A guide to all the murders on 'How to Get Away With Murder' (2024)

Annalise Keating (Viola Davis) and her employees' twisted journey may have started by covering up the murder of Sam Keating (Tom Verica), but after six seasons, the pile of bodies is sky-high.

Among the murders, deaths by suicide, and crimes Annalise's clients are accused of, there are a lot of dead people lying in their wake. Here is a rundown of all the murders How to Get Away With Murder viewers have witnessed.

Sam Keating

At the end of the pilot, viewers see the dead body of Sam Keating, Annalise's husband. During the first half of season 1, it is revealed that Sam was killed by Annalise's students while they defended themselves and their client, Rebecca Sutter, from him. First, Michaela Pratt (Aja Naomi King) pushed Sam over a banister, then Wes Gibbons (Alfred Enoch) finished him off with a statue as Sam tried to strangle Rebecca like something out of a horror movie.

Lila Stangard

Sam's murder may be the first dead body viewers see, but the death of Lila Stangard was the murder that started it all. It was only a local news story when the series began, but it turned out this murder would change Annalise's life. After all, Frank Delfino (Charlie Weber) strangled Lila on Sam's order to cover up their affair that resulted in Lila's pregnancy with their baby.

Rebecca Sutter

Rebecca Sutter (Katie Findlay) was a suspect in the murder of her friend, Lila, and soon became Annalise's client and Wes Gibbins' girlfriend. Out of fear and desperation, she lied and lied and lied. She lied so much that it was hard for Team Annalise to find out what actually happened to Lila. Those lies also sparked rage in Bonnie (Liza Weil)—who had complicated feelings for both Sam and Annalise—so she suffocated Rebecca with a plastic bag in an effort to protect Annalise. A shocking and tragic twist that ended the first season.

Nia Lahey

Having had enough of the medication and radiation to treat her cancer, Nia Lahey (Enuka Okuma) asks Annalise—the woman sleeping with her husband—to help her die. Annalise refuses to help, but in the end, Nate (Billy Brown) does what his wife asks of him. While most may not consider this murder, it certainly put Nate back in court fighting murder charges. He wasn't convicted, and this issue remains a hot-button moral quandary, but he respected his wife's wishes.

Helena Hapstall

After the scandal involving her husband and Lila, Annalise needed a high-profile case to take control of her narrative in the media and her reputation in the legal community. Enter Caleb (Kendrick Sampson) and Catherine Hapstall (Amy Okuda), siblings who were accused of killing their adoptive parents. The prosecution's biggest witness was their aunt, Helena Hapstall (Joan McMurtrey). That was until someone slit her throat in her own car. That someone turned out to be Caleb.

Emily Sinclair

Emily Sinclair (Sarah Burns) was justified in trying to close her cases against Annalise, but her putting immense pressure on Asher Millstone (Matt McGorry)—and his family—was absolutely not. She put so much pressure on them that Asher's father, Judge William Millstone (John Posey), killed himself after his past indiscretions were made public. That death resulted in Asher running over Emily in a fit of rage. Then Bonnie led the charge to cover for Asher by throwing Emily off the roof of the Hapstall mansion, at first trying to get the Keating 5 to help, but eventually doing the dirty deed herself.

Sam Keating Jr.

In flashbacks, we learn that Annalise was pregnant when she flew out of town to help the son of her client, Wallace Mahoney. When Annalise discovered just how unethical Wallace was, the two clashed and Wallace arranged for her to be hit by a car. As a result, she and Sam's child is stillborn. The death of Sam Keating Jr. is a tragic event that shapes the Annalise that viewers meet at the start of the series.

Wallace Mahoney

When viewers finally learn about Annalise's connection to Wes, they also discover her ruthless former client Wallace Mahoney (Adam Arkin) is right in the middle of it. Initially, it is believed that Wallace is Wes' birth father, a fact Frank used to get Wallace out in the open in order to shoot him. Wallace turned out not to be Wes' dad—his son Charles was—but he is the reason Annalise's unborn child died, which is why Frank killed him.

Butch Man

Annalise cut Frank out of her life after learning the truth about his role in Sam Keating Jr.'s death. She took things further by hiring a hitman to kill Frank because he put Wes in danger by using him as a tool in Wallace's murder. But that hitman—known as Butch Man—didn't get to fulfill Annalise's wishes because Frank got the upper hand first and killed him in a struggle.

Wes Gibbons

Murdering Sam Keating brought the Keating 5 together, but Wes' murder solidified the Keating 4 as a family. The first half of the third season centered on the mystery of who died in the fire at Annalise's house, which turned out to be Wes. But that was just the beginning. Turns out Laurel Castillo's (Karla Souza) parents tasked their henchman, Dominick, to kill Wes in order to save her father's illegal business dealings.

Robert Winterbottom

Frank fails to reconcile with Annalise, so he tries with Bonnie…by murdering her father as a gift. Considering Robert Winterbottom was a horrible man who preyed on children—including his own—and sold them to other men, Bonnie gladly accepted that gift. She expressed her thanks to Frank and shortly after, worked to bring him back into the fold.

