History Main / LotsaPeopleTryToDunIt

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* One case from Manga/DetectiveConan plays out like this when an actor is found dead at the theater where he worked. The three other actors each confess to killing him by smashing a vase over his head, with forensics finding skin particles from the victim on each of the three vases. [[spoiler:However, the autopsy revealed the head wounds were not serious enough to kill him. His real cause of death was heart failure due to his wife swapping his heart medication with stomach medication.]]

Compare TwoDunIt and EverybodyDidIt, where multiple people ''succeed'' at murder. See also CollidingCriminalConspiracies.

* In trope-laden sex comedy ''Film/TheNakedDetective'', three different harpies are trying to kill old man Harthcourt Higglesbotham III [[InheritanceMurder for his inheritance]] (and because he's a cantankerous old bastard who's been making their lives miserable knowing they'll do anything for the estate). Fourth wife Roxanne was trying to poison him with rat poison, nurse Annie was trying to overdose him on his vitamin K medication, and daughter-in-law Irene was trying to shoot him (badly). [[spoiler:Rat poison is basically blood thinner, while vitamin K is a coagulant - they cancelled each other out. Of course, it still sent his blood haywire and caused seizures, but the attempted shootings were raising his adrenaline levels, allowing him to ride them out. Actual killer - by accident - ? His nebbish son, whose OCD bug spraying inadvertently poisoned his antacid pills.]]

* In ''{{VisualNovel/DanganRonpa}} 1'', Case [[spoiler:4]] has this (minus the AssholeVictim part), [[spoiler:but, as it turns out, [[TakeAThirdOption the answer is]] [[HeroicSacrifice "none of the above"]]]]

* In {{VisualNovel/DanganRonpa}} 1, Case [[spoiler:4]] has this(minus the AssholeVictim part), [[spoiler:but, as it turns out, [[TakeAThirdOption the answer is]] [[HeroicSacrifice "none of the above"]]]]

* In {{VisualNovel/DanganRonpa}} 1, Case [[spoiler:4]] has this, [[spoiler:but, as it turns out, [[TakeAThirdOption the answer is]] [[HeroicSacrifice "none of the above"]]]]

* ''Series/{{CSI}}'': A extreme example occurs in "Ending Happy". The [=CSIs=] are investigating the RasputinianDeath of boxer Lorenzo 'Happy' Gonzales, and discover a bizarre chain of events where the multiple murder attempts ended interfering with each other. The drugged-up ex-boxer passes out on his favorite prostitute's bed, and is injected with snake venom by her and an accomplice. His boss's wife is fed shrimp by his boss, in order to trigger Happy's allergy when they hook up, causing his throat to swell. He's then shot through the throat with a crossbow by one of the people who injected him with snake venom, allowing him to breathe again. He figures out what the prostitute did and goes back to her room angry, and she hits him with a crowbar. Then he staggers off to rest on a chair by the brothel's swimming pool, and leans over to pick up a cigarette. The chair collapses under his weight and drops him into the pool, wherein he finally drowns.

* PlayedForLaughs in the AllJustADream ''WesternAnimation/{{Daria}}'' episode "Murder, She Snored", in which Kevin is murdered and Daria is the main suspect. As it turned out, everybody ''but'' her did it, all unaware of each other's plots and thinking they were the sole murderers. Even though they all fess up when Daria starts pointing fingers, [[CrapsackWorld Daria gets convicted anyway.]]

* ''Series/{{CSI}}'': A extreme example occurs in "Ending Happy". The [=CSIs=] are investigating RasputinianDeath of boxer Lorenzo 'Happy' Gonzales, and discover a bizarre chain of events where the multiple murder attempts ended interfering with each other. The drugged-up ex-boxer passes out on his favorite prostitute's bed, and is injected with snake venom by her and an accomplice. His boss's wife is fed shrimp by his boss, in order to trigger Happy's allergy when they hook up, causing his throat to swell. He's then shot through the throat with a crossbow by one of the people who injected him with snake venom, allowing him to breathe again. He figures out what the prostitute did and goes back to her room angry, and she hits him with a crowbar. Then he staggers off to rest on a chair by the brothel's swimming pool, and leans over to pick up a cigarette. The chair collapses under his weight and drops him into the pool, wherein he finally drowns.

* In ''Film/TheTroubleWithHarry'', multiple characters think they might have killed Harry, which results in his body behind moved multiple times as they try to hide their possible. In this case, none of them actually set out to murder him, but each one believes they may be guilty of at least manslaughter. [[spoiler:It turns out none of them actually killed Harry.]]

Compare TwoDunIt, where multiple people ''succeed'' at murder. See also CollidingCriminalConspiracies.

* In Lauren Groff's 'The Monsters of Templeton'', the death of Marmaduke Temple is something of a historical mystery. A flashback reveals that three different men, all with distinct grudges against him, tried to kill him simultaneously. But two of them backed off so the third could do the deed. Temple's wife also considers herself responsible--because she let him leave the house that night, even though she foresaw his murder.

* In ''Series/{{Psych}}'', Nigel St Nigel, a Simon Cowel expy, hires the main characters to investigate a series of attempts on his life. They soon join the list of people (including SBPD personnel) that wouldn't mind if the killer succeeded.

Compare TwoDunIt, where multiple people ''succeed'' at murder.

* In the comedy ''Theatre/HiddenMeanings'', a dead body is found hidden in a cupboard. Over the course of the play, pretty much every member of the cast admits, with varying amounts of guilt and/or pride, to having done the deed — including the victim, who is discovered at the end of the play to be carrying a suicide note.

* In the comedy ''Theatre/HiddenMeanings'', a dead body is found hidden in a cupboard. Over the course of the play, pretty much every member of the cast admits, with varying amounts of guilt and/or pride, to having done the deed — including the victim, who is discovered at the end of the play to be carrying a suicide note.

DoWeHaveThisOne NeedsABetterName

WhoMurderedTheAsshole is a popular plot in murder mysteries because it gives the maximum number of suspects with a reson to want the victim dead. Some works take it a step further and have not only multiple characters who wanted the victim dead, but who actually attempted it.

This will leave the detectives with a lot of contradictory evidence, which will not make sense until they release that there were multiple attempts on the life of the victim. And once they figure that out, they then need to work out who was responsible for each of them and which (if any) actually succeeded.