Is "Columbo's wife" a profession? Because he'd never see it coming!

I think all the ideas you listed are good. My first thought was maybe someone used to making split-second decisions who might better be able to outmaneuver Columbo, such as a day trader (best I could come up with)... maybe someone like that could lie their way out of getting caught in one of his traps better than most people were able to do, in the past.

You already said legal/law enforcement, and of course the dirty CIA agent has already been done (in "Identity Crisis"), as has the dirty police chief (in "A Friend in Need"), so it seems like most of the best ones are taken. Good food for thought, though!

One other way to look at it might be to see how to commit the perfect murder, according to Columbo's formula, then figure out a person who has a situation to fit those parameters. I can think of a few examples of things on the show that are clearly a no-no:

1) Don't offer explanations for why anything happened, because it shows forethought. The innocent characters never seem to know why anything's going on, but the guilty ones always have a quick explanation for why something seems off, when Columbo mentions it. So, that said, perhaps if you got black-out drunk immediately following the crime, it would skew your memory enough that you'd have no explanation for things when questioned (this happened in one of the episodes, though I forget which one, but the guy was only pretending to be drunk for his alibi, which involved smashing into a bystander's car while leaving the bar).

2) Never ask anyone what time it is, and don't wear a watch. Again, the episodes where people either "forgot" their watch, or who say that it's malfunctioning, and thus must ask around for the time, are almost always the perpetrators, and Columbo seems to know that. Don't have a specific idea of where you were at any given time. Again, drinking would help, in this regard.

3) Don't keep a clean trunk EVER ("Suitable for Framing," "Death Lends a Hand"). That is apparently pretty suspicious in and of itself. You could probably effectively trash the trunk with some used beer cans and vodka bottles, assuming you're going with items #1 and #2. (Obviously don't drink and drive, just carry them out from your house and dump them in the trunk!)

4) Don't take the bait - do not change ANYTHING you "missed" following the murder. It's likely your alteration of elements was an intentional set-up ("Make Me a Perfect Murder"; also the Maestro one with the carnation). It's better in this case, as in my other points, if you simply don't remember what happened in the first place, so that you're unable to alter it. I think you see where I'm going with this...

5) Don't employ technology of any sort in your alibi; Columbo pretends to be baffled, but will dog it until he understands and pins you (for examples, take your pick, incl. "Greenhouse Jungle" metal detector, "Playback" security tape system, blackmailing journalist's word processor in yet another episode, etc.). If you had spent all your money on drink by this point, you're not going to have anything left for an iPhone or monthly service, anyway, so again this is a good idea.

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So, after careful consideration, I'm going to go with "professional drunk" in answer to your question. Otis, from "The Andy Griffith Show," would be the perfect murderer. Though he appears not to be wealthy, we never see his house (he's always sleeping it off at the jail), so we can't just assume. He obviously is wealthy enough to be drunk every single day! *Grin*

Edit: Oops, just saw you wanted the epitome, which I didn't realize in the first post. Hope you enjoyed it anyway.

Some very interesting points...

I think Bryce's original post was asking for the archetypal profession for a Columbo villain, rather than the one that would give the best chance of avoiding being caught. (For the latter, it seems that being a nondescript individual with a boring job and no particular career prospects, but working in an organisation with an extremely famous, well-paid and arrogant boss would be ideal!)

The 'psychologist'-type villain idea was perhaps overused, and I don't think all of these episodes are too strong. But it taps into the idea that many villains are meant to be unusually intelligent, which possibly culminates in 'Bye Bye Sky High...'. To this I'd add the ones that have an obsession with technology: 'Playback', 'Mind over Mayhem' and even 'Short Fuse'. These villains can perhaps all be seen as being cut from the same cloth.

On the other hand, there are the more 'artistic' villains: writers, actors and musicians. Writers are particularly well represented ('Murder by the Book', 'Try and Catch Me', 'Publish or Perish'). If I had to pick one, then I'd say that Abigail Mitchell has just about all the character traits of the typical 'Columbo' villain.

I think it would have been interesting for the murderer to have been a Priest,Would have loved to see Columbo in and around the Clergy.

I enjoyed your response very much, Wendy! (No harm broadening the topic a little ) Those are great examples of recurring ways the murderer is often undone; in fact, it seems as though that watch/time business is in almost as many episodes as Dog!

I agree, tffff, that the "psychologist" episodes vary in quality. For me the truly standout episodes in this category are probably "Double Exposure" and "How To Dial a Murder", though even these, to me, have slightly weak endings. And it's an interesting point about the "technology" and "artist" categories. I think "Playback" is the best of the "technology" episodes, while my favorite "artist" episode is "Etude in Black"- probably the least compelling "artist" murderers for me are the actors, though I think such an occupation for a Columbo murderer has great potential.

And, Bugs50, I agree it would have been interesting for the series to have had sort of a religious backdrop (tastefully, of course) in an episode.

I enjoyed watching Columbo interact with the affable senatorial candidate played by Jackie Cooper, and also the affable Congressman played by an excellent actor who is unknown to me, in "Agenda for Murder".

So my answer to your question is politician, and I wish they had done more of those. Every once in a while I see one of our fine representatives on TV and I think, I'd love to see the Lieutenant square off against that guy.

I love that Jackie Cooper episode, too! The Nelson Hayward character in that episode seems to supremely represent two of the more contemptible things that many real-life politicians have been guilty of- unfaithfulness in marriage and being a hypocrite (Nelson campaigning against crime, yet being directly involved in it). I also love how his campaign manager, the victim, is a completely unlikable and revolting character, too.
I've only briefly seen parts of "Agenda For Murder", but I think I know who you're referring to- the guy who Patrick McGoohan's character is sort of in cahoots with. I agree that politicians make great adversaries, especially since they have so much to lose when Columbo catches them, so are naturally very contentious and defensive (sometimes to hilarious effect).