Columbo : Who did not deserve to be murdered?

Who did not deserve to be murdered?

Not sure if this has been discussed before but if you could name one person on the show who didn't deserve to be murdered who would it be? For me it would be Tomlin Dudek from The Most Dangerous Match for two reasons:

1. So Dudek was a better chess player, it's still just a game not worth killing someone for it.

2. Dudek was very nice to Emmett Clayton. Like in the restaurant playing chess with him but also his offer to postpone the match until Clayton felt better and he even helped him with his loveletter.

Dudek was really a nice guy so of all the murders, this one really sticks out for me as the less deserving murder.

The other one is Jenifer Welles in Étude in Black. I mean Alex Benedict could have ended the relationship why did he have to kill her? She didn't do anything bad.



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Re: Who did not deserve to be murdered?

Chopin the cockatoo didn't deserve to die. Even Columbo was upset about it. Poor birdie...

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Re: Who did not deserve to be murdered?


Chopin the cockatoo didn't deserve to die.
Best answer of all!!!! lol

Re: Who did not deserve to be murdered?

He didn't deserve to be murdered, but he hadn't gone entirely straight either... he defrauded Galeko out of money for the camera with a phony receipt.

Re: Who did not deserve to be murdered?

Jennifer Wells had to go. She was blackmailing Benedict, and said if he didn't leave his wife for her, she would make a scandal of their affair.

Re: Who did not deserve to be murdered?

Yeah that's true but she was so beautiful I felt so sad she got murdered and her bird also.

Re: Who did not deserve to be murdered?

Columbo was so shallow in this episode. The girl was beautiful so could not possibly have killed herself? Give me a break.

Re: Who did not deserve to be murdered?

I agree. I felt bad for Alex.

Re: Who did not deserve to be murdered?


For me it would be Tomlin Dudek from The Most Dangerous Match
A real tear jerker. Mr. Dudek was a saint and was nothing but nice to Clayton! It really pissed me off!

Re: Who did not deserve to be murdered?

All the people Leonard Nimoy murdered or tried to murder.

Re: Who did not deserve to be murdered?

I don't think anyone deserves to be murdered.

Re: Who did not deserve to be murdered?

Abigail Mitchell had a pretty good reason in Try and Catch Me. I mean Edmund killed her niece so she had to take revenge for that.

Re: Who did not deserve to be murdered?

No-one in the Columbo universe actually "deserved" to be murdered. Child molesters, they deserve to be murdered, but we're not dealing with things like that.

That being said, there were people who were asking for it, usually by blackmailing someone. They deserve to be murdered. Most people on the show didn't deserve it, though.

Take Jack Cassidy. He kills his writing "partner", for what? Was there insurance money involved (I get By the Book confused with Publish or Perish sometimes). I know he didn't want the world to know that he was not really a writer, so that was his motive. That's weak. Speaking of Publish or Perish, he kills a writer because he's leaving his company? What the hell is that all about. Anyone in that business would have countless clients leaving to go with another publishing company.

Re: Who did not deserve to be murdered?

It's a TV show. The whole "deserves" to be murdered stuff is silly. None of the people on the show were actually murdered on the show so it's a moot point, IMO.

Re: Who did not deserve to be murdered?

As a kid, I really disliked Jack Cassidy. His characters were always smarmy but even worse, he was married to Shirley Jones and I had a crush on her. He just seemed so wrong for her! Anyway, he met with a horrible, real-life death and I remember being secretly happy about it. I was only 14 and somewhat confused, I admit. I still have a crush on her, though.

Re: Who did not deserve to be murdered?

Jack Cassidy also had a huge ego and he was resentful. His ego drove him to murder.

Re: Who did not deserve to be murdered?

No definite proof is offered that he murdered her niece. it could just be her imagination.

Re: Who did not deserve to be murdered?

Nope, not her imagination. Columbo commented on it being a poor marriage; no pictures of wife in the apartment.

Re: Who did not deserve to be murdered?

that doesn't prove he murdered her. You can't convict a man of murder because he has no picture of his wife in his apartment. besides, there are other reasons why there might be no picture - he might find it painful to look at pictures of her for instance.

Re: Who did not deserve to be murdered?

Who said it "proved" it? You said it could be her imagination. Columbo's observation gave some credence in her favor.

Re: Who did not deserve to be murdered?

not a good enough reason to murder someone, in my opinion. She was a wicked old woman. if i was that unfortuante young man's mother. i would certainly want to see her go to prison.

Re: Who did not deserve to be murdered?

Well, I think in fairness, we don't ever know for sure whether Edmund killed Phyllis. I think all we know is that Abigail believes that, but it's never stated for sure.

Re: Who did not deserve to be murdered?

It's just make-believe; suspend your disbelief and enjoy the show.

Re: Who did not deserve to be murdered?

