- 14 hours ago
For twelve seasons, she charmed audiences and outsmarted killers. But what if America's favorite mystery writer secretly had all that blood on her own hands? Join us as we explore the darker fan theories surrounding Jessica Fletcher, the kindly novelist from Cabot Cove whose high body count and uncanny ability to always be at the scene of the crime raise chilling questions about her true nature. Was she really solving murders, or scripting them?
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00:00Great honor to meet a world-famous writer.
00:02Oh, but an infamous writer, I'm afraid.
00:05For 12 seasons, she charmed audiences and outsmarted killers.
00:09But did America's favorite mystery writer secretly have all that blood on her own hands?
00:13Welcome to Ms. Mojo.
00:15And today, we're exploring the theory that Jessica Fletcher might not be as innocent as she seems.
00:21I don't suppose it would hurt for me to take the morning off.
00:25Welcome to Cabot Cove, the murder capital of America.
00:28Either you find time to talk with me, or I will go on that television show,
00:32and my subject will not be my next book.
00:35It will be the insensitivity and arrogance of the city's homicide division.
00:39Cabot Cove, Maine. Population about 3,500.
00:42On its face, Cabot Cove is a sleepy fishing village full of friendly neighbors neck deep in each other's business.
00:48It's the kind of place where nothing exciting should ever happen.
00:52But Cabot Cove is also the murder capital of fictional America.
00:55Over a murder she wrote's 12 seasons, Jessica Fletcher investigated dozens and dozens of murders in the tiny coastal town.
01:02Now, last night at the party, Captain Caleb was wearing black-patterned leather, highly polished.
01:08Is that so?
01:09Now, that private detective was discovered on the second floor.
01:12Statistically, its homicide rate would make 1980s Detroit blush.
01:16That leads us to wonder, either Cabot Cove is secretly home to a Stephen King monster, a la Pennywise,
01:21Or was something else going on?
01:24More importantly, how is it that a kindly old mystery novelist is somehow always on the scene when the bodies drop?
01:30Oh my God! Jessica! God!
01:33Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh, we're in the pool! We're in the pool!
01:38The sweetest sociopath on Primetime
01:40Was I interrupting something? I mean, what you doing there with the TV and all?
01:44Oh, no, no, no. I was just trying to figure out how you'd murder someone in a locked bathroom with a frayed cord.
01:48Jessica Fletcher looks like your favorite high school English teacher with the disposition of
01:52a kindly grandmother. Most people take to her immediately. But what if that charm is exactly
01:58what makes her so dangerous? For a former teacher-turned-writer, she is strangely calm
02:03in the presence of death.
02:04I picked up the phone to dial the weather service. Now, somehow the lines got crossed,
02:08and I heard two men plotting to kill an old man tonight. And I have got to warn Amos.
02:13Even when a friend of hers is a murder victim, she's eerily composed. According to the darker
02:18fan theories out there, Jessica's warmth is a facade. Her charm is a weapon, a way to stay
02:23close to the investigators. She's so good at lying and disguising herself that she's gone
02:28undercover, fooling even seasoned international spies.
02:31It's been many years since I've been picked up, Mr. Haggerty.
02:35Michael, remember? And you're Maggie.
02:39It's a pity you're so shy.
02:41Is she really a better detective than every cop she meets? Or just a master manipulator?
02:46An unreliable narrator.
02:49I'm Jessica Fletcher.
02:50Oh yes, we've been expecting you, Mrs. Fletcher.
02:55Murder, she wrote, is told mostly from Jessica's point of view.
02:59She narrates, reconstructs, and interprets every crime we see.
03:03Even when watching scenes without Jessica in them, we must remember that every episode
03:07is essentially being written by her. The episodes are, in essence, her books.
03:12That means we only see what she wants us to see.
03:14Let's stop right now, Mr. Keats. I'm sorry, but I really can't allow you to insult my friends
03:20and my home. Look, if this is what you're after, then you'll have to leave me out of it.
