Molly's History

Lesli Kay's character, Molly (Peterson Conlan) McKinnon, has been through some tough times since arriving in Oakdale in March of 1997.

She was introduced to the As the World Turns family as an inmate who unwittingly was an accessory to an armed robbery committed by her ex-boyfriend (she was waiting in the get-a-away car).  There she met fellow inmate Lily, who was in prison for killing Diego Santana aka Umberto Malzone.  While in jail, the two became friends.  

After Lily's release, she helped get Molly's conviction overturned and gave her a place to stay.  Realizing that Lily's on-again off-again husband, Holden, was her high school sweetheart and long lost love, Molly tried to avoid him but his cousin Jack recognized her.

She tells Jack that she had given birth to Holden's daughter (Abigail) back when she was a teenager and was forced by her father to give her up for adoption.  She asks Jack to help her find the child.  Jack gets a tip about Abigail's whereabouts and Molly finally tells Holden he has a daughter.  While he is out of town, Lily's presumed dead ex-husband, Damien returns to Oakdale.  Molly couldn't be happier when she finds out that Damien wants Lily back.  She plots and schemes and arranges for Holden to "accidentally" see Damien and Lily at the altar of the church.  She then talked Holden into tracking down their adopted child.  Heartbroken and thinking that Lily has remarried, he agrees to go with her.  They locate Abigail and after talking to her adoptive mother, agree not to approach her again until she turns 18.

During the search for Abigail, she takes the opportunity to trap a drugged Holden in a compromising situation in a hotel room with a hidden camera.  Another part of her scheme to win Holden landed them in Mussel Shell, Montana, home of her infamous cousin, Carly Tenney.  Carly later moved back to Oakdale to wreak her own havoc (but that's a whole other story!).

Still determined to win Holden away from Lily, she claims to be pregnant from the previously mentioned hotel tryst.  Holden is suspicious and Lily does not believe the edited video tape that Molly gives her, showing her and Holden in the hotel room.  Holden attempts to have Molly arrested and threatens her in front of witnesses at the police station.  He also publicly argues with her outside of the Milltown Baptist Church.  After Holden leaves her alone outside the church, she is assaulted and beaten unconscious by a racist cop who is there to burn the church to the ground.  Seizing her last chance to snag Holden, she blackmails him into marrying her, promising not to tell the police that he tried to kill her, but Holden had other plans.  He tricks her into thinking he will marry her, but meets Lily at the ceremony instead.  Arriving in time to interrupt the wedding, Kirk Anderson locked her in a closet while Holden exchanged vows with Lily.  Breaking free from the closet, she hysterically crashes Lily and Holden's wedding.  She lies about his involvement in her beating and the fire that burned down the church in Milltown. Nobody believes her.

Kim Hughes takes pity on Molly and invites her to stay in her home.  Heartbroken, Molly writes a romance novel, thinly disguising the characters to emulate herself, Holden, Lily and Lily's mother, Lucinda.  Lucinda agrees to financially help with the publication of her book if she becomes romantically involved with David Allen, who is claiming to be Lucinda's "died at birth" son fathered by Oakdale super villain, James Stenbeck.  Lucinda wants Molly to spy on David and gather information to help her to find out if he is scamming her or not.  But instead of spying, insecure Molly falls in love with David (who has now changed his last name to Stenbeck).  David finds out about the plan, leads Molly on and then dumps her at the altar.  David kidnaps a now pregnant Lily and later, during a rescue attempt, is killed by Holden and Julia Lindsey.  Holden and Julia bury him in a shallow grave and vow to keep his murder a secret.

Kim gives Molly a job as a production assistant at the town TV station, WOAK (which is co-owned by her and Lily).  Working at the station eventually leads to her own TV gossip show, In Your Face, which doesn't last too long.  While at the Hughes, she becomes involved with Kim's alcoholic son, Andy Dixon.  When he begins drinking again, she arranges an intervention to help him quit drinking.  During this time, she helps her cousin Carly switch paternity tests at the hospital to aid in Carly's being able to inherit $50 million from her half-sister, Rosanna (another long story!).  She spent a lot of time with Brad Snyder (who learned of the paternity switch and blackmailed Carly into marrying him).

