Lilly Schumacher has a disturbing reason why she decided to orchestrate the murder of A.B. Wynter in Netflix's new murder mystery series, The Residence.
As the White House's newly appointed social secretary, Lilly Schumacher goes out of her way to ensure that her style is infused within the confines of the United States President's official residence.
However, Schumacher goes a step further in pushing her agenda, leading her to a horrific crime.
Who Killed AB Wynter in The Residence? Lilly's Motivations Explained
Lilly Schumacher (played by Molly Griggs, who is part of the star-studded cast of The Residence) is mainly responsible for being on top of any social activity in the White House, ensuring that she is aware of the guest lists and that the style is top-notch and presentable.
However, Lilly's dedication to putting on an impressive (and sometimes, overly magnificent style) during gatherings inside the White House has put her at odds with A.B. Wynter, the Chief Usher.
In a stark contrast to Lilly, A.B. Wynter (portrayed by the incredible Giancarlo Esposito) is the man who makes sure that the traditions in the White House are properly showcased through the years, while also making it a point that all staff members are treated as one family unit.
Unlike Wynter, Lilly doesn't care about the longstanding traditions in the White House, and she even dismisses all of the staff's well-being.
For her, they are merely employees working for the most powerful man in the world (the U.S. President).
Lilly made efforts to tear down the foundations of what made the White House as prestigious as it is. It was ultimately revealed that she was stealing money by pushing highly expensive contracts to random contractors.
Too bad for her, Wynter noticed her actions, with him taking down every bit of it in his journal for proper documentation and eventual filing of a case that could tarnish her and her family's reputation.
Wynter ultimately confronted Lilly during a closed-door meeting on the night of the State Dinner, telling her that he kept records of her illegal transactions and he plans to reveal everything to the President and the First Gentleman.
This served as the final straw for Lilly to move forward with her plan of killing A.B., using poison to murder him before eventually bludgeoning him in the head with a massive clock.
How Did Detective Cupp Find Out Lilly's Lies in The Residence
In The Residence Episode 8, the suspect behind A.B.'s death has yet to be revealed, with lead detective Cordelia Cupp herself admitting that she hasn't pieced together the whole puzzle despite the overwhelming amount of clues.
This is why she decided to place all of the potential suspects in one place for a White House tour, hoping that one of the culprits will reveal himself or herself as she lays out how the murder happened.
When the tour ends up in the Yellow Oval Room, this is where Cordelia reveals how the killer (Lilly) murdered A.B. Wynter in that same room.
After trying to poison A.B. by offering her a glass of scotch and eventually failing, she tried to hit him with a vase, but missed.
As the poison slowly took hold inside A.B., Lilly then used the heavy clock to put an end to his life.
However, there is one missing piece in Cordelia's investigation: the secret door that was supposed to be in the Yellow Oval Room was missing and sealed shut.
The trail of confrontations within the circle of potential suspects leads to Lilly, where she revealed that she had the secret door shut to allegedly protect the lead culprits and White House staff members Elsyie and Bruce from being exposed as the killers.
However, Special FBI Agent Edwin Park (played by Aquaman 2 star Randall Park) noticed that Lilly "blinked" during her statement, strongly indicating that she lied.
It turns out that she sealed the door not out of compassion for the pair of lovers. Instead, she did it to hide the huge clock (aka the murder weapon) that she used to kill A.B. Wynter.
The reveal of the clock was more than enough for Lilly to confess, knowing that her DNA was all over the murder weapon.
All episodes of The Residence are streaming on Netflix.
Read more about another thrilling murder mystery on Netflix by finding out why the suspect killed the victim in A Good Girl's Guide to Murder.
