office to compare notes together we had more than a dozen reports of the magazine salesman's presence in the neighborhood just prior to the murder of mrs renard's mother-in-law the various descriptions of the man which we obtained from the people in the neighborhood tallying closely about six feet 170 pounds pimply complexion blonde hair fast talk him about 25 years old of course we know scabery was the only stranger in the neighborhood last saturday morning only one of the people remember anyway how close did you trace him to the renard house you get your list there brennan yeah they are thanks let's see when he picked up his tracks down on floresta street sold a couple of descriptions there and he headed up lander's avenue on the chavis road yeah the renards live at 2280 chavis road and salesman talked to the woman at 2274 chavis that's three doors away from the renards uh what does he see in there let me see where is that brennan on the 157 she showed didn't have enough room on the report um yeah here is it mrs john riko 2274 chavis the guy was there about 1145 saturday morning and they put him in the running first time he ever showed in that neighborhood first time scabers fresh kid not a very good sale here's the name of the company he's working for the harrison news distributors you check with them well they're closed for the night we'll call them the first thing tomorrow good here's something else for you and a call from frank renard this afternoon what he had to say seems in the excitement just after the murder mrs renard overlooked a couple of things what's that now they're missing a yellow table model radio radio was in the bedroom where the old lady was killed well that ties in with a robbery motive and they're missing a ring too along to mrs renard topaz ring supposed to be worth a little money but she didn't notice it was gone until the day that's right you got the serial number on the radio yeah right here yeah let's sing yeah better here we are the haverson model 511 180 000 277 609 not a small radio isn't there there's only one with that serial number on it crack it down the description of the topaz ring and the serial numbers in description of the yellow table model radio were sent to the pawn shop detail the information was then placed on the stolen property list and relayed to every pawn shop operator in the city the next morning ben and i interviewed the manager of the harrison news distributing company there the suspect had given his name is sam bricker we checked out his home address turned out to be a gas station in north hollywood we took the suspects job application blank with the specimen of his handwriting and then we drove back to the office sam bricker we were unable to get a make on the name from the record bureau we checked the cards in every known criminal it was catalogued in the oddity file as having a template complexion none of them matched that night we got out an apb and a radiogram the suspects trail led from one salesman's job to the next on his last job he gave his name as albert barry his address is 1430 palo Alto drive that was in the echo lake district then and i go back to check it 1428 1430 there if you don't know at least it's not a gas station huh come on tiresome huh yeah i could stand a change yes what is it we're looking for an albert barry ma'am does he live here mr barry i'm sorry he and his wife moved four days ago we identified ourselves as police officers and had the landlady of mrs catron hawkman we show us the apartment which barry and his wife had occupied it was still vacant and one of the closets in the apartment we found a cheap overnight bag the lock on it was broken and one of the seams had ripped i forgot about that old bag and mr barry told me i could throw it away take a look i'm in how long has barry been married do you know mrs hawkman no i don't but the way they acted lovey-dovey all the time i don't think they've been together long and joe look some kind of an identification tag yeah let me see it's a tool disc it looks like them jameson larry pittsburgh pennsylvania you're not after mr barry are you officers yes ma'am we are did he leave a forwarding address i wish he did i'm holding three letters for mrs barry in my apartment right now may we see them please certainly would you step this way please my apartment just across the hall yes ma'am would you like a bottle of beer or something no ma'am thanks from her folks i think mrs barry's from fresno that's good i want to copy down this return address man oh yeah go ahead okay that's ck or u l r i ck five two five north lamona fresno and very arm is hotman by the way did the barry say they'd call for their mail mrs barry did that's why i'm holding on to it all right just one more question do you remember if mr and mrs barry had a radio yes they did a small one do you remember what brand it was no i don't it had a yellow case that's all i remember before we left we called it back strand and he had an immediate stakeout placed at the apartment house in case the barry's returned to pick up their mail men and i went back to the office and placed a call at the pittsburgh police department we gave them the description and the number of the tool disc which we found in barry's old suitcase they said they'd check with a james and larry company in the morning and then they'd call us back that night ben and i drove to fresno and checked in at the police station up there two officers were assigned to stake out the alrick home we interviewed mr alrick who identified himself as albert barry's father-in-law he told us his daughter had married the murder suspect eight months before and he gave us pictures of barry taken at the wedding alrick told us that he'd catch a santa fe train out of fresno the next morning he wanted to be in los angeles to take his daughter home when barry was apprehended it was almost 2 a.m when ben and i left fresno and started back to los angeles we checked in at the office at 10 minutes past eight the next morning at 8 35 the call came through from the pittsburgh police department what did i say joe it was a tool disc all right james and larry company issued 18 months ago to one of their workers they give a name albert barry 11 a.m monday december the 5th one month to the day since the 62-year-old woman had been beaten to death the pictures of barry and his wife which had been taken at their wedding were printed up in wholesale lots and distributed to all points mr alrick barry's father-in-law arrived in town and got himself a hotel room we waited there was no report from the stake out of the apartment house we checked back in at the office at five minutes to one i got it i'm aside friday this is mr alrick sergeant i just got a call from my wife in fresno i thought you want to know what's that the wife got a letter from norma they're living in south pasadena an apartment you got the address there yes sir that's what the wife called about it's 134 norway terrace when was the letter mailed you know i've said it was both mark december 3rd day before yesterday get your coat on alrick we'll be right over ben and i picked up mr alrick at his hotel and drove to the south pasadena address barry and his wife had the apartment on the top floor neither of them were at home a landlord let us in with a pass key in the bedroom we found a small yellow radio we checked the serial numbers they matched it was the same radio stolen from the renard house in the bedroom closet we found two suitcases we checked through them nothing in this one joe here we are look at these what are they sergeant pair of plastic gun butts i see joe one of them has been checking sergeant somebody coming up the stairs all right let's get in the living room be quiet what are you doing here who are these men police norma they want albert he killed a woman so i'll write norma it'll be all right did you know your husband killed a woman mrs barry i'm running away for a month now moving all the time i wanted to know why but he told me he said i was in as much a tear run and i'm tired of running why did he kill her did he tell you that he said it broke in the house he didn't know anyone was home and the old woman was in the bedroom she started to cry out he had a gun she hit her with it where's your husband now i don't know daddy come home for dinner about five about the grocery what time you got been uh half past three um that ring you're wearing mrs barry your husband gave you that yes why what kind of a stone isn't that to a past spirit gave it to me why nothing we'll wait five o'clock came and went barry failed to show five thirty oh rick started to get nervous six o'clock six thirty no sign of barry i went to the window and kept an eye on the street below at six forty five a light green nash sedan photo was stopped in front of the apartment house a man got out and went into the main floor entrance bird i'll let him in all right how long have you had the new car a couple of days got credit what do you want me to do now does he have a key to the apartment here you lost it okay when he rings let him in just act natural and yeah you cover me i'll get the cuffs on him right how about barry okay ben yeah he's fast with a gun that's looking at me such i've never seen a kid kill anybody come on let's take him in i love him i still love him but if you're a cop you wouldn't understand that's right i wouldn't understand i'm a cop the story you have just heard was true only the names were changed to protect the innocent on february 16th 1947 trial was held in superior court department 82 city and county of los angeles state of california in a moment the results of that trial earlier tonight you heard the reports of amazing increases in fatima smokers from new york to los angeles yes all over the country fatima is doubling and redoubling its sales and here's reason one fatima is the long cigarette that contains an essential ingredient of all the very popular cigarettes turkish tobacco reason two fatima has a much different much better flavor and aroma than any other long cigarette reason three two millions of smokers the name fatima has always stood for the best in cigarette quality smoke fatima the best of all long cigarettes albert ralph berry was tried and convicted of murder in the first degree his wife norma berry was found innocent of the charge that she harbored a criminal she was returned home with her father berry was executed in the lethal gas chamber at the state penitentiary you have just heard dragnet a new series of authentic cases from official violence technical advice for dragnet comes from the office of acting chief of police w a warton los angeles police department tonight's program is dedicated to private cubrick w sd's of the district of columbia metropolitan police department who on the night of may 16th 1947 gave his life so that yours might be more secure a team of cigarettes best of long cigarettes has brought you dragnet question transcribed from los angeles be sure to hear songs by mortandani tonight on nbc ladies and gentlemen the story you're about to hear is true only the names have been changed to protect the innocent fatima cigarettes best of long cigarettes brings you dragnet you're a detective sergeant you're assigned to juvenile bureau a rash of crimes is broken out in your city suspicion points to an organized gang of juveniles your job stop them if you want a long cigarette smoke the best of long cigarettes smoke fatima it's the long cigarette that contains an essential ingredient of all the very popular cigarettes turkish tobacco that's why you see the turkey symbols on the attractive golden yellow fatima package that's why fatima has a much different much better flavor and aroma than any other long cigarette that's why fatima doubles and redoubles its smokers yes if you want a long cigarette smoke the best of long cigarettes smoke fatima dragnet the documented drama of an actual crime for the next 30 minutes in cooperation with the los angeles police department you will travel step by step on the side of the law through an actual case from official police files from beginning to end from crime to punishment dragnet is the story of your police force in action was sunday march 27 was windy in los angeles we're working a night watch out of george street juvenile bureau my partner's ben romero the boss is ed backstrand chief of detectives my name's friday i was on the way up from the juvenile bureau and it was 11 25 p.m. when i got to the receiving hospital room five the treatment room everything happens on sunday night time yeah how's the kid making out doc the one arm is cut up badly nothing fatal though how'd it happen that's what i'd like to find out when i talked to him if you want don't press him know he's had a bad shock all right officer here to talk to you son i can't tell him i can't talk please just a few routine questions and we're gonna have to answer him sooner or later please can't you see what's happened already i can't tell you anything jackman rose that's your real name yeah how old are you don't be 16 next july when you live i can't tell you you know that let me alone will you let me alone you've been running around with that gang of kids on spring street haven't you the big timers isn't that what they call themselves i don't know anything about it believe me i can't talk you tipped us off about the burger we they were going to pull tonight is that where they knifed you look will you believe me i can't tell you anything not anything he's still shaking you all right jack we'll talk about it later when you feel better you see what they've done to me already they said next time they'd kill me july will be your old friday yeah yeah okay friend goodbye i can make out john it's not very good ben captain boring convenient you check in while you were going to see us okay if he'd tell you who knifed him no i scared him good he wouldn't tell me a thing he's lying on the boy's parents friday i got a hold of his father he's on his way in how's the boy bad knife wounds nothing failed you know the boy not till this afternoon captain he tipped himself about a burglary a gang of young kids were supposed to pull tonight we go through no but two hours ago this Monroe kid was found in the vacant lot down on olympic cut up pretty bad the gang must have paid him how long is it going to take you to break that up we're just starting to get a learn on them bob must be nearly a hundred in that game and everyone up and working hard take a look at the pin map over here the spot here look all the jobs pulled during the last month last five weeks up to date that tabs for burglary must be more than a hundred the robberies green pens count them at least 50 there's five more orange ones added for the weekend auto desks you bet those kids are working hard you got a lead on them that's the one we had last week you have to push it harder here's the big reason this is a line of pens down in black first snatching first snatching gonna rate 26 of them in the past five weeks they're pretty well concentrated in one area here that's right now what's the lead you're working on right there on the pen map gab well these two blocks here bob where franco alley intersect spring street what about it well it's the only clear area for a dozen blocks around there's not a colored pin on it you see yeah now all the rest of the pins the robberies burglary's