I never got to know it TERRIBLY well, but that sounds more like a BANACEK ending. Not any particular episode that I can think of, just the general idea of the show (I think he was always solving crimes that were committed in a very "gimmicky" way, like the one you describe). Of course, it started around the same time as COLUMBO (maybe ' 72 instead of ' 71), though it didn't last as long.

My favorite ending (or one of them) is in "Columbo Goes to College". Those two punks thought they outsmarted Columbo all along, but in the end, they finally got theirs. It was a joy to see them go down finally.