Who killed Joel Deering in Coronation Street? All clues revealed

It’s official: Coronation Street’s Joel Deering (Calum Lill) has been murdered.

Tonight’s instalment of the ITV soap will see Craig Tinker (Colson Smith) break the news to DS Lisa Swain (Vicky Myers) and Kit Green (Jacob Roberts) that Joel’s body has been found, and the post-mortem later reveals that two blows to the head was what finished him off.

With the police set to declare this a murder investigation, there is no shortage of characters who may be in the frame – but whodunnit?

As Metro‘s own soap detective, I have put myself into DS Swain’s shoes and gathered all the evidence from the past few weeks to try and get to the bottom of who the culprit is!

So, get your notepads ready, because there is a lot to be getting on with…

Who killed Joel?

Lisa Swain

In a shocking turn of events, the suspect with the most evidence stacked against them at this stage of my investigation is the Detective Sergeant herself, Lisa Swain.

Starting from the beginning, Lisa has made it no mystery that she wants to bring Joel down, and has gone to extreme lengths in her attempt to do so.

Through her interactions with Amy Barlow (Elle Mulvaney) last year, we learnt that Lisa has very strong feelings about violence against women – something which Joel is guilty of, in the case of Lauren Bolton (Cait Fitton) and several other young women.

Despite adoring her job, Lisa put everything on the line this summer as she attempted to collect enough evidence to bring Joel down following the collapse of his case, admitting to Carla Connor (Alison King) that she could face suspension if she was caught.

She also left professionalism at the door when she was forced to release Joel after his first arrest, when the CPS deemed that there wasn’t enough evidence to charge him. As she told him he was free to go, she made it clear that she wasn’t someone to be messed with.

‘In the meantime, even look at Dee-Dee or Lauren again, and it won’t be prison you’ll need to worry about. And yes, that’s a threat…’ She had told him. With Joel having continued to harass both Dee-Dee Bailey (Channique Sterling-Brown) and Lauren, has Lisa stuck to her word and finished him off?

Things got even more complicated when it transpired that daughter Betsy Swain (Sydney Martin) had also been targeted by Joel – but could this have been enough to push Lisa over the line from seeking justice to seeking revenge?

When it was uncovered that Joel had sent threatening messages to Betsy, Lisa was horrified. With Joel threatening to kill Betsy, could Lisa have killed him in defence of her daughter? After all, she previously mentioned being willing to take a bullet for her child…

With the messages having come to light, Lisa was taken off Joel’s case, and warned that it had become too personal for her to make rational judgements. However, she was adamant that she wanted to continue the investigation herself. Could this be because there’s something she’s trying to cover up?

The day after his murder, Lisa admitted to Carla that the case against Joel had become very personal, thanks to Betsy’s involvement, before admitting that she’d have wanted to look Joel in the eyes during his final moments. But who’s to say she didn’t do exactly that, given how badly she wanted to see Joel pay?

Not only that, but she appeared to be nursing some pretty serious injuries – flinching while reaching for the cafe door, before retching outside and needing to sit down and take deep breaths.

With Joel having been seen with a facial injury before his death, could Lisa’s injuries have been sustained during a fight with him?

What’s more, Lisa remained pretty adamant that Joel’s death had been suicide, despite Dee-Dee arguing that that wasn’t in Joel’s character.

Could Lisa have been trying to hide the fact that she had killed him by convincing everyone that Joel had taken his own life? It seems out of character for Lisa to be so set on one outcome, especially given her history.

Earlier this year, she admitted to Carla that she had argued with wife Becky about a case on the day she died, and had never had the opportunity to tell Becky that she had been right.

Because of this, she takes care to look into every possible outcome of an investigation – something she didn’t appear keen to do in Joel’s case. Is it because she knows the truth, and is desperate to get away with murder?

Furthermore, we know that Lisa’s phone was off on the night of Joel’s murder – could she have switched it off so that no one knew where she was going? She also told Dee-Dee that it had been broken, and it is entirely possible that that could have happened during a confrontation with Joel.

She’s also no stranger to putting herself in harm’s way for the sake of a case, as she emotionally revealed to Carla in recent scenes. Could Lisa’s nonchalant attitude to dying on duty have led her into a dangerous situation with Joel, leaving her with no choice but to fend him off, accidentally killing him in the process?

Last week, with Kit having taken over the case, Lisa seemed relieved to note that he hadn’t made a lot of progress on it, and even went as far as to try and dissuade him from asking his higher-ups for more resources.

When Kit pointed out that it seemed strange that she was so convinced Joel was dead, despite having no proof at that point, things grew tense between them. Is Kit onto something?