attacks they all seem to branch out from this same spot right here indefinite patterns franco alley and spring street figure that's the focal point for the guy well it's good all the mark for instance oh we've been checking that neighborhood for a week we got it narrowed down to one place out of the corner franco in spring what is it it's a sort of time it's pretty typical only it stays open all night and it gets a pretty good play from kids for right now hang out captain pretty tough youngster none of them over 18 who runs the place guy named eddie ramsey small time con man had a running with him when we worked bunco detail i remember the name smart mouth tried to give us trouble when we talked to some kids in there last night he's got a place out of form in the back of the store kind of a club room he sounds like a good lead what are you doing about it well just a minute come on yeah who now we'll be right down when an old kid his father's downstairs cursing every one of us and what's his problem can't understand how his boy got in trouble come on then let's tell him what kind of a city do we have when we can't allow our children out on the street without being stabbed or shot what's our great police force doing when this is going on i'd like an answer if you've got one i demand an answer we got an answer for mr minn rowell you sit down my boy's lying in there in that hospital bed cut the pieces what do you do to prevent it tell me you tell us mr minn rowell what do you do to prevent it i'm no cop that's your job i pay my taxes and i help pay your salary we look out for your kids but we don't raise unless you're just a minute mr minn rowell answer me this how old is your son jack he's 16 i think why you know what he does with his spare time where he spends his night of course i do he's at home sometimes he goes to the library and you don't know much about your son mr minn rowell for the past month four nights out of five he's been hanging around with a gang down at a soda fountain on spring street he's down there's late it's 2 a.m he says he goes to the library how do i know i'm a busy man did you know that your son is mixed up with that gang he's not mixed up with that gang a bunch of small time thieves but they're growing they started with purse snatching breaking in park cars burglarizing candy stores you don't know what you're talking about wait a minute please then they took up robberies stealing cars beating up girls women attacking you're crazy jack's not that kind he's part of that gang and right now we hold all of them responsible my boy wouldn't do anything like that he's a member of that gang he told us they're the ones that napped him tonight that's a lie jack's not mixed up with anything like that you believe anything you want mr minn rowell we're gonna protect your boy as much as we can but don't expect us to raise him for you you better take a free piece of advice you keep your advice jack's not in this you can't prove he is we're not out to prove anything right now but you catch up with that boy yours keep him off the streets before it's too late are you threatening me no sir surprising the next time we might meet at the morgue one a.m monday march 28th a detail of 50 officers from juvenile bureau and metropolitan division were deployed for 16 blocks along figure o street at five minutes past one they started to move south over an appointed area in the space of half an hour 18 young kids none of them over 17 years old were picked up off the streets and brought to the second floor at 1335 georgia street the juvenile bureau four of the youngsters were girls at 145 a.m. then and i checked the soda fountain on the corner of pranko alley in spring street same bunch go business education yeah come on the folks they're back again same guys but i can tell eddie why do you guys have to keep tracking us huh you think we were crooks or something you were here the last time we checked in teddy you ever go home sure when i'm tired i'm tired what's the matter that's your money on the table there sure it's my money you want to borrow a buck 28 dollars that's a lot of money for a bull gory you keep pretty late hours son you have to go to school in the morning maybe i can sit here can i it's free country i'm drinking coffee you're gonna make me on that you've been drinking more than coffee where's your driver's license every time the same thing there march 10th 1933 16 years old i giving you a trouble eddie's on his way out what's your name jones clad jones hothead sure he's got money too rich family you can save the smart talk for us any of your pals in the back room and what's the trouble now sergeant how many times a week do we get a check up go ahead eddie read them off we told you the last time rams he cleaned up your place here we'll ride your back till you do i told you the last time sergeant there's nothing wrong with my place it's almost two o'clock in the morning you got a dozen underage kids hanging around here doing nothing some of them have been drinking schoolboys better to have them in here than hanging around outside in the street i keep an eye on them you're not the guardian ramsey this time of night they've got no business in here all on the street alone that's your opinion that that's the law ramsey either you shut down that back room and keep these kids out of here late at night or we'll go after your license you don't scare me sergeant you can't prove a thing a couple of these kids have juvenile records are on probation we can tag you for contributing you still don't scare me now why don't you leave the kids alone that's right eddie read them off Ben get Benson and bell Roger you won't clean up your place rams he will do it for you yeah what are you gonna do we're filling these boys in all of them 225 a.m. monday march 28th the dragon at operation had netted 30 juveniles 26 boys four girls 24 of the children were between the ages of 16 and 17 they were lodged in the assembly room at the george street juvenile girl the other half dozen were 13 and 15 year olds they were taken to the juvenile hall at 1369 henry street at 243 a.m. we met with captain bowie well checked in 30m all right in the morning we filed petitions to have every one of these cases brought to the attention of the juvenile court make a note of it okay bob but it goes with records asked for detention from the probation department right we'll call their parents in the morning call them now they've got some explaining to do by 6 a.m. all but three of the children's parents had shown up to most of them it was nothing new their kids had been there before they'd be there again they took the lecture from the juvenile officer calmly as long as it didn't mean trouble for them they wouldn't worry when they got their children home they would reprimand them not for running the streets but for being picked up by the police ben and i had seen the cycle of the young criminals start before a hundred times over they had a lot of different endings most of them saw him during the next week that followed we booked an average of a dozen juvenile delinquents every night the clampdown continued so did the crime wave son burglaries four romperies eight car thefts six person matching three assaults on women one week's work picked up a new angle on rams in a date captain he might be fencing for the game we'll give you the tip off one of our informants ramsey's brother lives out in the valley he's supposed to be pushing this stuff you check him out yeah couldn't get a thing or not explain what attracts the kids to that cell phone explains those 20 dollar bills the kids are flashing may steal and rob and then they sell a loot to ramsey for nothing another thing ramsey keeps his place open all night and there's no reason to he doesn't get that much trade it's only from a young gang and hang around there you question the kids what are they account for having all that money well most of them say ramsey lends it to them they say they pay him back a little at a time i think he's fencing for the kids you try to get his license no not captain we can't prove a thing against him and we'll do it the hard way sweat it out that night we drove out to ramsey soda fountain and asked him again to clean up his place to keep the young kids out after 10 o'clock at night to stop lending them money they refused there was nothing we could do his business was a public place he could not be held responsible for any of his patrons in the next 10 days that followed ben and i haunted the sidewalk outside the soda fountain we questioned every youngster as they entered and left we made more than a dozen arrests many of the kids had been drinking heavily we found some of them under the influence of narcotics but ramsey was still in the clear the crime wave continued sporadically ben and i waited for our chance it was a long time coming thursday april 14th we had dinner at johnny kotham's place and it was 10 35 p.m and we checked back into the office hot shot grab a deal yeah the terminal on market street the 459 and shooting the terminal on market street the 459 let's go it was approximately five feet four inches tall 125 pounds brown hair brown eyes slight build bare complexing it was wearing blue jeans and a corduroy jacket we found him between a row of packing cases at the rear of the warehouse at terminal on market streets there was a single bullet hole in his forehead just above the left eye there was a 38 revolver near his right hand the watchman told us how it happened she broke in the back of the warehouse sergeant she wanted to shoot it out with me here's his ID card fell out of his pocket teddy cameron age 15 dear god the kid i didn't know sergeant he didn't either he thought he was grown up you are listening to drag net for the solution to an actual case from official police files now here's the solution to many of your christmas shopping problems if your friends smoke a long cigarette give the best of long cigarettes the long cigarette that contains an essential ingredient of all the very popular cigarettes turkish tobacco the cigarette that has a much different much better flavor and aroma than any other long cigarette the cigarette that has doubled and redoubled in popularity here are the authentic reports new york division chicago division los angeles division more and more smokers agree fatima is the best of long cigarettes so enjoy fatima yourself and give fatima for christmas and the attractive golden yellow curtain everyone who smokes fatima says that this great new long cigarette is the best of all long cigarettes los angeles police department form 311 dead body report type gunshot dr number 437695 victim theodore cameron residence address 960 charter street date and time of death thursday april 14th 1035 p.m place terminal market streets south state warehouse cars of death gunshot motive or reason attempted burglary time discovered 10 40 p.m removed to county morgue discovered by carol hyba night watch and identified by barbara cameron sister description of victim male Caucasian age 15 great swarms of occupation student percent anglicians was a witness sign joke writing serial number 20 28 age 15 writing joe and cameron boy sister she's waiting in the next room yeah now let's go she's taking it hard yeah morning miss cameron good morning i won't keep you long get a few routine questions yes all right miss cameron how many other in your family there were three of us teddy mike and me mother and father dead i work teddy and mike go to school i mean mike time how old is your brother mike miss cameron he's 14 you're the sole support of your two brothers yes do you have any idea of who the boys were your brother ted used to run around i don't know them by name i remember seeing a couple of them once or twice i could know i think he and ted were pretty close brothers do you know if ted mixed with a gang of kids down on spring street maybe mike could know that sergeant teddy wasn't a bad boy he wasn't a bum none of us are i tried to raise the boys like miss told me this needs we made out i understand this camera my salary didn't have too much but we got by yeah i figured i'm getting married i'm 31 be good for the boy especially teddy he said it couldn't be in two places at once hold a job and watch the kids but that's why i thought maybe a husband i'm sorry to press miss cameron do you think your brother mike can tell us about that spring street gang i'll mark it now where can we find him saying your friend's house i'll get the address in my bag here that's two five one four i don't write numbers too well thank you miss cameron you've been very helpful i'll give some right to drive you home do i have to go would it be all right if i sit here for a while it's all right i'm tired real tired 2514 rest serrano street that was the address barbara cameron had given us was the home of mr and mrs jean brewer high school friends of the dead boy's sister we talked to mike cameron he told us that his brother teddy had been running around with a gang down on spring street he identified ramsey soda fountains the hangout it was 225 p.m when we got back to georgia street juvenile bureau okay juvenile bureau romero yeah hold on i'll call you joe thanks buddy joe this is canfield in burglary yeah homer you're working that camera in case aren't you yeah i just got a report on when you might be interested in out of the same neighborhood distillery problem what do you got on it looks like a juvenile m o they got away with seven cases of scotch whiskey expensive stuff okay we'll hop on it you back where miss elizabeth rice with the auditor in charge at the bubeck warehouse we located her on the mezzanine office roll was her job to keep her running inventory on all incoming and outgoing with her stock she knew her job well as you know sergeant friday each and every bottle of distilled spirits carries the united states internal revenue stamp yes ma'am each stamp carries a serial number together with the name of the firm whom the stamps are issued well miss rice and the stuff is missing the stamp on each bottle carries the case numbers that's right now what did i tell you oh yes i have it right here seven cases of high-grade blended scotch whiskey now i have a bottle identical to those in the missing cases yes i see now if you'll just look here yes ma'am the number on this stand here three six eight two two seven nine nine five six followed by the firm name could you give us the numbers of the stolen cases yeah i haven't typed out for you right here seven cases 12 bottles to the case canada dry incorporated four of the red labeling three the back label johnny walker all right thank you very much miss rye and you think that this might be a juvenile case sergeant yes ma'am we do seven cases that's those to six hundred dollars in we've lost a great deal more than that sergeant the insurance company makes up for the liquor laws yes ma'am those youngsters who makes up for them ben and i left the bubeck warehouse with a list of serial numbers of the seven cases of stolen liquor we headed back to the juvenile bureau we figured that there was a strong possibility that spring street gang was responsible for the warehouse liquor theft how are they disposing of the stolen property that was the key question we had to answer ben and i had a hunch and a tip from an informant that the young gang was operating under the