Who Killed Wilden on 'Pretty Little Liars?' It's Not Who You Think It Is

Watching a spinoff before completing the OG series is pure madness. After all, you’ll get a better understanding about the plot and you won’t find yourself lost if the storyline hints at past events from the original show.

On that note, as viewers salivate for HBO Max's upcoming Pretty Little Liars spinoff — aka Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin — some of them are watching or rewatching the original show. And, naturally, some questions have popped up.

Viewers of the OG series will likely recall Detective Darren Wilden. But what happened to him, exactly? While two characters on the original show confessed to his murder to save another person, some fans are still unsure about who did the deed.

So, the question stands: Who killed Darren Wilden on Pretty Little Liars? Keep reading to get your answer.

For folks who have a fuzzy memory, we’re here to help you out. In the case of Wilden’s murder, Cece Drake aka Charlotte DiLaurentis is responsible. And Season 6, Episode 10 — titled “Game Over, Charles" — explains it all.

In the episode, Charlotte schemes to get Alison at the Rosewood High School’s senior prom alone. Her goal is to talk with Alison about her past and why things panned out the way they did. And of course, all roads lead back to Radley Sanitarium.

Once Aria, Spencer, Emily, Hanna, Mona, and the guys realize that Alison attended the prom they were all forbidden to go to, they set out to find Alison, but are too late. Charlotte has already taken Alison to Radley and is seemingly holding her hostage.

The rest of the girls head to the Carassimi Group, in hopes of finding Alison. After all, Charlotte has been sending Alison a slew of text messages from servers located at the company building, which they learned from Mona.

Once the group arrives at the Carassimi Group, they enter a room where they see a hologram of Alison trapped at Radley with Charlotte pulling the strings. Charlotte begins to explain why she tormented the girls over the years, which was due to her feeling that they stole Alison away from her.

Charlotte explained her unknown history as a member of the DiLaurentis family. Apparently, Jessica went as far as visiting Charlotte in secret at Radley, after an unfortunate incident with Charlotte almost drowning baby Alison in the bathtub.

After Charlotte revealed her sketchy and unfortunate past, she took responsibility for killing Wilden. Charlotte explained that she had to kill Wilden since he found out that Alison was still alive and he didn’t want her telling anyone about their summer hookup that occurred before she “disappeared.” As a result, he threatened to hurt Alison, which left Charlotte with no choice but to eliminate him.

Hanna had all intentions of confessing to Wilden’s murder, in hopes of getting her mother, Ms. Ashley Marin, out of jail. In Season 4, Episode 8, titled "The Guilty Girl's Handbook," Hanna decided to invite Mona over to hatch a plan to confess to the murder.

Previously, Hanna received a call from Ashley in jail who tried to assure her that everything would be OK. However, Hanna felt that confessing to murder was the only option. And what better person to help you fool the police than Mona?

Caleb arrives at Hanna’s home and is immediately asked to leave at Hanna’s request. However, Caleb doesn’t trust Mona as far as he could throw her, and he sticks around. Once Hanna realizes that Caleb is still around, she tells him her plan.

Although Caleb gets immediately upset and forbids Hanna to confess, she’s set on taking her mom’s place. Hanna later heads over to Spencer's, and the ladies learn from Ashley’s lawyer and Spencer’s mom, Veronica Hastings, that someone has confessed to Wilden’s murder.

As the liars and their mates head to the police precinct, they discover that Mona has decided to take the fall. Hanna never gets the opportunity to confess.

Mona took action because she still loves Hanna despite putting her and the other liars through hell. Not to mention, Mona has always had a soft spot for Ms. Marin. And of course, Mona’s confession sparks reasonable doubt about Ms. Marin’s involvement in Wilden's murder, which allows her to be released on house arrest pending trial.

Thankfully, the trial never happens due to a witness — Hannah’s old fling, Travis — sharing with police that he saw Ms. Marin driving away from the lake when gunshots rang out and Wilden was murdered.

Now, even though the book is officially closed on PLL, fans are hoping that the spinoff doesn’t disappoint.

You can watch the original Pretty Little Liars series on HBO Max; Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin premieres on the platform on July 28, 2022.