Murder: A Self Portrait story
Temperamental artist Max Barsini effectively lives with three women: his ex- wife, Louise, his young live-in model Julie, and his current wife Vanessa. Barsini takes delight in the way they fight for his attention. But when Louise begins seeing a therapist, Dr. Hammer, who is also her new fiancé, Barsini fears she will reveal that he killed his first agent, who was robbing him. He kills Louise, then makes it look like she drowned at the beach while he was at Vito's bar, painting. Columbo poses for Barsini while investigating him. Final clue/twist: Columbo can prove that a spot on Louise's face was not washed-up make-up but was instead remnants of "Barsini red", a special color mixed only for Barsini, and that it was on the cloth she was benumbed with. Directed by: James Frawley. Story by: Robert Sherman.
19 total · 4 choice · 9 major · 6 minor
| Theme | Level | Motivation |
|---|---|---|
| breaking the law to cover up another crime | choice | The famous painter Max Barsini drowned his ex-wife, Louise, at the beach to prevent her from inadvertently expose him as a murderer. |
| how to murder someone and get away with it | choice | The famous painter Max Barsini drowned his ex-wife, Louise, at the beach at a time when he was thought to have been painting a scene of a local restaurant, thus securing an ironclad alibi. One gathers that he would have gotten away with his crime had it not been for the meddlesome Lt. Columbo. |
| painting | choice | Max Barsini was a painter of some renown. His painting of a scene of Vito's Italian restaurant and bar figured prominently into the plot. A subplot concerns Max paining Columbo's portrait. Columbo learned much about the craft of painting in order to catch his prey. |
| polyamorous relationship | choice | Max was cohabitating with three different lovers (all of whom he imagined were wives though he was technically married only to one): His current wife, Vanessa, his ex-wife, Louise, and his young model cum lover, Julie. |
| coping with getting dumped | major | Hell had no fury like Max Barsini's when his ex-wife finally worked up the nerve to leave him. Enraged, he feigned to want to bury the hatchet then cold-bloodedly slew her. Later on, his current wife and his young lover both walked out on him after having conspired together in the sauna. |
| dream interpretation | major | Much was made of Columbo finding meaning in each of Louise's three recurring nightmares. Each recurring nightmare, properly interpreted, pointed to Max having murdered a monocle-sporting man. |
| female-female rivalry | major | Max's young lover Julie competed with his wife Vanessa over Max's affections. |
| having a skeleton in the closet | major | Max drowned Louise to keep her from inadvertently letting the cat out of the bag about a murder that he'd committed a long ago. |
| husband and wife | major | Max was effectively shacked up with his current wife, Vanessa, his ex-wife, Louise, and a young lover. |
| law enforcement | major | The bumbling but sharp-witted homicide detective Lt. Columbo was tasked with solving the following murder mystery: Did the ex-wife of a temperamental artist accidentally drown while swimming alone at the beach, or did the artist have something to do with it? |