Despite being a show steeped in murder, Dexter is almost never a whodunit. That goes for its latest iteration, Dexter: Resurrection, a sequel series to 2021’s Dexter: New Blood and Dexter proper. We know who the murderer is because he’s our protagonist, the titular Dexter Morgan (Michael C. Hall), a serial killer of serial killers also known as the Bay Harbor Butcher. Over the course of the franchise’s run, we’ve met many more murderers, whether for brief stints as the monster of the week or as season-long big bads, and almost all have ended up on Dexter’s kill table. Resurrection, however, has been teasing out the identity of the New York Ripper, a brutal serial killer we have yet to encounter — at least as far as we know. Is the Ripper a brand-new character, or will he be unmasked as a familiar face before the season is over?
For the most part, the Ripper has been background noise on Resurrection, with tidbits being portioned out over the course of the first eight episodes. The name is first uttered by Leon Prater (Peter Dinklage) as he shows Dexter his serial-killer memorabilia. The Ripper’s weapon appears to be a manhole-cover hook, and he’s described by Prater as “a man who terrorized the streets I once played on as a child — highly prolific, never caught,” a line whose ambiguity has tripped up some theorizing viewers. Does he mean the Ripper was killing in Prater’s youth some 40 or 50 years prior, or simply that they both know their way around New York? It’s likely the latter, although thanks to the clues assembled on Detective Claudette Wallace’s (Kadia Saraf) murder wall, we do know the Ripper was active decades ago — there’s some indication he started as early as the ’90s — and hasn’t killed in years.
This could all simply be color added by the Resurrection writers to deepen Dexter’s world, but at this point, they’ve dangled too many carrots to not be leading us somewhere. In episode seven, we get our clearest picture yet of the Ripper during Wallace’s guest lecture to students at Collings College of Criminology. Much like his namesake (Jack the), this Ripper brutalizes his victims — the crime-scene photos are horrific, with lots of exposed intestines — but he also has his own distinctive quirk. While the actual killings have stopped, the Ripper continues to call the loved ones of his victims to torment them with ghoulish details of the murders. “Serial killers are predators,” Wallace says. “They need the thrill of the hunt to feel something. Reliving the violent details of his kills is a way for the Ripper to continue experiencing the hunt and the power he feels.”
So who is it? Sure, the Ripper could be just about anyone, but on a series as reliant on unlikely coincidences as Dexter, it’s probably going to be someone we already know. There are countless YouTube videos and Reddit threads poring over the scant details we’ve been given and putting forth theories that range from intriguing to nonsensical. Frankly, suspension of disbelief comes with the territory here, so I’m not ruling out any suspects just yet, but I can at least acknowledge which reveals would be the biggest stretches. With that in mind, I’ve ranked the nine most compelling theories from least to most plausible, while acknowledging that on a show like Dexter, the answer may well lie somewhere in the middle.
Jonah Mitchell
Played by: Brando Eaton
Who he is: The son of Dexter season four’s Arthur Mitchell (John Lithgow), the serial killer better known as Trinity. Jonah returned in season six after murdering his mother in a fit of rage.
Why he’s definitely the New York Ripper: Well, we know he’s capable of killing. He also attacked Dexter with a meat hook that bears a slight resemblance to the Ripper’s signature weapon. Jonah’s surprise reveal could explain all the Trinity references we’ve gotten on Dexter: Resurrection, and there’s a nice thematic resonance given Harrison’s (Jack Alcott) concerns about following in his father’s footsteps and becoming a serial killer himself.
Why he might not be the New York Ripper: Let’s say the Ripper didn’t start killing till the aughts. Even if that’s the case, the only way the timeline could work is if Jonah had started slaughtering people in New York right after killing his mother, which doesn’t fit with the state of extreme guilt Dexter found him in. Besides, would the Resurrection writers really want to revisit Dexter season six? (That’s the one in which Deb decides she has romantic feelings for her brother before learning his secret, in case you’ve blocked it out.)
Blessing Kamara
Played by: Ntare Guma Mbaho Mwine
Who he is: A rideshare driver who becomes Dexter’s friend and eventual landlord. Blessing is shown to be a generous and open-hearted person despite his past as a child soldier.
