Justine Winfield (Karis Campbell) is the hidden villainess of "Ride-Along", episode 1.02 of Common Law (airdate May 18, 2012). She was the wife of accountant Derek Winfield, and the couple was introduced in the episode by the fact that Justine's identity had been stolen by Olivia Fisher, who had been found dead after falling from her hotel room balcony.
Justine was initially believed to be the deceased woman, but was revealed to be alive when detectives Travis Marks and Wes Mitchell arrived at the Winfield house to inform Derek of his wife's "death". After going into the police station, Justine and Derek both claimed to have never seen Olivia before. But later on, it was revealed that Olivia in fact did have a connection to the Winfields: she was Derek's mistress, with the illicit couple planning to run away together to Belize, with Olivia buying her plane ticket in Justine's name.
After learning about her husband's infidelity, the enraged Justine confronted Olivia at her hotel room, wanting to get Olivia to stay away from Derek. But the confrontation went from verbal to physical, with Justine eventually pushing Olivia off the balcony to her death. After Travis and Wes learned about Derek's affair with Olivia and their plans to run away together, they went to arrest Derek on suspicions that he had killed her. But after bringing Derek into the station, he revealed that Justine had been kidnapped by Ronnie Carr, a Texas gunrunner Derek was embezzling money for, and was threatening to kill her if he didn't give him his money. After taking down Ronnie and his henchmen, the bound and gagged Justine was rescued by Travis and Wes, with a bite mark on her arm definitively revealing her as Olivia's killer. After she was handcuffed, Justine confessed to killing Olivia to Derek, stating that she'd only wanted to convince her she couldn't have Derek and that the confrontation got out of control. Derek (who had been planning not to go to Belize with Olivia out of love for Justine) expressed surprise that Justine was still in love with him, and promised that he would wait for her before Justine was taken into custody.
Trivia[]
- Justine Winfield is Common Law's first villainess.
- Karis Campbell also appeared on Rizzoli & Isles as the evil Carol Westcourt.
- Karis Campbell's characters from Common Law and Rizzoli & Isles share similarities, as each one killed her husband's mistress after finding out about the husband's affair. The difference is that Carol Westcourt's intent was to kill her husband's mistress, while Justine Winfield engaged in a verbal confrontation that led to murder.
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