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Published:: 2024-08-08
Completed:: 2024-08-08
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Summary:

The in-universe Wikipedia article of Lieutenant Columbo, one of the 20th century's most influential police officers, with one of the most expansive and impressive arrest records in police history.
Chapter 2 is a quick guide into the CSS and HTML used to make this.

Notes:

Inspired by Wikipedia Article Work Skin by bodytoflame, styletests (bodytoflame)

Chapter Text

Lieutenant Columbo

Police Lieutenant Frank Philip Cosmo^{[Citation needed]} Columbo (Born 1927, died 2018) was a police officer and homicide detective for the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) from 1958 to 2005.^[1] Over the course of his career, he investigated and arrested several prominent public figures, providing evidence and testimony directly leading to their confessions or convictions. Because of this, The Atlantic and The New York Times considered him the most influential police officer of the 20th century.^[2][3]

Early Life

Childhood

Columbo was born in 1927 in New York City, New York. His mother was a third generation Italian American, while his father was an Italian immigrant and later naturalized citizen. He had five brothers and one sister.^{[Citation needed]} He served in the Korean War from 1951 to 1953.^{[Citation needed]}

Early Career

In 1955, he joined the New York City Police Department and was assigned to the 12th precinct.^[4] In 1958, he moved to Los Angeles, California and began to work for LAPD, having been assigned to their Hollenbeck Division.^[4]

In 1968, he had his first prominent case, where he arrested psychiatrist Dr. Ray Flemming for the murder of his wife.^[5][6] Following the case, he was reassigned to FBI liaison where he would remain until 1971, when he became involved in the Paul Williams murder case, in which the assailant, attorney Leslie Williams, created a false kidnapping in an attempt to cover up her murder.^[7][8] After he arrested her after proving her guilt with evidence, as well as gaining her confession, he continued to work for the LAPD’s homicide department.

Career Highlights

Columbo had a high conviction rate with his arrests. Unless otherwise noted below, the men and women he arrested were later convicted and sentenced.

In 1971, he arrested Ken Franklin, co-author of the bestselling mystery novel series Mrs. Melville, after he murdered his partner, Jim Ferris.^{[6][9][10][11]} He arrested Major General Martin Hollister, of the United States Marine Corps, after he killed Colonel Roger Dutton, who had caught Hollister embezzling military funds.^[12][13]

In 1972, he arrested composer and musician Alex Benedict for the murder of pianist Jennifer Welles, using evidence from his live recorded concert.^[14][15][16] He also arrested General Manager Paul Hanlon for the death of Eric Wagner, owner of the Los Angeles Rockets.^[17][18]

In 1973, he arrested actress Nora Chandler for the murders of Al Cumberland and Jean Davis.^[19][20] Columbo also arrested British Chess Grandmaster Emmett Clayton for the murder of Soviet Chess Grandmaster Tomlin Dudek.^{[21][22][23][24]} Later in the year, he arrested cosmetics magnate Viveca Scott for murder.^[25]

In 1974, he arrested publisher Riley Greenleaf for the murder of author Alan Mallory.^[26] Columbo arrested gospel singer Tommy Brown for the murder of his wife Edna Brown and backup singer Maryann Cobb, where he caused his plane to crash with them inside.^[27][28]

In 1974, Neil Cahill revealed he had plagiarized his award winning thesis on molecular theory.^[29] This was precipitated by guilt related to the death of Dr. Howard Nicholson, who was murdered by his father, Dr. Marshall Cahill. This occurred during the murder investigation by Columbo.^[30]

In 1974, he arrested Pulitzer Prize winning photographer Paul Galesko for the murder of his wife and another man.^[31][32]

In 1976, he arrested actor Ward Fowler, known for portraying the fictional character Detective Lucerne on television, for the murder of his agent Claire Daley.^[6][33]

In 1977, he arrested mystery author Abigail Mitchell for the murder of her nephew Edmund Gavin.^[34]

In 1989, Columbo arrested Oscar-winning movie director Alex Brady for the murder of Leonard Fisher.^[35][36][37]

In 1989, he arrested sex therapist Dr. Joan Allenby for the murder of her business partner David Kincaid. Allenby was known for The Courtesan Complex, which Columbo used to prove her guilt.^[38]

