It seems that Columbo does not have to deal with the 'best and brightest' at times. We all do dumb things, at least I do, but some of the murders really do not think before taking action. I imagine that in some cases they could not help it.

I would like to compile a list of some thoughtless and rather careless things some murders did. I will cut and paste and keep the list going. We probably can debate some of the acts - were they 'studpid' or not - but for now I would just like to compile.



Here is my start.

Milo Janus - Decides to strangle Gene when the victim has a pot of coffee in his hands.

Oscar Finch - A high paid attorney leaves a piece of cheese on the desk.

Col Rumford - Stays infatuated with an investigation about cider during an investigation of a murder in his academy.

Nelson Haywood - Uses a firecracker - which leaves a mess - to imitate the sound of a gun.

Nelson Haywood - Can't wait to kill his manager, only a few days before election.

Thanks to anyone who contributes.

what's the answer to your quiz question in the other thread?

first things first. :-)

Well there are so many, but here is my quick list trying not to state the obvious dumb things that actually got the murderer caught...

1) Alex Benedict, why put on the tux before the murder in the first place, it's not practical for running, and is certainly more conspicuous for people noticing you walking

2) Viveca Scott, why write the amount you're offering on paper, just tell Karl the amount

3) Abigail Mitchell should have dropped the keys on the couch and they would have looked like they fell in the cracks by mistake

4) Dr. Ray Flemming - don't answer the phone when you're in the middle of a murder

5) Dr. Mark Collier - don't smoke at the murder scene, if nothing else for the smell it leaves

6) Beth Chadwick should have had gloves on when she changed the lightbulb, as judging their affluence and having household staff, she certainly wouldn't be crawling up on a ladder and changing lightbulbs. They didn't use this point in the episode, but I think they could have at least to confirm suspicion

7) Kay Freestone - could have quickly stuffed that glove anywhere with obscurity, rather than throw it on the floor. If they truly searched everyone, she could have stuffed it anywhere in her clothing garments and they still wouldn't have found it. If they searched her purse, they didn't question the broken antenna, and that should have raised red flags before a pat down for a gun which wouldn't have caught the glove.

There's so many more, look forward to hearing what everyone else can think of...

"3) Abigail Mitchell should have dropped the keys on the couch and they would have looked like they fell in the cracks by mistake"

That wouldn't have worked because the police already searched the premises, so how could they just appear out of the blue?

In Suitable For Framing, after Columbo touched the paintings, Dale should've wiped his fingerprints off. Also, how did Dale not notice Columbo's car outside? Maybe Columbo parked it somewhere less conspicuous.

In Short Fuse, when Columbo opens the cigar case, why doesn't Rodger notice that it's not rigged?

In The Greenhouse Jungle, Jarvis doesn't bother to retrieve the bullet in the dirt, even though he's aware that Columbo knows about it.

In Negative Reaction, I can't fathom why Paul Galesko grabs the camera right in front of the police and incriminates himself. He should've waited to speak to his attorney and had him go over to the place to take pictures and prove that the photo was reversed. Also, Columbo already showed him one of the photos which he claimed Alvin Deschler disposed of, which wasn't reversed, so he should've known that the police still had it.

Speaking of which, why do some of the murderers give away tell-tale signs, such as Galesko's photographs, the drugs in Dr. Mayfield's office and so forth, clearly indicative of their more unique talents, outside the realm of other people's capacity?

In Playback, Harold leaves his invitation to the art gallery in full view of his security cameras.

In Troubled Waters, Hayden Danzinger incriminates himself by firing the gun and then stuffing the gloves inside of the fire hose. Columbo didn't have enough evidence to convict him and he knew it, so why?

Adrian Carsini -- Parks his brother's car on a high cliff, forgets to put the top up.

Murder with too Many Notes -- Findlay Crawford uses an old defunct noisy elevator to rise up and "dump" Gabriel (who is already dead) to the ground so it looks like an accident.

Max Barsini. Claims to have washed his brushes out in the sink at Vito's place, neglecting to even check first if the sink worked.

There are many others, but I'll let someone else take a crack.....

Paul Galesko does two stupid things

1-Leaves the "bad" picture of his wife on the floor in plain sight to be discovered.

2-Overly volunteers the info that it's not a good picture. He's supposed to be making the police think a dumb ex-con committed the crime not a photographic expert who would have given a darn about composition etc.

