ITV Coronation Street’s DS Swain ‘framed’ for Joel’s murder – and viewers know who is doing it

Soap viewers are fearing the worst for DS Lisa Swain as they suspect Kit Green to be framing her for the murder of Joel Deering.

The detective portrayed by Vicky Myers has become a favourite among Coronation Street fans as her bond with Carla Connor (Alison King) is set to become romantic. But love may be delayed as Lisa has become one of the latest residents to be suspected of killing Joel Deering on September 27.

In scenes aired this Monday (November 4) on ITV, Lisa was summoned to the police station as Kit Green (Jacob Roberts) revealed that a message she had planned to send to Joel Deering suggested that she could be behind the sinister deed.

The message read: “stay away from my daughter or I will be the end of you”, making it clear that Lisa may have wanted to kill Joel. But viewers at home weren’t convinced by the so-called evidence.

Fans of the Manchester-based programme took to social media such as Twitter, now X, to suggest Lisa was being framed for the murder, with some speculating detective constable Kit Green may be behind the treachery as well as Joel’s murder.

“WHAT IF THE INEVITABLE IS LISA BEING ARRESTED I CAN’T PHYSICALLY AND MENTALLY HANDLE THIS”, one panicked Corrie fan wrote. Another pleaded: “no because lisa was in a good place at the end of today’s episode. she had made reconciliations, issued apologies and booked some annual leave off. hate that she has being framed for joel’s m*rder coming up. give her a break please.”

A third viewer commented: “Calling it…Lisa will be framed by Kit, arrested, questioned, realise what’s happening, turn it round on him and arrest him, leave the station, realise what’s important in life, knock on Carla’s door and kiss her. The end.”

Many suspects have been listed as the potential culprit, including DS Swain, but in recent scenes of the long-running show, Kit was caught getting rid of crucial evidence needed to crack the case. On Friday, he notably removed his own details from a police form, a document highlighting the fact he owns a red car – the same kind of vehicle that was spotted near Joel’s home on the night he was killed.

This Monday, Kit was then caught out on his lies by Daisy Midgeley (Charlotte Jordan) and this triggered another flashback during which he was seen entering the Rovers Return Inn in the middle of the night as he deleted a voicemail from a withheld number, suggesting he could have been in contact with Joel prior to his death.

Another flashback then showed Kit embroiled in a tense exchange with Joel, as the duty solicitor reminded him he had planted evidence which allowed him to avoid comeuppance, with Nathan Curtis being thrown behind bars for the abuse Lauren and Ellie Benton endured. And due to his history with Bethany Platt, Nathan was the perfect scapegoat for Joel.

But while many theories suggest Kit may have wanted Joel dead to avoid repercussions for his own wrongdoings, as tampering with evidence can be punished in the UK with a fine, imprisonment or both, multiple viewers still hold hope for a twist.

Taking to Reddit, one recently theorised that Max Turner could have killed Joel Deering as they wrote: “I want everyone to really think about this. They’ve shown us a lot of flashbacks over the last few weeks, but the number one character that’s kind of been hiding in plain sight in terms of interactions with an around Joel, especially at the hospital is Max.”

“Let’s take stock of every protective interaction he has had with Lauren and then follow that up with the high emotions of her continually being afraid of random sound that she hears at night. If at some point, he learns that Joel is trying to escape his immediate reaction would be to go after Joe, especially if Joel tries to visit the Platt house.”

One scene aired at the time Joel was said to have been murdered, Max (Paddy Bever) and Lauren (Cait Fitton) were spooked by a noise coming from outside the Platt household. Though both ventured into the garden, Lauren dashed almost immediately back into the house, while Max looked on, anxious but determined.

In this scenario, given his connection to Lauren and troublemaker past, Max could have retaliated and eliminated Joel in a desperate act to protect Lauren.

While this remains to be confirmed, spoilers for this week have confirmed that Lisa is in deep trouble. Coming up, she tells Carla that somebody planted her issue CS spray with the murder weapon and believes she is being set up by the real murderer. But as she is due to retrace her steps, could Lisa be covering her tracks?