In 1989, he arrested painter Max Barsini for the murder of Louise Barsini. A portrait of Columbo, painted by Barsini, is notable for being his last painting during his Vixens Era, before he had a hiatus in prison before entering his Blue Period.^[39]

Arrest of Nelson Hayward

One of his most notable cases was his arrest of United States senatorial candidate Nelson Hayward in 1973. Hayward was arrested for the murder of his campaign manager Harry Stone and for making false reports to the FBI, by fabricating false assassination attempts on his own life.^[40][41]

His arrest occurred on election night of the 1973 special election in California for the seat of senator, after the previous incumbent passed away. The faked assassination attempts garnered Hayward considerable sympathy among the public, with polls at the time showing he had 59% favorability over his opponents. On election night, he received 40% of the vote, winning him the election, before his arrest caused the election to be void. A second special election was held twelve weeks later.^[40][41][42]

Hayward took the case to court, and after testimony, evidence, and witnesses, he was convicted of first degree murder and perjury on August 14, 1974.^[40][42][43]

Arrest of Mark Halperin

In 1974, he arrested Los Angeles Police Department Deputy Commissioner Mark Halperin for the murder of his wife, Margaret Halperin.^[44] This was precipitated by Halperin’s friend and neighbor Hugh Caldwell, accidentally killing his wife, Janice Caldwell, the day before. Halperin attempted to pin the blame on a cat burglar who had been hitting houses in the general area for the previous few weeks in a series of press conferences.^[44]

Columbo was able to prove Halperin was the murderer when he found Halperin had been able to plant jewelry in a trap. The jewelry was confirmed to have belonged to Margaret Halperin, and only Halperin and Columbo knew the address. Shortly after, Caldwell confessed to his crime, and Halperin was found guilty of first degree murder, blackmail, and tampering with evidence.^[44][45]

Suari Diplomat Case

In 1975, Columbo arrested Hassan Salah, chief diplomat to the United States of the Legation of Suari, for the murder of Youssef Alafa and Rachmaninov Habib.^[46] Salah waived his diplomatic immunity and was remanded into LAPD custody after confessing. King Hamid Kamal of Suari, the new, young monarch, disavowed Salah shortly after his arrest.^[46][47]

Salah would later speak about his confession.^[6] after serving two years in a California prison, was released when his confession was found to be coerced and subsequently thrown out.^[48] Today, Salah lives in San Francisco as an executive for O’Connell Industries.^[49]

Luis Montoya Controversy

In 1976, he arrested retired matador and Mexican national hero Luis Montoya for the murder of Hector Rangel.^[50] This was controversial in Mexico, as many did not believe the motive, where it was put forth that Montoya was paralyzed with fear in front of a bull.^[51][52]

In 1975, Columbo’s arrest of General Motors executive Hayden Danzinger for the murder of Rosanna Wells gained him notoriety in Mexico, as he was able to catch the murderer in only two days while they were aboard a cruise ship, without additional police support.^[52]

The controversy spread to Mexican news media, with several papers and television stations covering the trial. Montoya was convicted of murder in 1977, but reaction to the trial and to Columbo was mixed. While Columbo’s notoriety gave him some credence, the Mexican public was split.^[50][51]

Joe Devlin Case and O’Connell Industries Investigation

In 1978, he arrested Joe Devlin, raconteur, author, poet, IRA affiliated gunrunner and murderer, for the murder of gun smuggler Vincent Pauley.^[6][53][54] This led to the uncovering of O'Connell Industries as a front for fundraising the IRA and smugglers of ammunition and firearms.^[54]

During the investigation of Pauley’s murder, Devlin was attempting to smuggle guns out of Los Angeles to Ireland to arm the IRA for a planned attack later that month.^[53] This smuggling was done in coordination with the O’Connell Industries CEO and CFO.^[53] They were found guilty after raids and inquiries by the ATF and FBI.^[53]

Devlin himself was convicted and sentenced for murder and gun smuggling.^[53] O’Connell Industries suffered financially and publicly, losing a majority of its stock price and was forced to restructure.^[54]

