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Another use of the alibi in fiction is for [[BigSecret the suspect's alibi to be that they were committing another crime at the time (traditionally adultery) and thus being unusable]]. Conversely, especially in short fiction from the viewpoint of the perpetrator, the ironclad false alibi they set up makes them the number one suspect in a completely different crime.
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Another use of the alibi in fiction is for [[BigSecret [[EmbarrassingAlibi the suspect's alibi to be that they were committing another crime at the time (traditionally adultery) and thus being unusable]]. Conversely, especially in short fiction from the viewpoint of the perpetrator, the ironclad false alibi they set up makes them the number one suspect in a completely different crime.
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Spelling/grammar fix(es), Misplaced, moving to the correct tab
** In ''Literature/{{Night Watch|Discworld}}'', at the time that Lord Winder is scheduled to die, one conspirator assures another that Snapcase, an obvious suspect, is "dining quietly but visibly in impeccable company on the other side of town".
** ''The Thieves Guild Diary'' gives a list of approved alibis, one of which is "I was committing another crime for which I have already given an alibi".
** ''The Thieves Guild Diary'' gives a list of approved alibis, one of which is "I was committing another crime for which I have already given an alibi".
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** In ''Literature/{{Night Watch|Discworld}}'', at the time that Lord Winder is scheduled to die, one conspirator assures another that Snapcase, an obvious suspect, is "dining quietly but visibly in impeccable company on the other side of town".
** ''The Thieves Guild Diary'' gives a list of approved alibis, one of which is "I was committing another crime for which I have already given an alibi".
** ''The Thieves Guild Diary'' gives a list of approved alibis, one of which is "I was committing another crime for which I have already given an alibi".
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* ''Manga/MariaNoDanzai'': When [[AlphaBitch Kumiru]] finds her gym clothes in [[TheBrute Kinugawa's]] bag, she accuses him of having stolen them during chemistry class, since he was late for that period. Kinugawa retorts that he was at the toilet at the time, so Kumiru asks if anyone can verify that claim; cue [[SchoolNurse Maria]] validating Kinugawa's claim by clarifying that he was actually with her at the time, and therefore couldn't have stolen Kumiru's gym clothes. What neither Kumiru or Kinugawa know is that [[BeneathSuspicion it was Maria]] who took Kumiru's clothes and put them in Kinugawa's bag, and that she deliberately made Kinugawa late by talking to him on the way to class so that he would have an airtight alibi when Kumiru inevitably accused him; [[TheChessmaster all of this in an effort]] to make it look like Kumiru was trying to [[FrameUp frame him up]], [[ATasteOfHerOwnMedicine as she had done to others countless times before]].
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* ''Manga/MariaNoDanzai'': When [[AlphaBitch Kumiru]] finds her gym clothes in [[TheBrute Kinugawa's]] bag, she accuses him of having stolen them during chemistry class, since he was late for that period. Kinugawa retorts that he was at the toilet at the time, so Kumiru asks if anyone can verify that claim; cue [[SchoolNurse Maria]] validating Kinugawa's claim by clarifying that he was actually with her at the time, and therefore couldn't have stolen Kumiru's gym clothes. What neither Kumiru or Kinugawa know is that [[BeneathSuspicion it was Maria]] who took Kumiru's clothes and put them in Kinugawa's bag, and that she deliberately made Kinugawa late by talking to him on the way to class so that he would have an airtight alibi when Kumiru inevitably accused him; [[TheChessmaster all of this in an effort]] to make it look like Kumiru was trying to [[FrameUp frame him up]], [[ATasteOfHerOwnMedicine [[ATasteOfTheirOwnMedicine as she had done to others countless times before]].
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* ''Manga/MariaNoDanzai'': When [[AlphaBitch Kumiru]] finds her gym clothes in [[TheBrute Kinugawa's]] bag, she accuses him of having stolen them during chemistry class, since he was late for that period. Kinugawa retorts that he was at the toilet at the time, so Kumiru asks if anyone can verify that claim; cue [[SchoolNurse Maria]] validating Kinugawa's claim by clarifying that he was actually with her at the time, and therefore couldn't have stolen Kumiru's gym clothes. What neither Kumiru or Kinugawa know is that [[BeneathSuspicion it was Maria]] who took Kumiru's clothes and put them in Kinugawa's bag, and that she deliberately made Kinugawa late by talking to him on the way to class so that he would have an airtight alibi when Kumiru inevitably accused him; [[TheChessmaster all of this in an effort]] to make it look like Kumiru was trying to [[FrameUp frame him up]], [[ATasteOfHerOwnMedicine as she had done to others countless times before]].