Why he’s definitely the New York Ripper: That past suggests he has a capacity for violence — he admits to having killed at least one person — and an ability to compartmentalize, given what he was forced to do. He stresses the need to keep his darkness separate from his family, which could mean he’s hiding something even more heinous from his loved ones. Dexter knows that struggle well.
Claudette Wallace
Played by: Kadia Saraf
Who she is: A no-nonsense detective investigating the murder of Ryan Foster (Bryan Lillis). Detective Wallace has some unusual quirks, like listening to “Stayin’ Alive” compulsively.
Why she’s definitely the New York Ripper: There’s clearly more to Wallace than meets the eye, and that could include a penchant for serial killing. The Ripper is her white whale, the case she can never solve — what if that’s because doing so would mean exposing herself?
Why she might not be the New York Ripper: At this point, Wallace’s idiosyncrasies seem to be less about any hidden dark side and more a clumsy depiction of someone on the spectrum. It would be quite a twist if the lead investigator on the case turned out to be the killer, but that’s not a good enough reason to make her the Ripper. If the show wants to pin the murders on a detective, there’s a more sensible option.
Brian Moser
Played by: Christian Camargo (Dexter), Roby Attal (Dexter: Original Sin)
Who he is: Dexter’s long-lost brother and the infamous Ice Truck Killer. Brian died at the end of the first season, but Original Sin revealed that he’d been an active killer in the early ’90s.
Why he’s definitely the New York Ripper: We know very little about what Brian got up to between 1991 (season one of Original Sin) and 2006 (season one of Dexter). Perhaps he spent some time in New York and connected with Prater, eventually handing over his weapon. Brian’s death would explain why the Ripper killings stopped, and Prater could be carrying on his legacy by making those awful phone calls to victims’ family members, using details Brian had shared with him. (The voice we heard on the call does sound a bit like a distorted Peter Dinklage.)
Why he might not be the New York Ripper: As much as the Dexter franchise would like to keep piling murders on Brian, there’s only so much carnage he could personally be responsible for. The Ripper murders don’t fit his M.O. either — and while yes, he’s shown on Original Sin to have experimented with different styles, we know he eventually found and stuck with blood-draining and dismemberment, a far cry from Jack the Ripper–style slayings.
Melvin Oliva
Played by: Dominic Fumusa
Who he is: Wallace’s partner. Detective Oliva is also investigating Ryan Foster’s murder, but he tends to let Wallace take the lead.
Why he’s definitely the New York Ripper: There’s really no concrete evidence linking Oliva to the Ripper — there isn’t even much room for speculation. But if Resurrection wants to do the rug-pull of making a cop the killer, Oliva makes the most sense. As Wallace’s partner, he would be at a distinct advantage in terms of knowing how she operates and keeping her off his scent accordingly. Plus, Dominic Fumusa hasn’t had enough to do so far.
Why he might not be the New York Ripper: While it would be thrilling to see Wallace find out the Ripper was right under her nose the whole time, there’s no real reason to believe this is the case. Wallace seems like too much of a bloodhound to not notice that her partner is a serial killer. She’s one of the few competent cops we’ve seen on a Dexter series, so it’s hard to imagine her fumbling her biggest case this badly.
Someone we haven’t met
Played by: TBD!
Who they are: If we knew, this would be a different entry, wouldn’t it?
Why they’re definitely the New York Ripper: All of the other suspects on this list require a pretty sizable amount of imagination, timeline-fudging, and/or narrative contrivance to be the Ripper. Occam’s razor suggests that the true likeliest culprit is a New York–based psychopath whom Dexter has yet to cross paths with. They may still end up on his kill table if that’s the case, presumably in a future season of the show, but in typical Dexter fashion, the story will be less about a big reveal and more about how they’re stopped.
Why they might not be the New York Ripper: If the Resurrection writers didn’t intend for us to be wildly speculating about the Ripper’s identity, they wouldn’t have been dropping tidbits over the course of the season. It would be weirdly deflating for all this buildup to culminate in a shrug of a reveal, making this “likely” answer seem pretty far-fetched.
