Emmerdale killer John Sugden thought he had come up with the perfect plan to get away with killing Nate by framing a virtual stranger. But next week, he is about to see that getting away with murder is harder than he thought when his idea begins to unravel.
As the police continue to try and work out what really happened to Nate, John thought he had found the answer to all his prayers when Owen died.
Thinking that the fake confession from the dead man would put an end to the investigation and start the healing process for the grieving Dingles, the secret murderer learns he’s overestimated things.
At first, John is thrilled when Owen’s ‘suicide note’ and ‘confession’ are found and taken seriously, but he is then shocked when he runs into Cain and discovers the dad is still totally churned up and that the confession has only made things worse, not better.
As John pretends to be shocked by the news that Owen ‘killed’ Nate, things are really kicking off between Cain and his best mate and local GP Liam, who found Owen dead.
Cain wants answers about the man who is meant to have murdered his son, but ever the professional, Liam refuses to break doctor-patient confidentiality, leaving Cain fuming.
Having lost a child himself, Liam understands what his friend is going through – but that is only the start of the drama John has caused, and soon Robert starts to smell a rat once again.
As the rest of the village reels over Owen’s ‘confession’, Robert finds the whole thing odd, especially when Owen was the one who recently tried to date rape him, only for John to save him from the ordeal.
Robert gets more suspicious when he discovers John was at Owen’s house just before he died – plus he meets with Owen’s brother, who says his sibling had a rock-solid alibi for the day that Nate was killed.
Soon, Robert is putting two and two together and finally getting four, and heads to the police with his findings… but will they believe what he is telling them?
Could this be the moment evil John’s reign of terror is finally brought to a close?
Emmerdale continues weeknights from 7.30 pm on ITV, though timings are currently subject to change depending on the results of the Women’s Euros 2025.
See our TV Guide for full listings to find out when you can catch the soap on ITV and ITVX.