Who Killed Days’ Charlie Dale — Our List of Suspects and Motivations

Another murder rocks Salem, but this time, half of the town wanted him dead.

Charlie Dale (Mike Manning) raped Allie Horton (Lindsay Arnold) on Days of our Lives and then either lied about it to Salemites or gloated about it to those who knew the truth and flung it in his face. He’s dead now, shot by someone in Salem who most viewers would agree probably did everyone a favor. But who was it? There are a lot of suspects.

Ava Vitali or Nicole Walker?

Charlie’s mother, Ava Vitali (Tamara Braun) has had nothing but issues with Charlie since he was born. She told Nicole that he was all of the bad parts of her, while Tripp was the good part. Charlie kidnapped her, drugged her, and would have committed her to a mental health facility if Rafe hadn’t have rescued her. And while she was in the hospital, he threatened her and grabbed her by the throat to make his point that he was ready to take her out.

Ava told Marlena on February 24,  “I brought Charlie into this world. Maybe it’s time I take him out.”

Ava is a mob boss. She could have done it or she could have made a quick phone call and had someone else do the deed for her. Though, she told Rafe moments before that she was trying to be a better person, for Tripp.

Related: Obsessive Salemites

Nicole Walker (Ari Zucker) wants Charlie to pay for raping Allie but she didn’t outright threaten him. Still, she’s on the list because she loves Allie and would do just about anything for her. Though this is a stretch!

Update: It looks as though Ava is off the hook, but Nicole isn’t — so far! Her red coat might have had red buttons on it, much like the red button that Rafe found at the scene of the crime.


nicole comforts ava days of our lives
Nicole or Ava had a lot to gain by getting rid of Charlie. NBC Universal Inc.

Allie Horton

Charlie raped Allie Horton, got her pregnant, and then denied any of it. Since there was no proof of wrongdoing, he was released from jail and even the London authorities couldn’t touch the case.

Allie told Claire on February 24 that she had her grandma Kate’s gun once and almost used it on Tripp. Claire reminded her that she didn’t. Allie said,  “Maybe I will now…”

Could she do this alone or could she have done so with Claire’s help? Maybe she didn’t do it at all.

claire and allie girl talk days of our lives
Allie could have murdered Charlie. XJ Johnson/JPI

Lucas Horton

Lucas (Bryan Dattilo) already threatened Charlie in the February 15 episode of Days of our Lives. After Lucas apologized to Tripp for accusing him of rape, he ran into Charlie at the square. He was with Allie and he launched himself at Charlie and said, “Man, I’m gonna kill you.” It’s possible that he went through with it. Could he have done it? He had reason to. Lucas has killed before. He shot and killed Franco before Sami married him, but it was done to save Kate’s life since Franco was about to end Kate’s with a fire poker.

lucas allie run into charlie days of our lives
Lucas threatened Charlie. Did he go by his apartment and take care of him? XJ Johnson/JPI

Claire Brady

Claire Brady (Lindsay Arnold) was falling in love with Charlie before she learned he raped her cousin Allie. She’s mortified that she fell for a rapist, let alone one who raped her cousin. She was horrified that though she had his confession for a hot second, he deleted it, making him once again go free.

Claire might have helped Allie to pull it off. After all, she and Allie were discussing his death earlier that evening. The next day she told Ben she was pretty sure Charlie’s not going to come near her again.


charlie begs claire trust him days of our lives
Did Claire kill Charlie? XJ Johnson/JPI

Tripp Dalton

Tripp Dalton (Lucas Adams) was accused of being Allie’s rapist when he was in fact, a gentleman when he took drunken Allie home and put her to bed. He learned that his brother was Allie’s rapist and that Charlie let everyone think he’d raped Allie.

Tripp’s a good guy. Would he do this? He didn’t threaten Charlie, but good guys can sometimes do bad things. Not that many will think getting rid of a rapist is a bad thing. Maybe he did it to protect Henry from a horrible father being in his life.

Update: It looks as though Rafe has taken Tripp off the suspect list.

tripp wants to be henry's dad days of our lives
Tripp could have offed Charlie. XJ Johnson/JPI

Ben Weston

Charlie opened the door and held up his hands as if the person on the other side of the door was holding a gun or perhaps a knife. Ben Weston has always used a tie in the past, you know when he was the Necktie Killer? Ben could be protecting Claire and Allie. In the February 22 episode of Days, Ben did threaten that if Charlie went near Claire again, he’d be sorry.