Dominick Flores

Dominick Flores (Nicholas Gonzalez) returned to town after killing Wes to keep Jorge Castillo's secrets…or to help Laurel on orders of her mother, depending on which lying Castillo parent you believe. In any case, he was in town and potentially a threat to Laurel, which was enough to set off Frank. Annalise's resident fixer tied Dominick to a chair to get answers and then killed him. Little did Frank know, though, that Laurel had other plans for Dominick; having known him for many years, she was hoping to use that to help get her child back from her father.

Todd Denver

Todd Denver (Benito Martinez) was a corrupt District Attorney on Jorge Castillo's payroll who made life very hard for Annalise and the rest of her team. He took money from Jorge for his Attorney General campaign, threatened Bonnie, and even kidnapped Connor. All that scheming led to his own death after his car was tampered with. His death came courtesy of his buddy, Jorge Castillo, after it was discovered Denver was secretly working against the Castillos.

Nathaniel "Nate" Lahey Sr.

Nate Lahey Sr. (Glynn Turman) was failed by the justice system, so Annalise made him the "face case" for the class action suit she took all the way to the Supreme Court. She won that case, and then his appeal, where he was found not guilty by reason of insanity—meaning he would get actual treatment for his mental health. Unfortunately, Nate Sr. was killed in the midst of his transfer to a mental facility, a hit that was organized by Laurel's brother Xavier (Gerardo Celasco), with the help of Governor Lynne Birkhead (Laura Innes).

Ronald Miller

Nate Lahey was consumed by the search for the people behind his father's death, so when evidence pointed to assistant D.A. Ronald Miller (John Hensley), Nate nearly beat him to death in a fit of rage. It was ultimately Ronald's girlfriend, Bonnie, who finished the job by suffocating Ron in order to end his suffering and keep Nate out of trouble. In the end, Ron was not behind the murder, a secret Frank and Annalise are still keeping from both Nate and Bonnie.

Sandrine Castillo

Sandrine Castillo (Lolita Davidovich) was cut out of Laurel's life completely because of the part she played in Wes' death. After her father's arrest and mother's disappearance, Laurel started getting strange calls and gifts she believed to be from her mother. That seemed unlikely after a mystery package showed up with what Laurel is sure is Sandrine's scalp in it, presumably sent by her brother Xavier. While Sandrine's death is confirmed by Laurel, it's unclear if her husband or son is guilty of the crime.

Emmett Crawford

Emmett Crawford (Timothy Hutton) was Annalise's boss at the large firm where she went to work, forcing her to take cases one second and flirting with her the next. But in the end, he turned out to be a man with hopes of being a district attorney who couldn't be bought by the Castillos. Then Gov. Birkhead framed Emmett for crimes, including Nate Sr.'s death. He never got the chance to fight the claims because, in the closing moments of the fifth season finale, he was on the floor after being poisoned. When the final season began, it was revealed that he died as a result of ingesting the poison.

Asher Millstone

Asher Millstone's life got very complicated in Season 6—so complicated it may have gotten him killed. The family that shunned him after his father's suicide was back in his life, out of desperation he proposed to Michaela, and it turned out he was an FBI informant. The rest of Team Annalise was shocked to discover Asher's connection to the Feds, but it turned out the organization blackmailed him into it, and Asher had given them very little. In a major twist in the midseason finale, Asher was found dead, having been beaten to death outside of Gabriel's apartment. While Asher's former classmates and friends were suspects, it turned out to be a dirty FBI agent who killed him.

Xavier Castillo

Frank is following the FBI agent that killed Asher right to her meeting with Laurel's evil brother, Xavier Castillo. Everyone is concerned Frank will hurt Xavier, who could be useful in Annalise's trial, but in the end, it's Nate they have to worry about. Xavier gets his neck snapped in the room he's being held in by Nate, to avenge the death of Nathaniel Lahey Sr.

Hannah Keating

Hannah Keating (Marcia Gay Harden) came into How to Get Away With Murder hating Annalise back in the first season, but she comes back in the final season in a big way—although she's never actually seen. Hannah is one of the people behind the case against Annalise, but the big shocker is that Frank is her son, a child she had with her brother Sam. It's unclear whether Frank got the news and killed her or one of her co-conspirators killed her for not supporting their murderous ways or if something else happened, but, what is clear, is Hannah Keating was murdered in her home.

Jorge Castillo

Jorge Castillo (Esai Morales) has been sitting in jail since Team Annalise teamed with Tegan (Amirah Vann) to take him down. He's gotten a few visits from Frank and Nate since then, but in the series finale, he's the first witness for the prosecution in Annalise's case. The last time he's seen is during the series-ending montage where he is stabbed to death in prison.

Governor Lynne Birkhead and Bonnie Winterbottom

Annalise was found not guilty, Governor Lynne Birkhead (Laura Innes) is corrupt, smart, and capable of coming after Annalise again. Frank makes sure that doesn't happen by showing up at the courthouse and shooting her dead in plain view. In the chaos, he is shot by law enforcement and Bonnie is hit in the crossfire. Both of them die right in front of Annalise.

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