Motive inverts this trope since the detectives usually don't discover the motive for the crime till the end of the episode and by that time they have a fair bit of evidence to convict the perpetrator. The show's gimmick is that we know from the start who the killer is but the reasons for the crime are hidden until the very end.
A lack of an alibi doesn't help either. Motive or not, most TV cops seem to think a suspect claiming he/she was "home alone or home alone with my wife/husband/sister/brother, etc" is tantamount to a confession since there really isn't a way someone can prove that and said spouse/sibling could be lying. As well as admitting that they were anywhere near the victim shortly before their death. Nevermind that a guilty person would be far more likely to lie about something like this. One especially bad example has Benson and Stabler showing up at the home of a man who had dinner with their murder victim and proceeding to accuse him of being both her lover and her killer — with absolutely zero evidence to support either accusation.
This is a very general, and combined work, example, both of which aren't allowed by the rules. The last sentence is kind of an example, but is incomplete.
Coming back to where you started is not the same as never leaving. -Terry Pratchett
This is a very general, and combined work, example, both of which aren't allowed by the rules. The last sentence is kind of an example, but is incomplete.
Coming back to where you started is not the same as never leaving. -Terry Pratchett