I enjoyed looking at everyone else's "killer" evaluations (pun intended - haw haw haw!). Here are my own next seven. I decided to pit some of the "new" episodes against the old and see how things turned out. Plus, there's the first female killer I've done.

Enjoy!

DR. JOAN ALLENBY
Lindsay Crouse, Sex and the Married Detective

INTELLIGENCE – 6: Her “Lisa” disguise is a clever twist, but Allenby is unprepared for the forensic science Columbo brings to bear on the case
VILENESS – 4: The victim, her boyfriend, is a cheating sleazebag who compared her to “rice pudding”. Dr. Allenby, for all her confidence on-air, is also unsure of her own appeal and personality
CHARISMA – 9: Columbo admits that he has enjoyed his talks with her. She is also a beautiful radio personality who, either as herself or as “Lisa”, is very appealing to the opposite sex
DEVOTION – 5: Once she’s cornered, Dr. Allenby confesses easily enough
PHYSICAL – 6: She uses a pistol for murdering David, but her skill with disguise and her ability to assume a different personality make up for that crudity
COURAGE – 10: Most of her scheme plays like a fantasy for Joan. As “Lisa”, she walks through crowds of her friends and co-workers, knowing that one slip could mean exposure. As Joan, she hands Columbo the briefcase containing her disguise not once but twice
TOTAL – 40


FIELDING CHASE
William Shatner, Butterfly in Shades of Grey

INTELLIGENCE – 6: Chase’s plan for murder is simple and straightforward, just like his famous radio persona. Unfortunately, he’s up against Lt. Columbo…
VILENESS – 9: Possessive and egotistical, Chase uses his influence to crush his daughter’s book and smears the innocent Senator Madison in front of his millions of listeners
CHARISMA – 5: His on-air style has earned him a fortune, but personally the pompous Chase doesn’t come across very well. By the end, he is deserted by even his daughter
DEVOTION – 10: Fielding Chase is one of the few killers who, when cornered, seriously considered murdering Columbo. Even as his life crumbles and Victoria, for whom he killed Gerry in the first place, leaves, he never considers confessing
PHYSICAL – 4: All that exercise equipment doesn’t seem to be doing him much good
COURAGE – 7: Chase decides to kill a man he publicly threatened to murder, and then places himself right in the middle of it as the last man to speak to the victim
TOTAL – 41

MR. BRIMMER
Robert Culp, Death Lends a Hand

INTELLIGENCE – 7: Brimmer uses his skills as a P.I. and an ex cop to stage a rather convincing cover-up. Perhaps all those years off the force have made him soft, though – he is not very proactive, and in the end he falls for a schoolyard ploy
VILENESS – 6: His business practices are, for the most part, honest – except for the occasional blackmail – and he never really intended to hurt anyone
CHARISMA – 5: Fortunately for Brimmer, his business doesn’t require good “people” skills. His explosive, violent temper leads to his undoing
DEVOTION – 6: Even after being caught with the incriminating contact lens, Brimmer tries one last trick to get rid of it. Once he’s cornered, he confesses
PHYSICAL – 7: This is one scary guy. His murder is sudden, brutal and violent – and just look at the way he manhandles his victim’s body
COURAGE – 8: In an incredibly bold move, Brimmer offers to help investigate his own crime in the hopes of covering himself. Plus, watch the scene where Columbo mock-slaps him – he doesn’t even blink
TOTAL – 39

KEN FRANKLIN
Jack Cassidy, Murder by the Book

INTELLIGENCE – 8: He parlays his only good plot idea into an excellent scheme for murder. Covering his tracks well, he almost succeeds in shaking Columbo – until another, sloppier murder gives him away
VILENESS – 10: The phony “author” kills two people to avoid having his secret exposed. When giving false comfort to the distraught Joanna or toasting himself over his victim’s body, Ken Franklin displays his absolute vileness
CHARISMA – 8: Franklin has a smooth, oily charm and an eloquence that allows him to talk up the best television interviewers and movie execs. His talents are wasted against Lieutenant Columbo, however
DEVOTION – 9: He’ll do just about anything to avoid exposure and humiliation, but when Columbo has him beat, he admits that he’s encountered a superior intellect
PHYSICAL – 8: His first murder is rather jejune, but the murder of Miss La Sanka requires a physical tour-de-force, ending with a midnight swim across an icy lake
COURAGE – 9: Franklin’s ego and self-confidence drives him to contrive a gutsy murder scheme. Dumping your victim’s body in your own front lawn? That takes a steady hand
TOTAL – 52