Of course, there is also the possibility that Lisa is innocent, but is covering up for someone else…

Betsy Swain

Betsy has plenty of motive for wanting to kill Joel, especially given the threats she received from him recently.

Joel used Betsy to procure abortion pills, which he fed to Lauren in a bid to induce an early labour and kill their child. Thankfully, baby Frankie survived, though he has had a number of health scares during his life.

Once Betsy worked out what Joel had done, she was terrified, and ended up confiding in Lisa, which resulted in Joel being arrested.

With Joel having threatened to kill Betsy in his final text messages to her, could he have gone after her, leaving her with no choice but to kill him in self-defence?

Alternatively, could she have killed him simply for involving her in his disgusting plot against Lauren?

And, having turned to Lisa in times of trouble before, could she have confessed everything, leaving the Detective Sergeant in a difficult position?

Lauren Bolton

If anyone has motive to kill Joel, it is Lauren.

Earlier this year, Joel attacked Lauren and left her fearing for her life, after grooming her for months. What’s more, he tried to kill her unborn child, before blaming her.

He has continually harassed and gaslit her, leaving her completely terrified.

Could Lauren have finally snapped?

We know that on the night of Joel’s murder Lauren was certain that she had spotted someone in the garden, and even left a message for Lisa insisting that she knew where Joel was. Though she later admitted that it had been a false alarm, could she have been covering her tracks?

Also, Lauren was sleeping on Max Turner’s (Paddy Bever) sofa that night, so it wouldn’t have been difficult to sneak out unnoticed for a face-off with Joel…

She had previously expressed how terrified she was of Joel coming after her and Frankie – could he have done just that, leaving her with no choice but to fend him off?

She also has form for fighting back, having attacked Joel in the hospital when he wound her up several weeks ago. Could she have lashed out again, taking things further this time?

We can be certain that she planned on defending herself from him in one way or another, as viewers may remember how she stole Lisa’s CS Spray from her bag while she was distracted.

It is also possible that Lauren would have known where Joel was on the night of his murder, given that she had a tracking app connected to his phone. Though earlier in the day it had been showing as ‘no signal’, who’s to say that it didn’t start working again later that night, leading Lauren directly to him?

Max Turner

Lauren wasn’t alone on the night of Joel’s death, as she was staying with Max. They both witnessed what they thought was someone in the garden, and Max was quick to grab a knife to defend her.

Though we know that a knife wasn’t the weapon used to kill Joel, it shows that Max was willing to go to extreme lengths to protect Lauren. Could he have gone out later and killed Joel?

Dee-Dee Bailey

Viewers will know that Dee-Dee also had access to the tracking app on Joel’s phone, so there is every possibility that she was the one who went out in search of him.

She has plenty of reason to want him dead, given how he lied to and manipulated her – not to mention what he was doing to Lauren behind her back. He even attempted to destroy her career in a petty revenge plot.

On the day of Joel’s murder, Dee-Dee was furious that he hadn’t turned up to court for his plea hearing, insisting that if he was scared to face court, he should be even more frightened to face her.

That wasn’t the only threat she made that day. When Roy Cropper (David Neilson) revealed that Joel appeared to be a danger to himself, Lauren was quick to insist that she’d be happy to see him beat himself up, before Dee-Dee swore that she would be the first to volunteer to help him. Was it more than just a figure of speech?

On top of that, she was quick to blame herself for bringing Joel into everyone’s lives. Could she have seen it as her duty to get rid of him as well?

The next day, Dee-Dee appeared to arrive home very late. This could have been because Ed Bailey (Trevor Michael Georges) had asked her to stay with him and Michael Bailey (Ryan Russell) at No.3 – but how can we be sure that she didn’t sneak out to find Joel?

What’s more, when she turned the tap on, she appeared to have a visceral reaction to the sight and sound of running water. We know that Joel’s body is set to be discovered in a river in upcoming scenes – could Dee-Dee have put him there and be suffering some kind of traumatic response as a result?

Not to mention, she also suffered a dizzy spell. Given Joel’s injury on the night of his death, could she have fought with him and sustained injuries herself?

Later that day, Dee-Dee appeared shocked when the police managed to locate Joel’s car so quickly. Could this be because she was worried about getting caught?

The only thing that makes me wonder if Dee-Dee is innocent is her determination to prove that Joel is still alive. Despite Lisa being adamant that his death was a suicide before his body was found, Dee-Dee refused to accept that as the truth.

However, this could be explained away as a type of trauma response. Perhaps Dee-Dee really did kill him, but is desperate to believe that he isn’t really dead…

Ed and Ronnie Bailey

Ed and Ronnie Bailey (Vinta Morgan) have previously lashed out at Joel Deering, and there is every possibility that they may have done so again.