guidance of a fence or a man or woman whose job it is to dispose of stolen property the gang members were close to ramsey at the soda farm ramsey with a logical suspect all right now suppose they did steal the liquor suppose ramsey's a fence what's he done with the stuff i don't think he's turned it this fast if he's turned it at all he wouldn't give it at the soda farm no liquor license and we've been around too much i wouldn't keep it in his house he lives in the rear of the farm that's too high only leaves one other location that we know about his brother's place in the valley it was five minutes to ten when we turned left our venturable of our down to sepulveda ramsey's brother had a small crime about a mile and a half off our highway it was a modest white frame house planted squarely in the center of an acre of ground an unpaid driveway led off to the left of the house to the garage pull up here huh yeah okay man it looks kind of quiet no lag let's go mud sticks to everything where's the doorbell oh here it is you got your flashlight yeah well here's a note somebody left it's on the bum again he'll strike me okay hold it a little closer can you read it yeah harry wife and i have gone to the drive-in theater before you put the truck away get three can you hold that match closer oh no wait a minute yeah get three cases out of the garage and take them into town ad is waiting please try to make it by 11 30 tonight let's see it's signed george the address is here and there's a garage yeah come on three cases could be eggs yo if it is we wasted a trip i'm out of matches yo all right here use mine what was that shaking come on see anything no there goes a light just a minute i'll strike no you can save your matches we found it we found five cases of scotch whiskey on the floor of the garage we checked the serial numbers against the warehouse list they matched we went back to the car and called communications we had an immediate stake out placed on george ramsey's place and then we headed back for the city it was 11 20 p.m when we got to the address we found on the note it's about time harry hello ramsey we can do without the music what's your problem this time you're almost out of scotch ramsey serial numbers check out george sorry i can't offer you a drink we're too old to drink here aren't we ramsey where's your phone you want to invite somebody you can see we're out of booze you got a phone you know hall then call the office yeah all right what's it all about we've been out to your brother's place what happened to the other two cases you think i'm here i gave it to the kids do you look at me like that for a second anything wrong any party's over kid the story you have just heard was true only the names were changed to protect the innocent on june 5th 1949 trial was held in superior court department 74 city and county of los angeles state of california in a moment the results of that trial earlier tonight you heard the reports of amazing increases in fatima smokers from new york to los angeles yes all over the country fatima is doubling and redoubling its sales and here's reason one fatima is the long cigarette that contains an essential ingredient of all the very popular cigarettes turkish tobacco reason two fatima has a much different much better flavor and aroma than any other long cigarette reason three to millions of smokers the name fatima has always stood for the best in cigarette quality smoke fatima the best of all long cigarettes edward and george ramsey were tried and convicted in superior court of receiving stolen property after serving their terms as prescribed by law in the state penitentiary they will be returned to the county jail where they will serve a one year term for contributing to the delinquency of minors you have just heard dragnet a new series of authentic cases from official files technical advice for dragnet comes from the office of acting chief of police w. a. worton los angeles police department honoring the city of greenwich state of connecticut and the men who make up the greenwich police department another of america's great law enforcement agencies one of these men chief john m bliesen fbi national police academy graduate who dedicates his life to making yours more secure the team of cigarettes the best of long cigarettes has brought you dragnet from los angeles this christmas give the gift that makes every pipe smoker happy a christmas humidor of mellow granger granger is made just for pipes by the tried and true wellman method rough cut to smoke mild and cool and humidor packed to stay ever fresh yes make this christmas a merry christmas for all the pipe smokers on your list give them each a christmas humidor of mellow granger listen to dragnet next week and be sure to hear mortin donnie tonight on nbc the story you will about to hear is true only the names have been changed to protect the innocent fatima cigarettes best of long cigarettes brings you dragnet you're a detective sergeant you're assigned to robbery detail eight thousand dollars worth of chinese jade has been stolen the criminal is vicious his weapon a handful of buckshot in a package of your job get him if you want a long cigarette smoke the best of long cigarettes smoke fatima fatima is the long cigarette which contains the finest turkish and domestic tobaccos superbly blended to make fatima extra mild and that's why fatima has a much different much better flavor and aroma than any other long cigarette that's why fatima is doubling and redoubling at smokers so if you want a long cigarette smoke the best of all long cigarettes smoke fatima dragnet the documented trauma of an actual crime for the next 30 minutes in cooperation with the los angeles police department you will travel step by step on the side of the law through an actual case from official police files from beginning to end from crime to punishment dragnet is the story of your police force in action it was monday december 1st it was foggy in los angeles we were working the day watch out of robbery detail my partner's ben romero the boss is ed backstrand chief of detectives my name's friday it was 7 15 p.m. when we got to the police academy the banquet room where do we sit joe lee jones is holding a couple seats for someplace you see him oh yeah yeah there he is at bay look at him everybody's here man ought to be my fellas couple of rings i see thanks lee did you get it yeah right here mind if i take a look at it oh go ahead i'll come you didn't get it left as a gift no time gift box would have been nice no cotton even beautiful watch radium down yeah universal geneva fine movement you like look on the back let's see our chief ed backstrand a good cop detective bureau not very good engraving no time i didn't think the old man really meant it in 26 years you get tired after 26 years you've been at a 25 lee don't look at me like that i got a book to finish 23 chapters how many chapters you got for any tools how long you've been writing it two years well at that rate we'll be stuck with you for another 21 years if you're lucky excuse me fellas gotta make a speech finally the proceedings underway here before we introduce the man of the hour like to pass along a little story you might get a kick out of i was driving down last year stopped off at a hotel and they'll come to that when i went up the register for my room there was an indian i had a clerk asked his indian fella that signed his name with clerk tenor democrat the indian made a neck on the book clerk looked at him from heaven to say aren't you keep this in have i seen you in the movie the indian out of his head and looked a little upset then he drew a circle around the ax he made the clerk said why do you do that the indian says we know you're the right thing oh hey jim they live right you said for his motion to air oh yeah excuse me man of that but he's been using his like saying for 26 years on each product and we're proud to have been associated you want me rogers a phone for you joe you can take it on the extension thanks yeah jeff got here as soon as we could sorry to put you away hello remember at least what's up come on in here all right not complete yet well chinese fellas names george quawn he's a jeweler gem cutter or jade expert knows as much about jade as anybody on the coast says it happened at 5 30 today on the alberado never park they weren't kidding me they almost killed him yeah any idea what the weapon was jeff not sure looks like some sort of blackjack something homemade when they pick up one they found several buckshot pellets lying around in a man's handkerchief great thinker has his stuff over in the crime lab now where's quawn have you talked to him got in a couple questions down at georgia street while the doc was giving him said it is little guys a mess joe it's gonna be all right 50 50 chance and i called you out of the academy why did they beat him do you resist i don't have it all yet but from what he said he was jumped from behind didn't have a chance to fight remember it was kept beating him long after he was unconscious what were they taking for a couple of pieces of jade margins very rare you got anything else yeah we got a star witness just one did you talk to him yeah just did for an hour and a half you want to crack that are you having trouble with him yeah a little all right pinion send him in again yes you want to talk some more six years old joe his name was Norman Eugene Fisher who was six years of age last patient like all young boys his age his imagination ran away with what would be only a minor detail through an adult witness assumed tremendous proportions in Norman's young minds he told us his story three times each time he elaborated a little more until what he claimed was the truth that only have been pigments of a small child's imagination then and i together with Gonzalez and Kenya talked with a boy for another hour we were getting tired but Norman enjoyed his position to start with this once more Norman please try to remember it as it really happened it was just like i said let me try Jeff go ahead remember um you did see it happen this afternoon didn't you Norman yes or i did good now you were on your way home from a stroller oh no so i was running away from a man he was taking it but you just told us Norman that you were on your way home from the store oh no so that was yesterday but you told us man Norman how old are you that's where i'm going to be 21 no that's not right 21 that's older than i am well when i am 21 i'm going to get a hotbox fastest car in the world 10 000 miles an hour sure you will but how old are you now six but i'm wanted but i'm going to be 21 soon i remember when i was six years old Norman a lot of things i wanted electric train i got one well it must be something you'd like to have one thing that maybe now that you don't have will you give it to me well if i can what do you want i'd like your gun what do you want a gun for i want to put people in care like you guys do sometimes it takes more than a gun norman what do you mean just because you've got a gun doesn't mean your cop well what does just a minute something good cop uses this more than a gun gee it's a real police badge it's mine official official can i hold it go ahead it's yours when i wear this i'm a real detective well that's part of it the other part is to tell us what you really saw today now how about it well for a man like i said and they all hide my you know now wait Norman i thought you said you were a detective now i am a good detective has to remember exactly what he sees not something he makes up it's not very scary that way it's no you still he can't get his story straight oh yes i can't i'm a detective now and i know what happened all right norman you tell us i was on my way home from the storm i saw this truck stop down the street what did the truck look like i don't know it was a funny kind of truck had a wood back do you mean like a dump truck kind of but it was a small truck old kind of car like he took off a backpack and put wood boards like a truck you mean whoever owned the truck cut the back end out and made it look like a truck yeah yeah that's the way it looks anyway this truck stopped by this chinese man and the man got out and the man started to hit this man and the man followed my sidewalk and the man kept hitting him and hitting him as hard as anything what was he hitting him with with a sankative there he goes again no i don't know how about that yes could tie in go on norman well that's all i saw no no i mean after the man hit him what do you do oh well he's wrapped a bunch of stuff from this man's pocket and he went into the truck and he speeded away norman you're a good detective i want you to think real hard now do you know what a license number is yeah good do you think you could remember the numbers on that truck if but if i knew what they were like could in school we're just having numbers now i only know after seven but there were two sevens in it you're getting all this just yeah keep them norman you've helped us a lot can you remember what the man in the truck looked like he had a big hand and he looked me all right just one more thing now can you remember the color of that truck it looked black with the black part had black and white stripes i don't know how you did it joe what do you think all right me too all right norman your mother's waiting outside for you can go home now you're a real detective and i wear my bounce dog you bet you can okay same yes sir as soon as i hear somebody will you put him in jail help of an outdated police badge no longer official we had the statement of a six-year-old boy with a healthy imagination we had an idea he was telling us the truth but we had no way of being certain since he was the only witness we had to accept his word and hope that he was putting us on the right track the quickest way to make sure was to see if some of the details and little norman fisher's story would check out jesson zollars and manual pain it took the job of trying to locate a homemade pickup truck with two sevens in the license number they started by checking all the late 3.8 forms the vehicle theft and impound reports the next morning ben and i called the general hospital and talked to dr. sebasti he told us that the victim george quarn had improved sufficiently to allow a brief interview it was 10 14 a.m when we got to ward c general hospital doctor tells us you're a little better this morning mr quarn yes uh i shall be all right although it is quite painful at times we're sorry to bother you mr quarn but we've got to have a little more information on the robbery i will tell you all i can so i should like to recover the missing jade pieces it is a great loss to me and you get any kind of a look at the man who'll hit you he attacked me from behind not me to a pavement i made an attempt to get to my feet but he struck me again and again here at the base of my neck you didn't see him at all the new site did not do you have any idea who could have done this unfortunately no i i cannot think of anyone what was stolen from me we know it was jade but can you give us some more detail this question i hope so i lost two thumb rings very rare collectors items thumb rings and how much were they worth what you say more i paid 8 000 for the two rings i wonder if you could describe them to us both rings were relics of the time when the chinese archer