Galesko's wife deserved to!!! Annoying nagging twat she was

Re: Who did not deserve to be murdered?

Sam Jaffe in Forgotten Lady, but then both victim and killer were sympathetic in that episode.

Re: Who did not deserve to be murdered?

"Bird in the Hand": Fernando the gardener did not. It can argued that his death was an accident, but Harold could have stopped it in time.

"Swan Song": The girl (Tina?) flying with Tommy and Edna. True she was aware of Tommy's misdeeds, but she wasn't the one trying to control him and the money....so this one is questionable.

Incidentally, in "Try and Catch Me", I've always assumed that Abigail's niece DID accidentally drown, but Abigail could not accept that; so I would add Edmund to the list as well.

Re: Who did not deserve to be murdered?

I don't think it's so much a matter of "deserving" to die, nevertheless real life murders happen for some of the same reasons represented here; Blackmail, jealousy, money, or just plain hatred.

Having said that, the one who really did not deserve murder was Leonard Fisher in "Murder, Smoke and Shadows". He did threaten to ruin Brady, but only because Brady left his sister to die during an accident, he wasn't blackmailing him because he never asked for money, he wanted revenge when he found out the truth on how his sister died, not smart the way he went about it but understandable.

Re: Who did not deserve to be murdered?

I think nobody "deserves" to be murdered. There's a reason why every civilized society has homicide laws. However, some Columbo characters seemed to push their luck, or they made themselves assessors to murder after the fact by choosing blackmail instead of telling the police.
Also, some murder victims were obnoxious people, like Edna in Swan Song, or Verity Chandler in Ashes to Ashes. We tend not to feel sorry for such people.
Characters who were neither obnoxious nor pushed their luck: Louise in Murder: A Self-Portrait, Maryann in Swan Song, or the old physician husband of Janet Leigh's character in Forgotten Lady.

You may cross-examine.

Re: Who did not deserve to be murdered?

Maryann Cobb was the other plane victim. She was a co-conspirator and silent blackmailer. She also was a lead vocalist (forgive me, as I do not remember the phrase) and was replaced by a better voice. Her name was Tina.

Could Maryann had elbowed her way there? Had anyone else wondered why she gets to fly with the Browns while everyone else takes the backseat to the bus behind a guitar?

Re: Who did not deserve to be murdered?

I had the suspicion that Edna was controlling her and was keeping her as some kind of personal assistant, and that Maryann was afraid of her ire.
Brown claimed that he had the song re-arranged for Tina as the lead vocalist of the choir just because he wanted a new version of the song, but it may also have been because he wanted Tina closer to him. The scene at the piano speaks for itself.
I think it's a bit strange to have the song re-arranged while on tour for artistic reason. It would have made more sense to have it re-released after the tour was over, on a new album or so.


You may cross-examine.

Re: Who did not deserve to be murdered?

I agree that Maryanne was just a pawn being controlled by Edna...I doubt she took any active part in the blackmail threats.

Re: Who did not deserve to be murdered?

No one deserves to be murdered.

In Any Old Port in a Storm Donald Pleasence kills his younger brother. What is very troubling is that he does it in a way that must have caused a lot of suffering to the poor guy.

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Never say never...

Re: Who did not deserve to be murdered?

An evil way to kill your only brother, I do agree. It has always worried me that Columbo seemed to find Donald Pleasence's character sympathetic.

Re: Who did not deserve to be murdered?

I not sure I am aware of a loving way to kill one's brother, but that episode is rare in that the murder is a crime of passion. The Columbo killers' premeditate their murders. As angry as Adrian was in that scene, if I were brother, I would not have turned my back on him. I love that scene as well as the one in the restaurant where he rails against "liquid filth".

Re: Who did not deserve to be murdered?

Well put! But remember, the actual murder was NOT a crime of passion - Rick was still alive after he got clocked in the head... that's why Adrian tied him up & turned off the a/c. I, too, have always found that a rather cruel way to do him in, but I guess after the fit of rage, Hyde turned back into Jekyll and he couldn't bring himself to do the 'kind' thing and finish bashing his head in.

That aside, this is my favorite episode and also Peter Falk's favorite. It just barely edges out Jack's final episode, Now you See Him. Donald Pleasance does a wonderful job playing all of Adrian's different moods, 2nd only to the brilliant schizophrenia of William Shatner as John Schnelling as Charles Kipling as Ward Fowler as Lt. Lucerne... 80)

This is one of the times (possibly the first) that Columbo truly respects & even likes the killer (exactly the opposite of Nimoy & Robert Conrad.) Not only did he bring Carsini in himself instead of handing him off to a uniform cop, but it tickles me that he uses his newfound knowledge & brings along "an excellent desert wine" as a friggin' surprise. He not only give alcohol to a prisoner, he drives back with an open container in the car! LOL It was also pleasantly (Pleasancely?) surprising that Adrian not only surrenders with grace but also tells Columbo that he learns very well, the nicest compliment he says he's ever had.