03:26So, what if Jessica Fletcher is lying? Fan theorists argue that she may be an unreliable
03:32narrator, rewriting events to protect herself. When she points the finger, we naturally believe her.
03:37But if Jessica were the real killer, the show is her defense.
03:41Now, this, of course, can fall into several categories. Some crimes being more perfect
03:47than others. But, of course, I don't have to tell you about that.
03:52It's a carefully edited memoir by a woman so brilliant, she turned murder into fiction,
03:57and fiction into an alibi.
04:00Coincidence or cover-up?
04:01I beg your pardon, Chief Gunderson. I was just checking something out. I probably should have
04:07asked you first, but I didn't disturb any evidence, believe me.
04:11Something strange happens around Jessica Fletcher. Key witnesses drop dead not long after speaking
04:16with her. Yet, she's always the one to find the decisive clue that everyone else overlooked.
04:21When the real killers confess, especially in the later seasons, they do so often off-screen.
04:27Did Jessica have a private word with them? Are the confessions we do see real, or just
04:32Jessica's version of the story? Practically, it's a matter of script structure and expedient
04:36editing. But it's hard to dismiss that it's awfully convenient. Cabot Cove's beloved daughter
04:41could be subtly shaping every case's outcome.
04:44I was so certain there was something wrong with that horse. I feel so foolish. But tests
04:50don't lie, don't they? It was hours before they found him, and there are drugs that leave
04:54no trace. Maybe she's not solving murders so much as scripting them, creating a string
04:59of evidence and blackmailing confessions. Then, at the end, Jessica emerges as the hero.
05:05And I bet he would have thought of a hundred different clever ways to rake off all that
05:09he wanted. His behavior was indefensible. Not to a good lawyer.
05:13Jessica Fletcher doesn't just attract murder in Cabot Cove. She brings it with her. No matter
05:33where she travels, a cruise ship, a college campus, a book tour in London, someone dies
05:39within hours of her arrival. We also found those hidden away in her luggage. They were
05:44all very similar and all taken with a telephoto lens. This woman has literally left a trail
05:50of bodies across the planet. Fans call it the Cabot Cove effect, the idea that death itself
05:55follows Jessica like a loyal pet. It would seem that she's either cursed or, perhaps, feeding
06:01a dark substance use she can't quite control. Whether she's inspiring killers or covering her
06:06own tracks, one thing's certain. If Jessica Fletcher shows up in your town, it's already
06:11too late.
06:12When you heard me say poison, you knew instantly your husband could have only been killed one
06:18way and only by one person.
06:21The amateur sleuth who knows too much.
06:23Listen, I just heard about Mr. Merrill's accident. What a terrible thing.
06:27Yes, ma'am.
06:29I mean, any ideas about who might be responsible?
06:31Jessica Fletcher's investigative instincts rivals seasoned FBI profilers. Despite a lack
06:37of formal training, she understands forensics, motive, and interrogation techniques with uncanny
06:42precision. She spots blood spatter patterns, fingerprints, and ballistics inconsistencies
06:48faster than any cop on the scene.
06:50You said the police had found the scarf with Leonard Palmer's blood on it, but even the
06:55police had assumed it was Mr. Eaton's blood on that scarf.
06:59Canonically, Jessica credits her incredible skill set to copious amounts of research and
07:04an eye for detail. Sure, she's a novelist, but even veteran detectives marvel at her
07:09methods. Maybe that's the point. Jessica knows too much because she's not solving these crimes
07:14at all. Whether it's intuition or practice, her insight into human cruelty feels a little
07:20too specific for someone who's supposed to be guessing.
07:22So I guess I overreacted. Well, that's enough to frighten anyone. Believe me, I'm an expert on
07:28the subject in my books, of course.
07:30The body count that doesn't add up.
07:32Are you ready to begin?
07:34When you were on the stand before I asked you about the telephone call you received from
07:37Paige Corbin.
07:39And I told you that I never spoke to him.
