Helen Langley (Jennifer Salt) is the main villainess from "Indian Giver," episode 4.10 of Murder, She Wrote (airdate November 29, 1987). She is the wife of contractor Addison Langley.
Helen was shown with Addison as he was discussing the purchase of a parcel of land with real estate developer Harris Atwater, with Addison lashing out at Helen for interrupting him. Helen's brother, Tom Carpenter, came to Helen's aid, and the episode's progression revealed that Helen's marriage to Addison was an abusive one. Jessica Fletcher spotted evidence of the abuse when she encountered Helen at her home, as she had bruises on her arm and a black eye.
Helen stated that she hadn't seen Addison in a while and was worried about him, but later on, Addison was found dead at Town Hall, with a spear in his chest. The spear led many to suspect George Longbow of killing Addison, as George had thrown a spear as a publicity stunt before making the claim that the land on Cabot Cove belonged to his Algonquin tribe. Sand found on Addison made it appear that he was killed on the beach, and during a search of George's place, Jessica and Sheriff Amos Tupper found a pair of George's shoes with sand inside. However, there was no sand on the soles, leading Jessica to uncover that George was framed.
The episode's climax saw Jessica and Amos at the Langley household, where Jessica revealed that Tom had set up George in Addison's murder. Not willing to allow her brother face even more trouble, Helen (despite Tom's protests) revealed that she had killed Addison, and she had lied about having not seen her husband. As revealed by Helen, Addison had returned home irate over George's claims and took it out on Helen, beating her and thrashing her. During the scuffle, Helen grabbed a knife and plunged it into Addison's chest, killing him instantly. Tom arrived and found out about what his sister had done, leading to him taking Addison's body to Town Hall and replacing the knife with a spear, doing so to set up George due to the townspeople's anger over his appearance. All the while, the evil Helen allowed George to be suspected and face even more backlash than he already was.
Regarding killing Addison, Helen didn't apologize for his death, and added that while no one deserved death, she didn't want to be abused anymore. The villainess was later arrested (off-screen) for her husband's murder.
Quotes[]
- "I can't say I'm sorry he's dead. I know nobody deserves killing, but I just couldn't let him hit me anymore." (Helen Langley revealing why she murdered her husband, Addison)
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