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* In "[[Literature/SherlockHolmes The Adventure of Wisteria Lodge]]", a man is murdered at an hour where his guest claims he was at home. Turns out the man was intending to commit a crime himself, and the clocks were set wrong so that said extremely respectable guest could provide an alibi.
* In ''Series/DiagnosisMurder'' book "[[Literature/DiagnosisMurderTheSilentPartner The Silent Partner]]", Mark Sloan insists that SerialKiller Tyler Cootes, couldn't have murdered Jerry Ridling, one of his supposed victims, because he had an alibi. It should be noted that he isn't denying Cootes' guilt for any of the other murders, just that this one was a copycat crime.
* In ''Series/DiagnosisMurder'' book "[[Literature/DiagnosisMurderTheSilentPartner The Silent Partner]]", Mark Sloan insists that SerialKiller Tyler Cootes, couldn't have murdered Jerry Ridling, one of his supposed victims, because he had an alibi. It should be noted that he isn't denying Cootes' guilt for any of the other murders, just that this one was a copycat crime.
* Given that ''Literature/{{Under Suspicion|Series}}'' revolves around journalists [[RevisitingTheColdCase investigating cold cases]], the team often comb over the alibis of the suspects and try to determine if there are any holes in their stories, or if they can verify an alibi to whittle down the suspect pool.
** In ''Literature/IveGotYouUnderMySkin'', none of the suspects in the murder of Betsy Powell have strong alibis. The night of the Graduation Gala, Nina, Alison and Regina slept over at the Powell mansion, so they would've had just as much opportunity to kill Betsy as her husband, her daughter and the live-in housekeeper. All six of them say they were asleep in their own rooms all night, but consequently no one else can confirm this. Nina and Alison aren't even certain if they ''did'' stay in their rooms, as Nina got so drunk she has holes in her memory of that night, while Alison recalls she was sleepwalking. Family friend George Curtis says he went back to his own house after the gala, but it's noted that his house is in walking distance of the Powell mansion, and he did in fact slip back to the mansion that night.
** ''Literature/TheCinderellaMurder'':
*** Frank Parker has a seemingly iron-clad alibi for Susan Dempsey's murder; he had arranged to meet Susan at his house at 7.30pm, at 7.45 he called Susan's room at UCLA to see where she was and spoke with her roommate Madison, at 8.30 Madison turned up at his house to audition, they ordered pizza at around 9.30 and Madison left just before 12am. The autopsy estimated that Susan died sometime between 7pm and 11pm and her body was found ten minutes away from Frank's home (or five minutes away if she was running). As it takes at least thirty minutes to get from the UCLA campus to the Hollywood Hills (not accounting for L.A. evening traffic), it's thought that Frank wouldn't have had enough time to chase and kill Susan in Laurel Canyon Park, call Madison, drive Susan's car back to the campus and be back at his house to meet Madison... unless he and Madison are both lying about the timeline.
*** Madison's alibi is that she was at her apartment on-campus when Frank called her at 7.45pm, she got to his house at 8.30 and stayed until midnight. Her version of the timeline matches Frank's exactly, although it is pointed out it's odd Madison was dressed and ready to go the moment she got Frank's call if she was having a night in, especially as she's known to take ages to pretty herself up.
*** Keith says that he was at an Advocates for God meeting at a bookstore across town when Susan was killed and that he has six people who can vouch for him. However, considering how insular Advocates for God is, some people wonder if the other church members could've lied about how long Keith was at the meeting to cover for him. Keith counters that if he'd been at any other kind of meeting, no one would question it.
*** Nicole says that on the evening of May 7th she went out to a local student bar and stayed there drinking all night, with there being several witnesses. However, there is an unaccounted window of time from when Nicole argued with Susan at their apartment to when Nicole arrived at the bar.
