Murder at Yellowstone City is a 2022 Western film that works equally well as an impressive murder mystery movie. The movie begins with a prospector named Robert Dunnigan unexpectedly finding gold and sharing his exciting news with the people of Yellowstone City, but shortly afterward, the movie shows him being killed by an unknown ᴀssailant. What follows includes the bravado that is characteristic of entertaining Western movies and a mystery that allows audiences to speculate on who committed the crime and why.

Murder at Yellowstone City has a great cast that helps keep the movie afloat even when the plot beats can become a little predictable for the murder mystery genre. As the movie unfolds, more murders occur, and several characters work to find out the truth about who is behind them. By the movie’s ending, the killer and their motives are revealed, but shocking events leave Yellowstone City changed forever.

Jimmy Ambrose Jr. Killed Robert Dunnigan

Jimmy Was Ordered To Kill Dunnigan

While Yellowstone City’s sheriff, Jim Ambrose, suspects that a newcomer named Cicero is to blame for the murders occurring in town, it is revealed in Murder at Yellowstone City‘s finale that his own son, Jimmy Ambrose Jr. was the real killer. Audiences learn the truth before the other characters do. While his first two kills were done with him in the shadows to preserve his idenтιтy, his third kill reveals the shocking truth.

Jimmy Ambrose Jr. killed Robert Dunnigan the night after the prospector found gold. Later, when a local girl named Violet tells the sheriff that she found a love letter addressed to Robert Dunnigan’s wife Emma, Jimmy kills Violet to ensure that no one else finds out about the letter or that it was from him. Finally, Jimmy kills Isabel, the madame at the town’s saloon who was widely known to be sleeping with Robert Dunnigan, in case she knew anything about the murder. However, Jimmy was not working alone.

Every Character Jimmy Ambrose Killed & How Emma Dunnigan Was Involved

Jimmy And Emma Were In On The Murders Together

The three main deaths that occurred in Murder at Yellowstone City, Robert Dunnigan, Violet, and Isabel, were all committed by Jimmy Ambrose Jr., but he is not the only person responsible. In fact, the idea for the murders actually came from Emma Dunnigan, and Jimmy just carried them out. While Jimmy’s role in the murders was a huge reveal in the third act of the movie, Emma’s involvement is even more surprising as her husband was one of the victims.

Emma Dunnigan was having an affair with Jimmy and convinced him to kill her husband. Robert Dunnigan had found gold earlier in the day and wanted to help revitalize the town with his newfound riches, but Emma wanted the money all to herself. She had Jimmy kill her husband so that she would be able to leave town with all the gold, but Violet found their love letter. Thus, Robert’s death was the primary goal, but it caused the other two, as Jimmy did not want to get caught by Violet and Isabel was sleeping with Robert.

How Thaddeus & Alice Solved The Murders

Alice Always Believed Cicero Was Innocent & Thaddeus Helped Prove It

While Jim Ambrose is set up as the racist, hard-headed sheriff who is uninterested in hearing any evidence that does not fit his idea of the perpetrator from the outset, other townspeople in Yellowstone City are far more interested in bringing the real culprit to justice. Violet is the first person to come forward with direct evidence that Cicero is innocent, as his horse is still tied up in her stable, and she has a love letter written by someone else, but Alice Murphy always believed Cicero was innocent even without proof.

Thaddeus Murphy is the preacher of their small town and Alice is his wife. The two are very trusting and strong, and they quickly realize that Cicero is not a criminal. After Alice speaks with Cicero, the couple set out to prove that Cicero is innocent. They help hide him when he escapes from prison, and Thaddeus ultimately proves that the bullet that hit Robert Dunnigan did not come from Cicero’s gun.

Why Cicero Comes To Yellowstone City (& Why He Leaves)

Cicero Is Left Still Searching For True Freedom & Tolerance

Cicero’s arrival in Yellowstone City is the seeming catalyst for the murders, but in reality he is completely unrelated to Jimmy and Emma’s nefarious plot. Instead, Cicero arrives in Yellowstone City, hoping to find acceptance from the townspeople. Cicero had formerly been enslaved and, following the Civil War, had traveled West in hopes of a fresh start. While he bonds the saloon’s barkeep over Shakespeare and quickly befriends Violet, Jim Ambrose in particular is unwilling to accept him.

Cicero is hoping for true freedom and a place to make a fresh start, but after being locked up and then having to shoot his way out, he realizes that Yellowstone City may not be the place for that. The town certainly has a lot to deal with in the wake of Jimmy’s murders and the final shootout, so Cicero gets back on his horse and keeps searching for a better place to make his home.

The Fates Of Every Main Character In The Final Shootout Explained

Several Of Yellowstone City’s Residents Become Victims

Murder at Yellowstone City not only saves its big murder mystery reveal for the movie’s final act, but it saves its big shootout until the very end as well. Sheriff Jim Ambrose and his posse go out to Thaddeus’s church in search of Cicero, and after realizing that he is there, the two opposing groups quickly begin shooting at each other. Many of the minor characters in the sheriff’s group are gunned down by Thaddeus and Cicero, leaving the main characters to continue following one another.

While the sheriff goes back to town, Thaddeus, Cicero, and Alice capture Jimmy and bring him to his father, exposing his crimes. When Emma’s involvement becomes known, she attempts to deny everything and then attempts to escape while shooting at the others. In the ensuing fight, both Jimmy and Jim are sH๏τ, with Jimmy dying then and Jim seemingly left for ᴅᴇᴀᴅ. Emma continues running, and, before she is able to get away, Alice shoots her. This leaves Cicero, Alice, and Thaddeus alive in Murder at Yellowstone City‘s ending.

The Real Meaning Of Murder At Yellowstone City’s Ending

None Of The Characters Are What They Seem

Murder at Yellowstone City is a fun watch because of the way that it is able to combine genres and create characters that are worth watching. Despite adhering to many of the tropes of both the murder mystery genre and the Western genre, some of the characters, particularly Thaddeus, Alice, Cicero, and Isabel, do feel like more modern takes on traditional characters. This means that just when viewers have the movie figured out, there can still be some surprises.

This comes across when Thaddeus talks about his preaching being an attempt to atone for his past sins, and Cicero likewise refers to the man he hopes to be in the future. The movie allows audiences to understand the decisions that the characters make, even when those decisions are imperfect. While Murder at Yellowstone City does have the satisfying, resolved ending of a murder mystery, it does have hints of the complexities of the remaining characters that fall more in line with Western movies.