As a kid I loved Ed Ames as Mongo on Daniel Boone, and enjoyed his singing, also. So I was happy to see him guest starring on Murder She Wrote, but his early behavior made it plain he wouldn't be sticking around the episode for long. :-(
We also have the very pretty Linda Purl, who spent time as Matlock's daughter before moving on. Joey Bishop guest stars as Ed Ame's sidekick, plus we get the "dumb Kryponia" from Superman II. :-)
Plus, Ken Howard plays a police detective who SEEKS OUT Jessica's Fletcher's assistance, as opposed to those who see her as a busy-body amateur. Ken looks quite young in this episode. He aged poorly in later years.
My method of solving MSW cases is to identify the one prominent guest star who has no better reason to be included that to be the "surprise" killer. LOL Would it work here? My guess was Joey Bishop until he made a suspicious sounding phone call. LOL So I changed gears. Piper Laurie? But she promised her friend, Jessica, she didn't do it! The detective? The dumb Kryptonian? I ruled out the kids in my mind. Will my second guess be right?