*** Susan's agent Edwin Lange, who had arranged her audition with Frank Parker and was originally supposed to accompany her, isn't available for interview as he died several years ago. Although it means one less person on camera, the team don't consider this hugely detrimental as Edwin was never a suspect; he had been driving to Arizona to visit his sick mother at the time of Susan's murder, with calls made from his mobile phone confirming his location, and he was genuinely shocked to learn Susan had been killed.
** A complication in ''Literature/AllDressedInWhite'' is that [[EveryoneIsASuspect virtually none of the wedding party have solid alibis]] for Amanda's disappearance (save her parents, who didn't arrive at the resort until the following morning); after the wedding party had dinner in the Grand Victoria Hotel's restaurant, Henry and Kate went to bed early, while Charlotte, Amanda and Meghan had drinks at the hotel bar before going up to their rooms, and Jeff, Nick and Austin shared a nightcap in Jeff's room before they all turned in for the night (the bride and groom had separate rooms so they could get ready for the wedding). Amanda told Meghan and Charlotte she'd forgotten something and went back downstairs, and that was the last time anyone saw her; they assumed Amanda went back up to her room by herself until she didn't show up for brunch the next morning and it was discovered her bed hadn't been slept in. Ostensibly, everyone stayed in their own rooms all night, but they can't actually ''confirm'' that's where they were. The sole exception is [[spoiler:Henry and Kate]], though they're not exactly jumping to reveal [[spoiler:they spent the night together in Henry's room (given they were married and not to each other)]].
** ''Literature/EveryBreathYouTake'': Besides Tom Wakeling and his date Tiffany Simons - who both stated they were together the whole night and nowhere near the roof - none of the other potential suspects - Carter Wakeling, Anna Wakeling, Peter Browning, Ivan Gray and Penny Rawling - have confirmable alibis for Virginia's death. The ''Under Suspicion'' team note that it's improbable Anna or Penny personally killed Virginia, as they weren't physically strong enough to have lifted Virginia up and thrown her over the roof ledge (the ledge and the shrubbery atop it are too high for someone to be simply shoved over). However, it doesn't completely rule them out, as they could've had an accomplice such as Anna's husband, brother or both, or Penny's secret lover. [[spoiler:And then it turns out Tiffany and Tom both lied about being together the entire time; they were briefly separated and Tiffany triggered a silent alarm by stealing a bracelet on the second floor, so she can't confirm where Tom was at that time]].
** ''Literature/YouDontOwnMe'':
*** Kendra couldn't have killed her husband Martin personally because she was asleep inside the house when he was gunned down in the driveway, with the nanny Caroline shaking her awake after calling 911. However, it doesn't rule out that she could've hired someone to kill Martin for her.
*** Daniel Longfellow says he and his wife Leigh Ann were both in Washington D.C. on the night Martin was killed in Manhattan, though this doesn't rule out the possibility of a hired hit, albeit the police found no evidence of suspicious financial activity. [[spoiler:Daniel later reveals that he can only account for his whereabouts, as Leigh Ann [[FalseAlibi wasn't with him in D.C.]] on the night of the murder; he lied at the time because he was truly convinced Leigh Ann couldn't be involved, so he saw no reason to get Leigh Ann needlessly drawn into the investigation and potentially expose her affair]].
** In ''Literature/IveGotYouUnderMySkin'', none of the suspects in the murder of Betsy Powell have strong alibis. The night of the Graduation Gala, Nina, Alison and Regina slept over at the Powell mansion, so they would've had just as much opportunity to kill Betsy as her husband, her daughter and the live-in housekeeper. All six of them say they were asleep in their own rooms all night, but consequently no one else can confirm this. Nina and Alison aren't even certain if they ''did'' stay in their rooms, as Nina got so drunk she has holes in her memory of that night, while Alison recalls she was sleepwalking. Family friend George Curtis says he went back to his own house after the gala, but it's noted that his house is in walking distance of the Powell mansion, and he did in fact slip back to the mansion that night.