drew his hunting boat a special thumb ring in particular identifying marks on them they both have linings of fine gold to fit them to the fingers of the new owners who are the new owner i had just purchased them yesterday before i was robbed i was on my way to san francisco to show them to perspective by us who did you buy the rings from mr quarn this is ines curtis a very reputable dealer we have done business for many years i wonder if we could have her business address or she has her office at her home it is uh uh 1957 harbour annex of san sable about in lovely hills how many people knew that you would have the jade on you that particular time yesterday let me see uh there were only two other buyers present beside mrs curtis uh do not recall their names they were new to me mrs curtis would know mr quarn we know that you're tired we have just one more question certainly um i wonder if i'm in trouble you to hang me that tumblr water with a grass straw sure thank you thank you very much you're welcome now those thumb rings mr quarn would there be any practical disposition of them rather than selling them as they are well hardly sergeant but to anyone who really knows the value of jade it would be unheard of to change them in any way i see well thank you mr quarn we'll do our best you know sergeant which chinese place a great sentimental value on our jade we'll do everything we can to recover it thank you uh may i tell you my favorite quotation on jade yes sir it is from the writings of tong jung tso he wrote the magic powers of heaven and earth always combined to form perfect result so the pure essences of healing water become satisfied in precious jade ben and i drove out to 1957 harper annex the residence of mrs iran's curtis there was no one at home he left one of our cars it was 12 22 p.m when we got back to central division here's a phone message for you joe what'd you say called jess guns darling he's at wilshire division okay thanks man listening to dragnet for the solution to an actual case from official police files now here is a real solution to many of your christmas shopping problems if your friends smoke a long cigarette give the best of long cigarettes fatima give fatima for quality the name fatima has always stood for the best in cigarette quality give fatima for flavor fatima has a much different much better flavor and aroma than any other long cigarette give fatima they're extra mild yes fatima is the long cigarette which contains the finest turkish and domestic tobaccos blended to make fatima extra mild yes extra mild so give fatima for christmas in the attractive golden yellow carton it's the long cigarette that has doubled and redoubled its smokers more and more smokers every day agree fatima is the best of all long cigarettes wilbur rasmus of plight male american age 31 5 feet 10 inches 190 pounds black hair brown eyes he was the driver of the truck and xalas and penya began by checking through all of the reports of trucks impounded during the past 24 hours there were 23 out of those 23 they narrowed it down to four possibilities the third vehicle that they checked fitted the young witness's description of the bullet truck we still could not be absolutely certain that the impounded truck was the one we were looking for the same could be said of the driver wilbur rasmus the net result of checking impound reports doesn't always result in the apprehension of a suspect but in this case we were lucky the driver had been picked up for drunk driving it was 1 30 p.m. when we checked in at the wilshire division hi jen no worries you're a little late what do you mean he's gone released on bail who furnished the bail the woman who works for him is designed as credit what doesn't say you just or does it why not how many people knew quanta had the jade man it's not my guess corn vouchers for it's been doing business with it for you what do you think joe it's your show i'm just tagging along well one thing sure just a minute what did you take his guns off oh yeah opinion he did no he'll be back here friday and romero are here right right the fisher could just identify drasmussen's picture the identification of wilbur rasmus and by six-year-old norman fisher was far from sufficient to take the case to court we had to have evidence lots of it rasmus had been given a thorough shakedown his apartment and the truck there was no sign of the stolen jade rings and zala told us that the truck had come from the u drive truck rental on figurola street we checked with mr. cockett u drive let me have another look at that picture boys yeah here you are would you say his name was rasmus and will be rasmus you want to know if you rented truck from the swing yesterday maybe the day before no not this far never seen him before we left u drive we checked over the rental contract on the truck in question the deposit check for the truck was signed by mrs. zaynez critis the truck was checked out at six a.m the rental contract the actual release form showing to whom the vehicle had been rented was signed by a harry wilson rasmus's name did not appear on any of the usual rental forms the manager of u drive was positive that he had not rented a truck to rasmus we drove out to 1957 hardware annex this time we found mrs. zaynez critis at home i'm terribly sorry about mr. corn did they have everything he needs in the hospital yes ma'am how long did you say this harry wilson has been working for you six or eight weeks but i'm sure you're wrong about him we're not accusing him of anything miss grace we just won't talk to him he certainly came to me well recommended he was a nice man when's the last time you saw him the day before yesterday he asked for his checks that he was quitting told him i was sorry to see him go i'm anxious to get that guesthouse finished how about rasmus mr. critis how long has he been with you wilbur has been with me for about seven months good worker but he drinks too much feel sorry for him you've rented trucks from the new drive coming right along oh yes from mr. crocket we had to have a truck to haul our building supplies i'm saving an awful lot of money contracting this myself the great saving yes ma'am uh the deposit on his last rental did you give that check to wilson at rasmus i sent both of them down to pick it up like i say wilbur's been drinking rather heavily lately and i think harry's the better driver of the two do you know which one of those men was driving a truck about five thirty in the afternoon day before yesterday how would i know that sergeant all i know is that i sent both of them down i told harry to drive mr. critis were either of those men present the day you sold the jade rings to mr. quen no they have nothing to do with my gym business whatever did either of these men know about mr. quen's purchase well that's possible they knew he was here i'm sure they saw him come in entirely possible that they might have overheard something i did mr. quen leave your house about five o'clock by the time the two men go after the truck oh they picked that up early in the morning mr. crockey down in u drive says it only harry wilson checked out the truck because he's never seen rasmus before that's entirely possible like i say they might well have made other arrangements are there any other people present when mr. quen bought that jade yes there were two other buyers they were bidding for the thumb rings too mr. quen had the high bid so i sold them to him what if we get out their names i certainly i'll write them down for you mr. critis do you have any idea where we might locate harry wilson he told me he was going to mexico said he had friends down there well thank you mr. critis you've been very helpful are you sure there isn't anything mr. quen needs yes ma'am 2 g8 rings mr. zinez critis gave us a detailed description of harry wilson she also gave us the names and addresses of the two other buyers who were present when mr george quen made his purchase we checked them out and found them to be equally as reputable as mrs. critis they could tell us nothing of the robber and we went back to the office and got out of an apv and a radiogram on harry wilson from the description given us by mrs. critis stakeouts were maintained at glover rasmus's apartment and at the home of mr. zinez critis it was 4 30 p.m. when we got to the second floor of the old city jail building the crime lab lee jones had the evidence laid out for us only thing about the handkerchief boys what's that lee the blood stains old ones along with the new ones how does that figure we know how the new ones were made when the handkerchief was spelled a buck shot and used on quant the old ones i could tell how old would you say they were the handkerchief has been through the laundry a few times stains didn't come out laundry marks right here i don't seem man used to this laundry infrared marking system let me show you infrared lengthly yeah there's your marking can you trace it down who's it belong to man use the name of harry wilson there's nothing to do now but wait for some word on harry wilson the stakeouts continued we request to go over rasmus and we talked again with mrs. critis and george quen was to be december the 8th we checked in for work at 8 a.m morning jess hi joe where's been we're in a case getting a mail any word on the new chief of the ticket nothing but your guess oh i think that brown good man maybe it's a good man too when you come in here not yet why maybe you'd like to take a little airplane trip what do you got shy in liam and they picked up harry wilson two days later thursday december the 10th harry wilson was returned to the los angeles county jail and booked on suspicion of robry we checked with lieutenant prank cunningham in the record bureau from wilson's fingerprints he ran a make on him harry wilson was an alias we found out that he had lengthy records of arrests and jail terms for robry burglary and grand larceny mr. crocket at you drive identified wilson's picture it was a two-time loser it's up to you wilson it can go hard for you or easy i'm in a spot huh you're in a spot laid out for him jess it's all stacked against you wilson we know you're under the truck do you know qualms of mrs. critis how if your handkerchief was found at the scene of the crime you wouldn't believe me if i said i didn't do it i mean that kind of evidence how can we i didn't i don't know if i can prove it but i didn't if you didn't we'll help you prove it first you gotta believe me you know why yeah i've had it twice once more than in for life all right you got it figured now what you got to say rasmussen did it he knocked fawn over where were you find my ticket for chi and i didn't want any part of it how do you count for that handkerchief it was mine but rasmussen had it he got his finger one day in the job i loaned it to him that checks poor blood stains no one all right let's pick up rasmussen all you're at it pick up the critis name she planned it we're over rasmussen was picked up and brought in after intense cross questioning we confronted him with harry wilson's statement in the face of this testimony he broke completely he gave us a full confession implicating mrs. inez kurtis he admitted beating george quarn and taking the jade thumb rings he said he received two hundred dollars for mrs. kurtis for the job he requested that he be allowed to turn state's evidence mrs. inez kurtis was brought to interrogation room of course you gentlemen have proof to substantiate all these accusations yes ma'am we have it better be good i have a fine lawyer we've got signed and recorded confessions of wilson and rasmussen the two men have worked for you can we play the recording for you that won't be necessary mrs. kurtis you got eight thousand dollars for those rings wasn't that enough not when i could make sixteen no where the ring is now i'm not going to get life for this you know no jade doesn't spoil it'll still be good when i get out yeah but you'll be too old to appreciate it mrs. kurtis okay buddy that was a funny one sure was how about it did you figure this way joe you don't expect me to answer that duty the story you have just heard was true only the names were changed to protect the innocent on march 2nd 1949 trial was held in superior court department 82 city and county of los angeles state of california in a moment the results of that trial now here are authentic reports from all over the country that tell the story of fatima's sensational increase in popularity new york division chicago division los angeles division yes more and more smokers agree fatima is the best of long cigarettes so enjoy fatima yourself and give extra mile fatimas for christmas and the attractive golden yellow carton everyone who smokes fatima says that this great new long cigarette is the best of all long cigarettes mrs. iris kurtis was tried and convicted of robbery and conspiracy she received the maximum sentence as prescribed by law in consideration for turning states evidence will be rasmussen received a minimum term you have just heard dragnet a new series of authentic cases from official files technical advice for dragnet comes from the office of acting chief of police w. a. worton los angeles police department dragnet honors the city of noxville state of tennessee and the men who make up the noxville police department another of america's great law enforcement agencies one of these men sergeant joe h roberts director of the noxville city school safety patrols who dedicates his life to making yours more secure the team of cigarettes the best of long cigarettes has brought you dragnet portion transcribed from los angeles let that merry tune remind you to get him the big christmas humidor of smooth sure fresh velvet pipe and cigarette tobacco it's a double pleasure to any smoker when you give this generous humidor of velvet it smokes cool and sweet in both pipe and cigarette in every way the gift for him is a christmas humidor of velvet america's smoothest smoke be sure to listen to dragnet next week your tune for the stars on nbc ladies and gentlemen the story you're about to hear is true only the names have been changed to protect the innocent a team of cigarettes best of all long cigarettes brings you dragnet you're a detective sergeant you're assigned to homicide detail a young woman has been murdered the body was discovered behind locked doors the assassin is too large your job find him if you want a long cigarette smoke the best of long cigarettes smoke fatima fatima is the long cigarette which contains the finest turkish and domestic tobaccos superbly blended to make fatima extra mild and that's why fatima has a much different much better flavor and aroma than any other long cigarette that's why fatima is doubling and redoubling its smokers so if you want a long cigarette smoke the best of all long cigarettes smoke fatima the documented drama of an actual crime for the next 30 minutes in cooperation with the los angeles police department you will travel step by step on the side of the law through an actual case from official police files from beginning to end from crime to punishment dragnet is the story of your police force in action it was tuesday january 9th the stormy in los angeles we were working a day watch out of homicide detail my partner's ben romero my name's friday i was on the way to work and it was 6 45 a.m when i got to the steps of the city