Joe Absolom arrived in the village last year but has now met his demise with at least four suspects in line
Ray Walters was killed in Emmerdale(Image: ITV)
Emmerdale viewers couldn’t believe it as Ray Walters was killed off at the start of the latest ITV installment.
Actor Joe Absolom made his Emmerdale debut as villain Ray Walters last year. When he arrived, he claimed to be selling farm machinery, but it wasn’t long before his true drug-dealing ways became clear.
He soon groomed teenagers Dylan and April into helping him sell drugs, claiming they owed him a large debt that must be repaid to his boss. That boss was later confirmed to be villain Celia Daniels – and also Ray’s adoptive mother.
Things escalated for Dylan and April as they were sent to do dangerous jobs, with April being asked to sleep with random men. One of these men was Callum, after April changed her mind he attempted to force her into it anyway.
It all got too much for Dylan when Celia wanted to make him “the new Ray” and showed him her farm which was worked on by slaves. Claiming that it was a business to support the homeless, Dylan realised something was off when he saw Bear Wolf at the farm after he’d been missing for months.
Eventually, April confessed everything to Marlon and Rhona but just as they were heading to the police Celia stopped them. Ray proceeded to run Dylan over as a threat to keep them quiet.
In recent episodes, Celia announced that it was time for her and Ray to leave the Dales behind as there was too much heat on them. However, Ray had fallen for Laurel Thomas and didn’t want to leave.
Celia decided enough was enough, and instructed Ray to kill April, while she promised to kill Bear. However, Ray had developed a bond with Bear, and after Celia tried to stop him he stabbed her and left her for dead on the kitchen floor.
In the moments that followed, Laurel had learned the truth about Ray and told him she wanted nothing more to do with him. However, another twist was in store as on Monday (January 5), his lifeless body was being dragged by someone who clearly wanted justice to be served.
A visibly upset Laurel Thomas is one of the suspects(Image: ITV)
While there’s no confirmation as to who killed Ray, the ITV soap has set up a “whodunnit” style, with Marlon Dingle, Laurel Thomas, Rhona Goskirk, and Ross Barton all looking suspicious.
On X (formerly known as Twitter), @robert_andaaron wrote: “i’m shocked about ray i really thought the writers were angling for a redemption arc for him”.
@winis_world added: “HUH RAY!????????????????” as @louise1010050 wrote: “NO not Ray. I’m a bit gutted, to be honest.” Another viewer, @tardisgirl93 penned: “so… Ray is dead… at least 5 people acted shifty as fuck and one of them might have killed him… also where is Dylan?… who was on the phone with Rhona? Why did Ross have a gun in his car? ahhhh I have so many questions this was a great episode”.
April also revealed in the episode that Ray had given her money to run away from the village forever so that Celia would believe she was really dead. This came after Ross Barton dropped her off back home, and made her promise to keep something between them.
He then looked shifty as he peered over at a gun, Laurel also appeared upset and shaken as she cleaned a pair of scissors. Meanwhile, Rhona had made a mysterious phone call and Marlon looked uncomfortable as April spoke about “killing” Callum. But “whodunnit”?
Emmerdale airs on weeknights at 8pm on ITV1 and is available to stream on ITVX.