Dian Hunter Disappearance and Murder

Columbo’s most famous arrest was the arrest of Sean Brantley for the murder of Dian Hunter in 1990.^[55] This was notable in that originally, Brantley and Hunter conspired to fake Hunter’s disappearance as a publicity stunt to boost sales of their men’s magazine Bachelor’s World.^[55] After Columbo was originally removed from the case, Brantley murdered Hunter, only to be discovered and arrested by Columbo.^[55][56]

The case received prominent international media attention, fueled by Brantley himself with interviews and answer sessions to multiple news outlets, when it was originally called “The Dian Hunter Disappearance”.^[55] Over the course of several weeks, Brantley would talk to news outlets about the ongoing police investigation, and brought up Columbo by name as the head investigator^[56]. This led to the popularization of Columbo’s previous arrests, most notably the arrest of Nelson Hayward and the relatively recent conviction of Alex Brady.^[57] Columbo became controversial when news that he had been seen meeting with British news magnate and direct competitor to Brantley, Paul Morrison.^[58]

When Hunter returned from her overseas trip, Columbo received media backlash for his “dogged investigation into a crime that did not occur”. Shortly after her reappearance, Hunter was killed by Brantley, believing that the LAPD would not investigate it again following disgrace in national and international media.^[57]

However, Columbo had figured out Brantley’s plan ahead of time, and was able to catch him and find the body of Hunter that he had hidden in the walls of his mansion. Brantley was arrested, and found guilty in a trial drawing media attention worldwide.^[55]

Arrest of Oscar Finch

Also in 1990, during the presidential election, vice presidential candidate and congressman Paul Mackey’s closest personal friend and advisor, Oscar Finch was arrested by Columbo for the murder of racketeer Frank Staplin.^[58] This scandal had negative effects on Governor and presidential candidate Montgomery’s campaign, and was cited by political analysts as one of the factors leading to Montgomery’s defeat.^[59][60]

Frank Staplin was the central figure to a scandal in the Los Angeles district attorney’s office in 1969, wherein evidence was destroyed, allowing Staplin to walk free.^[58] In Staplin’s homicide investigation, evidence revealed that Mackey and Finch colluded to destroy evidence for Staplin back then, the fact of which Staplin used to coerce Finch in 1990.^[59] This was the motive for his murder.^[59]

Oscar Finch was arrested during the California Primary, shortly after Mackey was declared Montgomery’s running mate. The scandal broke out over the following weeks. Finch pleaded guilty and was sentenced in November 1990, shortly after the election.^[60]

Fatal Flaw

In 1995, Ken Franklin, notable murder mystery author and murderer caught by Columbo, began researching and interviewing multiple previously caught murderers by Columbo.^[10] In 2002, he published what many^[who?] considered to be his magnum opus, a biography of Lieutenant Columbo titled Fatal Flaw.^[6]

The prologue was a detailed account of Franklin’s own murder and his interactions with Columbo, up until his arrest and confession. Most numbered chapters in the book follow a similar format, with a different convicted murderer recounting their murders and how Columbo caught them, i.e. their “fatal flaw”. It contained interviews and collaboration from over 20 murderers that Columbo caught over the years, including Pulitzer prize winning photographer Paul Galesko, author Abigail Mitchell, actor Ward Fowler, and psychiatrist Dr. Ray Flemming.^[6]

Poet, raconteur, IRA affiliated gunrunner, and murderer Joe Devlin wrote his chapter entirely in limericks.^[6]

The book was a New York Times bestseller, and was nominated for a Pulitzer prize in biography in 2004.^[6][11]

Impact

Lieutenant Columbo’s arrest record has been hailed as one of the most expansive and successful in police history.^[1][2][3]

Articles and studies have posited that “Columbo had decimated American popular culture over the course of his career. The books never written, the movies never made, and of course, the senator and president that never were.” ^[3]

Political analysts have charted certain policies and decisions made, as well as sessions in the United States Senate that might have been drastically altered because of the absence of a Senator Hayward.^[42]

In a similar vein, the defeat of Montgomery in the 1990 Presidential election sent ripple effects throughout every aspect of American society and the world at large.^[3][59][60]

Media analysts have noted the sheer number of Hollywood stars that have had their careers cut short by arrest and conviction. Several television series, movies, and other forms of media have had to be scrapped, canceled, or retooled as a result of Columbo’s arrests.^{[2][3][33][37]}

