The Office was relatable and remains so popular, largely because of the way the show peppered in running jokes that reflected situations everyone encounters. From Kevin's smelly feet to unnecessary Party Planning Committee drama, the fictional workplace of Dunder Mifflin, with all its idiosyncrasies, looked and felt like a real workplace.
However, one of the show's best long-term gags came from a much darker place than Angela's unnatural love of cats or Dwight's mercy killing of her precious Sprinkles. The Toby-centric Scranton Strangler storyline quickly became a fan favorite not only because it was hilariously written and acted, but also because it became fertile territory for fan theorizing.
The first mention of the Scranton Strangler came in Season 6's hour-long episode, "The Delivery," when Andy bought Jim and Pam a copy of the newspaper from the day their daughter, Cecilia, was born. The headline read, "Scranton Strangler Strikes Again." That such morbid news would hang on Cece's wall could've easily been a one-time, one-dimensional joke, but the writers of The Office brought up the Scranton Strangler 11 more times.
The joke was elevated to a proper subplot when Toby was selected for the locally high-profile trial's jury, a fact of which became a major facet of his painfully dull personality. However, by Season 9, Toby had begun to have second thoughts about George Howard Skub's conviction, leaving fans wondering who was the real Scranton Strangler.
The dominant fan theory held that it was Toby, not Skub, who committed the Strangler's crimes. Fans who support it pointed to Toby's obsession with the details of the case and his intense guilt about Skub's sentencing. The show seemed to put any doubt about the Strangler's true identity to rest when, in Season 9's "Moving On," Toby visited Skub in prison, professed that he believes in his innocence and was subsequently strangled by Skub, but that moment only increased fans' suspicions about everybody's least favorite human resources representative. Since Toby's encounter with Skub happened off camera, the theory explained that what Toby really confessed to was that he was guilty.
The Office added fuel to the fire when, in 2018, the shows creators released a 10 minute parody video called "Making a Strangler," in the style of Netflix's hit true crime docuseries Making a Murderer. The video began with one of many instances in which Michael berates Toby. When Michael called him "the silent killer," Toby replied, "you'll see." However, the video ended with Toby's begrudging sort-of love interest Nellie confirming that it was indeed Skub, stating that "the proof is in the grip."
Toby wasn't the only subject of a reasonably well thought out fan theory. Another possible suspect was Sabre transplant, Gabe Lewis. The Gabe-as-Strangler theory had more to do with timing and personality than real evidence. His tenure on the show lined up with the emergence of the Strangler as an off-screen character, and he's socially awkward yet vindictive, controlling and infatuated with all things gory and unsettling.
Yet another candidate for Strangler was office weirdo Creed Bratton. Creed made multiple references to his own violent tendencies and abandoned identities, and even showed up for work covered in blood on one occasion. It's entirely possible Creed's a serial killer, but there was no real indication that he's the Scranton Strangler, except that he boasted he'd defend himself against the Stranger by strangling him first.
The cast of The Office, which changed and grew over nine seasons, came to include several other unusual-enough characters to raise some eyebrows. Robert California proved himself capable of a sociopathic amount of lying and scheming, Jan Levinson was clearly unstable, Erin Hannon had a horrible childhood and plenty of repressed rage, Kelly and Ryan were both narcissists and Meredith was one of TV's all-time shady characters, with a serious drinking problem and poor sexual boundaries; however, being a bad or damaged person isn't enough to accuse someone of being the Scranton Strangler.
The strangest but most iconic of all The Office's familiar faces was that of Dwight K. Schrute. Dwight was self-righteous, with a fondness for combat and weaponry. He pretended to choke Jim as the Strangler, then formed the Knights of the Night, purportedly to apprehend the villain, but he may have used the volunteer organization to steer the investigation away from himself, and if not himself, someone in his inner circle.
He had an oddball friend, Nate, who made recurring appearances, but the most logical of all non-Skub candidates for Strangler had to be Mose Schrute. What afflicted Mose was never specifically defined, but he's understood to be unwell. He lived on a remote farm, with multiple graves on the property. In Season 8, Episode 15, Dwight recorded a video message to his future children in which he expressed his fear that Mose was planning to kill him. He also mentioned that Mose has killed before.
As is the case in real life, when it comes to Scranton's most notorious fictional killer, people may never really know, even though the simplest answer is usually the right one. In this case, the simplest answer is that Toby was right all along since Skub did retaliate by strangling him. A final fan theory posed that there isn't just one Scranton Strangler, and Dwight floated the idea that there could be copycats, and with a motley crew like the one that works at Dunder Mifflin, it wouldn't be a surprise.