Speaking of Adrian, this isn't exactly a dumb thing in the same CATEGORY, but I usually wince when a killer says there was "no remorse." Not because of the right or wrong of it, but because I think anyone getting arrested for murder should at least PRETEND there's remorse whether it's there or not. It might not help their case, but there's always a chance that it will.

(Of course, I realize it's usually more dramatic that way, so that's a reason to give it a pass.)

Of course, that could also be true of Ward Fowler, but in his case it's a great theatrical sort of moment (William Shatner might not always be the ham he's made out to be but in that scene he is, which to me is a GOOD thing). It's even a "WTF" sort of moment, because he says it right in front of the victim's husband (even if he is an estranged husband).

I always cringe when Col. Rumford calmly proclaims that "It had to be done, and I'd do it again." Though I can't exactly imagine him begging for mercy or saying he's so, so sorry, either. That man had pride!

I think the issue raised about Abigail Mitchell and the keys is that she could have put them between the couch cushions the night of the murder instead of hiding them in the sand.

Yes, that was exactly what I meant, thank you.

Yes, I quite agree. Hiding the keys in an ashtray was not smart at all !!!!!! It would have been better for her if she had left them on the table! I often wondered why she killed him in HER OWN house.

Marshall Cahill leaving a match in Nicholson's ashtray wasn't too bright. First rule of crime school: never leave anything at the scene except the corpus delecti!

Another dumb thing Paul Galesko did (but didn't actually get caught) was tooling around in that big Rolls Royce while meeting with and trying to frame Deschler. Nobody would have thought those wheels unusual outside that fleabag motel or near the junkyard?

Thanks for replies. I will compile.

Clay, my question about the similarity between those three episodes was so ridiculous that I feel ridiculous having asked it. But having admitted it was a ridiculous question the answer is that planes were used.

I just watched the entire first 7 seasons on Netflix and found something stupid that every murderer did. I'll have to put my thinking cap back on and drop a list, but I'll start with this one:

Bart Kepple: He turned on the tape recorder in the lobby instead of in the viewing room. Why even turn it on the first place? Was a recording even necessary?

It doesn't really qualify as stupid because they barely had the TIME to do it, but I've always thought that Nicky and Lily could have talked Sir Roger out of his plan to ruin them. After all, his main problem was wounded pride, and it seems to me like he couldn't have gotten them blacklisted the way he wanted to without the whole story getting out (whether THEY leaked the story or not), and that would've been even WORSE for his pride. So if only they'd had the time to spell that out to him, the accidental killing might not have happened.

Didn't Bart Kepple have to turn it on to record in order to tape over his narration? That's why I thought he turned it on. But yes, I agree, he should have turned it on earlier. Unless it was still rewinding during that earlier time, I'm not sure.

This has been brought up several times by me (and others, I guess), but COLUMBO seems to be almost full of blackmailers who definitely act like they aren't going to press their luck with the killer over and over, so it at least SEEMS foolish to make that person a second victim, but that's usually just what happens. There's Shirley Blaine, Tanner, Lily La Sanka, and others.
Oddly enough, nearly the only blackmailer who makes it clear that he's not going to go away is Artie Jessup, who of course isn't what he seems to be.

That's true, he would have had to record over it, but he also could have just switched the tape out after the viewing or told police he made a taped copy for his secretary to transpose into a script for his narrator. All in all, it's just a weird part of his scheme. One other thing that bothers me about this episode is the gun. Kepple uses a calibration converter to change the size of the ammunition, and we see him remove it and place it in the lamp, that's how Columbo catches him afterall. Columbo tells Kepple that all his guns were checked and that none of them had been fired and aren't even the right caliber. Now, I'm not a gun expert, but if Kepple used an automatic, wouldn't there have been powder residue on the ejection chamber? Also, unless it happens off screen, Kepple never removes the clip with the ammo and replaces it with an empty clip.

Yes, I had thought of that as well regarding the GSR. Also, I just watched it again last week, and the gun shot was so loud, that despite the film going on in the theater, someone would most certainly have heard the gunshot. He should have had a silencer to make it more believable. Even so, it's still a fantastic episode. Very clever story line, all the characters where great. And Robert Culp always made such a great murderer with that flair of cockiness about him. The golfing scene was fantastic!

It's one of my favorite episodes and one I always keep on my iPod Touch.