Who Killed Sharky? - Can you solve it?

7. Who Killed Sharky?

Sharky, the head of an underworld gang, has been murdered. Detective Sharp questions Sharky’s four henchmen—Socko, Fats, Lefty, and Muscles—and records their statements:

a) Socko: “Lefty killed Sharky.”
b) Fats: “Muscles did not kill Sharky.”
c) Lefty: “Muscles was shooting craps with me when Sharky was knocked off.”
d) Muscles: “Lefty did not kill Sharky.”

Detective Sharp establishes that exactly one of these four statements is true, while the other three are false.

Using this information, determine: Who killed Sharky?

Added 30 October 2012

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Hint:

Assume each henchman’s statement is either completely true or completely false. Test each statement as the single true one and look for a consistent scenario.

Solution:

If Muscles’ statement (“Lefty did not kill Sharky”) is the one true statement, then Lefty is innocent. Socko’s claim that Lefty killed Sharky is therefore false, and Fats’s statement that Muscles did not kill Sharky is also false—meaning Muscles did kill Sharky. Lefty’s alibi for Muscles is likewise false, so Muscles had no alibi. All three remaining statements are false, satisfying the condition that exactly one statement is true. Any other choice for the single true statement leads to a contradiction. Hence, Muscles is the murderer.

Comments (1)

Red 13 August 2013

Muscles killed Sharky

d. Muscles: Lefty did not kill the Sharky= True
because
b & c both say that muscles DIDNT kill him, since only 1 answer can be true both b&c are lies.
and
'a' can't be true, because then 'b' would say that muscles also killed him.

so it can't be a,b, or c
so 'd' has to be true
so
the truth is
a-Lefty didn't kill sharky
b-Muscles DID kill Sharky
c-Muscles DIDn't have an alibi
d-Lefty DIDn't kill Sharky
so
Muscles killed Sharky

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