Criminal Record ending explained: what happened to Ash in Apple TV series finale - who killed Adelaide?

The finale of Apple TV thriller series Criminal Record was released today (February 21) and finally revealed the true identity of Adelaide’s killer. The series followed veteran detective Daniel Hegarty and newbie June Lenker as they revisit a closed case about a murdered woman. 

Hegarty was involved in the initial investigation years ago when Adelaide’s partner, Errol, was charged with the crime, and he remains confident that they have the right man.

However, it soon becomes clear that there was more to the case than meets the eye, and Lenker begins to uncover a web of police corruption and prejudice in her search for the real killer.

Who killed Adelaide in Criminal Record?

Over the course of the series we learn that Lenker’s theory about Errol’s innocence is correct - he didn’t kill his partner Adelaide, but it’s not until the season finale that we finally learn the identity of the real killer.

It is revealed that Stefan Ash, a local landlord now working as a police informant, was the murderer. He owned the apartment where Adelaide and Errol lived, and used his access to get into their apartment and stab her to death.

He was protected because of his status as a police informant - Errol was instead fitted for the murder, and this emboldened Ash to continue to abuse women, including his wife Carla. Hegarty was unwittingly involved in the coverup but, believing Errol to be the killer, acted unethically in order to get him sent down. 

What happened in the Criminal Record finale?

In the finale, Lenker and Hegarty are able to track Ash down to an abandoned flat - Ash attacks Lenker but she is able to overpower him, and together the detectives arrest Ash. Ash’s missing girlfriend and her baby are also hiding out at the property.

With Ash en route to the police station, a gang, presumably sent by a corrupt cop, attacks the car and kills Ash, and Hegarty is shot in the stomach during the shooting.

During a search of Ash’s house the knife that was used to murder Adelaide is discovered, finally exonerating Errol for the time, whilst officer Tony Gilfoyle, who framed Errol for the murder is revealed to be corrupt.

Hegarty survives the shooting and later tells Lenker that he will take responsibility for his role in allowing Ash to get away with the murder for years. However, an expert claims that Hegarty did not lead Errol as a witness during the original investigation, and it looks like Hegarty will still get away with his involvement.

But when Lenker listens to a recording Hegarty made of Errol’s son, she realises that Hegarty used it to manipulate Errol into confessing to the murder. Errol’s son had quoted a cartoon from the TV but Hegarty had made it seem like he was incriminating his father. 

The final scene shows Hegarty being confronted by Lenker over the phone as she tells him that she knows how he framed Errol. Hegarty simply smirks as he hangs up the phone and looks directly into the camera as the scene cuts to black.