General Hospital: Austin's Death Sets Up Juicy Murder Mystery
Roger Howarth has been on "General Hospital" for over a decade, but sadly soap opera fans won't be seeing the actor onscreen anymore. Austin Gatlin-Holt was killed by an unknown assailant, sparking the beginning of a major murder mystery in Port Charles. The decision to kill off Austin, which we didn't entirely buy at first, isn't shocking because, in a short period of time, he made enemies out of several of the town's citizens. Austin's association with Ava Jerome (Maura West) meant the writing was on the wall for him, with everything spiraling from there.
There are several potential suspects to look at as the mystery begins to unravel with Ava obviously being the primary focus. Austin double-crossed her and was responsible for her being kidnapped and nearly killed by his cousin, Mason Gatlin (Nathanyael Grey), so naturally, she'd be out for revenge. Given Ava's history of successfully murdering or attempting to kill people she feels wronged by, it's a safe bet that she was involved somehow. However, Austin's darkest enemy throughout all of this might be his former boss, Cyrus Renault (Jeff Kober), who is just as ruthless as ever despite the changed man persona he's been portraying to everyone in town.
Austin was ready to turn on Cyrus and spill everything to the authorities in exchange for immunity, but with Cyrus' connections on the inside, he could've easily intercepted this. Other suspects who shouldn't be ruled out include Nikolas Cassadine (Adam Huss), whom Austin was hiding out in his home, and Sonny Corinthos (Maurice Benard), who always protects the mothers of his kids.
Viewers are conflicted about who may have killed Austin
Austin Gatlin-Holt's murder is sending shockwaves through Port Charles with suspects creeping up at every turn. Roger Howarth officially exited "General Hospital" following his fan-favorite character's shocking death and since there's been no word of a recast, it's likely a legitimate one. Evidently, an unknown assailant took matters into their own hands and axed the crooked doctor. However, fans of "General Hospital" cannot agree on who fired the fatal shot, leaving them to speculate on social media about the culprit.
One fan doesn't find Ava Jerome to be a likely candidate because she has nothing to gain by evading disclosing the truth to Sonny Corinthos. They argued on X, formerly known as Twitter, "Ava told Sonny her secrets to continue covering up Nikolas's supposed murder. No reason she wouldn't have come out & told him she acted on the intel he gave her and whacked Austin. Get her away from him." Another viewer hopped on the train that Nikolas could be behind Austin's death because of his connection to Ava.
They wrote, "Could it have been Nikolas who killed Austin? He had motive. He sees him as Ava's accomplice in trying to cover up his 'murder.'" However, another theory thrown out into the universe is that perhaps this was a warning shot to Cyrus Renault that he isn't the only Big Bad in town. As one fan speculated, "What if Austin's murder was meant to send a message to Cyrus? That he's got an enemy out there too."