Also while involved with Andy, a mysterious stranger, Reid Hamilton, arrives in town.  She is inexplicably drawn to him and finds herself unable to resist him, thus ending her relationship with Andy.  Many clues begin to surface concerning Reid's identity and she eventually figures out that he is actually David Stenbeck, back from the dead and with major plastic surgery.  During Lily's kidnapping, David had switched Lily's baby (whom she gave birth to while a hostage) and was determined to raise her as his own.   Molly helps Lily and Holden get their daughter, Faith, back, redeeming herself somewhat in their eyes.  Holden is now the station manager at WOAK, so he gives her a job as news anchor.

Ready to start over, and to move on from David and Andy, she rents David's old apartment in Oakdale Court.  Ex-boyfriend, Andy's much younger brother, Chris Hughes, is living in the apartment downstairs from her and she begins a hot affair with him.  Katie Peretti begins scheming with Henry Coleman to take over Molly's news anchor job at WOAK.  She takes compromising photos of Molly and Chris to show to Chris's mother, Kim, in an attempt to get Molly fired.  After her daughter, Abigail, begins to initiate contact with her and Holden, the affair is stopped by Chris, who just so happens to have begun seeing the now living in Oakdale Abigail, who he is unaware is Molly's daughter.   When Molly finds out about Chris and Abigail, she tells him that Abigail is her daughter and does everything in her power to get Chris to leave her daughter alone but he will not.

The pictures that Katie took of her and Chris surfaced and Holden fired Molly from her news anchor job.  Molly, jobless once again, visits Lucinda's newspaper, The City Times, and talks Jake into giving her a job as an advice columnist.

Abigail finds out that Molly had an affair with her boyfriend, via the pictures as well.  She confronted Molly about the affair with Chris outside Molly's apartment at Oakdale Court.  They got into a fight, and she falls down the steps.  She slips into a coma, where she lingers for months.  During her coma, Jake McKinnon, has been visiting her bedside, pouring his heart out to the unconscious Molly about the loss of his pregnant wife, Vicky, in a plane crash, unaware that she is hearing a lot of what he is saying.

After she wakes from her coma, she enlists Jake's help in faking a bit of amnesia to aid in her plot for revenge against her rival Katie (who not only took her job but moved into her apartment as well).  Eventually, Molly reveals to Abigail that she remembers everything and along with help from Chris and Jake, help set up a revelation of Katie's crimes.  Katie is receiving an Endicott Award for her news piece covering her own stalker (who at one point she erroneously claims to be Chris).  At the ceremony Molly and company play a video tape in which Katie admits all of her wrong doing and Molly, Abigail and Chris finally get satisfaction for all the pain Katie has caused them.

During this time, her and Jake drew closer and she survived through having to testify at David's trial and his escape from jail (he is shot and killed while on the run).  Jake admits he loves her and they have developed a wonderful, understanding, playful relationship.   But all is not well.   His dead wife is haunting her!

Molly and Jake soon discover that Jake's former wife, Vicky, is not haunting Molly, but trying to lead them to a discovery that will allow her to finally rest in peace.  Kim offers Molly the chance to return to her news anchor job at WOAK and despite the frequent appearances by Vicky's ghost, Jake reassures her and Molly accepts the job.

After years of agonizing over giving Abigail up for adoption and not being a mother to her, Molly becomes an instant parent when her and Jake discover what Vicky's ghost has been trying to tell them for the past 5 months.  Jake's twin girls are alive!  Vicky lived long enough after the crash to give birth.  The man who pulled Vicky from the water had been raising them, along with his wife.  Vicky appears one last time and gives Molly her blessing, asking her to help Jake raise her daughters, Michelle and Bridget.

After returning home with the twins, Jake proposes to Molly, making their blended family official.  But in the midst of the wedding plans, guess who shows up in town?   Molly's ex-boyfriend, Nick Scudder (remember the one from the beginning of this synopsis who landed her in jail?)!  And to top off this surprise, he is working with Molly at WOAK as a video editor!

