero.

The thought, that someone of Monk´s close circle would have been the murderer, is simple impossible, when you consider all this.




Yes, and I think, that Dale is in that kind of position, that it is possible for him to get all kind of knowledge. As a curious man, and his inability to move anywhere without help would increase his need to know things and control, as Liv has already said somewhere,so he is well-informed and know all kind of criminal secrets. Knowing things is also a essential part of his power.

Hello,

Japanese TV mystery programs employ this technique of not introducing the real culprit till late in the program so the answer to who did it often must wait till the near the end.

KF

I've got some new thoughts/theories regarding facts surrounding what we know about Trudy's death. I still do not believe it was Dale ...I think Dale secretly may have had a long standing love-from-afar-feeling toward Trudy...and may have been that early suitor who got her phone number at the library...but for whom she probably would never go out with. While I believe Dale is capable of horrible cruelty...I don't believe he would have directed anything to physically hurt Trudy.

I also think that Trudy's car was probably not parked by her. I am thinking that perhaps she was with someone and somehow drugged. Then placed in her car and driven to the undergraound parking lot. Hence the reason the car was parked backing in, atypical of the way that Trudy would have normally parked. I am guessing she may have been still pretty drugged at the time the bomb was detonated...hence her eyes were more than likely shut at the time of the powerful magnesium flash explosion. This would explain why
her corneas were not damaged and useable for organ donation.

While,I loved the romantic aspect of the bread and butter statement I am also hoping that it in some way it was actually a clue to MONK as to who her killer might be...some reference to bread and butter in literature or in a poem that was suppose to also act as a clue...
Knowing how MONK was and Trudy's investigative instinct too...I find it hard to believe that she wouldn't have desparately tried to pass some clue to MONK about how this came about...and who was responsible.

I believe, like most others, that Trudy was on the verge of discovering something big. I recently realized that there was reference to another bombing shortly before Trudy's death and apparently that bombing was know to be related to drugs or drug trafficking. Perhaps the taxidermy people...were in some way connected with the first bomb ...supplying magnesium ...which is used in taxidermy. I have also considered the remote possiblity that the drugs were being transported somehow in the stuffed animals. ( I am still thinking that a couple people with that huge St. Clair Corporation are at the bottom of all of it...and "The Judge" is still not the top of the line....)

However this all ends I hope it is not something expected or anticlimatic and I hope to be taken on a rollercoster ride of twists in turns before it does end.

It has been a wonderful ride so far...

Thanks Tony!

Me too. I had mentioned that in my Trudy episode time line: "1. In "Mr. Monk and the Candidate" (episodes 1 and 2 -- the pilot episodes, original air date, July 2002), when Monk is reviewing the press clippings and file of the Trudy car bomb murder, there is one clipping with the intriguing headline: "No links to other car bombing suspected .. ... .." That has to be significant."

http://www.antiquegamblingchips.com/TrudyMonkMurderCaseA.htm

She actually did go out with that guy (I can't remeber his name, maybe Drew?). Monk said when he got up the courage to call Trudy she was going out with the other guy already and it was one of the bravest things he ever did. And, considering that Monk met him, I doubt he or Trudy would not recognize him as Dale even with the weight gain and the passage of time. Especially Monk, who remembers everything.

You know you are correct...so much for that theory...Monk would have recognized and remembered Dale from the past...but I am still thinking that the killer wasn't Dale...why would he kill Trudy if he could have continually pulled strings make her life miserable....I think he lives for using people and watching them suffer...but I just don't think he's the killer of Trudy...
who knows though... there are lots of rumors and theories out there

Okay...I gave another thought to be "thunk" about....

Regarding the piece of burnt paper from Trudy's calendar...What if we are all focusing on the wrong part of it. What if the real evidence is that little blurb about a birthday party.