hall the main street entrance hey show wait up morning ben when did they call you 5 a.m don't i'll call you here miserable out it's pretty wet i mean it's super wet see the time for that yeah new chief of the tech group wait a minute i want to get some gum i can spare me now i heard about the new chief bad brown good man he's dumb oh thank you now we said make up the minds about our shift work days you call you back night work nights call you back days don't split in for a gesture you'll never have to call you back you hear all the time it's just hard to please nowhere thanks again it's a great way to start off as your new chief call you back on a rotten morning like this we're glad you got the job then yeah congratulations chief it's hard to follow men like ed backstrand i need your help you got it here's why i called you back laura barkley who's the dead body reports nightclub entertainer my buddy found the body an hour ago who's covered pertin and anderson they're out there he's crying a little lamb cord still trying to figure out how the guy got in the house doors and windows all locked the tech left the motor for now young i just came from there i think there's more can you raise it a room wasn't proud here just a hunch play it for me and then i left that brown's office picked up lieutenant lee jones at the crime lab and drove to the west adams district number 16 imperial place where the body of laura barkley had been found was an ornate frame structure done in victorian style at least 30 to 40 years old number 16 was on the ground floor we went in a narrow hallway led to the bedroom in the rear of the house two gas jet mixtures which have been converted to electricity with the only illumination this place has seen better day anybody else coming out lee you may see flash bulbs down there they must be here already ready on this way hi britain hi the tiger is covering the body position ederson's dusting for prince red shoot a couple of overheads don't make them all angle shots get up high then move in close cheap was right rooms in pretty good order she talked about it buddy landlady lives upstairs only two people living in the building she tell you anything said the barkley girl paid a rent on time good tenant plays the organ at the blue fox cocktail line any idea of the red we got in here not yet every door and window in the place is locked anything else that's it so far we'll give you 15.7 what we got okay lord you and anderson have another detail yeah working on that westwood thing two uniform and outside if you want anything right thanks it's like a tough one joe where we did a much to come in through the keyhole i'll see you later slowly andy he doesn't know nothing for prince nothing yet only piece of physical evidence so far the lamp caught she was strangled with i want to throw down top not a sign of a struggle maybe she wanted to die check the bathroom will you then i'll look around the kitchen hey pete have you dusted the way it's not that i'm gonna see how they do the bathroom man come here a minute will you man yeah come to the kitchen will you you got a pencil oh yeah yeah here you are let's take a look at this garbage shoot here let me see about eight feet to the ground yeah big enough for a man to get through oh yeah man hope we're out in them lay i'll be right there it could be the engine joe we either got in this way or he was in the house when she came home what do you got garbage shoot here what do you think it could be let me grab a kit let's see no nothing on the outside of the lid look pretty clean my suggestions been scrubbed abrasions here at a pencil there yeah okay hold it up there with it yeah there we go large prints unusually large big hands can i look inside the shoot a minute late go ahead watch that lid yeah it looks like it's blocked off upstairs this thing hasn't been used for garbage for some time most of them will condemn a few years back i'll get fed to shoot these let's go in the living room have this been dusted link that's clean go ahead take a look you know hundreds of all men yeah all different lee jones and the crime lab group finished up and went back to central division two uniformed officers remained on duty at the scene of the crime fad brown had men sent out to canvas the neighborhood ben and i went upstairs and talked with a landlady of mrs emma smith police officers you miss me yes you're not the same officers i talked with before no ma'am i wonder if we could ask you a few questions i told the other officers everything i knew we have to double check miss men who was the girl who lived in the apartment below number 16 laura barkley is that the name she used a male she received was it addressed that way yes it was she was a very good tenant laura no trouble with her at all when did she move here oh about four five years ago i had the rent receipts i always saved receipts did she always live by herself oh yes that apartment rates to one person only did she have many visitors friends dropping in and that i ever saw pretty much to herself laura when men came yesterday and took her away what's that man the organ electric one laura rented it from a big downtown firm used to practice all the time mic was beautiful yeah in the glowing she used to play that for me mrs smith when did the men come and take the organ away yesterday in the afternoon by 4 30 was miss barkley at home when they came no she wasn't she left me a note to let them in so i let them in i never allowed anyone in the apartment without a note you know the name of the company where she went to the organ the braziers it was called down on south spring well didn't you think it was unusual that miss barkley didn't have any friends now officer i didn't say laura didn't have any friends what i said was that she didn't have any friends who came to see her here she moved here from a hotel for women that's the reference she gave me i wonder if you could give us the address of that hotel please i'll write it down for you thank you i'm a smith did you hear any unusual sounds and miss barkley's flat last night anything out of the ordinary if i had i would have called the police and we'd have saved the girl's life well thank you very much miss mith here's our calling there's anything you think of after it's gone don't hesitate to call thank you i will i hope you get the dirty men who killed laura we didn't say it was an end miss smith well isn't it always a man before we left mrs mrs smith we asked her about the garbage she said it had not been in use for the last four years we showed her the stack of photos she could identify none of them we drove back to central division we checked brazier's music store the two men who moved the organ were checked out and cleared we went to the wind hotel for young ladies they could tell us nothing laura barkley's references were all good we went back to the office and met with chief of detective stad brown you think he got into the garbage show it's where it looks she went all over the apartment if there's another way we haven't found it all right you know i got in who is it we got out on apb on his mo latent fingerprints and making a run on those prints we found got an idea about these pictures here most of them theatrical still show people right let's turn these kids in circuits so laura on my left front and what you do here's a guy i checked with this morning bernard carubian theatrical booking isn't her yeah barnie's office is down in the orphing building apond hill he booked her into the blue fox see what he can tell you right grab the picture oh yeah well you got more than you started with those fingerprints make it a make on them we'll be close to the guy so was the barkley girl but he got away i wonder if we could see mr carubian who's calling please sergeant romano and sergeant friday police officers one moment please two police officers to see mr carubian sergeant friday and sergeant romero is that right yes sit a minute go right in thank you help you understand that you booked laura barkley that's right i spoke with her that's me right here see that now that's right he asked me about laura too bad about that any clues we're working on it mr carubian that makes a person pull a stop like that laura didn't have no enemies she had one well i don't know much about her except i've been booking her for about four years good ordinance three for boys to cut some pictures you know and you could take a look at sure quite a stack yeah well frankie let's learn those dogs great act i book him rithy rogan king of attack i saw an oco and i've seen series yeah i know all these people i book them off to laura barkley worked with all these people one time another yeah during the war us okay i'm sure you know do whatever she was close to any well come to think of what she was that frankie la tour crazy about them dogs he is no i mean the men themselves anybody that she seemed particularly interested in never heard of mention anybody pretty girl did you know her very well mr groovy only when she came in and out of town on unengagement i'm a married man well and you don't think there's anything to these pictures here of her as well i wouldn't say so when you're on the road you always collect photos of the people you work with souvenirs well thank you very much mr carubian here's our kind you bet you sure hope you catch the guys what a way you picked on large sometimes they don't have a reason when they left bernard carubians office we checked by the blue fox cocktail lounge was still early the sign said open 5 p.m it was 3 15 we went to the morgue in the basement of the hall of justice and look at the corners report the autopsy report stated that they caused a death for laura barkley with strangulation we went to the second floor of the old city jail building the crime lab nothing on the lamp con standard you're around 110 long and but anyway no prints how about the shielding went back there and rechecked you were right the guy got in through the garbage shoot found more of the same prints along with some clothed impressions in the dust 10 anything the guy was wearing some kind of tweed domigal 15 of the inch how about the size of a manly how big could he be to clear that shoot had a 20 inch diameter almost any man could squeeze through that check the ground level of the shoot cement no footprints you don't have too much for me i got one thing for you what's that i think i found you noted and not the one listed on the report yeah here are the blow-ups of the body it's 36 by 54 here hold that in leave them no i look through this magnifying glass here the right hand yeah see where i'm pointing ring finger yeah look like ring mark that's right pretty wide must have been good side things oh i might still be in that room i called that brown he had the room rechecked no sign and you think we got a burglary body bar that's my guess that had the boys check with the landlady she didn't know anything about any ring with the barkley girl might have hand that doesn't help i think i got something else here library book heard that cards in one of the pockets inside checked out from the LA public library main branch i think these might be your lead on the missing rings a librarian sees a person's hands every time they check out a book makes sense we will play it that way what department with the books check out a music room well that's it i think you've got your motive now and a good set of prints you're closed thanks a lot let's go to the library then i'll get it hi lab no this is friday thanks fine we got some motive how do you mean no make on those fingerprints nothing you are listening to drag net for the solution to an actual case from official police files now here is a real solution to many of your christmas shopping problems if your friends smoke a long cigarette give the best of all long cigarettes fatima give fatima for quality the name fatima has always stood for the best in cigarette quality give fatima for flavor fatima has a much different much better flavor and aroma than any other long cigarette give fatima they're extra mild yes fatima is the long cigarette which contains the finest turkish and domestic tobaccos superbly blended to make fatima extra mild yes extra mild so give fatima for christmas in the attractive golden yellow carton it's the long cigarette that has doubled and redoubled its smokers yes more and more smokers every day agree fatima is the best of all long cigarettes 4 30 p.m. tuesday january 9th heavy rain lona barkley's murderer was still a free man ben and i were sure that whoever left their fingerprints on the inside of that garbage shoe was the same man who murdered the barkley girl he had no previous record his first crime as far as we knew it was a killing and the odds were all in his favor the fingerprints gave us nothing all we had left to lead us to the killer were three library books in a stack of old theatrical photos the solution of most crimes for the working detectives method and persistence when you have clues you work with them when you don't you work your way to a logical conclusion as best you can we went to the los angeles public library the main branch the librarians in the music room handled thousands of readers every week none of them remembered lora barkley we drove over to the blue fox cocktail lounge we interviewed the manager and we knew nothing of her personal life we talked to harry shuman the organist who had taken lora barkley's place would you like to hear from the police officers like talk to you man but lora yeah that's right all right if i keep on playing manager wants full 15 minutes sets go ahead that's all right what can i tell you how long have you known miss barkley oh four or five years terrible thing you got to get to whoever did it yeah we're gonna try can you think of anybody that might kill her i know you asked a question of everybody i don't know does anybody ever know for sure sometimes but i don't know when you think of a person you never think too much butter maybe you might know a few things about it that you could fill us in on i'll try she went for jewelry much rings things like that funny you should ask that she was nuts for good things rings had a couple of beauties diamonds they were big stones cost four thousand i know she used to put most of her money into those rings she'd buy them on time yeah i remember one night she was overjoyed the night she paid them off cost a lot of dough can you describe those rings for us not too good i can give you the name of the jeweler she bought them from that'll do you know anybody else that we might talk to i don't know any of her friends she was an only child no living relatives that i know how about her landlady yeah i guess that's it harry thank you for what i wish i could help more everybody had your attitude we'd be out of a jump before we left the blue box harry shuman gave us the address of laura barkley's jeweler the next morning we checked with the manager of the store and he gave us a complete description of the two diamond rings which the dead girl had purchased they were valued at four thousand dollars he gave us detailed drawings of the rings we went back to the office gave the information the burglary detail and all points bulletin was put out describing them pawn shops throughout the city and state were alerted to watch for the stolen rings we had lunch with chief that brown at