Personal Life

He was married.^{[Citation needed]} He had three children.^{[Citation needed]}

Mary Parma née Columbo, is his sister.^{[Citation needed]} She is deceased, along with her husband, Daniel Parma.^{[Citation needed]}

Melissa Hayes, fashion model and daughter of Seattle real estate Mogul Sam Hayes, is his niece by marriage^{[Citation needed]} to Andrew Parma, Columbo’s nephew.^{[Citation needed]}

He had a pet basset hound named Dog.^[1][6][15]

Retirement and Final Case

In Popular Culture

Chapter 2 Summary:

Explanation into how I did this thing. Big thanks to styletests for creating the workskin and HTML I used. This would not be possible without it.

Notes:

This took me so long. Adding in the colors for the links (not the citation links, just the in-line fake links) took a whole hour. The right side text box isn't the best as the format gets really screwy if the words on either side is too long, and adjusting it became too much of a hassle. As much as I wanted a fully realistic box, I had to cut things off somewhere, else this fic would have never been finished. But at least I can document my experience to help others if they so wish to suffer as I did.

Chapter Text

My custom wikipedia workskin is just styletests’ wikipedia workskin with one extra paragraph of code added in at the very end, which is what allows me to add in the blue colored fake links.

    
#workskin .links {
  color: #0000EE;
  cursor: grab;
}

#workskin .links:hover {
  text-decoration: underline;
}

Thanks to styletests for further improving my links code by adding in the ability to make the links fake-clickable! And here is the raw code for the entire previous chapter:

Lieutenant Columbo 

<hr class="wikihr" />
<div class="row">

Police Lieutenant Frank Philip Cosmo[Citation needed] Columbo (Born 1927, died 2018) was a police officer and homicide detective for the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) from 1958 to 2005.[1] Over the course of his career, he investigated and arrested several prominent public figures, providing evidence and testimony directly leading to their confessions or convictions. Because of this, The Atlantic and The New York Times considered him the most influential police officer of the 20th century.[2][3]
<div class="left">
<div class="leftsection">

<img src="https://i.imgur.com/bwhBnZf.png" /> Early Life</div>

Childhood
<div class="leftbody">

Columbo was born in 1927 in New York City, New York. His mother was a third generation Italian American, while his father was an Italian immigrant and later naturalized citizen. He had five brothers and one sister.[Citation needed] He served in the Korean War from 1951 to 1953.[Citation needed]

Early Career

In 1955, he joined the New York City Police Department and was assigned to the 12th precinct.[4] In 1958, he moved to Los Angeles, California and began to work for LAPD, having been assigned to their Hollenbeck Division.[4] 
 
In 1968, he had his first prominent case, where he arrested psychiatrist Dr. Ray Flemming for the murder of his wife.[5][6] Following the case, he was reassigned to FBI liaison where he would remain until 1971, when he became involved in the Paul Williams murder case, in which the assailant, attorney Leslie Williams, created a false kidnapping in an attempt to cover up her murder.[7][8] After he arrested her after proving her guilt with evidence, as well as gaining her confession, he continued to work for the LAPD’s homicide department. 
 </div>
<div class="leftsection">

<img src="https://i.imgur.com/bwhBnZf.png" /> Career Highlights</div>

Columbo had a high conviction rate with his arrests. Unless otherwise noted below, the men and women he arrested were later convicted and sentenced.

In 1971, he arrested Ken Franklin, co-author of the bestselling mystery novel series Mrs. Melville, after he murdered his partner, Jim Ferris.[6][9][10][11] He arrested Major General Martin Hollister, of the United States Marine Corps, after he killed Colonel Roger Dutton, who had caught Hollister embezzling military funds.[12][13] 
 
In 1972, he arrested composer and musician Alex Benedict for the murder of pianist Jennifer Welles, using evidence from his live recorded concert.[14][15][16] He also arrested General Manager Paul Hanlon for the death of Eric Wagner, owner of the Los Angeles Rockets.[17][18] 
 
In 1973, he arrested actress Nora Chandler for the murders of Al Cumberland and Jean Davis.[19][20] Columbo also arrested British Chess Grandmaster Emmett Clayton for the murder of Soviet Chess Grandmaster Tomlin Dudek.[21][22][23][24] Later in the year, he arrested cosmetics magnate Viveca Scott for murder.[25] 
 
