Murder, He Wrote/References

Cultural references

 * The title of the comic story is a reference to the American television mystery series .
 * The entire story and style is a parody of the Japanese series . This includes some specific references, including a box of "Mell-O" (referencing the character Mello from Death Note) and a bag of "EAT IT!" potato chips (referencing an infamous scene from the English dub of the Death Note anime) on the kitchen table in one panel.
 * Krusty and Lisa are both turned into parodies of the characters and  respectively, made clear in their slightly altered designs and their roles in comparison to Bart, who acts as a stand-in for . There even is mention of an "L" assisting the police, who Bart eventually suspects to be Lisa, only for it to turn out to be Ralph Wiggum instead.
 * There are references to two other Japanese series,  and Pokémon; the local news states "the dragonballs were returned unharmed" just before announcing Sideshow Bob's release from prison, and shortly after Sideshow Bob is seen falling face first into a hot dog cart labelled "Pika Dogs", in reference to the character Pikachu with the character even being shown as a mascot on the cart.