Emmerdale ‘killer’ John’s next victim ‘sealed’ – and it’s ‘not Chas Dingle’

Emmerdale fans are convinced John Sugden is the next village serial killer(Image: ITV)

There could be more deaths on the way in Emmerdale village, with fans convinced there’s a new serial killer.

For weeks, months even, fans have speculated there’s something dark being hidden about John Sugden. Many predicted he had killed someone, and that the mystery Aidan Moore from his past may have been his first victim.

Then in February, the limo crash revealed that Nate Robinson’s dead body was at the bottom of a lake. Until that point viewers, and villagers, were led to believe he was living in Shetland after he left the village in September.

We still don’t know what happened to Nate and who killed him, but John was the last person onscreen with him. John also very calmly disposed of the body of Anthony Fox earlier this year after Ruby Miligan killed him.

Amid speculation Anthony was still alive and John finished the job, it was his ability to dispose of the corpse with ease and also without detection that left fans convinced he killed Nate. Now fastforward to this week just gone, and Chas Dingle’s collapse.

After it emerged Chas had somehow overdosed on her pain killers, the finger was pointed at her nemesis Ella Forster. But was it John and was he trying to hurt Chas, after her clear disapproval of her son Aaron Dingle’s new man?

Viewers are convinced he is the next village serial killer and is behind the murders of Nate and Anthony, and that Chas might have been a near victim too. But it isn’t Chas that fans think he will target next, while we have our own theories about who else could be at risk – and there’s quite a few villagers who might be the next victim if John is a killer.

Jai Sharma

Jai needs to be careful as he’s putting himself right on the chopping block. He won’t stop asking questions about the mystery disappearance of Anthony.

Jai works at the depot with his boss Caleb Miligan, Anthony’s son-in-law, and Caleb’s daughter Steph. Steph was recently traumatised to find out Anthony was her biological father after he sexually abused her mum Ruby when she was a teenager.

Jai has picked up on Steph’s weird behaviour, and her suddenly not being interested in where her missing granddad is. He’s also convinced Caleb is up to something, and is suspicious by Caleb’s weird reactions whenever he mentions missing Anthony.

Jai isn’t going to let this drop, so might he get too close to the truth and need to be silenced? After all, John isn’t going to want anything to lead back to him.

Could Steph or Jai be at risk?(Image: ITV)

Steph Miligan

Steph now knows about Anthony’s murder and that Ruby did it. She also knows that John, Aaron and others are in on the cover-up, but she doesn’t know it was Aaron that caused Anthony’s initial beating and seemingly doesn’t know about John going to huge lengths to hide the body.

With her rattled and close to breaking point, it’s been revealed she will face huge struggles ahead. So might she come close to spilling the beans about Anthony’s true fate?

If John did actually kill Anthony or he feels like it would lead back to him if the body is found, might he be tempted to silence Steph before she reveals the truth?

Ella Forster

Ella is making herself the village enemy once more after Chas’ collapse. She’s protecting her innocence, but spoilers have hinted it is in fact her who drugged Chas.

With John desperate to get Chas onside, will he cause Ella to go away for good knowing it would put Chas’ mind at ease? Or what if Ella is actually innocent, and fans are correct that it was John who meddled with Chas’ painkillers?

He possibly wanted to hurt her as revenge for her disapproval, while some fans think he wanted her to think it was Ella and that he was the hero for saving her. So has he framed Ella, and might he kill her to stop her working out the truth?

Tracy Robinson

Will Tracy suffer the same fate as Nate?(Image: ITV)

A random victim but one that could be quite a twist is Nate’s ex Tracy. She’s surely going to have to realise at some point that the father of her child is missing, and that something is very wrong.

She’s already flagged he’s stopped making contact, she can’t get through to his phone and he’s not paying child support for his beloved daughter. So how long before she gets worried and goes to find him?

What if she flags in front of or even to John that Nate is AWOL and that she’s concerned about his safety. Will she make other people realise something isn’t right, sparking a search for him?

This is the last thing Nate’s killer would want and so if it is John, he might need to silence her. After all, she saw him in the village acting a bit weird after the barn fire, around the time Nate vanished.

Victoria Sugden

John’s sister was the first to question what he was hiding late last year after his odd behaviour. He was very secretive about his past, leading to Victoria begging him to open up.

Not only that but he also didn’t seem to want to know anything about their shared family or Victoria’s past. When Victoria found some dog tags belonging to someone named Aidan Moore in John’s camper van, he lost it with her before later claiming Aidan was someone he was in the army with who died.

How long before something else leads to Victoria going snooping once more and what might she find? If it comes to it would he really silence his own sister? That’s if he is the real John…

Are Victoria or Matty in danger?(Image: ITV)

Matty Barton

The final possible victim is another surprise, but yet another person that could expose Nate’s demise. If John really is Nate’s killer, he’s going to want to stop Matty making a confession – that’s if Matty remembers what his late wife Amy Wyatt told him on her deathbed.

It was poor Amy that saw the body in the lake after she fell through the ice following the limo crash. She realised it was Nate after recognising the bracelet on the body’s arm.

After being left critically ill she regained consciousness and told husband Matty she saw “Nate in the water”. Matty didn’t realise what she was trying to say and comforted her, causing her to repeat: “Nate in the water.”

Matty thought she was saying she was in the water and continued to comfort her, only for Amy to pass away seconds later. If Nate’s vanishing act becomes apparent and his family learn he never made it to Shetland, what are the chances Matty will realise what Amy was telling him all those weeks ago – and might this lead to John, if he killed Nate, murdering Matty before he can say anything?