In 1974, he arrested publisher Riley Greenleaf for the murder of author Alan Mallory.[26] Columbo arrested gospel singer Tommy Brown for the murder of his wife Edna Brown and backup singer Maryann Cobb, where he caused his plane to crash with them inside.[27][28] 
 
In 1974, Neil Cahill revealed he had plagiarized his award winning thesis on molecular theory.[29] This was precipitated by guilt related to the death of Dr. Howard Nicholson, who was murdered by his father, Dr. Marshall Cahill. This occurred during the murder investigation by Columbo.[30] 
 
In 1974, he arrested Pulitzer Prize winning photographer Paul Galesko for the murder of his wife and another man.[31][32] 
 
In 1976, he arrested actor Ward Fowler, known for portraying the fictional character Detective Lucerne on television, for the murder of his agent Claire Daley.[6][33] 
 
In 1977, he arrested mystery author Abigail Mitchell for the murder of her nephew Edmund Gavin.[34] 
 
In 1989, Columbo arrested Oscar-winning movie director Alex Brady for the murder of Leonard Fisher.[35][36][37] 
 
In 1989, he arrested sex therapist Dr. Joan Allenby for the murder of her business partner David Kincaid. Allenby was known for The Courtesan Complex, which Columbo used to prove her guilt.[38] 
 
In 1989, he arrested painter Max Barsini for the murder of Louise Barsini. A portrait of Columbo, painted by Barsini, is notable for being his last painting during his Vixens Era, before he had a hiatus in prison before entering his Blue Period.[39]
</div>
<div class="leftsection">

<img src="https://i.imgur.com/bwhBnZf.png" /> Arrest of Nelson Hayward</div>

One of his most notable cases was his arrest of United States senatorial candidate Nelson Hayward in 1973. Hayward was arrested for the murder of his campaign manager Harry Stone and for making false reports to the FBI, by fabricating false assassination attempts on his own life.[40][41]

His arrest occurred on election night of the 1973 special election in California for the seat of senator, after the previous incumbent passed away. The faked assassination attempts garnered Hayward considerable sympathy among the public, with polls at the time showing he had 59% favorability over his opponents. On election night, he received 40% of the vote, winning him the election, before his arrest caused the election to be void. A second special election was held twelve weeks later.[40][41][42] 
 
Hayward took the case to court, and after testimony, evidence, and witnesses, he was convicted of first degree murder and perjury on August 14, 1974.[40][42][43] 
</div>
<div class="leftsection">

<img src="https://i.imgur.com/bwhBnZf.png" /> Arrest of Mark Halperin</div>

In 1974, he arrested Los Angeles Police Department Deputy Commissioner Mark Halperin for the murder of his wife, Margaret Halperin.[44] This was precipitated by Halperin’s friend and neighbor Hugh Caldwell, accidentally killing his wife, Janice Caldwell, the day before. Halperin attempted to pin the blame on a cat burglar who had been hitting houses in the general area for the previous few weeks in a series of press conferences.[44]

Columbo was able to prove Halperin was the murderer when he found Halperin had been able to plant jewelry in a trap. The jewelry was confirmed to have belonged to Margaret Halperin, and only Halperin and Columbo knew the address. Shortly after, Caldwell confessed to his crime, and Halperin was found guilty of first degree murder, blackmail, and tampering with evidence.[44][45] 
</div>
<div class="leftsection">

<img src="https://i.imgur.com/bwhBnZf.png" /> Suari Diplomat Case</div>

In 1975, Columbo arrested Hassan Salah, chief diplomat to the United States of the Legation of Suari, for the murder of Youssef Alafa and Rachmaninov Habib.[46] Salah waived his diplomatic immunity and was remanded into LAPD custody after confessing. King Hamid Kamal of Suari, the new, young monarch, disavowed Salah shortly after his arrest.[46][47]

Salah would later speak about his confession.[6] after serving two years in a California prison, was released when his confession was found to be coerced and subsequently thrown out.[48] Today, Salah lives in San Francisco as an executive for O’Connell Industries.[49]
 