Molly's mug shot begins to show up on t-shirts and fake wedding invitations.  Molly was sure that Nick was behind these occurrences, but proclaiming his innocence, he helps Jake to uncover the true culprit.  It was Jake and Molly's nanny, Mary, who secretly was in love with Jake.  They fire her, of course, and Vicky's mother, Donna, offers to act as temporary nanny to the twins while Jake and Molly prepare for their fantasy wedding.  They are finally married in a beautiful romantic ceremony and head off on their honeymoon but while they are gone Nick is trying to get close to Abigail.

Soon young, impressionable Abigail is in love with the scheming Nick.  She is ready to leave town with him when he finally reveals his true purpose for seducing her... blackmail.  He tells Molly and Jake that if they do not give him a pay-off, he will leave town with Abigail.  Before Jake can deliver the money Abigail goes to his apartment to confront him.  She finds a music box engraved to Nick from another woman.  He tells her she has been his pawn and he becomes violent.  Hitting her and knocking her unconscious.  Soon after, Molly discovers Abigail huddled in a corner and Nick is on the floor dead.  Molly confesses to the murder to keep Abigail out of jail and Jake also steps in to take the blame, but the police know better.  Abigail is the prime suspect.

Abigail has lost her memory of the evening events.  As her memory slowly returns, she remembers another woman being in the room and arguing with Nick.  It is eventually discovered that this woman is Mary Menighan, the previous nanny for the McKinnon's.  She was working with Nick all along but he double crossed her and was going to take the money and leave her behind.  She is the real murderer.  In a panic she kidnaps Molly and demands one million dollars for her return.  Afraid that the police will mess things up, Jake lies to the police and meets Mary at the drop spot on his own.  He refuses to let Mary leave with Molly and struggles with Mary for the gun.  The gun goes off, Mary falls to her death from the roof of the building and Jake collapse in Molly's arms.  After arriving at the hospital, he dies from post operative complications and Molly, who had finally found the love of her life is left alone.

Molly falls into the habit of drinking too much to forget about Jake.  When the people closest to her become concerned, she flees to New York City where she meets a man in a bar.  They hit it off and she discovers that he is Mike Kasnoff, her cousin Carly's old love.  Hesitant to become involved with him, she returns to Oakdale.  He follows her and with Carly's blessing, begin to develop a relationship.  Molly lies to him about helping him get a job building the Oakdale Memorial Burn Unit by donating the money for the project and Mike breaks off their relationship.  Sad and alone, him and Carly have a one night stand.  Carly discovers she is pregnant.

When the circumstances of Carly's pregnancy is revealed, Molly breaks things off with both Carly and Mike.  Eventually she realizes how much she cares for both of them and tries to make amends with Carly but is confused about her feelings for Mike.  On the rebound, she begins sleeping with Dusty Donovan, who has returned to Oakdale after many years.  Trouble has followed him to town in the form of some thugs whom he double crossed in Chicago.  Molly becomes entangled in Dusty's troubles and is threatened several times by Dusty's ex-partners.

In the midst of it all, Molly still has hope that Mike and her will reconcile.  In a desperate attempt to make Mike jealous, she makes sure that he finds out about Dusty.  Unfortunately, her plans to win Mike back fail.  After Carly's baby is  born and it is discovered that Mike is not the father, she and him have a long talk and put closure to their relationship. 

Dusty, looking for a partner in Metro, a local nightspot, lets Molly invest in the club, therefore, becoming Dusty's business partner as well as his lover.  In an attempt to pay back the money he owes Starziak, one of the thugs he owes money too, Dusty begins laundering money through a foundation he set up in the name of Rose D'Angelo, his ex-lover, using Metro as a front.  Molly becomes a pawn for Starziak to get at Dusty and is kidnapped and locked in an elevator in an abandoned building.  After her rescue, scared and hiding out, she is staying with Carly and Jack when Starziak comes after her.  Jack walks in and catches him in the act of trying to kill her.  Molly freaks out and wants Jack to take him away.  Jack leaves with the would-be-assassin before backup arrives and is forced over the side of a bridge and is presumed dead.  Carly blames Molly for Jack's death and their relationship deteriorates even further.  Prompted by the declining quality of her life in Oakdale, she leaves town to live in California near her daughter, Abigail.

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