Sonny Greer (Kate Mulgrew) is the main villainess from "The Corpse Flew First Class," episode 3.12 of Murder, She Wrote (airdate January 18, 1987). She is a famous actress who was boarding a first-class flight to London, along with her bodyguard/chauffeur/lover Leon Bigard.
However, Sonny had realized that her relationship with Leon was fracturing due to Leon's ambition. She had learned that Leon was attempting to gain a high-level position at one of her father's old businesses, and he slept with the wife of a board member to climb the ladder. Sonny learned that Leon planned to leave her once he reached his goal, and with that, she went on a vengeful and murderous mission.
Sonny tampered with Leon's cassette recorder, placing faulty batteries inside, which stressed him out. This left Leon in a situation where he depended his lover to calm him down, and Sonny took the opportunity to suggest taking some of her pills. She used the pills to poison Leon, and after Leon succumbed to the effects, the evil Sonny took possession of an empress diamond necklace worth $2 million; stealing the necklace from Leon (who was guarding it). She placed the necklace in a crew closet, which would allow her to resurface as a shocked and grieving lover who discovered that Leon had died. She planted the necklace inside a bag belonging to Kay Davis, attempting to frame her for the theft.
In actuality, the necklace Sonny took was a fake, as a thief named Otto Hardwick had already stolen the real necklace. After he and co-conspirator Errol Pogson were arrested, Jessica Fletcher later revealed Sonny as a murderess, as she noticed that Sonny's shock over the necklace being fake gave her away. Sonny confessed to killing Leon, while also revealing Leon's ambitious plans and his affair, while stating that he was a nobody. Sonny was arrested (off-screen) for Leon's murder.
Trivia[]
- Kate Mulgrew returned to Murder, She Wrote as another villainous actress, appearing as the evil Joanna Rollins in Season Eight's "Ever After."
- Kate Mulgrew later lent her voice to evil murderer June Rosewood from American Dad. She had previously voiced Red Claw in Batman: The Animated Series.
- Mulgrew also played the evil Alma Lane in the third season of Mr. Mercedes.