</div>
<div class="leftsection">

<img src="https://i.imgur.com/bwhBnZf.png" /> Luis Montoya Controversy</div>

In 1976, he arrested retired matador and Mexican national hero Luis Montoya for the murder of Hector Rangel.[50] This was controversial in Mexico, as many did not believe the motive, where it was put forth that Montoya was paralyzed with fear in front of a bull.[51][52]

In 1975, Columbo’s arrest of General Motors executive Hayden Danzinger for the murder of Rosanna Wells gained him notoriety in Mexico, as he was able to catch the murderer in only two days while they were aboard a cruise ship, without additional police support.[52] 
 
The controversy spread to Mexican news media, with several papers and television stations covering the trial. Montoya was convicted of murder in 1977, but reaction to the trial and to Columbo was mixed. While Columbo’s notoriety gave him some credence, the Mexican public was split.[50][51] 
</div>
<div class="leftsection">

<img src="https://i.imgur.com/bwhBnZf.png" /> Joe Devlin Case and O’Connell Industries Investigation</div>

In 1978, he arrested Joe Devlin, raconteur, author, poet, IRA affiliated gunrunner and murderer, for the murder of gun smuggler Vincent Pauley.[6][53][54] This led to the uncovering of O'Connell Industries as a front for fundraising the IRA and smugglers of ammunition and firearms.[54]

During the investigation of Pauley’s murder, Devlin was attempting to smuggle guns out of Los Angeles to Ireland to arm the IRA for a planned attack later that month.[53] This smuggling was done in coordination with the O’Connell Industries CEO and CFO.[53] They were found guilty after raids and inquiries by the ATF and FBI.[53]

Devlin himself was convicted and sentenced for murder and gun smuggling.[53] O’Connell Industries suffered financially and publicly, losing a majority of its stock price and was forced to restructure.[54] 
</div>
<div class="leftsection">

<img src="https://i.imgur.com/bwhBnZf.png" /> Dian Hunter Disappearance and Murder</div>

Columbo’s most famous arrest was the arrest of Sean Brantley for the murder of Dian Hunter in 1990.[55] This was notable in that originally, Brantley and Hunter conspired to fake Hunter’s disappearance as a publicity stunt to boost sales of their men’s magazine Bachelor’s World.[55] After Columbo was originally removed from the case, Brantley murdered Hunter, only to be discovered and arrested by Columbo.[55][56]

The case received prominent international media attention, fueled by Brantley himself with interviews and answer sessions to multiple news outlets, when it was originally called “The Dian Hunter Disappearance”.[55] Over the course of several weeks, Brantley would talk to news outlets about the ongoing police investigation, and brought up Columbo by name as the head investigator[56]. This led to the popularization of Columbo’s previous arrests, most notably the arrest of Nelson Hayward and the relatively recent conviction of Alex Brady.[57] Columbo became controversial when news that he had been seen meeting with British news magnate and direct competitor to Brantley, Paul Morrison.[58] 
 
When Hunter returned from her overseas trip, Columbo received media backlash for his “dogged investigation into a crime that did not occur”. Shortly after her reappearance, Hunter was killed by Brantley, believing that the LAPD would not investigate it again following disgrace in national and international media.[57] 
 
However, Columbo had figured out Brantley’s plan ahead of time, and was able to catch him and find the body of Hunter that he had hidden in the walls of his mansion. Brantley was arrested, and found guilty in a trial drawing media attention worldwide.[55]</div>
<div class="leftsection">

<img src="https://i.imgur.com/bwhBnZf.png" /> Arrest of Oscar Finch</div>

Also in 1990, during the presidential election, vice presidential candidate and congressman Paul Mackey’s closest personal friend and advisor, Oscar Finch was arrested by Columbo for the murder of racketeer Frank Staplin.[58] This scandal had negative effects on Governor and presidential candidate Montgomery’s campaign, and was cited by political analysts as one of the factors leading to Montgomery’s defeat.[59][60]

Frank Staplin was the central figure to a scandal in the Los Angeles district attorney’s office in 1969, wherein evidence was destroyed, allowing Staplin to walk free.[58] In Staplin’s homicide investigation, evidence revealed that Mackey and Finch colluded to destroy evidence for Staplin back then, the fact of which Staplin used to coerce Finch in 1990.[59] This was the motive for his murder.[59] 
 