** ''Literature/TheCinderellaMurder'':
*** Frank Parker has a seemingly iron-clad alibi for Susan Dempsey's murder; he had arranged to meet Susan at his house at 7.30pm, at 7.45 he called Susan's room at UCLA to see where she was and spoke with her roommate Madison, at 8.30 Madison turned up at his house to audition, they ordered pizza at around 9.30 and Madison left just before 12am. The autopsy estimated that Susan died sometime between 7pm and 11pm and her body was found ten minutes away from Frank's home (or five minutes away if she was running). As it takes at least thirty minutes to get from the UCLA campus to the Hollywood Hills (not accounting for L.A. evening traffic), it's thought that Frank wouldn't have had enough time to chase and kill Susan in Laurel Canyon Park, call Madison, drive Susan's car back to the campus and be back at his house to meet Madison... unless he and Madison are both lying about the timeline.
*** Madison's alibi is that she was at her apartment on-campus when Frank called her at 7.45pm, she got to his house at 8.30 and stayed until midnight. Her version of the timeline matches Frank's exactly, although it is pointed out it's odd Madison was dressed and ready to go the moment she got Frank's call if she was having a night in, especially as she's known to take ages to pretty herself up.
*** Keith says that he was at an Advocates for God meeting at a bookstore across town when Susan was killed and that he has six people who can vouch for him. However, considering how insular Advocates for God is, some people wonder if the other church members could've lied about how long Keith was at the meeting to cover for him. Keith counters that if he'd been at any other kind of meeting, no one would question it.
*** Nicole says that on the evening of May 7th she went out to a local student bar and stayed there drinking all night, with there being several witnesses. However, there is an unaccounted window of time from when Nicole argued with Susan at their apartment to when Nicole arrived at the bar.
*** Susan's agent Edwin Lange, who had arranged her audition with Frank Parker and was originally supposed to accompany her, isn't available for interview as he died several years ago. Although it means one less person on camera, the team don't consider this hugely detrimental as Edwin was never a suspect; he had been driving to Arizona to visit his sick mother at the time of Susan's murder, with calls made from his mobile phone confirming his location, and he was genuinely shocked to learn Susan had been killed.
** A complication in ''Literature/AllDressedInWhite'' is that [[EveryoneIsASuspect virtually none of the wedding party have solid alibis]] for Amanda's disappearance (save her parents, who didn't arrive at the resort until the following morning); after the wedding party had dinner in the Grand Victoria Hotel's restaurant, Henry and Kate went to bed early, while Charlotte, Amanda and Meghan had drinks at the hotel bar before going up to their rooms, and Jeff, Nick and Austin shared a nightcap in Jeff's room before they all turned in for the night (the bride and groom had separate rooms so they could get ready for the wedding). Amanda told Meghan and Charlotte she'd forgotten something and went back downstairs, and that was the last time anyone saw her; they assumed Amanda went back up to her room by herself until she didn't show up for brunch the next morning and it was discovered her bed hadn't been slept in. Ostensibly, everyone stayed in their own rooms all night, but they can't actually ''confirm'' that's where they were. The sole exception is [[spoiler:Henry and Kate]], though they're not exactly jumping to reveal [[spoiler:they spent the night together in Henry's room (given they were married and not to each other)]].
** ''Literature/EveryBreathYouTake'': Besides Tom Wakeling and his date Tiffany Simons - who both stated they were together the whole night and nowhere near the roof - none of the other potential suspects - Carter Wakeling, Anna Wakeling, Peter Browning, Ivan Gray and Penny Rawling - have confirmable alibis for Virginia's death. The ''Under Suspicion'' team note that it's improbable Anna or Penny personally killed Virginia, as they weren't physically strong enough to have lifted Virginia up and thrown her over the roof ledge (the ledge and the shrubbery atop it are too high for someone to be simply shoved over). However, it doesn't completely rule them out, as they could've had an accomplice such as Anna's husband, brother or both, or Penny's secret lover. [[spoiler:And then it turns out Tiffany and Tom both lied about being together the entire time; they were briefly separated and Tiffany triggered a silent alarm by stealing a bracelet on the second floor, so she can't confirm where Tom was at that time]].
** ''Literature/YouDontOwnMe'':
*** Kendra couldn't have killed her husband Martin personally because she was asleep inside the house when he was gunned down in the driveway, with the nanny Caroline shaking her awake after calling 911. However, it doesn't rule out that she could've hired someone to kill Martin for her.