07:41Across 264 episodes, Jessica Fletcher encounters nearly 300 murders. From time to time, she's brought
07:48in for questioning, but otherwise, she's never detained. Everywhere she goes, she manages to
07:53quickly one-up the local police. But statistically, the number of bodies connected to her would
07:58put Cabot Cove on par with a war zone. If this were real life, the FBI would have long had
08:03her photo pinned to a corkboard.
08:05Now walk briskly to your left, please.
08:08Now, just a minute, Sergeant.
08:09Briskly to your left, number two.
08:19No other character in television history has stood next to this many corpses without consequence.
08:24Either Jessica's the world's most effective crime magnet, or she's perfected the art of getting away
08:29with murder.
08:30Incidentally, for the record, I was in my room at the hotel between 7 and 8 o'clock last night,
08:35changing for dinner. Then I took a cab to the restaurant where I met Mr. Dandridge.
08:40Did I ask?
08:41Well, not yet.
08:43She's a deadly spider weaving her web of deceit by hiding in plain sight.
08:47The perfect alibi, her books.
08:49A man who has made his reputation, such as it is, by feeding on the misery of others.
08:55No? Well, let me tell you about it.
08:58If we accept that each episode represents a story Jessica is writing, we can't even trust our own
09:03eyes. She's spinning a yarn, one in which she's the hero, spotting crimes and solving them while
09:08surrounded by incompetence. Then she sells those stories, embellished of course, to make her fame
09:14and fortune. Is it really that far-fetched to assume her fame is just her cover? It lets her go
09:19anywhere. Always the first one listened to and the last one suspected.
09:23I'm sorry I couldn't cooperate more with you, Sheriff, but I was trying to protect Harry and Nick.
09:31I understand, Mrs. Fletcher.
09:32Every murder solved means another bestseller. Dexter had his bloodslides and Jessica had her books.
09:39Most serial killers have to hide their trophies. Jessica just put hers on the shelf.
09:43Congratulations. You've obviously cured your writer's block. Will you call me soon and
09:50tell me your secret? Goodbye.
09:53Before we continue, be sure to subscribe to our channel and ring the bell to get notified
09:58about our latest videos. You have the option to be notified for occasional videos or all of them.
10:04If you're on your phone, make sure you go into your settings and switch on notifications.
10:09Smile for the camera, the killer we all root it for.
10:12Morning, Caleb.
10:14Morning, ma'am. The fact is, we've been waiting here for over an hour. Sure glad you showed up.
10:19The doc was getting mighty testy.
10:21Decades later, Jessica Fletcher remains one of America's all-time favorite sleuths.
10:25Maybe that's why the serial killer theory endures. A murderous Jessica Fletcher would be the perfect
10:31paradox. Cardiganed, polite, unfailingly kind, but hiding a streak of bloody darkness behind her
10:37knowing smile. Respectability is her disguise. Her warmth, a mask. Maybe the rest of us never saw her
10:44true nature because, deep down, we didn't want to.
10:47Oh, don't be absurd. You men aren't killers. You'll get off lightly if you confess to fraud.
10:53For over a decade, millions turned to her for comfort and entertainment. The way she made death feel cozy
10:59was a precursor to the current true crime era. I came out of the woods right on schedule and saw
11:04what I was supposed to see. If she was a killer, then she was one we all rooted for. Smiling sweetly
11:11as the credits rolled and the bodies quietly stacked up behind her like cordwood.
11:15I'll give you a call. I'll be waiting.
11:21Was Jessica Fletcher a heroic crime fighter or the most prolific serial killer in the history of
11:26television? Let us know in the comments below.
11:29Vamos.
11:30Let us know in the comments below.
11:34Okay, so come back.
11:35Let us let you see.
11:39You shouldn't be looking at beers.
11:40Let us know in your Philippians.
11:45You can only walk away the way to sleep now, but to sleep in the cara in the bistro
11:49in the air.
11:52This is where the understanding is what I really wanted to be.
11:54We go to find her too, but the experience has actually changed slightly worse.
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