History Main / MakeItLookLikeAnAccident

* ''WesternAnimation/WoodyWoodpecker'': One story features Buzz Buzzard trying to kill Woody to [[InsuranceFraud collect insurance]]. Because of the policy's terms, Woody's death must be ruled as an accident otherwise Buzz won't collect even if he's not proven to be the killer.

** The novelisation of [[Recap/DoctorWhoS18E5WarriorsGate "Warriors Gate"]] opens with an anti-slaver patrol ship on a [[IWantThemAlive "search and capture"]] mission. Secretly he's destroying the slaver ships by firing an energy torpedo at their vulnerable belly which overloads their lightspeed engine--it sounds like a near miss to the crew but destroys the ship when they do a HyperspeedEscape. To MissionControl however, it would look like the slaver ship self-destructed or was destroyed by an unlucky shot, or even managed to escape (but with the engine destroyed it would be going nowhere, which [[InTheDoldrums literally happens]] to the VillainOfTheWeek).

This trope is probably thought of by many soon-to-be murderers, and so, a TruthInTelevision. Some people who kill themselves do this due to the stigma associated with suicide, or because suicide would make their loved ones ineligible for life insurance claims. It also happens to political dissidents in some countries; this is so prevalent in Russia that [[{{Website/Wikipedia}} The Other Wiki]] has a [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suspicious_deaths_of_Russian_businesspeople_(2022–2023) whole article]] dedicated to the subject. Remember, just because it was ruled as an accident doesn't necessarily mean it truly was. [[EvilLaugh Heh... heh... heh...]]

** The murderer in "[[MidsomerMurdersS7E7 Ghosts of Christmas Past]]" initially relies on this, first by attempting to gas Lydia with her own car fumes and relying on her mental issues to have it chalked up as a tragic accident. When this scheme is foiled, they resort to pushing her down the stairs with the expectation that it will be chalked up to her slipping, only the fact that she survives long enough to tell Barnaby she was pushed plus an earlier death threat making Barnaby seriously consider this to be murder.

** In "The Oblong Murders", one killing was committed by loosening the gas line to the stove on a boat, causing the boat to fill with gas. The killer then called the victim as she arrived back on the boat, knowing that she always lit a cigarette while talking on the phone. Result: one 'accidental' explosion.
** In "Send in the Clowns", Terry Bellini is shot mid-performance with a hidden rifle, fired at just the right angle and time to give the illusion that Les Morrison [[IJustShotMarvinInTheFace accidentally killed him with a loaded gun]] during a prank GoneHorriblyWrong.

* This is the MO for one of the enemy Stand Users met in ''Manga/JojosBizarreAdventure Stardust Crusaders''. The Stand User for Tower of Grey would cause public transportation like planes or buses to crash, hiding his Stand's activity.

* In the ''Literature/{{Tempest}}'' trilogy, the selkie Kona hates the merman Sabyn because he used to date Kona's little sister Annalise, and he abused and cheated on her. Then she died in an "accidental fall." Kona is convinced that Sabyn killed Annalise, but he can't prove it, and most other people think Sabyn was innocent.

** Also ''VideoGame/Fallout3'', in Tranquility Lane.
** And ''VideoGame/Fallout2'', with the mission to kill Westin.
** Also ''Fallout 2'', every crime boss in New Reno has some unique way to die "accidentally"- changing the combination on a trapped office safe, or [[VideoGameCrueltyPotential setting up a little kid to accidentally shoot his father in the face]].
** In ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'', one of the ways to deal with Pacer is to spike his Jet so that he gets a heart attack.

* ''Film/TheBlueMax'': When the German High Command learns that fighter pilot and propaganda hero Lt. Bruno Stachel [[spoiler:claimed two kills that weren't his and challenged another pilot to contest of skill that resulted in his death]], they give him the job of test-flying a dangerous deathtrap monoplane fighter. [[spoiler:They even instruct him to push the new plane to its limits, guaranteeing that it will crash and kill him.]]
* In ''Film/BlueThunder'', Murphy's rival Colonel Cochrane attempts to kill him by sabotaging his helicopter during an evaluation flight.

* ''WesternAnimation/BlueEyeSamurai''. In "Peculiarities", Mizu is contracted to MercyKill a SexSlave, so she snaps her neck and leaves a dead mook on top of her with the hairpin used to take him out in the girl's hand, making it look like they were both killed during an attempted rape. Unfortunately, Mizu's seen on the way out of the building [[NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished and could not bring herself to murder another innocent]].