In the TV soap EastEnders , Max Branning did not kill Steven Beale with a weapon or by directly attacking him to the point of immediate death, but he caused the injury that later killed him.

What actually happened

  • During Max’s revenge plot, Steven set fire to the restaurant, with Jane left inside, but then had a change of heart and tried to save her.
  • Inside the burning restaurant, Max confronted Steven and, in the struggle, violently shoved him into a hard surface (a cooker/countertop) in the kitchen.

How that led to Steven’s death

  • The shove caused serious internal injuries, specifically damage to Steven’s liver, which led to a fatal liver bleed rather than the brain tumour he had been falsely claiming to have.
  • Steven was taken to hospital, where he suffered a cardiac arrest caused by these internal injuries and died shortly afterwards.

In-universe view of “Max killed Steven”

  • Later, the truth came out that Steven had no brain tumour and died from the liver injury, so characters like Tanya and Cindy explicitly describe Max as having “killed” Steven because his shove caused the fatal damage, even though it was treated more as an impulsive, accidental act than a planned murder.

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