Oscar Finch was arrested during the California Primary, shortly after Mackey was declared Montgomery’s running mate. The scandal broke out over the following weeks. Finch pleaded guilty and was sentenced in November 1990, shortly after the election.[60] 
</div>
<div class="leftsection">

<img src="https://i.imgur.com/bwhBnZf.png" /> Fatal Flaw</div>

In 1995, Ken Franklin, notable murder mystery author and murderer caught by Columbo, began researching and interviewing multiple previously caught murderers by Columbo.[10] In 2002, he published what many[who?] considered to be his magnum opus, a biography of Lieutenant Columbo titled Fatal Flaw.[6]

The prologue was a detailed account of Franklin’s own murder and his interactions with Columbo, up until his arrest and confession. Most numbered chapters in the book follow a similar format, with a different convicted murderer recounting their murders and how Columbo caught them, i.e. their “fatal flaw”. It contained interviews and collaboration from over 20 murderers that Columbo caught over the years, including Pulitzer prize winning photographer Paul Galesko, author Abigail Mitchell, actor Ward Fowler, and psychiatrist Dr. Ray Flemming.[6] 
 
Poet, raconteur, IRA affiliated gunrunner, and murderer Joe Devlin wrote his chapter entirely in limericks.[6] 
 
The book was a New York Times bestseller, and was nominated for a Pulitzer prize in biography in 2004.[6][11]</div>
<div class="leftsection">

<img src="https://i.imgur.com/bwhBnZf.png" /> Impact</div>

Lieutenant Columbo’s arrest record has been hailed as one of the most expansive and successful in police history.[1][2][3] Articles and studies have posited that “Columbo had decimated American popular culture over the course of his career. The books never written, the movies never made, and of course, the senator and president that never were.” [3]

Political analysts have charted certain policies and decisions made, as well as sessions in the United States Senate that might have been drastically altered because of the absence of a Senator Hayward.[42] 
 
In a similar vein, the defeat of Montgomery in the 1990 Presidential election sent ripple effects throughout every aspect of American society and the world at large.[3][59][60] 
 
Media analysts have noted the sheer number of Hollywood stars that have had their careers cut short by arrest and conviction. Several television series, movies, and other forms of media have had to be scrapped, canceled, or retooled as a result of Columbo’s arrests.[2][3][33][37]
</div>

<img src="https://i.imgur.com/bwhBnZf.png" /> Personal Life</div>

He was married.[Citation needed] He had three children.[Citation needed]

Mary Parma née Columbo, is his sister.[Citation needed] She is deceased, along with her husband, Daniel Parma.[Citation needed] 
 
Melissa Hayes, fashion model and daughter of Seattle real estate Mogul Sam Hayes, is his niece by marriage[Citation needed] to Andrew Parma, Columbo’s nephew.[Citation needed] 
 
He had a pet basset hound named Dog.[1][6][15]
</div>
<div class="leftsection">

<img src="https://i.imgur.com/QiNnJTh.png" /> Retirement and Final Case</div>
<div class="leftsection">

<img src="https://i.imgur.com/QiNnJTh.png" /> In Popular Culture</div>
<div class="leftsection">

<img src="https://i.imgur.com/QiNnJTh.png" /> References</div>
</div>
<div class="right">

Lieutenant Columbo

<img src="https://64.media.tumblr.com/5663ef2dcb3da5729dff1562e3d59115/e51773efa5fd179f-2b/s1280x1920/e962a6524ddc9dd3118ffabe573b7c8aa668c9d0.pnj" width="75%" />
Columbo in 1990 
 <div class="rightcolumnleft">

Born 
 
Died 
 
Police allegiance 
 
Department 
 
Service years 
 
Rank</div>
<div class="rightcolumnright">

1927 
 
2018 
 
State of California 
 
LAPD 
 
1955-2005 
 
Police Lieutenant</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>

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Comments

DeltaFell on Chapter 1 Thu 08 Aug 2024 01:21AM UTC

1) excellent wikipedia article this is great
2) did you know you can actually make those drop down arrows?

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1. Inthretis on Chapter 1 Thu 08 Aug 2024 01:29AM UTC
  
  1) thank you
  2) it never ends. yes, but I didn't want to. Because it would mean actually writing those last few sections which I was stumped for the longest time.
  
