The splattered blood on Rusk's windshield is present in the closeup view only but is missing in the long shot.
When Columbo is viewing the closed circuit video tapes of the murder, they pause a moment right after the professor goes down. When they then fast forward, the body position is completely different, though the prof is supposedly dead and could not have moved.
Shortly before the murder, the clock on the auditorium wall and Rowe's wristwatch display different times.
In the meeting with Justin Rowe's father, the father holds one of the victim's books in his left hand as he admonishes Columbo for not reading it. He's holding the book out toward Columbo with the binding side in his hand. The next camera angle shows Columbo taking the book from the father, but the book is turned in the opposite direction, with the binding side out.
While Columbo is visiting Mrs. Rusk, he walks towards her as she sits on the couch in the window. As he walks, his hands are visible and are empty. In the next shot, he has his notebook and pencil in his hands.
The woman from the TV station says a viewer recorded the murder video from a dish antenna. A dish picks up satellite signals. It is possible that someone could have inadvertently picked up the signal with a TV antenna but It certainly would not have been broadcast by satellite.
When recording the broadcast feed from a satellite station, the antenna type and carrier frequency can't match the one required for a wireless CCTV. They are incompatible systems. So it would have been impossible to intercept the CCTV signal this way. But a regular VHF or UHF antenna connected to a Beta or VHS VCR would have likely worked if on the same carrier frequency.
Vehicle description given to Columbo over the phone is stated as a 1976 Ford 2 door green. Vehicle shown is a c1969 Ford Falcon 2 door green.
Robert Culp plays a defense attorney, Jordan Rowe. He says to Columbo, he and Columbo are in the same game, " you catch em, I try em," but a defense attorney wouldn't say he tries them, but instead defends them.
With all that Mr Rowe seems to be aware of as far as Professor Rusk specifically and the university as a whole why is he sending his son there and why doesn't he try to improve it?
When Columbo is talking to the Security Guard about the security cameras in the garage, the position of the two strands of his tie suddenly changes . At first one strand seems to be caught in his belt, and then both strands are together in the normal position.
In the final scene when Lt. Columbo is pointing out the rig containing the TV camera and .45 caliber 1911 pistol, the pistol is secured to the rig using cable/zip ties that wrap around the slide. This would have held the pistol securely in place; however, once fired, the recoil would have broken the cable/zip ties and surely done some damage to the rig and perhaps the hood of the truck.
The tips of the main rotor blades of the filming helicopter can be seen at the top of the screen during the opening sequence.
Why didn't Coop remove the camera and firing device it's been a week since the murder he had plenty of time to do so.