Alice was greatly affected by this evil presence. Celeste agreed that these were bad omens and sensed great danger coming to her family. Alice related a tale to her friends and family that whoever's name the spirit called would soon die. Her late husband Tom appeared as a spirit and called out the name of...Abe. Lexie was horrified when she learned that her husband might be in danger. As a result, she begged him to take precautions. He agreed to leave the police force...but only after he learned who was really behind Colin Murphy's murder.

On the day of Theo's christening, Lexie was terrified when Abe was late to the church. As it turned out, she had good reason to be. Outside of his home, Abe was shot down! John and Roman found him and he was rushed to the hospital, but it was too late. The beloved Police Commander did not survive. After Abe's murder, there were seven Salem citizens who were under suspicion: Kate Roberts, Lucas Roberts, Sami Brady, Rex DiMera, Tony DiMera, Nicole Walker, and Victor Kiriakis. All seven had reason to want Abe dead.

The citizens of Salem mourned the death of this beloved citizen, but it wasn't long before a second victim lost his life. Jennifer was furious with Jack for publicly declaring that he would find the killer. She feared that he was putting his life in danger. Unfortunately, Jennifer turned out to be right. Alone in an alley, the Salem Stalker hit Jack over the head with a brick! Jack was rushed to the hospital where the doctors informed Jennifer that he was brain dead. Remembering how much organ donation meant to Jack, Jennifer agreed to pull the plug so that Jack could help others to live.

Unfortunately, the killings did not end after Jack's death. The Horton family believed that Maggie was in grave danger, since the killer's identity was buried somewhere in her subconscious. As she struggled to uncover the details, all Maggie could remember were the killer's evil eyes. Maggie was given police protection, but eventually decided not to live her life in fear. She decided that she could not believe that anyone she knew, including the seven suspects, was capable of such evil crimes. As a result, on Halloween night Maggie let the killer into her home! She entertained her "guest" with great cheer, but she was in for the shock of her life when she looked deep into the killer's eyes. She saw the evil eyes she had recognized in her dreams! The killer then viciously attacked Maggie with a liquor bottle. As Maggie battled for her life, Mickey stumbled upon the scene. He, too, was brutally attacked.

Meanwhile, the killer was videotaping everything and was sending images to Bo and Hope at the police station. Unfortunately, the cop they sent upon the scene was murdered. Bo and Hope finally arrived, and Mickey and Maggie were taken to the hospital. Mickey pulled through his injuries, but Maggie was not so lucky. At her bedside, Mickey said a tearful goodbye to his wife.

At the funeral for Abe, Jack, and Maggie the killer sent a message that Caroline Brady's life was about to end. He claimed she only had an hour left to live. When the hour was up, the Bradys felt they had successfully protected Caroline. But when Bo went to check on her in the church, she fell lifeless in her son's arms!

The Bradys were devastated...but they were about to experience yet another loss. After just learning that Cassie was in fact a Brady (since Roman and Kate were her parents), Cassie was stabbed to death on Thanksgiving Day. Unfortunately, the Bradys grief did not end there. After finally tying the knot with Kate, Roman was viciously stabbed and killed at his wedding reception. Tony DiMera was arrested for the murder. Tony was released on bail and claimed to know the identity of the killer. He planned to reveal the secret at the Horton Foundation's Circus. But before he could, the killer unleashed a tiger and made sure that Tony was brutally attacked.

The tiger attack did not kill Tony, but as he lay in his hospital bed the killer finished the job by injecting poison into his I.V. Before he succumbed to death, Tony got a look at the killer...and she was none other than Dr. Marlena Evans Black!

Before being apprehended, Marlena claimed the lives of two more victims, the beloved Doug Williams and Alice Horton. In the moments before Alice was murdered, she was able to call John and tell him that Marlena was the killer. John could no longer deny Marlena's guilt and he was forced to confront her. Ultimately, Marlena was arrested but she was not in jail very long. Marlena was shot and killed on the roof of the jail! Back to History