Emmerdale’s John Sugden went to huge lengths to cover up his latest brutal crime on the ITV soap, a day on from him attacking and appearing to kill Mackenzie Boyd

19:45, 22 Aug 2025Updated 19:58, 22 Aug 2025

Mackenzie Boyd's apparent death on Emmerdale led to another heartbreaking twist on FridayMackenzie Boyd’s apparent death on Emmerdale led to another heartbreaking twist on Friday(Image: ITV)

Mackenzie Boyd’s apparent death on Emmerdale led to another heartbreaking twist on Friday, as killer John Sugden covered his tracks. John appeared to murder Mack on Thursday, shooting him with a bow and arrow before slamming a rock over his head.

We didn’t see Mack’s body after this, but there appeared to be a body under a blanket in the back of John’s van. Not only that, but there was blood all over the vehicle too.

On Friday we saw John appearing to hide a body in some woods, secretly covering something up, possibly a burial site, with leaves. He was clearly hiding something, while it also looked like he was burning something as he stared on menacingly.

Back in the village, Mack’s wife Charity Dingle was furious with him for ignoring her calls after their abrupt split over the surrogacy drama. She had no idea that as she called Mack, it was John holding his phone – amid her regrets over what happened between them.

READ MORE: Emmerdale’s Mackenzie Boyd dead in crossbow horror after gory John showdownREAD MORE: Emmerdale fans ‘work out’ Mack is still alive in shock twist after John attackEmmerdale's John Sugden went to huge lengths to cover up his crime a day on from him attacking and appearing to kill Mackenzie BoydEmmerdale’s John Sugden went to huge lengths to cover up his crime a day on from him attacking and appearing to kill Mackenzie Boyd(Image: ITV)

As far as Charity was aware, her husband had fled the village leading to her reaching out to Aaron Dingle, Mack’s best pal, to see if he’d made contact. She believed Mack had answered her call and just simply ignored her pleas the day before, when in fact Mack answered it while fleeing for his life in the woods.

He dropped the phone, picked up by John, before he was violently attacked. As for Friday, John was now in a holiday cottage near the woods where he seemed to bury something.

He was with his husband Aaron, when Aaron answered a call from Charity. Aaron told her he’d call Mack, with John urging him not to – hiding the phone.

But later in the episode as John was cleaning his van once more, Aaron came over and spotted blood. It looked like bloody finger prints, while John claimed it was from an incident where he hit a deer with his vehicle.

John claimed he’d reached out and touched the deer, getting blood on him. But he claimed the deer ran off, covering up the fact it was Mack’s blood after their violent showdown.

Mack's wife Charity Dingle was furious with him for ignoring her callsMack’s wife Charity Dingle was furious with him for ignoring her calls(Image: ITV)

But soon a new heartbreaking Mack twist aired, as John ensured Mack’s disappearance was ‘explained’ to those in the village. Charity was left furious and reeling when she received a message ‘from Mack’.

Of course it was from John, but the message detailed the sad news that Mack had decided to end his marriage to his wife. He asked her to respect his decision and made it clear he would not be in contact with her.

Charity was left screaming, slamming her husband for dumping her over text and ditching her amid her pregnancy, with Chas Dingle also calling him out. Mack’s sister Moira Dingle seemed concerned, but not enough to reach out to her sibling – but has John successfully got Mack out of the picture?

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