Now I know this is going to sound far-fetched but the reason I started thinking about this has to do with Trudy's "bread and butter" statement. That phrase appears in literature in several places but the one that stood out to me after I googled it...was a part of Alice in Wonderland...The Mad Hatter uses this phrase a few times...and he was also the "unbirthday" tea party leader.

What if Trudy was at this "party" ...and something was placed in her "tea" (isn't 4 pm tea time) to knock her out. Then she was placed in her car and driven to the garage where the explosion occurred. Like I have said before I do think that the car was parked the way it was because it was not Trudy who parked it there.

Could the Queen and King of Hearts...be Mr. and Mrs St. Clair? If so, that would make Warren St. Clair "The Judge"...because in Alice in Wonderland the king was also the judge in the trial....for who stole the tarts...

I know ...I tend to think way out of the box...

Oh my God !! Dale killed Trudy !!!

OMG...Why do you say that?

That was from the day before she died. He even said it was from the day before she died in The Billionaire Mugger.

I think what people may be forgetting is that this is "Monk", a gentle, humane mystery show. Do you really think the writers would go all "24" on us and ruin our memories of Stottlemeyer or Disher or Natalie by making one of them the killer?

Under the who killed Trudy post..."LIV" you respond to my post that was the day before she was killed. Do you mean that part of the page was from the day before she was killed?
If so, I guess in response I would have to say perhaps it was a reminder of something for the next day...I do that especially with Birthdays so I remember to say something to that person...or get a present...or just to show up... I know it is a bit far-fetched but it could be the actual clue rather than the stuffed dog appointment. All speculation on my part though...I just like trying to unravel who-dun-its...

Taxidermy does involve the use of Magnesium and that was the main part of the bomb that killed Trudy....

I still believe though the car was parked different from usual because it wasn't Trudy who parked it there...I believe the Trudy was somewhere else and transported there by someone else.

PS: To my OMG responder...it may be Dale...but I don't think so...and I love a mystery...I like to pull the puzzle pieces apart and put them back together in different ways ...so if it is Dale so be it...I just like having fun with it for now...

PSS: I don't think it is main characters ..like Stottlemeyer, Randy or Natalie....or anyone on the regularly on the show that it likeable...maybe that is wishful thinking though...because I don't want it to be anyone like that...

A bomb named Bob.

___kerli___

p.s. Liv i love edvard munch!!

I don't think it's Dale for one main reason, it's way to obvious and it would be a huge letdown. I think the writers are more clever than that.

YEP!

I'm not sold on the idea David Ruskin (The Actor) had that she backed into the spot because she didn't trust the person she was meeting because there was no one else in the parking garage, so if she had to leave in a hurry, there is no reason she would have to back out of the spot, she could just pull forward over the lines and empty spots ahead of her. And I frequently park by driving over one space into the one on the opposite side so that I don't have to back out when I leave. I have problems with backing up, like I'm short and my peripheral vision is kind of not good. *But* one thing that I noticed first in Mr. and Mrs. Monk and saw closer in The Actor was that they have still frame images of the car exploding or burning that I can only assume they got from the security camera feed. What this means is that if anyone got into or out of her car besides Trudy, or if anyone tampered with her car while it was there before the explosion, the camera would have seen them, so the bomb had to have been planted somewhere else. I considered the possibility that she wasn't the person that drove there, that someone else put her in the car and drove her there and them blew up the car until I saw those pictures. If someone else drover her there, the camera would have shown them getting out of the car, unless they didn't, in which case, they would have found a second body in the car with her.

The OMG poster has just been saying that all over the board, just ignore hir. I don't think it's Dale, either, it just doesn't seem like him, and he seems to be trying to figure it out himself. But I know what you mean about liking to try to figure out the whodunits, and messing with puzzles, I'm the same way. And Dale would be too easy and too lame.

Kerli, thanks! I loved that picture and the painter's name being pronounced the same as Monk's, it seemed like it was meant to be. I love my little icon.