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2. 1. DeltaFell on Chapter 1 Thu 08 Aug 2024 01:53AM UTC
    
    2a) skill issue
    2b) yeah understandable
    
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Reidx00 on Chapter 1 Thu 08 Aug 2024 05:58AM UTC

Me repeatedly trying to open the other sections. Nice work inth

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Descend_N2_Madness on Chapter 1 Thu 08 Aug 2024 06:15AM UTC

I don't think Salah would appeal his conviction because he would be afraid of being extradited to his home country. In fact why wasn't he if the conviction was overturned? One thing that bothered me about that episode, was that the victim was a foreign national diplomat, who was killed on embassy soil, so Columbo shouldn't have been able to arrest him even with the waving of immunity.

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1. Inthretis on Chapter 1 Thu 08 Aug 2024 04:50PM UTC
  
  Yeah, that episode was controversial for a reason. It’s definitely one of Colombo’s worse episodes , and the internal logic doesn’t make sense. That’s why I mentioned it in the fic, because of how messed up the whole thing was if you think about it.
  
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withyoutiltheendofthelime on Chapter 1 Wed 21 Aug 2024 02:46AM UTC

Such a creative idea! I enjoyed reading this

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lostinjune (Guest) on Chapter 1 Fri 23 Aug 2024 01:28PM UTC

Nah but how creative is this??? Love the idea, fantastic

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Cerylid on Chapter 1 Mon 09 Sep 2024 09:46PM UTC

Hahaha! This is such good fun and so creative, especially the "Impact" section - how true that he's changed the course of history.
I love it!

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GoldeRuby on Chapter 1 Wed 20 Nov 2024 05:41AM UTC

i love the fact that all of the facts directly about his life are all [Citation Needed]
it's such a little detail
but y'know.. it's the little things that get me
an amazing creation you have here!
oh and uh, one more thing
take care of yourself out there

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RikkiRattus on Chapter 1 Fri 25 Jul 2025 06:39PM UTC

Love this so much

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styletests (bodytoflame) on Chapter 2 Thu 27 Feb 2025 03:57AM UTC

op i'm gonna blow your mind. you can make the links look clickable!
.links {
color: #0000EE;
cursor: grab;
}
.links:hover {
text-decoration: underline;
}

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1. Inthretis on Chapter 2 Thu 27 Feb 2025 06:08AM UTC
  
  inspo, you’re gonna be the death of me.
  God, I am so tempted to implement this for this fic later but I also spent way too long on this fic lmao.
  
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2. 1. styletests (bodytoflame) on Chapter 2 Thu 27 Feb 2025 09:19PM UTC
    
    you *should* actually just be able to replace the links class in your CSS for this work with these lines and just have it drop in and work! no change in the code for the work, it’s just changing the style sheet to say, hey when I hover over the links class, underline it and change the cursor.
    the ideas are addicting yeah, lol. this one was probably the most complicated one I’ve worked with, but I was relatively surprised with how easy it became after doing it once. If you don’t do anything with multiple columns, it’s much more intuitive to lay stuff out. there’s also a lot of tools you can use to make it easier.
    if the inspo strikes hard, check out the site Liveweave — you get live css and html editing, just yeet the JavaScript tab out of the way. you can see any changes you make to the html or css in real time! Things can display a bit different on ao3 since they do some wacky things so you still have to test, but it makes things SO much easier.
    There’s also a workflow for converting google docs into html out there — ao3 posting script it’s called. this also makes things way easier. get all your paragraphs and italics/bolds done with this, paste into your html editor, and then all you need to add it the necessary tags for any custom css.
    
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  2. 1. Inthretis on Chapter 2 Fri 28 Feb 2025 06:15PM UTC
      
      lmao, thank you. I've updated the work skin. It's nigh perfect now, and one day I may come back to tweak it to fix the tiny little kinks here and there.
      I'll definitely check out liveweave if/when I come back to make another html heavy fic, even if it might not be for a long while (alas, prose, character, pacing, dialogue, etc. is much more fun to troubleshoot for me).
      And yeah, I've got the ao3 posting script, it's pretty neat. Thanks for the help and recs!
      
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