Murder at Yellowstone City Ending Explained: Who Killed Robert Dunnigan?

Directed by Richard Gray, ‘Murder at Yellowstone City’ is a Western that begins with the arrival of a stranger in town. A formerly enslaved man named Cicero enters Yellowstone City hoping to find a place where he can settle down. He has been travelling for a while, and all he seeks is peace and relaxation. However, too much is happening behind the scenes to keep things peaceful within the town. A man named Robert Dunnigan, who is mainly known for being a violent and trouble-seeking person, finds gold in the nearby area, and with the claim of the land, he is poised to become the wealthiest man around. However, he is killed before he can start working on the same.

Because the murder coincides with Cicero’s arrival, Sheriff Jim Ambrose suspects the man of murder. He doesn’t take much time before arresting the man and throwing him in prison. He even threatens him to confess or risk getting hanged in the middle of the town square. No matter how many threats are thrown at him, Cicero does not budge from his position of being an innocent man. Meanwhile, the town’s pastor, Thaddeus, and his wife, Alice, are interested in Cicero’s case. They have reason to believe that Robert’s wife, Emma, had something to do with it, but they can’t prove anything. They try to help Cicero as much as possible, but in the end, the truth comes out shockingly. SPOILERS AHEAD.

Why did Jimmy kill Robert?

While Sheriff Jim Ambrose looks at an outsider for Robert Dunnigan’s murder, he forgets that often it is the people closest to the victim who have a hand in the crime. His bias towards Cicero blinds him so much that he doesn’t even consider exploring other avenues, even when they are presented to him through evidence. The first sign that someone else had Robert killed comes from a letter Violet finds in his house. It is written for Emma by another man, which suggests that she had a lover, which further indicates that an extramarital affair may be the reason for the events that transpired. The sheriff refuses to consider this possibility, and then Violet is killed. This clearly shows that someone was trying to shut her up, and it couldn’t be Cicero, because she was trying to speak for him.

She even testified that his horse was tied up in the barn the entire night, which means he couldn’t have gone anywhere near where Robert’s body was found. The string of murders continues when Isabel, Robert’s mistress, is killed, and the killer is Jimmy, the sheriff’s son. Once his identity is revealed as the killer, it becomes clear that he was the one who wrote that romantic letter to Emma. This means that the duo had been having an affair in secret, and Jimmy killed Robert so that he and Emma could be together. Or at least, that’s what young Jimmy thought. Emma had been in a toxic and abusive marriage. Her husband’s evil nature was known to everyone. He always made trouble and had affairs, most prominently with Isabel.

Despite his lack of love towards Emma, he didn’t leave her. He didn’t allow her to leave the marriage and the town and find a future for herself somewhere else. Instead, he kept her bound to where she didn’t want to be anymore. So, when she discovered that her husband had found a gold mine, she decided to claim it for herself. However, she couldn’t get him out of the way, so she used Jimmy’s affection in her favour. She never really felt anything for him, but she saw him as a means to an end. So, she had him kill her husband, as well as his mistress. She was ready to run away with her wealth, which would have been easy with Cicero taking the fall, but then, the pastor and his wife decided to intervene, and the whole thing went south for her.

Are Jimmy and Emma Dead? Does the Sheriff Die?

As a Black man who had recently received his freedom, Cicero was the easiest target for the cops to dispose of the case. Despite evidence in his favor, the sheriff was not ready to accept his innocence. But things took quite a turn with Thaddeus and Alice diving into the case on their own and helping Cicero. Eventually, Jimmy’s affair with Emma comes to light, and that’s when the sheriff is forced to consider the possibility that his son might be a murderer. When he confronts young Jimmy, he accepts everything. However, when Emma is brought in front of him, she refuses to accept that they had an affair. She tries to put all the blame on her lover, but by now, everyone knows exactly what went down.

When Emma realises that she has been caught, she cannot help but confirm that she hated her husband and the town and wanted to leave it with the money she got from the gold. When her efforts to slip away while Cicero or Jimmy pay for her crimes fails, she tries to bribe her way out of the situation by offering the sheriff and the others the freedom to lay their claim on the gold mine found by her husband. When that doesn’t work, she tries to escape by shooting her way out, and her bullet catches the sheriff. The moment the sheriff is shot, Jimmy jumps in his direction, which leads Thaddeus to shoot him. Taking advantage of the situation, Emma runs away, and when Thaddeus follows her, a shootout ensues, which ends only when Alice comes in and shoots the culprit. Emma does not survive the shot and dies on the spot.

Meanwhile, the sheriff and Jimmy share a heartfelt moment where the son apologises to his father for creating the chaos that has led to both of them getting fatally shot. As his father tries to console him by expressing his love, Jimmy dies. While the sheriff is still alive, he doesn’t look too good either. He has already taken a bullet to the chest. And even if he could be saved, he wouldn’t want to live such a life without his son and his wife, who had died some time back and whose death had been looming over the father and the son all this while. This means that the sheriff is most likely following his son into death, ending the chapter of the Ambrose family then and there.

What Happens to Cicero? Where Does He Go?

When Cicero came to Yellowstone City, it was with the hope that he would get a fresh start. He has recently received his freedom and wants to enjoy it to the fullest. However, the people of the country hadn’t moved past their racial bias yet, and he witnessed that all over again in this new town. His status as a complete stranger makes him the obvious suspect, which sounds absurd under the circumstances that he knew no one enough to want them any harm. He had no connection to Robert or Isabel, and he wouldn’t have wanted Violet dead when she was one of the few people fighting for him. Eventually, if it weren’t for Thaddeus and Alice, Cicero would have most likely died, and this is enough for him to leave the town as soon as possible.

In the end, it turns out that he has no connection whatsoever with the murders that have happened in the town, and all the bloodshed that happens is without his involvement. The only person that he feels bad about is Violet, who was killed simply for trying to save him. When the dust has settled on the chaos, the pastor and his wife decide to stick around and work hard to ensure their town is not tinged by violence anymore. They want to make Yellowstone City a better place so that no newcomer has to worry about being falsely accused and tortured to accept the responsibility for the crimes they did not commit.

Cicero, however, does not want to stick around to see that happen. He has had enough trauma in the town to want to stay there anymore. So, when his wounds have healed and he is healthy enough to continue his travel, he jumps on his horse and moves on, leaving Yellowstone City far behind in his rearview mirror, so to speak. Before leaving, he visits the place where he first met Violet, the only person in the town to show him the kindness and respect he deserved, rather than immediately seeing him as a threat based on their racial bias. It is also the place where she was killed, which darkens his memory, but he also knows that there is no point in sticking to the past, and he must move on. So, he rides away into the sunset, bringing this chapter of his life to a close.