*** Daniel Longfellow says he and his wife Leigh Ann were both in Washington D.C. on the night Martin was killed in Manhattan, though this doesn't rule out the possibility of a hired hit, albeit the police found no evidence of suspicious financial activity. [[spoiler:Daniel later reveals that he can only account for his whereabouts, as Leigh Ann [[FalseAlibi wasn't with him in D.C.]] on the night of the murder; he lied at the time because he was truly convinced Leigh Ann couldn't be involved, so he saw no reason to get Leigh Ann needlessly drawn into the investigation and potentially expose her affair]].
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* In "[[Literature/SherlockHolmes The Adventure of Wisteria Lodge]]", a man is murdered at an hour where his guest claims he was at home. Turns out the man was intending to commit a crime himself, and the clocks were set wrong so that said extremely respectable guest could provide an alibi.
* In ''Series/DiagnosisMurder'' book "[[Literature/DiagnosisMurderTheSilentPartner The Silent Partner]]", Mark Sloan insists that SerialKiller Tyler Cootes, couldn't have murdered Jerry Ridling, one of his supposed victims, because he had an alibi. It should be noted that he isn't denying Cootes' guilt for any of the other murders, just that this one was a copycat crime.
* In ''Series/DiagnosisMurder'' book "[[Literature/DiagnosisMurderTheSilentPartner The Silent Partner]]", Mark Sloan insists that SerialKiller Tyler Cootes, couldn't have murdered Jerry Ridling, one of his supposed victims, because he had an alibi. It should be noted that he isn't denying Cootes' guilt for any of the other murders, just that this one was a copycat crime.
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* ''ComicBook/IdentityCrisis'': Many readers figured out who the killer was in the first issue, because even though that person wasn't listed as a suspect at all, the story went out of its way to provide them an alibi.
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* ''ComicBook/IdentityCrisis'': ''ComicBook/IdentityCrisis2004'': Many readers figured out who the killer was in the first issue, because even though that person wasn't listed as a suspect at all, the story went out of its way to provide them an alibi.
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* One key gameplay element in ''VideoGame/ParadiseKiller'' is identifying and poking holes in the alibis of all the potential suspects. For example, the doctor claims that he was his office at the time and door logs confirm this, but [[spoiler:further investigation reveals a back door where the logging system is broken, meaning he could have left that way without creating a paper trail.]] Only one character lacks an alibi, and [[spoiler:only one of the characters with alibis actually has one that rendered them incapable of committing the crime.]]
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* ''Film/BangkokHaunted'': A CowboyCop is investigating a supposed suicide that his chief has told him to drop. The husband turns out, after being shot dead in an altercation, to have lost the use of his legs, making him incapable of accessing the crime scene. The woman's lover, after the cop kills him and makes it look like a shoot-out, is revealed after the fact to have been committing another crime (on camera!) at the time. [[spoiler: It actually was suicide that only coincidentally looked like murder. The woman's ghost was manipulating the cop (her secret second lover) into taking her revenge on the men who'd wronged her, including himself as he is arrested for murdering the other two.]]
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* In ''Series/DiagnosisMurder'' book "[[Literature/DiagnosisMurderTheSilentPartner The Silent Partner]]", Mark Sloan insists that SerialKiller Tyler Cootes, couldn't have murdered Jerry Ridling, one of his supposed victims, because he had an alibi. It should be noted that he isn't denying Cootes' guilt for any of the other murders, just that this one was a copycat crime.
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Trope was declared No Real Life Examples Please via crowner by the Real Life Maintenance thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/crowner.php?crowner_id=wqlew5tg
%% Trope was declared Administrivia/NoRealLifeExamplesPlease via crowner by the Real Life Maintenance thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/crowner.php?crowner_id=wqlew5tg
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[[/folder]]
[[folder:Real Life]]
* Juan Catalan was arrested for the murder of a teenage girl whose testimony put his brother in prison. His alibi was that he was at a baseball game when the murder occurred and he offered his ticket stubs as evidence. He also asked the authorities to look for him in game footage and volunteered to take a lie detector test. The ticket stubs were deemed inadmissible, he couldn't be found in any footage from the game, and his request for a lie detector was denied, so he went to prison while still proclaiming his innocence. Then, footage of him at the game was discovered in, of all places, an outtake from ''Series/CurbYourEnthusiasm''. He was released shortly afterwards.
