The Residence Ending, Explained: Who Was the White House Killer in Netflix’s New Murder Mystery Series?

Warning: The Residence spoilers ahead!

After plenty of twists, turns and red herrings, the killer in Netflix’s newest whodunit series The Residence is finally exposed in the season 1 finale.

The first seven episodes of the latest Shonda Rhimes series take viewers on a Clue-like journey to solve a murder that occurred in the White House during a problem-riddled State dinner for Australia. The victim is chief usher A.B. Wynter (Giancarlo Esposito, who replaced Andre Braugher following his death in December 2023), the man not only in charge of the White House’s massive staff but also responsible for putting out the many fires that occur behind the scenes at the presidential residence. Leading the investigation is the eccentric, bird-watching detective Cordelia Cupp (Uzo Aduba), who must wade through dozens of suspects, motives and potential murder weapons to solve the mystery of Mr. Wynter’s death.

Cupp’s inquiry leaves no stone unturned, piecing together the events of the evening while simultaneously looking for Mr. Wynter’s killer. Throughout her investigation, possible motives and opportunities emerge for many members of Mr. Wynter’s staff — including over-ambitious assistant usher Jasmine Haney (Susan Kelechi Watson), drunken butler Sheila Cannon (Edwina Findley), scheming presidential advisor Harry Hollinger (Ken Marino) and the disgruntled White House chefs Marvella and Didier, among others.

The finale episode sees Cupp round up her top 11 persons of interest and embark on a walk-through of the White House residence — recreating the events of the night Mr. Wynter was killed. By the end of the 90-minute episode, Cupp has figured out exactly who killed A.B. Wynter, how they did it and why, closing the case of the White House whodunit once and for all.

The killer’s true identity even shocked The Residence’s leading woman, Aduba, when she first read the script.

“I had no idea who did it before reading the finale script,” Aduba admitted to Netflix’s Tudum. “I had my guesses. But I was surprised by who it turned out to be.”

Keep reading for everything to know about the bombshell ending of The Residence — including the unlikely murderer behind A.B. Wynter’s death.

Who killed A.B. Wynter?

The season-long question of who killed White House chief usher A.B. Wynter was finally answered in the last moments of the finale episode, when Cupp concludes her clue-filled tour in the Yellow Oval Room. The murderer, Cupp reveals, is White House social secretary Lilly Schumacher (Molly Griggs) — though she almost got away with it.

Up until Cupp’s shocking revelation, the strongest suspects in Mr. Wynter’s murder were White House housekeeper Elsyie Chayle (Julieth Restrepo) and engineer Bruce Geller (Mel Rodriguez). The pair were not-so-secret lovers — who were also two of the last individuals to see Mr. Wynter in the Yellow Oval Room the night he died. Elsyie was believed to have killed Mr. Wynter because she thought he was going to fire her over lying on her job application about a previous arrest — and then Bruce, who was in love with her, supposedly helped her clean it up, move the body and stage a suicide.

Confirming this version of events was Lilly, who claims she witnessed everything from a now-sealed secret passageway between the Yellow Oval Room and the Treaty Room. But FBI special agent Edwin Park (Randall Park) calls her bluff — or “blink,” according to Cupp’s birdwatching analogies — and Cupp exposes her as the real killer.

How did Lilly kill A.B. Wynter?

Cupp’s sharp detective skills begin to piece together exactly how Mr. Wynter died early on in the finale episode — but it isn’t until Lilly is revealed as the murderer that the complete picture of what went down fully emerges. Lilly’s plan to kill Mr. Wynter formed after the two had an argument in his office early in the evening of the State dinner for Australia. During the heated exchange, Lilly rips a page from Mr. Wynter’s journal — and after reading his writings, discovers it could easily double as a suicide note.

From there, Lilly — who led the eco-conscious, chemical-free landscaping initiative at the White House — goes out to the shed to retrieve a toxic weed-killer called paraquat, which she knew had yet to have been removed. She then makes two phone calls: one to Mr. Wynter, requesting that he meet her in the Yellow Oval Room to talk, and another impersonating the First Gentleman Elliott Morgan (Barrett Foa) to remove all Secret Service from the floor.

