Who killed Craig in Emmerdale? Three shocking theories as fans believe they’ve rumbled the murderer

DEATH strikes again in the Dales this week and Lydia Dingle is left to put pieces of a murderous puzzle together.

Emmerdale's Dingle family takes centre stage as the cleaner figures out who killed Craig Reed. Here are our theories about what's ahead.

1. Group effort rumbled

Lydia Dingle (played by Karen Blick) was raped by former childhood sweetheart Craig Reed (Ben Addis).

The beloved character has been left a shell of her former self as she struggled to cope in the aftermath of her rape.

However, after revealing the truth to employer and pal Kim Tate (Claire King), Lydia finally had the courage to open up to her family who, at the time, began to believe she was having an affair with Craig.

Lydia eventually went to the police with the full support of her loved ones but due to her burning evidence after her attack, in an attempt to move on from it, the authorities dropped the case and Craig was off the hook.

But while he escaped legal repercussions, the entrepreneur is unable to run from the Dingle justice.

This week, Billy Fletcher (Jay Kontzle) finds his bloodied and lifeless body on the Home Farm estate.

It's immediately clear to Lydia that somebody close to her must be responsible for Craig's death and she decides to play detective.

Members of the Dingle clan, from Chas and Cain to Marlon and Mandy, are called into The Woolpack to share their alibis - but all of them are keeping the full truth to themselves.

Many ITV viewers have taken to social media to share their theories with Aaron, Cain and Sam being their primary suspects.

Another fan of the Yorkshire-based soap took to X, formerly known as Twitter, and penned: "I think Charity will kill Craig because she was abused and raped when she was younger."

But with a room full of suspects who all love Lydia in their own way, could the twelve Dingles have teamed up together to get rid of Craig?

Family ties are strong for the Dingles and a grouped crime could be their way of keeping one another from speaking to the police about the murder.

But what if the killer was someone nobody could ever think of?

2. Unexpected killer found out

Before the murder twist was teased, soap fans were expecting it all to unravel before their eyes as they suspected Kim Tate to be the one to take Craig down herself.

Much like Cain Dingle (Jeff Hordley), the businesswoman is capable of great violence and even murder.

But another name was thrown into the mix by fans following recent scenes of the long-running program - Samson Dingle (Sam Hall).

The lad was previously working with Craig in the hopes of kicking his business career off bright and early.

He had no other choice but to leave it all behind after Lydia came to terms with her attack and he desperately tried to get back into Craig's good books in vain.

Samson has made it clear he has a villainous streak but could he be a budding murderer?

What if the killer wasn't even a Dingle at all?

Regular Emmerdale viewers have started to think outside the box and speculated that one character close to Craig could be responsible for his death.

"Anyone else think the receptionist will be Craig's killer?", one of them commented as another agreed: "I thought this too."

Earlier this month, Sam (James Hooton), Lydia and Mandy Dingle (Lisa Riley) confronted Craig at his work in his receptionist's presence.

When Craig was arrested, she was then spotted with tears in her eyes.

This prompted many soap viewers to speculate she could be involved in Craig's murder with one of them adding that Lydia may not have been his first and only victim.

"Craig definitely raped his secretary, time for her to step up… although I expect, she is going to turn up at the courthouse, and be the evidence, to get him sent down", one fan wrote on X.