[[folder:Real Life]]
* Juan Catalan was arrested for the murder of a teenage girl whose testimony put his brother in prison. His alibi was that he was at a baseball game when the murder occurred and he offered his ticket stubs as evidence. He also asked the authorities to look for him in game footage and volunteered to take a lie detector test. The ticket stubs were deemed inadmissible, he couldn't be found in any footage from the game, and his request for a lie detector was denied, so he went to prison while still proclaiming his innocence. Then, footage of him at the game was discovered in, of all places, an outtake from ''Series/CurbYourEnthusiasm''. He was released shortly afterwards.
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* ''Series/TheRising'': At first it looks like Joe murdered Neve. However, then he's alibied by her stepsister Katie, who admits they were having sex at the time of her disappearance.
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* ''Series/TheRising'': ''Series/TheRising'':
** At first it looks like Joe murdered Neve. However, then he's alibied by her stepsister Katie, who admits they were having sex at the time of herdisappearance.disappearance.
** William Wyatt was cleared as he had an alibi from his wife, saying he was at home in bed with her. It turns out she'd woken up that night and found him gone however. This helps him to be accused of Neve's murder.
** At first it looks like Joe murdered Neve. However, then he's alibied by her stepsister Katie, who admits they were having sex at the time of her
** William Wyatt was cleared as he had an alibi from his wife, saying he was at home in bed with her. It turns out she'd woken up that night and found him gone however. This helps him to be accused of Neve's murder.
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* ''Series/TheRising'': At first it looks like Joe murdered Neve. However, then he's alibied by her stepsister Katie, who admits they were having sex at the time of her disappearance.
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* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'': In "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsWhoShotMrBurns Who Shot Mr. Burns?]]", Chief Wiggum goes down the list of suspects and finds that each one has an alibi or other exculpation.
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* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'': In "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsWhoShotMrBurns "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS7E1WhoShotMrBurnsPartTwo Who Shot Mr. Burns?]]", Burns? Part Two]]", Chief Wiggum goes down the list of suspects and finds that each one has an alibi or other exculpation.
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* ''Film/HowToBlowUpAPipeline'': The group devise these so the authorities can't prove they destroyed the pipeline [[spoiler:aside from Xochitl and Theo, who take the fall]].
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* ''Film/HowToBlowUpAPipeline'': The group devise these so the authorities can't prove they destroyed the pipeline [[spoiler:aside from Xochitl and Theo, who take the fall]].fall. It's left ambiguous whether their alibis will hold up to scrutiny]].
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* ''Film/HowToBlowUpAPipeline'': The group devise these so the authorities can't prove they destroyed the pipeline [[spoiler:aside from Xochitl and Theo, who take the fall]].
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[[folder: Web Comics]]
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Note, however that the term "alibi" is sometimes misused. First an alibi is rebuttable evidence that the person suspected of a crime requiring them to be where the crime took place was not there. It is ''rebuttable'', which is a technical term meaning the prosecution can show it's not valid, is wrong or is faked. Second, unless the evidence is showing you were someplace other than where the crime was committed, ''and'' the crime requires you to be there during its commission, the evidence is ''not'' an alibi. Catherine Trammel's books describing how she'd murder people in ''Film/BasicInstinct'' are ''not'' an alibi; despite the (reasonable) argument that she'd have to be really stupid to murder someone in exactly the way her books describe and her lawyers could easily attribute it to a LoonyFan, they do not prove that she was somewhere else when the murders took place.
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Note, however that the term "alibi" is sometimes misused. First First, an alibi is rebuttable evidence that the person suspected of a crime requiring them to be where the crime took place was not there. It is ''rebuttable'', which is a technical term meaning the prosecution can show it's not valid, is wrong or is faked. Second, unless the evidence is showing you were someplace other than where the crime was committed, ''and'' the crime requires you to be there during its commission, the evidence is ''not'' an alibi. Catherine Trammel's books describing how she'd murder people in ''Film/BasicInstinct'' are ''not'' an alibi; despite the (reasonable) argument that she'd have to be really stupid to murder someone in exactly the way her books describe and her lawyers could easily attribute it to a LoonyFan, they do not prove that she was somewhere else when the murders took place.