You make a good point about those freese frame camera shots of the exploding car. You say they were in The Actor episode? I wonder though why they would not have mentioned security camera photos before if that is what they are from. Curious ...if they aren't from a security camera who was standing taking pictures???? The bomber? A photographer? I must have not paid that close of attention to that episode ...I may have to try and watch it again....
Thanks...

If it was the bomber, you'd have to ask how the police got them. Given that there are no people in the photos, the pictures were taken before the police, or firefighters or any kind of rescue workers or EMTs arrived, police wouldn't have let a photographer go in there before they had even been there, it wouldn't be safe and it would either contaminate the scene or make it so that the possibility that the scene was contaminated would be enough to hurt any kind of trial. Plus they were taken from too close to that fire for a person to stand without putting themselves at risk. Those photos had to have been still frame from a security camera. I'm not sure how the camera survived the shock from the bomb or the heat, but apparently it did.

You can see the photos in Actor, when the actor comes to Monk's house in the middle of the night and they are looking at the pictures on Monk's coffee table. In Mrs. Monk, you can see them when Monk is at his apartment just after he thinks he has seen Trudy.

MAybe the photos are sort of a poetic license type thing...that we aren't suppose to think about where they came from...
othrwise there would be footage of her pulling in...and parking ...and then we would know for sure she was the one who parked the car...

Which was my point. Those pictures, as long as they aren't some bit of poetic license, would mean that they know that trudy was the one driving and that she parked the car.

It would be ironic if that was a bit of poetic license or an oversight on the part of the props department, though wouldn't it? I mean, he determined that the janitor was murdered in this last episode because the lights were off in the basement, but he hadn't thought to ask where those photos came from all these years?

Hey your comment about MONK fixating on Mrianda made google search....I just keyed in the name Miranda St. Clair and this exchang on this blog came up. I just added another thought to one of these blogs...I am thinking now that the little note could actually say Mindy's B'day....instead of the Quincey everyone is thinking that it is. This could be what ends up leading MONK back to Miranda...just a thought...I have a bit of a crazy "alice in wonderland" theory...out there that sort of plays into this Miranda stuff... Who knows????

omg, you are so dang smart!

i love hearing all these ideas. i can't wait to find out who really did it. but then that would mean the show is over, which will suck...

I can see how it might also be taken for 'Mindy's B-day' but I'm pretty sure that it says 'Quicey's B-day'. Besides, if Trudy was close enough with Miranda St. Clair to call her a shortened version or nick name like Mindy, surely Adrian would have recognized her as his wife's friend.

Maybe she was one of those old friends who Trudy would rather not admit knowing...like I'll be nice to her ...sort of friendship but she's not my best friend... maybe Miranda was a blast from Trudy's past...just hooked up with her again for old times sake...WHere did Mrianda say she was from...or did she? I was thinking that when se was talking to Monk and Sharona right after the book reading to the kids she mentioned something about where she was from....Does anyone remember what was said in that conversation?
I think that Miranda's little book reading was also meant to be a bit symbolic...the princess not being happy...and having all the rubys and gems she could want ...but that she had forgotten how to smile...somewhere in there came court jester to entertain the Princess but we didn't get to hear whether the jester made her smile or not. I am thinking that The Jester may have been Jesse Goodman...who I also think may be in this chain...perhaps "the Judge" ...

The Whale is such a comic book character he could only be involved with another comic book character. The person who put the hit on Trudy was the guy who had the toupee. Remember, he did not want Monk around. He hired the hit. Yrudy knew he was bad. The Captain is marrying his trudy.

i think that trudys murder will go unsolved to give monk fans another reason to buy the dvds and keep watching the show forever

Dale killed Trudy.

I think that Trudy was killed on accident. Someone was out to kill "Trudy" but they killed the wrong one. They ment to kill the Trudy that Capt S was flirting with last episode. I think in the end Monk will solve who tried to kill the new Trudy and who actually killed Trudy his wife.