Despite the satisfaction that Columbo viewers feel when the detective catches a dangerous criminal, there are moments that will probably make one want to pull out some tissue, especially if it's a somber moment involving a grieving loved related to the murder victim (or to the murderer), or in the rare case that the murderer himself was a source of sympathy who was partly justified in doing what he did.
- In "Ransom for a Dead Man", the victim's daughter is filled with grief over her father's disappearance, and then his death. Despite her bitchy attitude shown throughout, she was ultimately justified in her suspicion that her step-mother killed him.
- Margaret's revelation to Columbo of her father visiting her in Switzerland sometime before his murder. Her stepmother was getting emotionally and psychologically abusive toward him, and demanding that he turn their law firm over to her, while he stays with nothing but part of the house. And as a thank you, she files for divorce. The idea that a man allowed his wife to bully him around like that may have seemed quite odd during the era that this episode took place, but it still conveyed to audiences that Domestic Abuse, emotional or physical, can go both ways.
- Ken Franklin from "Murder By the Book" is in no way sympathetic, but it's hard not to feel for him at the end when he reveals that the murder plot stemmed from the only contribution to the writing partnership he thought was any good, which ended up forgotten in a desk drawer.
- In "Dead Weight", the only witness to the murder is a young woman who is implied to have had mental issues in the past. The murderer befriends her to find out how much of a threat she is, but after some time actually becomes fond of her and begins romancing her. She's naturally heartbroken when Columbo is able to prove the murder.
- "Etude in Black" has a small moment in which Columbo reflects sadly upon how the murder victim (at the time believed a suicide), was a beautiful, talented woman with a rich life, and now she was just a couple of dry sentences in a police report.
- At the end of "Negative Reaction" Columbo's caught the killer and is putting his coat on when he sees the photograph the killer took of his wife just before he shot her. He stares at the picture, jacket halfway on, and sort of sags in place. The killer's going to face justice, but two (relatively) innocent people are still dead and there's nothing that can take that back.
- In "Playback" the killer's wife is a kind, sweet woman who never suspected that her beloved husband might have been the one to kill her mother in cold blood. After Columbo reveals the truth, she's in tears, and Columbo's looking about as grim as we've ever seen him as the credits roll.
- Perhaps the saddest scene in all the franchise is the one with Ned Diamond in "Forgotten Lady". He was dance partners with the once-famous musical artist Grace Wheeler, until age and a drunk driving accident put them both out of business for decades to come. That is, until they decide to put together another musical act that will make them known once again. In the end when Colombo reveals to Diamond that Grace killed her husband to obtain the money to fund her musical, and that she's slowly dying from a terminal illness that made her forget about the murder, the look of utter heartbreak on his face is shattering. At that moment he decides that he will confess to the murder in Grace's place, believing he can take the justice system's attention away from her so she can pass away in peace.
- It's not hard to know what's going on in his head at the moment. Despite the fact that being in trouble with the law will permanently ruin his career and image, he simply doesn't care anymore. The woman he loves will die very soon; he has nothing else to live for — except the knowledge that he gave her a peaceful death.
- "The Greenhouse Jungle" is a rare episode where the victim isn't an Asshole Victim. His situation of desperately trying to get back the love of his unfaithful wife, only to be murdered by his own uncle is fairly sad.
- In "A Stitch in Crime," watching the victim's mournful ex-junkie boyfriend be given an overdose to be used as The Scapegoat can be hard to watch.
- Second to that, there's something about the culprit's main target gasping pitifully from his failing heart that elicits pathos. Poor guys looks legitimately scared that for some reason, his body is spontaneously failing him.
- Beth's Break the Cutie scenes at the hands of her brother in "Lady in Waiting," as well as her level in jerkass after the murder, and its effect on her boyfriend (not to mention how he's forced to give evidence against her).
- In "Double Shock", seeing how sad the victim's younger girlfriend is about his death after the initial implications that she was a Gold Digger followed by her own murder. Then, at the end of the episode, there's the Kindly Housekeeper's sadness about realizing that both of the victim's nephews, whom she's known since they were kids, conspired to kill him.