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An alibi showing you're somewhere else doesn't help if you don't have to be at the scene of the crime. If you built and/or mailed someone a bomb (knowing it was one) and it blew up, killing them, it doesn't matter what evidence you have to prove incontrovertibly that you weren't there when the bomb went off, no alibi is going to be available, because you don't have to be there to commit the crime, thus proving you weren't there when the bomb went off does nothing to prove that you didn't make the bomb and that you didn't mail it.
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An alibi showing you're somewhere else doesn't help if you don't have to be at the scene of the crime. If you built and/or mailed someone a bomb (knowing it was one) and it blew up, killing them, it doesn't matter what evidence you have to prove incontrovertibly that you weren't there when the bomb went off, no off. No alibi is going to be available, because you don't have to be there to commit the crime, thus proving you weren't there when the bomb went off does nothing to prove that you didn't make the bomb and that you didn't mail it.
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Contrast ConvenientlyUnverifiableCoverStory, in which the point is to make it impossible to check whether a person was where they claim to have been; and LeaveNoWitnesses, which tries to prevent anyone from being able to say they saw you at the scene of the crime.
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Contrast ConvenientlyUnverifiableCoverStory, in which the point is to make it impossible to check whether a person was where they claim to have been; and LeaveNoWitnesses, which tries to prevent anyone from being able to say they saw you at the scene of the crime.
crime. Supertrope of VaryingCompetencyAlibi, where a suspect is viewed as either incapable of committing a crime, or incapable of committing it ''that badly''.
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For some evidence to be an alibi, it must either show you could not have committed the crime and/or show that you were no where near where the crime took place (if the crime requires you to be there at the time). A witness stating you were in Chicago at the time someone was stabbed in Los Angeles is a reasonable alibi. A traffic ticket you signed while you were in Chicago when the murder happened is a great alibi. But again, it's rebuttable if the prosecution can show there is enough time for you to commit the crime and still get to Chicago, or someone's lying.
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For some evidence to be an alibi, it must either show you could not have committed the crime and/or show that you were no where nowhere near where the crime took place (if the crime requires you to be there at the time). A witness stating you were in Chicago at the time someone was stabbed in Los Angeles is a reasonable alibi. A traffic ticket you signed while you were in Chicago when the murder happened is a great alibi. A televised speech you delivered in Chicago at the exact time of the murder is pretty much airtight. But again, it's rebuttable if the prosecution can show there is enough time for you to commit the crime and still get to Chicago, or someone's lying.
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* "Over the Hills and Far Away" by Gary Moore is about a man's arrest and trial for armed robbery. He refuses to give an alibi because it would expose his affair with his best friend's wife and he'll be able to see her again if he just waits out his sentence.
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* In ''VideoGame/Persona4'', the victim of the murder that kicks off the story was connected to two people who would seem to have ample motive to want her dead (due to a recent scandal). Problem is, both of these would-be prime suspects have rock-solid alibis: One was overseas at the time (verified by phone records), and the other was at his office in the city (verified by plenty of witnesses and other evidence).
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* In ''VideoGame/Persona4'', the victim of the murder that kicks off the story was connected to two people who would seem to have ample motive to want her dead (due to a recent scandal). Problem is, both of these would-be prime suspects have rock-solid alibis: One was overseas at the time (verified by phone records), and the other was at his office in the city (verified by plenty of witnesses and other evidence). [[spoiler:Neither of them had anything to do with it, although the suspect who was at his office is a major RedHerring later in the story.]]
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* ''VideoGame/LoveAndPies'': All of the suspects on Amelia's list give alibis for where they were on the night of the arson attack. Some of them even have pictures of them with the burning cafe in the background.
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* ''VideoGame/LoveAndPies'': All of the suspects on Amelia's list give alibis for where they were on the night of the arson attack. Some of them even have pictures of them with the burning cafe in the background. [[spoiler:In fact, Raj has ''three'': 30 minutes before the fire, he finished a triathlon, then he and his wife had a picture with his trophy outside Global Megacorp 10 minutes before, and finally, he went to the dentist 5 minutes after.]]