Re: Who did not deserve to be murdered?

Love your response, BUT, the fact that Rick did not die initially was a lack of execution, not a lack of passion. While we see that they were not close, there was nothing to indicate that Adrian would have killed him but for the bad news that was sprang on him and at a most inconvenient time. Remember, he had guests in the other room, while too preparing to fly to New York.

I agree and can easily see why Columbo liked Carsini, he was respectful, unlike many of the others who mocked him. He kinda dug the Sky High IQ guy too.

The William Shatner performance as Lucerne and Ward Fowler was one that has to be seen to believed. It's quite popular on my Columbo night parties.

Re: Who did not deserve to be murdered?

Thanks for your reply. I agree about Theo Bikel (who just died in 2015)... and I also remembered how close Columbo seemed to come to giving in to Ruth Gordon - they got along famously. Plus, while someone else panned Johnny Cash's performance, I thought he acted terrifically for a non-actor - and the last line of the episode is Falk saying that (to the tune on the Eldorado's tape deck) "no one who sings like that can be all bad."

Re: Who did not deserve to be murdered?

it is a great epsiode. especially when carsini tells Columbo that his secretary has been trying to blackmail him into marrying her and says 'freedom is relative'.

Re: Who did not deserve to be murdered?

Oooh, I forgot about that short but poignant line!!

Re: Who did not deserve to be murdered?

he strikes his brother in a crime of passion, but the brother is still alive. the way he goes on to kill him is quite calculating and cruel.

Re: Who did not deserve to be murdered?

A couple more, for the sake of this discussion -

1. Dr. Howard Nicholson (Lew Ayers) in "Mind Over Matter." He was a man of principle who wanted the deceased chemist, not the plagiarizing son of Jose Ferrer, get his proper credit.

2. Eric Wagner (Dean Stockwell), the irresponsible owner of a pro football team in "The Most Crucial Game."

Re: Who did not deserve to be murdered?

^ ^ Both good ones, Dagwoodie.

The more I think about it, without seeing a lot of these episodes for awhile, it seems like maybe the majority of the victims were just standing in the way of the killer's greed, not necessarily going out of their way to try to harm or stop the killer. These include (IIRC) Prescription: Murder, Ransom For A Dead Man, A Friend in Deed - although victim #1 didn't have anything to do with greed,
Death Hits the Jackpot...and on and on.

Re: Who did not deserve to be murdered?

While we're at it, Hector Rangel from "A Matter of Honor". Killed by Luis just because he saw Luis freeze when confronted by the bull and had to bail him out. Friends with the guy for decades, but killed over a matter of ego. The death itself was brutal. He was gored to death by a bull and given just enough tranquilizer to keep him from escaping.

I can calculate the motion of heavenly bodies, but not the madness of people.

Re: Who did not deserve to be murdered?

My original answer still stands: Chopin the cockatoo. I just watched "Étude in Black" again on DVD and it breaks my heart that he was also killed. Even tho I've seen this episode a million times, his mournful cries when he sees his owner bludgeoned by John Cassavetes haunts me. Call me overly sentimental, but I can't stand seeing an innocent animal die so needlessly - even if it was on a fictional TV show.

Re: Who did not deserve to be murdered?

I disagree with those who say no one deserves to be murdered. Many people deserve to be murdered.

On the show, of all the episodes I've seen, I can't think of a single deserving victim. Some may have been more deserving than others, but most weren't very deserving at all. The most deserving would be someone like an art student who helped someone get away with killing his uncle.

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I blame autocorrect.

You may all go to hell, and I will go to Texas.

Re: Who did not deserve to be murdered?

If you acknowledge the notion that people may deserve to be murdered, you must also acknowledge the notion murder is not a crime.
However, murder is a crime in every civilized society, and I think there is more than one reason why this is correct.
Not feeling sorry for a murder victim is not the same thing as approving of a murder.

You may cross-examine.

Re: Who did not deserve to be murdered?

I have to disagree again. Murder is a crime. Part of the definition of murder is that it's a crime. Otherwise, it would be manslaughter, an accidental death, or something else.

I do agree that not feeling sorry for a murder victim is not the same as approving of a murder. I would also add that I may believe someone was deserving of being murdered, but that I don't approve of the murder.

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I blame autocorrect.

You may all go to hell, and I will go to Texas.

Re: Who did not deserve to be murdered?

this is very true. however unlikeable a person may be, they don't 'deserve' to be murdered. You could say that some murder victims have put themselves at risk by doing something nasty like blackmail. I certainly feel least sorry for the blackmailers who are murdered. But that doesn't mean i feel their murderers should get away with it.
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