After intercepting an argument between Joel and Dee-Dee in September, Ed and Ronnie tracked him down to the precinct and threatened him, with Ronnie pinning him up against the wall.

With both men having seen how upset and angry Dee-Dee was at Joel not showing up for court, could they have tracked him down once more and finished what they started?

The day after the attack, Ronnie told Debbie Webster (Sue Devaney) that Joel should be thankful he’s still breathing – so it wouldn’t be too much of a stretch to assume that they are angry enough to want him dead.

Furthermore, when Dee-Dee found out about their first confrontation with Joel, she was left worried that they had jeopardised the case against him.

However, Ed was quick to promise Dee-Dee that he would ‘make it okay’ if things didn’t go to plan. Joel not turning up to court would certainly fall into that category, so has Ed stuck to his promise?

On top of that, Ronnie assured Dee-Dee that Joel would get what was coming to him…

In upcoming scenes, both Ed and Ronnie are set to be questioned about their whereabouts on the night of Joel’s death, and Ronnie fails to come up with an alibi.

He is also later caught lying about why Joel’s address was the last location visited on his satnav… Is there something he’s trying to hide?

Kit Green

DS Lisa Swain isn’t the only police officer in the frame for Joel’s murder, as Kit isn’t exactly looking completely innocent either.

The newcomer recently took over Joel’s case after Lisa was taken off, and he hasn’t seemed to have made a lot of progress so far… Could he deliberately be trying to hold up the process to stop his colleagues finding vital evidence linking him to the crime?

‘Kit usually likes to take the law into his own hands in order to get justice,’ actor Jacob Roberts said in a recent interview, before adding that Kit is ‘gunning for Joel and wants to take him down’. Could Kit have sought justice against Joel by killing him?

When asked if Kit has any idea who may have killed Joel, Jacob said: ‘I think he does know deep down…’

Is that because he was the one responsible?

Suspiciously, on the night of Joel’s murder, Jenny Connor (Sally Ann Matthews) told Daisy Midgeley (Charlotte Jordan) not to bolt the back door of the Rovers, as Kit had yet to arrive home. What was he doing out so late?

Mason Radcliffe

Teen troublemaker Mason Radcliffe (Luca Toolan) hasn’t had much to do with Joel, but he was the one to encourage Betsy to speak to mum Lisa about the bruises on her arms several months ago.

On the night of Joel’s murder, Mason was settling down to spend the night in Speed Daal, when he was distracted by someone opening the front door.

Could Joel have found out about Mason encouraging Betsy to report him and come for revenge, leaving Mason to lash out and defend himself?

In upcoming scenes, Kit catches Mason disposing of a crowbar in the bins behind Underworld – after it is confirmed that Joel was murdered using a crowbar.

Viewers will know that Mason has been carrying that crowbar around for a while now, so was he the one to deliver the blows to Joel’s head?

Carla Connor

Carla Connor has been in the frame for several Corrie whodunnits in the past, so it wouldn’t feel right leaving her out of this list – especially with the evidence against her slowly building.

On the night of Joel’s murder, while Lisa assured Carla that she shouldn’t be scared, Carla insisted that she wasn’t scared of Joel, but of what she’d do to him if they crossed paths…

Could Carla and Joel have stumbled across each other, with Carla delivering a fatal blow?

Like many of the suspects, Carla has plenty of motive. Best friend Roy suffered for months as a result of Joel keeping quiet about his crimes, and Carla went to extreme lengths to try and free Roy from prison.

In recent months Carla has lashed out violently in defence of Roy, even being charged with ABH after knocking a lad off his bike for speaking badly of the cafe owner.

If she can do that over some comments, imagine what she could do if she got her hands on Joel…

Roy Cropper

After everything he’s been through this year it would be quite ironic if Roy did finally kill someone. And if anyone were to face the wrath of Roy, we imagine it would be Joel…

It would certainly another big twist, which this storyline has been full of.

Gus Deering

Finally – for now – we can’t rule out Joel’s dad, Gus.

Corrie is no stranger to a whodunnit plot twist that sees a parent murdering their child.

Viewers may remember the 2012 murder of Frank Foster which had numerous characters in the frame. Eventually, the culprit was revealed to be his mother, after she found out the truth about Frank raping Carla.

Could Gus have turned against Joel after realising the extent of his crimes?

In upcoming scenes, Gus is set to be interviewed in regard to Joel’s death after CCTV places him and Joel around a locker in a train station car park.

Does Gus know more about his son’s death than he is letting on?