Intrigue

A popular country western singer wants to get rid of his religiously zealous wife who's been using blackmail to control every aspect of his life. But a murder made to look like an airplane accident does not fool the wily Lt. Columbo.

A popular folk singer's plane has crashed. Two passengers have died, and one has escaped with minor injuries. Was it really an accident? How could it not have been? Or, was it really a nearly perfect murder? Columbo is called in to find out.—Cindy

A country/gospel singer plots to kill his wife, a religious fanatic who demands that he donates every cent of his earnings from his sell-out concerts towards the cost of building a tabernacle. But when he tells her he's had enough and wants to end their marriage, she threatens to expose his sexual relations with one of his underage backup singers to the police with the approval of the girl's family. He then conjures up an ingenious plan to get rid of both his wife and the girl.

Columbo is singing to a new tune when he is pitted against Tommy Brown, a well known gospel singer. Tommy Brown is being blackmailed by his wife who is holding his sexual exploits with an underage girl over his head, and taking every penny he earns. When he wants out, she and the underage girl threaten to expose him, so he kills both of them and stages an airplane accident. But Columbo is not convinced that it is an accident and investigates.—charmardee-smith

Tommy Brown is a hugely successful gospel singer unable to enjoy the usual benefits of his fame and wealth. His zealous wife can prove he had committed statutory rape with one of his backup singers, Tina. With this weapon she blackmails him from enjoying the company of other women and even from spending his own money. She wants every penny to go towards building a tabernacle for the Lord. Brown, an experienced pilot, takes his wife and Tina up in a plane; but he's the only one who comes back down alive. It's up to Lt. Columbo to find out what really happened.—J. Spurlin