castus cafe never mind no matter i'll get it thank you jean i'll get the tip this too was good passing change with a cigarette machine getting a cigarette still no no thanks thank you let's go what do you think san the description of the rings and the emotion come and turned up good chance he's holding on to him could be his first job probably scared anybody check back over the neighborhood there this is the afternoon and this morning a lot of door salesmen's with that district all been checked out is it dead in nowhere only those friends are checked out well they didn't got a kickback from brerich's and sacramento's mo no make we'll have to get him with what we've got here's the car sure you picked up all the loose ends we've been back over the course three times go over it again keep going over it until something breaks for the next ten days we retraced our steps from the room where the crime was committed throughout the neighborhood to the place where she worked back to the same dead end then and i checked and double checked each other to make certain that neither of us had overlooked even the smallest detail of the investigation we've got no place was 8 a.m. january 19th homicide friday this rubles and burglary joe yeah dick how do we figure in it is mo yeah besides fingerprints and photographs one of the mark by which the unknown criminal is identified is by his method of operation is mo once a thief finds a successful means of operation he seldom changes it in our search for laura barkley's murderer we had checked our files and found no criminals at large we practice it was to gain entrance through a garbage shoe it was reasonably safe to assume that this was the same man it was 2 p.m. january 23rd i was on my way back from the record bureau it's gotta call joe delmarad to that conformance yeah since two days ago he heard about some guy who was making the rounds trying to peddle a couple of diamond rings same ones he's not showing doesn't know what the guy looked like any idea where the guy is now has been around since told elmer to keep his eyes open that's good i'm in here joe what do you got that this report just came down from burglary pawn shop down in north main took in a watch and strand of pearls last night yeah same stuff that rubles called you about yeah i remember where's it dying same guy tried to peddle a couple of diamond rings 10 a.m. january 25th bad brown arrange can have all pawn shop detail calls concerning the suspect put through to us on extension 2521 homicide five days past no further word yeah homicide friday this is george main yeah what's the matter man in here stall him over here right down come on man move it yeah the next corner there it is just up the floor pull up all right let's go tell here we are hey look out joe he's got a gun all right joe yeah off the back way let's get him there you go jump belly can you hit him they didn't stop him watch it he's turning on the spring you're right into that cafeteria come on let's run where he goes see yeah there he goes he's headed for the kitchen come on the back door into the alley he's not stopping stay clear i get his guns yeah he got him in the leg joe hit his head when he fell all right snap more huh look on the little fingerbears right here two diamond rings yeah it doesn't make sense does it what's that four thousand dollars worth of diamonds lying on a pile of garbage the story you have just heard was true only the names were changed to protect the innocent on april 2nd 1947 trial was held in superior court department 81 city and county of los angeles state of california in a moment the results of that trial now here are authentic reports from all over the country that tell the story of patina's sensational increase in popularity new orland's division but Detroit division but los angeles division more and more smokers agree fatima is the best of long cigarettes so enjoy fatima yourself and give extra miles fatimas for christmas and the attractive golden yellow carton everyone who smokes fatima says that this great new long cigarette is the best of all long cigarettes lala barkley's murderer was identified as martin eric swanson he was tried and convicted of murder in the first degree his case was fought through the supreme court of california and in the united state supreme court in both instances his conviction was upheld last friday morning after a delay of five years martin eric swanson was executed in the lethal gas chamber at the state penitentiary you have just heard drag nets a new series of authentic cases from official files technical advice for drag net comes from the office of acting chief of police w a warton los angeles police department drag net honors the city of youngstown state of Ohio and the men who make up the youngstown police department another of america's great law enforcement agencies one of these men chief of police edward j allen honored as policeman of the year who dedicates his life so that yours might be more secure the team of cigarettes best of all long cigarettes has brought you drag net from los angeles this christmas give the gift that makes every pipe smoker happy a christmas humidor of mellow ranger ranger is made just for pipes by the tried and true wellman method rough cut to smoke mild and cool and humidor packed to stay ever fresh yes make this christmas a merry christmas for all the pipe smokers on your list give them each a christmas humidor of mellow ranger listen to drag net next week and be sure to hear more than downy tonight on nbc ladies and gentlemen the story you're about to hear is true only the names have been changed to protect the innocent for team of cigarettes best of all long cigarettes brings you drag net you're a detective sergeant you're assigned to homicide detailed a small boy is reported missing from his home his age nine years while the play is suspected your job find him if you want a long cigarette smoke the best of long cigarettes smoke fatima fatima is the long cigarette which contains the finest turkish and domestic tobaccos superbly blended to make fatima extra mild and that's why fatima has a much different much better flavor and aroma than any other long cigarette that's why fatima is doubling and redoubling its smokers so if you want a long cigarette smoke the best of all long cigarettes smoke fatima drag net the documented drama of an actual crime for the next 30 minutes in cooperation with the los angeles police department we will travel step by step on the side of the law through an actual case from official police miles from beginning to end from crime to punishment drag net is the story of your police force in action it was thursday december 22nd it was cold in los angeles we were working the night watch out of homicide my partner's ben romero the boss is thad brown chief of detectives my name's friday i was on the way into work and it was 3 55 p.m when i got to room 42 homicide hi jill man what's doing oh pretty quiet how's your mother oh that cold still hanging on bad cough dox is nothing serious my kids got the same thing must be some kind of a virus going around yeah is that a new suit you've got on oh yeah i figured i needed one let me say oh yeah that's nice blue where'd you get it quincey's down south fig look okay oh yeah that's a good fit did you get all the reports on the webster chase you yeah i'll take care of let me get it homicide friday yeah harry what's doing what's the story how long has he been gone how do you figure find anything ben and i left a message for chief of detective stad brown then we went over to the crime lab picked up lieutenant lee jones and drove out the orio seco freeway to collis avenue it was an average neighborhood number 46 56 was a one-story green stucco residence situated on the corner of collis avenue and harrison drive beyond the backyard was a tract of undeveloped land covered in scrub oak harry leavenson from highland park juvenile was waiting for us in front of the house back this way fellas i'm coming wait i'll get my back okay who notified you that the boy was missing harry the mother said she went out to do some christmas shopping about 11 this morning left the boy home came back about two this afternoon he was gone what's the name john stone kid's name is stanley nine years old does this gate open like this when you got here oh yeah i touched the thing uh here are the stains over here lieutenant jones uh along the edge of the walk see yeah let me see quite a few stains looks like it might be blood and try some benzidine on these spots here and there we are see what happens there's a kid's mother now here in the house darty's talking to her did you talk to any of the neighbors people next door uh ones on this side they couldn't tell us anything it is fellas yeah we these spots i covered with benzidine the trellin blue blood stains all right can't say definitely whether it's human or animal blood you have to go back to the lab to run it through yeah biological precipitin test hand me one of those glass vials from my back yeah okay here here you are today scrape some of these flakes off for a test there we are how soon can you tap the blood for us linds precipitin test won't run more than 20 minutes it'll take three or four hours to run the blood grouping though that's it anything else you want to check levinson anything else oh right here in my handkerchief empty shell that marker over there by the rose bush that's where i found it from the 22 huh yeah might tie in might not market and dump it oh yeah there you go did you get out of missing broadcast in the boy here a darty did about half hour ago oh here's a description here mother know about the blood stain no we didn't tell her she's worried enough already and she has no idea what might have happened to her boy no more than we do she checked all her friends relatives we're carving the neighborhood no trace so far that much to go on blood stains empty cartridge could mean a hundred things any ideas friend yeah just one and i don't like it 4 30 p.m thursday december 22nd the neighborhood search for nine-year-old stanley johnstone continued lee jones went back to the crime lab to start the precipitin test and the blood grouping levinson and his partner darty from highland juveniles stood by we called chief of detectives thad brown and he ordered up a special detail to aid in the search for the missing boy ben and i questioned the boy's mother mrs ruth johnstone a woman in her early 40s she seemed fairly common in the circumstances miss johnstone um is your boy standing in the habit of wandering off without telling you where he's going no he's not in the habit of wandering off but he has done it before when was the last time miss johnstone you don't have any children do you sergeant friday no i'm not married well there comes that time in every young boy's life when he feels that it's time to leave home to go out on his own usually happens somewhere around eight to ten i think i know what you mean i got a boy well then you know how it is my husband and i scolded stanley one day after school he was quite put out about it thought george and our unfair packed a few of these things and left how long was he going oh no time at all about two hours i was worried about him but my husband said to leave him alone said every boy had to go through that stage when you think he's run away from home again this time yes i think so he's been gone about four hours now and have a funny feeling about it did you and his father have some misunderstanding with the boy recently well that's just it we haven't i don't mind telling you now that we're talking about it i'm getting worried any place around that he might like to visit hobby shop playground where he might be yeah this um jensen's model shop and little shana burrows but i've already called him and he hasn't been seen all day i called all his friends they have no idea where he is either we'd like a list of all his friends and the places that he was known to frequent all right i'll get into you what do you suppose he is where's your husband now mr johnstone oh he's at work george works for the city his apartment what house is he staying there engine company 12 he's working the eight platoon he'll be home tomorrow morning i haven't told him that something's gone was there any chance that the boy might be down at the firehouse with his father no no he seldom goes down there anymore no i don't think he's there i'm awfully worried may i call my husband certainly go right ahead i know george will be worried stan has been gone too long hello may i speak with george johnstone this is mrs johnstone thank you i hate to call george his work yes ma'am does your husband own again yes he does what caliber do you know well it's a 45 automatic he got in george this is ruth george is standing down there with you by any chance oh no i can't find him anywhere he hasn't been here when i came over my shopping the two policemen here no i said they're two policemen here oh no dear i'll call you if we don't find him soon all right dear yes you too goodbye i didn't think he'd be with george that 45 is that the only gun in the household wait yes why are you asking about guns is has anything happened that you're not telling me about no ma'am just routine checking we'll have to take a look at that 45 off you know my maybe i should tell you we we do have another gun in the house but it's all wrapped up george bought it for stan is christmas present may we see it please well yes we we have to unwrap yes i'm afraid so well i think i can reach it we we have to hide it don't leave me here's the paper it was wrapped in standing must have found it it's gone see here's the gift card in the box the gun came in rifle can i look at that box ma'am thank you how about it june 22 caliber thursday december 22nd 5 15 p.m was getting dark the search for the missing boy continued we checked the list of stanley johnstone's friends none of them or their parents had any idea of his whereabouts we talked with levinson again he had been in touch with the detail combing the neighborhood they had found nothing we went down to collis avenue and tent street service station on the corner one nickel joe no i got one you watched for that huh yeah two six six seven please hi li joe friday yeah joe any son of johnson kid no not yet how are you coming finished the precipitant test it's human blood yeah well we didn't want to upset his mother i thought we would wait the last thing we're still in the neighborhood check with the family physician that way you won't disturb yeah we figured on that well just a minute leah yeah i've been most just pulled up okay uh fab browns out here now i'll check you later leah all right goodbye gentlemen how's it going just check with lee jones yeah i know it's human blood what do you think we talked with the boy's mother miss johnstone found a gun mason yeah caliber's the same as the empty case and levinson found 22 he said the gun was missing yeah the johnstones were going to give it to the boy as a christmas presently had hidden it's gone now any idea who took it oh we left the christmas wrapping behind i think it was the kid 22 rifle nine year old boy when are they gonna learn first it's carbide cannons on the fourth of july the city issued ordinance after ordinance with a few thousand kids around the country had to lose their eyes fingers hands before the parents