Cooper Morris
Played by: Jared Andrew Bybee
Who he is: The man who deliberately drove his car into Prater’s parents and made young Leon an orphan. In prison, Cooper befriended Prater and revealed himself to be a serial killer.
Why he’s definitely the New York Ripper: Although Prater shared his backstory with Dexter as part of a lesson on the importance of truth-telling, it does feel like he might have left out some key details. He mentions that Cooper said he’d killed before — could he have, in fact, been the most feared serial killer in New York history? That would explain how Prater got the Ripper’s weapon, as well as why the Ripper stopped killing (he was in prison). If Prater is making those phone calls, it might be out of loyalty to his first serial-killer friend.
Why he might not be the New York Ripper: Once again, the timeline is a bit off. Unless the Ripper really was only active during Prater’s youth — which doesn’t seem to be the case — the span of Cooper’s imprisonment would likely rule him out. It’s also hard to believe the Ripper would bother using a car as a weapon. (There is a possibility that Prater is deliberately fudging the details of this story, and Cooper is actually Brian Moser, who once used the alias Rudy Cooper. But that would make Brian the Ripper, and, well, see above.)
Charley Brown
Played by: Uma Thurman
Who she is: Prater’s right-hand woman and muscle. Charley’s mysterious past has made her adept at tracking people down and killing without hesitation.
Why she’s definitely the New York Ripper: We know Charley has no qualms about murder, and her casual aside to Dexter about making people bleed out suggests she’s done quite a bit of it. Prater knowing her secret could be the foundation of their (increasingly contentious) working relationship. Charley’s apparent distaste for serial killers may be a cover for her true nature — note the expression on her face when Dexter talks about the double life serial killers are forced to lead.
Why she might not be the New York Ripper: Charley’s feelings about a double life probably have more to do with the lies she tells her dying mother about being a teacher. Her violence seems to be guided by pragmatism and efficiency, not the kind of rage that makes the Ripper tear bodies apart. On the whole, she strikes me as too controlled to leave such a mess behind.
Leon Prater
Played by: Peter Dinklage
Who he is: A billionaire philanthropist and Dexter’s benefactor. Prater’s true passion is gathering serial killers and collecting their trophies.
Why he’s definitely the New York Ripper: If the voice on the phone call that Wallace played sounds like a slightly distorted Dinklage, the simplest answer might be the right one — Prater committed the Ripper murders, and now he taunts the victims’ families for lower-risk thrills. We know his serial-killer dinner parties and related extracurriculars are his way of maintaining a feeling of control, but who’s to say that’s the only way he does it? It’s also possible that Prater’s connections to a large network of murderers have allowed him to outsource at least some of the slayings.
Why he might not be the New York Ripper: Setting aside the idea of Prater hiring serial killers to take up the Ripper mantle, it’s hard to believe he could have done the killings himself. But beyond the logistical challenges presented by his stature and his celebrity, a serial-killer enthusiast turning out to be a serial killer feels like too obvious a choice for the Resurrection writers. He could very well be making the Ripper phone calls, but Prater is frankly more interesting as a voyeur.
Have other possibilities been bandied about? Naturally! Here are a few other suspects worth mentioning but not delving into too deeply:
➼ Al Jolly (Eric Stonestreet). Rapunzel might be faking his tourist status in New York as well as his aversion to blood.
➼ Vinny Valente (Steve Schirripa). It would be a great irony if Dexter had the Ripper on his kill table and then let him go.
➼ Mildred Brown (Kit Flanagan). Charley’s dying mother could have had a very active life prior to her brain-cancer diagnosis.
➼ Sam Edelstein (Sam Tabach). Joy’s boyfriend hasn’t done anything suspicious and is certainly too young to be the Ripper, but he’s still been named as a possibility.
➼ Edward Olsen (Fredric Lehne). The oil tycoon on Dexter: New Blood was an early suspect for the Runaway Killer, and he could still have a role to play.
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It could be just about anyone, but on a series as reliant on unlikely coincidences as this one, it’s probably someone we already know.
