Currently wading through all the old Columbos in order, and of the first 20, this probably shades it as the best.
The main issue I have with most of the episodes up to this one is that the "smoking gun gotcha" moment at the end is usually incredibly weak. Candidate for Crime is the first one that is totally solid, though I did kinda see it coming. There is pretty much no way the perpetrator can explain away the evidence he's presented with, and a jury would likely convict too. I really wish other writers in the Columbo series would've taken as much care with the ending as they did with this one.
The main issue I have with most of the episodes up to this one is that the "smoking gun gotcha" moment at the end is usually incredibly weak. Candidate for Crime is the first one that is totally solid, though I did kinda see it coming. There is pretty much no way the perpetrator can explain away the evidence he's presented with, and a jury would likely convict too. I really wish other writers in the Columbo series would've taken as much care with the ending as they did with this one.