gives us their full cooperation to outlaw them i know what you mean sure you do you don't every other cop in the country became the heaviest trying to clamp down on them always the same story this time it's guns for christmas i know what you're thinking but we're not sure yet listen friday there's a city ordinance against giving a gun to a kid you know that yes i know there's a missing boy and a missing gun there's blood on the ground in an empty shell that's enough for me i'm gonna stay with it something's got to break yeah i hope it's not the hearts of that kid's parents oh hi chief i've been looking for you friday what do you got here i found the gun new 22 rifles strong smell of cordite i'd say it's been recently fired what'd you find it levinson back up there in that screwboat up behind the johnston house mrs johnstone identified it bucket he took it down the crime lab thanks for your eyes miss johnston okay pretty sick now killby came up with something else with that there's another one missing an eight year old boy 6 30 p.m we talked with officer killaby about the other missing boy he told us that his name was steven moorheim eight years old his family had just moved into the neighborhood and it seemed that no one besides the moorheim family knew that the boys played together mrs moorheim told us that steven told her that he was going out to play and that he'd be home by six o'clock for dinner she told us that he was an unusually prompt boy and almost never overstayed his playtime we got a description of the moorheim boy and put out a missing broadcast we call the johnstone's family doctor he told us that stanley's blood was type old at seven p.m we talked again with mrs john moorheim are you sure mrs johnstone doesn't know where the boys are he has no idea mrs moorheim this is terrible just awful i feel there's more to this thing something you're not telling me was no you stop section till we know a few things for sure and you are holding back something please try not to worry mrs moorheim there are certain questions we'll have to ask routine questions in any kind of investigation is there anything else you want to know yes ma'am what is your boy's blood type that's a funny question do you think anything's happened to him have you found him and you're not telling him no ma'am we haven't found him we don't think anything's happened to him it's blood type yes ma'am i think i have it written down steven baby books yes here it is type old thank you what if i might use your phone please yes of course it's in the hall we're right back there yeah okay two six six seven please all right this is friday lee there checking back lee did you get the blood types and the two missing boys yeah both boys type old so you are listening to dragnet for the solution to an actual case from official police files now here's a real solution to many of your christmas shopping problems if your friends smoke a long cigarette give the best of long cigarettes fatima give fatima for quality the name fatima has always stood for the best in cigarette quality give fatima for flavor fatima has a much different much better flavor and aroma than any other long cigarette give fatima they're extra mild yes fatima is the long cigarette which contains the finest turkish and domestic tobaccos superbly blended to make fatima extra mild yes extra mild so give fatima for christmas in the attractive golden yellow carton it's the long cigarette that has doubled and redoubled its smokers yes more and more smokers every day agree fatima is the best of all long cigarettes eight p.m thursday december 22nd still no sign of either of the missing boys chief of detectives thad brown went back to headquarters to direct the search from there he dispatched another detail of 50 men to aid in the hunt for the missing youngsters 8 30 p.m was getting colder the citrus growers were warned to expect a freeze we went up the block to see mrs johnstone her husband had quit work early and returned home we talked with him he could tell us nothing more than we already knew we still had not informed either of the families about the blood stains and the empty cartridge casing which had been discovered in the backyard of the johnstone home was more than possible if they had a right to know about our findings but ben and i felt that there was no cause to add the to the distress of the two families at this time if the two missing boys were found alive and well and the blood stains in the cartridge case would be of no concern to the relieved parents at 8 40 p.m ben and i left the johnstone house and went to the home of mr and mrs john moran mrs moran you said your husband worked at a market yes he telephoned about 15 minutes ago and said he was closing up right away he'll be here any minute and i wish stevie would call her come home it's so cold out tonight all he had on was a sand cotton jacket please try not to worry we're doing everything we can it's going to be all right stevie's father's such a sensitive man he and the boy are so close i know he's terribly upset no you're sure there's no place you might have forgotten someplace where the boy might be no no place no anything happened to the boy just killed no no you sit still i'll get it mrs moran joe hi harry the johnstone kid he's been found oh he's home sergeant he's come home thank god he's all right where's he been did he tell you no no he didn't his clothes were all dirty and he's acting strange i've never seen him like this how do you mean where's johnson well he just came in the front door and said hello mom and then he sat down the chair and stared at the floor and won't talk to his father or me did mine if i talked to him no go ahead i asked him about the little warheim boy and he wouldn't tell me a thing where is he now in the living room looks all right yes son son this is a police officer he wants to talk to you don't be afraid dear he only wants to ask you some questions son you see sergeant stanley come on look at me son get your head up youngster come on now that's better and your mother pretty worried you know that you want to tell us where you've been i wish you'd try to get into eat a little something do you hear that son want something to eat stanley there's another little boy up the street who hasn't come home do you know where he is his father and mother worried about him too just like your folks were you've got to help us find him son i i killed him i killed steve with the 22 we were only playing but i killed him how do you know you killed him maybe he's only hurt now isn't that it no he's dead i know he's dead the gun went off we forgot we put bullets in there where is it stanley i hit him i was scared i didn't want anybody to find him where did you hide him son in a cave up on the hill i didn't mean it it was my pal you want to show us where son yes i'll show you please don't send me to jail 9 15 p.m thursday december 22nd nine-year-old stanley john stone led the way up the hill behind the backyard of his home he showed us the wagon he moved the body in his father came along with us about 50 feet from the crest of the hill a boy pitted to a thicket of scrub oak there we found a small cave holding the body of steven moorheim there was a single bullet wound in his chest just below his heart it was dead we covered the body stanley stanley how did it happen i knew my folks were gonna give me the gun for christmas i knew where it was and i got it there was a box of bullets with it were you pointing the gun at steven no sir no sir i wasn't it was steve's turn to play with it i was chasing him he tripped over the stump there on our backyard and fell the gun hit him in the stomach and it went off why do you think you killed him if you're telling us the truth i'm telling the truth honest that's the truth i believe you son but why do you think you killed him it was my gun steven still be alive if i didn't go and get it i should have waited till christmas it's all my fault where have you been all this time in the cave with steve what were you doing in there son i was praying i was praying for god to make him alive again after a thorough investigation ben and i were convinced that the shooting of steven moorheim was accidental lieutenant lee jones finding substantiated the john stoneboy story even to the smallest detail we put in a call to the coroner's office and acquainted him with the fags he designated a local mortuary to handle the body pending autopsy and granted us permission to remove the body to the moorheim home mrs moorheim collapsed the family doctor was called ben and i sat in the living room to wait for john moorheim the dead boy's father edith mr moorheim yes you the police yes sir where's edith where's my wife has my boy come home have you found him yes sir oh where is he steve steve where steve he's hurt isn't he yes sir oh where is he i want to see him he's hurt bad mr moorheim oh where is he i want to see him he's in his room how bad pretty bad don't make it any harder on yourself mr moorheim i want to see my boy listen to me son we've got you a lot of nice things for christmas it was a new one i got just three new cars for the train the one with the search really works because that new switch you wanted to do it tried you know that that new baseball but just so well if it you wanted that the other boys me stanley johnston it was an accident moorheim where are you going i want to see that boy we had no idea what the dead boy's father had in mind we didn't feel that we should try to restrain him we went along with him up the street to the johnstone home steve's father where's your boy i'm sorry where's your boy he's right here won't you come in it's all right mr johnston who's with steve yes sir yes sir i've got a lot of nice presents for steve i want to give them to you christmasy mom i think that would be a fine idea son come on ben what does it all prove you don't give a kid a gun for christmas the story you have just heard was true only the names were changed to protect the innocent on december 24th 1948 a coroner's inquest was held in the county morgue city and county of los angeles state of california in a moment the results of that inquest now here are authentic reports from all over the country that tell the story of the team a sensational increase in popularity new york division chicago division los angeles division more and more smokers agree fatima is the best of all long cigarettes so enjoy fatima yourself and give extra mile fatimas for christmas in the attractive golden yellow carton everyone who smokes fatima says that this great new long cigarette is the best of all long cigarettes at the coroner's inquest it was officially recorded that steven moorheim's death was the result of an accident stanley johnstone h9 was absolved of any legal responsibility for his friend's death you have just heard dragnet's a new series of authentic cases from official files technical advice for dragnet comes from the office of acting chief of police w a worton los angeles police department dragnet honors hennepin county minneapolis state of minnesota and the men of the hennepin county sheriff's office another of america's great law enforcement agencies one of these men sheriff ed ryan veteran police officer and department administrator who dedicates his life to making yours more secure fatima cigarettes the best of all long cigarettes has brought you dragnet portion transcribed from los angeles be sure to hear songs by martin downey tonight on nbc recorded on the scene only the names have been changed to protect the innocent fatima cigarettes best of all long cigarettes brings you dragnet gang of hold-up men have been running loose in your city they've committed more than a dozen robberies if you want a long cigarette smoke the best of all long cigarettes smoke fatima fatima is the long cigarette which contains the finest turkish and domestic tobaccos superbly blended to make fatima extra mild and that's why fatima has a much different much better flavor and aroma than any other long cigarette that's why fatima is doubling and redoubling its smokers so if you want a long cigarette smoke the best of all long cigarettes smoke fatima the documented drama of an actual crime for the next 30 minutes in cooperation with the los angeles police departmental you will travel step by step on the side of the law through an actual case from official police files from beginning to end from crime to punishment dragnet is the story of your police force in action was saturday july 21st was hot in los angeles we're working the night watch out of robbery detail my partner's ben romero the boss is that brown chief of detectives my name's friday i was on the way back from the record bureau and it was 6 55 p.m when they got to room 27 a robbery detail are you ready let's go we're like dumpers topcoat it's too hot out tonight for that yeah the rest of the guys take off already yeah we better hustle in a minute we're working this thing tonight must be at least 50 carbon ever drugs from the south central area the point that we draw may only in south alameda wrecked forms yeah parking lot across the street we can cover the pharmacy from there we better check out a tomsen from the business office first time it's a good idea we might as well be ready they are we've got the tip the gang was moving into the south end of town johnny powers one of his informants okay here we are hey bair do you want to check out a tomsen for us yeah kind of thank you hey might as well give us a shotgun while you're at it bair sounds like a busy night for you fellas yeah maybe half of the shotgun to joe yeah okay and tomsen a machine gun one shotgun you got those serial numbers there blare yeah tomsen six seven eight one one six seven eight one one yeah shotgun six five five two two eight twenty two eighty eight what's your serial number then twenty six thirty three oh yeah thirty three six shells for the shotgun fifty shells on tomsen okay all right i'll sign for him pretty rough i understand gun heavy yeah just stay tell us okay here's the book all signed okay here you go a lot of firepower there yeah hope you don't have to clean them when we bring them back we're wiped down at the basement of the city hall picked up our car 80k and drove out to neomy and south alameda street we located the parking lot and pulled in there were four other cars parked in the lot so we wouldn't be conspicuous then and i got in the backseat out of the light from our vantage point we had a clear view of the entrance to the wrecks pharmacy across the street we had the shotgun and the submachine gun on the seat beside us we listened to the calls coming on the radio and we waited it's no cooler here than business hot and sticky huh i mean paper says it's going to be worse tomorrow roll down your window we didn't get some air in here yeah the pharmacy isn't doing much business a lot more than a dozen people in there in the last hour no soda fountain again sure if hot you have to talk about it hell the time you got 10 minutes then no smoke no hang yeah i'll get it that gang's gonna show up here wish they'd get it over with flowers might have got a bum too well the gang hasn't missed a weekend for two months i wonder how much time the average cop's been waiting i don't know put it all together to make a fine vacation what do we do sit this out to the pharmacy closes and you have two a hand oh