Ransom for a Dead Man story
Leslie Williams, a brilliant and ruthless lawyer, murders her husband Paul to get his money, arranging the act to look as if he had been kidnapped and killed by his captors. Final clue/twist: Margaret, who hates her stepmother Leslie, tells Leslie she will go away if Leslie gives her a lot of money. When Leslie pays Margaret off with some of the ransom cash, Columbo, who had persuaded Margaret to demand money from Leslie, has the final proof he needs. Directed by: Richard Irving. Story by: Richard Levinson William Link, Dean Hargrove.
15 total · 3 choice · 8 major · 4 minor
| Theme | Level | Motivation |
|---|---|---|
| greed for riches | choice | The plot turns on Leslie murdering her husband to get his money. |
| how to murder someone and get away with it | choice | The brilliant lawyer Leslie Williams shot her husband dead and made it look as if he had been kidnapped, and later killed by the kidnappers. She would have gotten away with her crime had it not been for the meddlesome Lt. Columbo. |
| spouse murder | choice | The tort attorney Leslie Williams murdered her husband, Paul, and made it look as if he had been kidnapped, and later killed by the kidnappers. |
| gold digging | major | It was evident that Leslie married her significantly older husband both in order to advance her career in law and for his money. |
| husband and wife | major | Leslie Williams murdered her husband, Paul, and made it look as if he had been kidnapped, and later killed by the kidnappers. The viewer learns many details about their marriage during the course of Columbo's investigation. For example, Leslie married the significantly older and more established Paul to advance her career. |
| law enforcement | major | It was up to the bumbling but astute homicide detective Lt. Columbo to prove that the tort attorney Leslie Williams shot her husband dead in cold blood and made it look like a botched ransom kidnapping. |
| legal occupation | major | The tale's murderess, Leslie Williams, was a brilliant and ruthless lawyer. She was shown working her craft throughout the story. |
| pride goes before a fall | major | Leslie Williams was a brilliant lawyer and knew very well that no mere police investigator could catch her out in the crime she had so carefully orchestrated. She at one point taunted Columbo in her office. She had sorely underestimated Lt. Columbo. |
| ransom kidnapping | major | The tort attorney Leslie Williams murdered her husband, Paul, and made it look as if he had been kidnapped with a $300,000 ransom demand, and later killed by the kidnappers. |
| stepmother and stepdaughter | major | Leslie had a troubled relationship with her entitled stepdaughter, Margaret. |