MAX BARSINI
Patrick Bauchau, Murder, A Self-Portrait

INTELLIGENCE – 6: Barsini is a brilliant painter, but he is also vain and temperamental – it’s fairly obvious when Columbo hits too close to home
VILENESS – 9: Psychologically abusive, egotistical, controlling, possessive, and an all-around weirdo. Murdered his first art dealer and forced Louise to keep the horrible secret, giving her terrible nightmares years later
CHARISMA – 8: Taking the above qualities into account, Max is still able to keep three women bound to him. His sway over his “family” of wives is incredible
DEVOTION – 8: Max Barsini is quite nearly insane – a rarity in Columbo killers. Getting caught is abhorrent to this egomaniac, but by the end, with his life crumbling around him, he seems to almost welcome Columbo’s coup de grace
PHYSICAL – 6: He had to create a painting of Vito’s bar overnight if he hoped to establish his alibi. That requires a good deal of skill
COURAGE – 7: “Cowardly” is not a word one would use to describe a murderer who offers to paint a portrait of the policeman assigned to his case. Max may be crazy, but he’s got a lot of moxy
TOTAL – 44


ELLIOTT BLAKE
Anthony Andrews, Columbo Goes to the Guillotine

INTELLIGENCE – 7: Blake might not be a real psychic, but he’s one heck of a clever magician. It’s a shame his plan for murdering Max wasn’t as ingenious
VILENESS – 6: The way he kills Max is horribly grotesque, but the guy did leave Blake to rot in a Ugandan prison for three years while he walked away a free man. Being a con man doesn’t win him any points when one considers the vileness of other Columbo foes
CHARISMA – 7: One requirement for a successful con man: you’ve got to be slick. Elliott is certainly that, fooling the CIA and the head of a psychic research institute
DEVOTION – 8: Blake is perfectly ready to flee Columbo and enter the shadowy world of the CIA, but when the Lieutenant corners him, he’s also ready to send the guillotine blade slicing down
PHYSICAL – 5: Being a magician requires a lot of slight-of-hand, but we don’t see very much of it from Blake
COURAGE – 6: He’s set to defraud the Central Intelligence Agency. Other than that, Elliott Blake is one of the few Columbo killers who could almost be considered a “wimp”
TOTAL – 39

DALE KINGSTON
Ross Martin, Suitable for Framing

INTELLIGENCE – 8: Kingston’s crime is a true work of art. He comes up with a brilliant plan to inherit his uncle’s art collection and eliminate the only heir standing in his way
VILENESS – 10: Superiority oozes from this critic’s every pore. He kills his own uncle and tries to cover himself by murdering his student and lover. Then he attempts to frame his innocent old aunt Edna. A true scumbag
CHARISMA – 6: His status as a powerful critic gives him almost absolute power in the art world, but his bad jokes and elitist attitude do little to help him when he’s pitted against Lt. Columbo
DEVOTION – 10: Kingston has absolutely no conscience. He’s still trying to worm his way out when Columbo puts the final nails in his coffin
PHYSICAL – 5: Other than those horrendous suits, there’s nothing physically remarkable about Dale Kingston
COURAGE – 7: He leaves nothing at all to chance and involves himself in every stage of the crime. A point is deducted for the quivering puppy-dog look he gets in the final scene
TOTAL – 46

So to sum up my results for the first 14 (feel free to disagree - I'm sure some of you will!) -
Dr. Ray Flemming (53), Ken Franklin (52), Dr. Barry Mayfield (50), Alex Benedict (46), Dale Kingston (46), Max Barsini (44), Adrian Carsini (42), Fielding Chase (41), Dr. Joan Allenby (40), Tommy Brown (40), Elliott Blake (39), Mr. Brimmer (39), Emmet Clayton (38), Jarvis Goodland (37)

Up next: A "tag-team killers" episode, a few more womenfolk, and a handful of newer episodes...

Dirk...you continue to do a great job on this!
I haven't seen many of the newer episodes but I still enjoyed reading your evaluations.
And when I read about the original murderers it makes me want to watch the episodes again.
Loved what you said about Dale Kingston's suits. And let's not forget his ties!!!
And you are so right about Brimmer and how he tosses her body to the ground....so violent.

Thank you much - it's incredibly fun to go back and watch all these again. I hadn't seen "Guillotine", for instance, for years.

That brings up another point - has anyone suspected that Elliott and Max became a little closer than friends in that prison? There was a little dialogue there, just before the murder, about "what we meant to each other, what we gave each other" that made me wonder... have you seen this particular episode, Cass? Has anyone else has similar suspicions?

For someone who grew up with the terrible style of the 1980's, it's nice to know there was a decade even worse. Kingston's ties were HUGE! What was he hiding in there? Other favorite outfits of mine are Roger Standford's wince-indicingly tight pants and anything Hayden Danziger wears.

Sadly, I have not seen that episode....I would have loved to have commented on that thing you said about it.
Kingston could have hidden those Degas pastels under his tie!!
And as far as a fashion DON'T...Beth Chadwick from Lady in Waiting was an enormous DON'T!!