Unraveling the Mystery: Is Dudenoff a Person or a Code Word for an Empty Flat in 'OMITB?'

Spoiler alert: This article contains spoilers for Season 4 of Only Murders in the Building.

Dudenoff is a name that's been tossed around quite a bit in Season 4 of Only Murders in the Building. It first popped up on a random piece of paper left on Sazz's desk. Later, when Mabel inquires about who lives in the apartment with the lockbox, the daughter of the "Sauce family" from the West Tower casually mentions, "Oh, that's the Dudenoff place."

Before the girl can reveal more about Dudenoff, her mother quickly nudges her to stop talking. The apartment, now identified as Dudenoff's, is the very place from which the fatal shot was fired into Charles's apartment, claiming Sazz's life. But who is Dudenoff, really? Is it a real person or just the name of an abandoned apartment shared by many? Here's what we know so far, along with some intriguing theories from social media users.

Dudenoff's identity has not yet been revealed in Season 4 of OMITB, but as the season draws on, viewers are getting closer and closer to figuring out who it is. It could be a code name for the apartment "The Westies" take turns sharing for God knows what. After all, they are an odd bunch. Who stabs an imported piece of ham hanging from a shower curtain rod anyway?

While we know Sazz's killer may have been targeting Charles, they could have decided to eliminate Sazz simply because she was closing in on the truth. Remember, just before she died, Sazz told Charles she had something important to discuss. Maybe she suspected someone was out to get Charles and was getting too close to piecing together the puzzle.

Either way, Sazz's killer — also Charles's potential killer — is likely strong, given that they were able to carry her body to the incinerator, and skilled with a gun.

Viewers may have gotten a glimpse of who Dudenoff is, or at least the person who used to be part of The Westies clan, in a photo in Stinky Eye Joe's apartment. Alongside the "Sauce family," "Stinky Eye Joe," and the Christmas guy who actually hates Christmas but needs to keep up the gimmick, there's a person cuddling a pig in overalls. However, their face is scratched off. Either that is Dudenoff or just an estranged friend whom The Westies no longer associate with.

By Episode 3, Detective Williams (Da'Vine Joy Randolph) reveals that the "abandoned" apartment actually belongs to an M. Dudenoff, a retired professor supposedly in Portugal. The same Portugal where the "Sauce family" patriarch mentioned the piece of pork was imported from? Something feels off about this Dudenoff dude, and we’re ready to get to the bottom of it!

Until Dudenoff's true identity is revealed, Redditors are forging their own theories. "My theory is that either they all [The Westies] chip in a little bit to rent that apartment and share it so they all have a little more space when they need it, or it's not rented at all and they're all using it together anyway," wrote @DevsChamps2003.

Another theory suggests that Dudenoff might be dead "and they're all hiding it because it was a rent-controlled apt." @Huckleberry1784 added, "Oh, maybe they killed him and are keeping up appearances. Paying his rent and such. Maybe he is the victim of the other murder(s) in the building Sazz was alluding to."

This Redditor further speculates that The Westies use a ham radio for illegal dealings, not to mention stab ham in the bathroom as some sort of release, and when Dudenoff discovered this, they killed him.

According to this theory, Sazz then uncovered the murder and began piecing together clues similar to those Mabel, Oliver (Martin Short), and Charles have found. When she got too close, she was taken out.

It's also peculiar that there's a ham radio in the Dudenoff place warning the gang to stop searching for answers and that someone has posted a petition to prevent filming for the Hollywood version of the OMITB podcast. Obviously, this would draw a lot of attention to the area, which wouldn't exactly help keep the killer's identity concealed.

Season 4 of Only Murders in the Building premiered on Aug. 26, 2024, with new episodes dropping on Hulu weekly on Tuesdays.