In the annals of soap opera history, there exist moments that are, to borrow from an old Nat King Cole standard, unforgettable…in every way. The resolution to the so-called “Loving Murders” stands as a perfect example.
Loving – Drastic Action Required
In 1995, ABC network executives found themselves in the unenviable position of deciding whether they should cancel Loving, their ratings-challenged, midmorning soap.
While that was ultimately rejected, the program’s shepherds were ordered to radically alter its identity. In response, head writers James Harmon Brown and Barbara Esensten took to the drawing board and returned with a three-step solution.
The first necessitated a cull that would reduce the number of paid performers by half. The second would see the series setting morph from a fictional Pennsylvania enclave to New York City’s SoHo district. And the third required the hiring of a famous – and female – star to anchor the new creation which was to be renamed The City.
Though the proposed revamp was ambitious in scope and despite there being a dearth of successful antecedents, the brass at ABC enthusiastically approved the changes.
Assisting the scribes in their endeavor was a serial slayer who poisoned and smothered a plethora of Corinth, PA’s most prominent citizens – including members of the blue-blooded Alden family and their satellite relations.
A Killer Among Us
Stacey Forbes, a one time Alden in-law, was the first to run afoul of the mystery killer. When forensic testing proved that tainted body powder had been Stacey’s cause of death, Buck Huston, the woman’s long time beau and the sole beneficiary of her estate, was arrested.
But what appeared to be an open-and-shut case soon dovetailed into a complicated conundrum. In the ensuing weeks, a menagerie of auxiliary suspects began to form. First, there was Tess Wilder, Stacey’s love rival. Then suspicion shifted to Curtis Alden, the mentally ill heir apparent who had grown obsessed with the beautiful Miss Forbes.
Clayton Alden, Curtis’s father, was the second to die. Cause of death: heart attack induced by the consumption of poisoned brandy. This second passing cleared Buck of all charges, heightened scrutiny of Tess and Curtis, and introduced a new wrinkle in the form of a photograph shred. As a similar item had been found inside Stacey’s abode, the police were now convinced that they had a serial killer on their hands.
As the days passed, the police continued to identify malefactors with motives to kill. And all the while, the Angel of Death continued to claim its quarry. Curtis Alden, who had ascended to the top spot in the list of potential murderers, was himself assassinated.
Once again a sliver of a torn-up photograph was discovered. But this time, a secondary clue was left behind: a long brown hair. While the police busied themselves with testing the follicle and attempting to piece together the photo fragments, Cabot and Isabelle Alden were killed on the eve of their 50th wedding anniversary.
Toxin-laced candles had served as the executioner’s weapon, and when they were melted down further, two more photo fragments were found. Good old fashioned police work uncovered the fact the candles had been mailed from Rome, Italy, and the revelation added yet another suspect to mix: Trisha Alden, the family’s amnesia-stricken heiress.
Gwyneth Alden, having recently buried her ex-husband and son, steadfastly refused to entertain the notion that her daughter was capable of murder. But doubt and fear began to eat away at her resolve.
Then she nearly became the fiend’s latest casualty alongside Ally Rescott Bowman (Laura Wright; now Carly on General Hospital). Luckily, the two women escaped relatively unharmed. But the killer achieved delayed satisfaction by ending Jeremy Hunter’s life – with the aid of quick-drying plaster!
The artist’s (ironic) statuefication would serve as the killer’s final murderous act… though they did set their target on yet another resident: Tess Wilder!
The Truth Will Out
October 27, 1995: While the Corinth police force concentrated all their efforts on locating Trisha, Steffi Brewster (Amelia Heinle, now Victoria on The Young and the Restless) chanced upon the actual villain as they stood poised to administer a drug to Tessa’s jugular vein.
But it wasn’t Trisha. Much to Steffy’s horror, the brunette figure rose from its crouching position, turned to face her, and revealed their identity: it was flame-haired Gwyneth Alden in a wig!
As she vacillated between eerie calm and outright mania, Gwyneth slowly but surely came to realize the true extent of her actions.
First, she claimed to have been a mere bystander helplessly watching her daughter end the (perceived) suffering of those closest to her. “I should have stopped it. I should have stopped the killings. I should have stopped her but I didn’t… I let Trisha kill them all!”
The carefully discarded photo fragments had been a remembrance of happier times – when Trisha and Curtis were children, “They were… random, random pieces of a puzzle… a photograph that Trisha had just ripped to pieces.”
Then, when pressed for answers concerning Jeremy’s death, a completely broken Gwyneth finally accepted the responsibility. “He was going to tell them that I… Oh my good God what have done?! I killed them… I killed my own child! I really thought it was Trisha…” A stunning end to a once-glorious soap.