All jokes aside, he could definitely be the one to have offed Charlie but he’s been so wrapped up in finding Ciara. Where was he during the murder?

ben on a call days of our lives
Ben threatened Charlie’s life. XJ Johnson/JPI

John Black

John has changed, turned sentimental after he was out of his coma. After months of being sweet, he had to deal with not just one granddaughter being raped by Charlie Dale, but his other granddaughter being bullied and threatened by the rapist. It’s enough to make anyone crack and it’s not as if John Black was never ISA.

On the February 24 episode, he’d had enough of Charlie and when he ran into him at the park, he threatened him. “If you even think of going near either of my granddaughters, you’re a dead man.”

John could have done this. He did disappear after he and Marlena got home. He was at Charlie’s place and blacked out. But he did hear a gunshot while he was in the hospital getting his head checked. Was it from the gun he shot Charlie with or the one Sami or someone else shot him with? Will John remember?

john threatens charlie days of our lives
John threatened Charlie’s life for raping his granddaughter Allie. XJ Johnson/JPI

Sami Brady

Well, Sami (Ali Sweeney) was caught red-handed inside Charlie’s apartment, standing over his body.  She could have avenged her daughter’s rape by murdering Charlie. Unless she’s a red herring and simply was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Maybe Sami thinks Allie did it and is cleaning up what she thinks is her daughter’s mess?


We do know that Stan’s returning to Days. Could Sami’s alter ego have done the deed? That might be a stretch.

sami at charlies after he dies murder days of our lives
Sami was caught at Charlie’s apartment! NBC Universal Inc.

Belle & Shawn Brady

Belle (Martha Madison) was so angry when she found Charlie at her place, cornering Claire, bullying her. She wanted to kill him for that and for raping Allie. But would she do it? She’s a lawyer, always been basically on the right side of the law.  It’s not really something Belle would do, however…

In the February 24th episode, she told Claire and Shawn that she wanted to kill him. She also said, “I meant it. That monster doesn’t deserve to live.”  But could she have done it? Could Shawn (Brandon Beemer) have helped? Would Shawn, a cop, have done it? It’s really hard to see him as a suspect, but he’s still on the list.

Update: Belle’s red button was seen in the box of evidence Rafe had in his kitchen. Belle isn’t off the suspect list just yet, though Nicole wore a red coat the night Charlie was murdered as well. Some suspect Jan Spears planted the button!

belle shawn kill charlie days of our lives
Did Belle or Shawn kill Charlie? Maybe they did it together? NBC Universal Inc.

Roman Brady or Steve Johnson

Roman (Josh Taylor) let Tripp have it, accusing him of raping Allie recently. He was pretty angry and took off to Switzerland to see Carrie and Austin. When he returned in the February 22 Days episode, Steve and Kayla let him know that Tripp was cleared of charges and that Charlie Dale raped Allie. Roman hoped he was in jail and learned that lack of proof meant he was meandering around Salem, free. Roman was angry, knowing that this is the type of thing that makes people want to take things into their own hands.  Steve (Stephen Nichols) agreed, knowing it’d be hard to take that Charlie’s gotten away with it.

These guys are generally on the good side of the law, but could either have offed Charlie? Doesn’t seem likely, but we’ll leave them on the whodunit list because you just never know.

steve warns tripp against ava days of our lives
Steve might have done it. He’s capable but would he really? NBC Universal Inc.

Kate Roberts

Kate (Koslow) Lauren was hopping mad this week after learning that Charlie got out of jail and freed of all rape charges. She has a gun, as we know, and could have killed Charlie. She told Jake on the February 23 DOOL episode, “I have half a mind to get my gun and take care of him myself.” Did she go ahead and do that? Kate’s no innocent but she’s never outright murdered. People are driven to do crazy things when their loved ones are threatened.

did kate kill charlie days of our lives
XJ Johnson/JPI

Could any of our suspects have done this or was there someone else we haven’t considered such as the rumor mill that suggests Jan Spears (Heather Lindell) had something to do with this? What about Charlie himself? What about Jimmy Jackamo? That’s the name Ava gave of Charlie’s father. Perhaps Angelo Vitali (Angelo Tiffe) did the deed and snuffed him out. I mean, the two are mob! It wouldn’t be unheard of.

Who killed Charlie Dale?

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