When Lilly and Mr. Wynter meet in the Yellow Oval Room, she approaches him under the pretense of reconciliation and offers him a scotch (which has been poisoned with the paraquat). Wynter realizes what is happening after one sip, tossing the remainder of the deadly mixture onto a nearby flower arrangement. Lilly then throws a vase at him in an attempt to finish the job, but it just grazes the chief usher’s head and strikes the wall instead. She delivers her final, deadly blow with a large clock — and then hides the murder weapon in a storage drawer in the secret passageway, before having it sealed up to hide the evidence.

Why did Lilly kill A.B. Wynter?

While many White House staff members had issues with Mr. Wynter — from feuds over flaming desserts to potential firings — Lilly’s problems with the chief usher were more deep-rooted. She hated everything about the White House, from the interiors to the institution, and sought to change it all; while Mr. Wynter, as chief usher, represented the White House and all of its values.

But beyond her disdain, Lilly also feared Mr. Wynter. During their argument earlier in the evening, Wynter revealed that he had kept records of all of Lilly’s wrongdoings in his meticulous journals — including criminal activity. This included money she had misappropriated and stolen, as well as laws and ethical codes that she had violated in her role as social secretary. Wynter planned to expose Lilly, threatening to tell everyone everything she had done.

How did Cordelia Cupp figure out who killed A.B. Wynter?

Minor inconsistencies in Lilly’s story first roused Cupp’s suspicions about her being Mr. Wynter’s killer.

The first was when, during an interview earlier in the investigation, Lilly claimed to have seen Elsyie arguing with Mr. Wynter in the Yellow Oval Room. Elsyie had told Cupp that she argued with Mr. Wynter behind closed doors in the Oval Room, which was consistent with what everyone else had already told Cupp about the chief usher (he preferred to keep his disagreements private). So there was no way Lilly could have seen them from the hall — but she could have seen them from the secret passageway where she was hiding with her poisoned cocktail.

Another factor that alerted Cupp to Lilly was when assistant usher Jasmine Haney shared that the order to seal the Oval Room secret passageway had come from Elliott, the First Gentleman. Cupp had heard Lilly impersonate Elliott before, and had also never seriously suspected Elliott in the murder — pointing more blame towards Lilly.

And the clincher for Cupp was when Lilly claimed to have seen the engineer Bruce place the “suicide note” in Mr. Wynter’s jacket pocket. Lilly was not in the Game Room when Cupp discovered the note and removed it from the jacket — and could not have known its location unless she put it there herself.

“Which she did,” Cupp says matter-of-factly in the finale.

How did A.B. Wynter’s body end up in the Game Room?

Though Mr. Wynter was killed in the Yellow Oval Room, his body was discovered on a different floor of the White House, in the Game Room. But how — and why — did it get there?

Though Elsyie and Bruce were not involved in Mr. Wynter’s murder, they were involved in the moving of his body. Bruce dragged Wynter’s body from the Yellow Oval Room across the second floor to the Lincoln Bedroom, all of which was witnessed by Doumbe and revealed in his testimony. He then carried Mr. Wynter’s body up to room 301 on the third floor, hoping to cover for Elsyie, who he thought had killed the chief usher.

Then, the president’s trainwreck brother, Tripp Morgan (Jason Lee), wakes up in room 301 next to Wynter’s corpse after passing out drunk. In a panic, he drags the body down the hall to the Game Room, uses the White House pastry chef’s knives to create wrist lacerations (further fueling the suicide theory) and then paints over the blood left behind in room 301. He confesses all of this to a random White House staffer, which Cupp overhears in the finale episode.

Where does Cordelia Cupp go from here?

At the conclusion of The Residence finale, Cupp is set to depart Washington D.C. — though her destination is unknown. Despite the fact that she has solved the crime of A.B. Wynter’s murder, the birder/detective isn’t leaving the case totally behind. In working on the investigation, she develops an unlikely friendship with FBI Special Agent Park, whom she clashed with in the beginning.

“She was like an island before, and happy to move through life as such,” Aduba told Tudum about her character’s newfound friendship. “Then she meets Edwin, and she realizes there is a worthy friend to be found in this world. Now they’re flying together.”

The bond between the two is symbolized by Park sending Cupp off with a farewell gift: a package of smoked mackerel tins (which Park hates the smell of) to enjoy on the plane. Cupp concludes the series with one last visit to the White House, ending the show right where she started — the Game Room.