Detective Lancer was one of two L.A.P.D. homicide detectives who investigated the scene of Freddy Brower's death on October 31, 1991. He and Detective Braverman were met at Freddy's apartment by Lieutenant Columbo, where they explained that it appeared that Freddy has slipped and fallen while taking a bath, hit his head on the way down and subsequently drowned. But a few small details bothered Columbo, who eventually uncovered a murder plot concocted by Freddy's soon-to-be-ex-wife Nancy and his dastardly uncle Leon Lamarr.
Detective Lancer made a brief appearance in Death Hits the Jackpot, played by Robert Alan Browne.