Villainess Review: Sibella Stone (Murder, She Wrote)

I never watched Murder, She Wrote when it aired, but I remember seeing the promos on CBS back when I was a kid. The series was a huge mainstay on CBS, with over 200 episodes in 12 seasons between 1984 and 1996, and the series spawned a number of telefilms following the series' end. The centerpiece of the show (and the films) was the legendary Angela Lansbury, who played famed author Jessica Fletcher, whose expertise in writing murder mysteries has helped out when actual murders are committed, as she always puts all of the pieces together. I started watching the reruns about six years ago, and the show has had its share of memorable and amazing villainesses, with one of them being featured in the episode, "Love's Deadly Desire."

The episode centered on another author, Sibella Stone, who was visiting Cabot Cove and taking residence in the small town. Of course, she is a friend of Jessica Fletcher, which is a theme on the show--Jessica has a lot of big-named friends and acquaintances. Another theme on the series: things going awry, and that was the case when it came to Sibella, as she fell through the beach house floor and nearly drowned in the tide. She's also been receiving threatening notes as well, but the ultimate kicker came in the form of, you guessed it, a murder.

A woman in a black cloak is struck with a crowbar and killed, and the victim is revealed to be Marian King, Derek's mistress. However, because the cloak that Marian wore was actually Sibella's, it's believed that Sibella was the true target and Marian was killed in a case of mistaken identity. The investigation turned back to the letters, with Sibella mentioning her ex-husband, Joseph Wallinsky, claiming that he had been sending the threats and demanding money from her. So that's one suspect. Sheriff Metzger arrested another potential suspect in the form of Phil Coile, but Jessica, while dining with Metzger and Seth Hazlitt, notices a key piece in the form of what was on the blackboard on the diner.

One of the diner's employees, Monroe Shepard, had been receiving calls from a mysterious person, and it was after he was approached by Jessica and Metzger that Monroe informed his caller that they had to meet up. Sure enough, the meeting takes place that night, and Monroe's mysterious contact is revealed as none other than Sibella Stone herself. My goodness!

Sibella claimed that she was frightened for her life, as she stated that not only does her husband, Derek Hartman, know about her and Monroe's illicit relationship, but he was the one who killed Marian. However, that fear suddenly takes a backseat when Derek arrived, as Sibella yelled for help while pointing a gun at Monroe. That, of course, ended up being a ruse, as Sibella shoved her lover aside and turned the gun on her husband, with Monroe realizing that Sibella murdered Marian. The heel-turned Sibella set her sights on killing Derek, but she was stopped by Jessica, Metzger, and a lot of backup, as Monroe was enlisted to unveil Sibella as the mastermind.

So why did Sibella kill Marian? Well, Sibella did find out that Marian was Derek's mistress, but as Jessica revealed, it was more than that. First off, Sibella had to portray herself as being in danger, and the accidental fall earlier in the episode? All her. She sawed off the floorboard and fell through, but her ankle being stuck in the rocks was not part of the plan. Secondly, the notes were written by Monroe, as Sibella blackmailed him into doing so as part of her evil scheme, and regarding killing Marian, Sibella hid Marian's white coat so she would be forced to wear the black one, which allowed Marian's murder to be portrayed as a case of mistaken identity. The attempt to kill Derek was part of her plan to kill both men in her life and set up Monroe as Derek's killer, while Sibella had to kill Monroe in self-defense.

Back to Marian, though; Sibella was not only angered over the affair, she was furious over Marian's ambitions of becoming an author, adding that Marian was using her to get ahead. In the end, however, Sibella was defeated, her plans failed, but she was very gracious to Jessica in defeat.

"Love's Deadly Desire" was Murder, She Wrote's ninth season finale, and aired on May 16, 1993. The episode featured Carroll Baker as the main villainess, Sibella Stone, and she's one of my faves from the long-running series. While Sibella was immensely vengeful, she was also bloodthirsty, elaborate, and venomous, with that last description shown during the episode's climax. I truly loved Sibella's heel turn in the climax, partially because I adore seeing a gloved villainess, but mostly because of how Sibella went from feigning helplessness to showing her true colors as a vengeful and scorned woman. I honestly think that Sibella loved that evil side to her, and that was due to Baker's amazing performance during that climax, as she acted out Sibella's sinister persona to absolute perfection.

There's a reason why Carroll Baker's performance as the villainess was so stellar: it came three years after she played another memorable villainess on the big screen. Baker appeared in the 1990 comedy, Kindergarten Cop, as villainess Eleanor Crisp; perhaps her best known role in her acting career, which ended with her retirement in 2003. Fun fact: Carroll Baker's daughter is fellow actress Blanche Baker, and she played main villainess Helen Taylor in 2018's Hidden Family Secrets.

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