it's hot yeah midnight came and passed the traffic on south allow me to send out only an occasional customer entered the pharmacy across the street then kept complaining about the heat we waited well that's it joe ergo the lights drugstore slows man guy's locking the doors there he goes we might as well shove off too yeah let's get in the front seat not much gold for this shotgun tonight well he's checking it in same duty to mine it's a lie yeah come on let's roll sunday july 22nd 2 15 am ben and i pulled up with a merchant security trust company on the corner of south hill in janeva alley two patrol cars were already on the scene and four uniformed officers were trying to keep back a crowd of people who had gathered at the top of a flat of marble stairs which led off the street down one flight to the bank's night depository at the bottom of the stairs an elderly man was sprawled out face down his right arm twisted under the man was dead ben counted five bullet wounds in the victim's back we interviewed the only witness a young sailor my name is basic sergeant uh don basic quarter message second class here's my ID card you saw the shoes and i was about a half a block away i just came out of the bar down the street there at the top hat yeah i had a couple of beers and i left and i started walking back to the hotel when was that about uh five after two well before i got to the corner i saw this man ahead of me he uh crossed the street and headed over for the bank then this car pulled up and some guys got out they ran over to the man and looked like they were frisking yeah all of a sudden i heard shots the man ran to the stairs here and it looked like he stumbled and fell a bunch of guys jumped back in the car and drove away what'd you do then i ran up to see what i could do for the old man he was lying down there where he is now nothing i could do for him i yelled for a cop did you get a look at the man in that car no i just saw him from a distance uh four maybe five what about the car did you see the license number the last couple of numbers that's all six nine nine couldn't see the rest what was it a cooper sedan a sedan maroon color it was a Pontiac either 1940 or 41 you sure about that i used to own one back in Delaware 1940 model i sold it to my brother and i went in the navy i'm sure all right and you're sure about the number of men in the car oh yes there are four or five no more i see well will you drive back to the office with it and give us a full statement sure sergeant anything you say you can wait in the car basically we won't be long sure what do you think no i don't know drugstore gang that there were four guys could be no just quick maroon car three numbers off the license plate pretty thin yeah looks like a hard summer we completed our preliminary investigation coroner arrived and the body was taken to the county morgan the basement of the hall of justice the victim was identified as Walter Conroy the provider of the flowerland dance hall on south hill street together with officers premon and hers from homicide ben and i spent most of sunday tracking down employees of the dance hall and interviewing them we sent a rush teletype the department of motor vehicles and sacrament on containing the partial license number plus our scan information on the car which the suspects drove early monday afternoon ben and i along with captain ed walker of robbery detail met with chief of detective stad brown what kind of a movie where you're working on robbery thanks to our manager conroy was on his way to the bank's night depository when this bunch caught up with him he had the naturally seats with him from the dance hall almost a good one uh $350 they missed over a thousand conroy had an impact on it no idea who pulled the sticker could have been that drugstore gang why them we haven't missed working a weekend night for two months there's no sign of any other job that they might have pulled saturday just a hunch chief nothing to go on we'll have to guess our way for a while uh sacramental checking the description of the car that your number is off the license plate yeah i'll have an answer this afternoon any leads on the drugstore gang at all plenty none of them good suspects are loaded down with guns that's all we know excuse me ron speaking thanks reached over here friday the arrow how many yeah okay thank you all i got an answer from dmv sacramento about the holdup car they looked up the possible combinations of 1940 or 41 potty accidents with the number 699 in the license plate now 123 possibles to check my choice no car in that description on the hot list killer might be the legal owners all right in 2023 even after we check them we still might not have the right party that's right if you got a better lead we'll work on it nope and ride this till it falls apart for the next 13 days ben and i freemont rehearsed from homicide plus a half a dozen other men hacked away at the list of 123 car registrations any one of which could have been issued to the holdup car the color of the sedan didn't help us much to start with since california vehicle registrations do not include the colors of the cars after 14 days of gradual elimination of possibles the field was narrowed to six and four men too august 6th monday 5 30 p.m ben and i were called a pad brown's office gentlemen check out that last possible yet about 20 minutes ago it didn't pan out what about herston freemont they had one left right here could be the answer yeah 1940 funny accident license number 4 x3699 last registration san diego we tell the type of san diego please they say the car has been sold alone out in san amonica anyone checked her that's what i want you to for san diego and san amonica now it's in the right area and before we miss now hope it's the right one let's gotta be checked ben and i checked the woman in san amonica mrs fielding she told us that she had sold the car six months before to a friend who lived in bakersfield we contacted her friend he told us the car had been traded in by him to an auto dealer in pasadena we checked the dealer he said the car had been sold off his used car a lot two months before the new buyer had given his name is amo first and two names were given as reference loyden newton and john lacombe who ran a routine check through the record bureau through fellas it's a packages you gotta make point on all three what do you plan on first let's see first and two time losers second time up to q on five counts of arm robbery i'm pro from quentin now how about the other two well they're home let's see press and reformatory two terms went up three years ago violation of dire act he's on parole too what about newton jamaik him two terms in oklahoma they're looking for him now a jump roll come on look at that just a minute frank we're sure we have all three of them take a look ben each one of them are my sheets on these three guys yeah i'm like right here under general m o six thirsty heavily armed in time of arrest and this one look home heavily armed this one on newton i'm happy yeah at the time he purchased the car suspect amo first and listed his home address is 1517 north hoover avenue previous robbery victims positively identified first and his companions at 1517 north hoover the landlady also identified first and and his companions as tenants she told us they drove a red sedan and they parked the car at a temple street garage an immediate stakeout was placed on the apartment house and we started the canvas of temple street garages from hoover avenue down to ram park boulevard at 4 p.m ben spotted the car and donnelly's garage on temple street near michigan drive the garage attendant told us that the owner of the car given his name is amel first and showed him the mug shop yeah used to park his car in here a while back then he came in yesterday morning with these two guys and said he wanted to paint job this looks like he needs a paint job to me they offered me 20 bucks extra if i do it in a hurry he wants the car painted green when's he gonna call for the car about 10 o'clock tonight these jobs take time he's not gonna like it if the car is not finished he won't like it if it is come on ben you are listening to dragnet's authentic stories of your police force in action now here is an authentic report from fatima cigarettes in 1950 enjoy fatima yourself you'll find fatima extra mild because fatima is the long cigarette which contains the finest turkish and domestic tobacco superbly blended to make fatima extra mild you'll find fatima tastes much better fatima's superb blend gives you a much different much better flavor and aroma than any other long cigarette you'll find fatima tops in cigarette quality fatima has always stood for the best in cigarette quality for a new year of greater smoking enjoyment buy a fatima in the appealing golden yellow package you'll agree fatima is the best of all long cigarette 7 p.m. tuesday august 7 chief detective stad brown and captain ed walker swung the entire robbery detail into action the stake out at the apartment house on north hoover continued an additional detail of men was stationed in a vacant store on temple street directly opposite donnelly's garage donnelly's garage was a small family outfit and the only spot from which we could cover it thoroughly without being seen was from a large paint locker set up against the right wall the garage man cleared enough room so that ben and i could fit into the locker in a half stoop position two small latches were rigged up so that we could pull the doors closed from the inside four ventilation holes at the top and bottom of the doors provided this with peep holes at eight o'clock that night and then i took our places inside the locker the trap was set we waited can you see all right joe yeah i'm stuck in here i'm still here is it tight fit i'm getting me clamping my shoulder what's under that garage man say he closed let them fly lousy faint smell they have truck willing in can you see the driver i think somebody getting gas don't they show up i wouldn't want this to go on another night well don't count on it what's going to sleep i just stand still what time you got let me see get the light on in here ten minutes tonight thanks the popular conception of the working detective rarely includes the glimpse of his everyday run of the mill duties filling out forms conducting interviews or waiting long monotonous hours parked in a car or standing half-cropped in a garage paint locker it's slow dull and tedious and it's 95 percent of the police officer's job by 10 o'clock that night there was still no sign of person and his friends the cramped locker got more cramped for the passing minutes the air was thick with paint we waited at 1055 a taxi pull to a stop in front of the garage three men got out you see them joe wait they step into the light there's another guy still in the cab there he comes there's the first guy yeah there's the fourth guy's getting out of the cab it looks like new that's him yeah we call him right behind that guy here they come sure do look before all right i'll light your door but don't open it you know quiet man what's the matter that match your stuff wait a minute to get it no it's really stuff right tap it with your gun stock it went easy yeah there he is just a little quick you see where they are now yeah talking to the garage man stop looking this way no you just stay that way huh you ready okay i'll tip him off till we're right on top of him but i'm gonna wait for the garage man right all right let's go approximately 25 or 30 yards separated this from the suspects i glanced across temple street at the vacant store with that brown and the other men were staked up 25 yards is a long way to walk when you're approaching a murderer you know that he won't hesitate to kill you in order to escape men flipped the safety off the machine gun we were almost halfway across the garage 15 yards away thirst and turned in sauce right up the stairs up this way joe yeah watch it back get on it so we're back in that corner up there your tracks roll out your gun two more guns on him all right you two hold it here comes cheese yeah i'll get these guns together here lakom he's not much of a fighter not without a gun the suspects were booked at different divisions to keep them separated amel first and then Lloyd Newton were taken to hollenbeck park and booked on suspicion of armed robbery and murder john lakom was booked at highland park jail on the same charges the other suspect who had been wounded in the escape attempt was identified as herald steves 19 years old he was treated for a leg wound at georgia street receiving hospital and then transferred to the prison ward at the county hospital during the next two days each of the suspects was questioned individually thirst and lakom newton would admit nothing the 19 year old steves broke down and agreed to turn state's evidence we took his statement to chief of detectives that brown everything boss they pulled the drug store hold up and they killed that dance hall on reward card which one of them well the kid says thirst and shot it means his thirst and is the gang leader good you finally got a count on those guns you took off yeah 12 of them each one of them was ready to go bullet in every chamber did you get a complaint from the da's office they were right huh for them right game set for money fine you got them in jail i'll put them in prison the apprehension of the criminal doesn't mean the end of a case for a police officer he spends just as much time helping to convict the criminal after he's caught evidence must be gathered and authenticated and presented to the district attorney's office if confessions are possible they must be obtained and put in order the officer must also help out in formulating the case and then testifying at the trial of the suspect on october 30th almost three months after the thirst and gang was apprehended they were brought to trial in superior court was a routine affair herald steves took the stand and told the story of the gang's activity the victims identified the suspects and testified to the robbery both ben and i took the stand and testified to the arrest and possession of guns by the defendant we received no cross examination on the morning of march 2nd the case went to the jury ben and i had lunch with lieutenant rombo from robbery in the city hall cafeteria and it was five minutes past one when we got back to the office all right sure was good soup today it was a nice lunch do you want to check the mail i didn't chance i'll get it robbery friday yeah when right lachom and thurston i just broke jail within seven minutes a dragnet for the escape criminals had been thrown around the entire city chief of detectives pat brown directed the operation at 14 minutes past warning called us to the photocopy room the machines were turning out duplicate mug shots of thurston and lachom for distribution at the rate of one every four seconds you want us to stand by you for the moment yeah we got all the help we need on the street oh they pull the brake anyway slugged the deputy when he brought in their lunch used to see a leg from one of the benches in the prisoners tank yeah they beat the deputy right in the ground but he held on the newton they didn't get away hard first in lachom ever get out of the building it's a real freak it's like the elevator man and sat down at the basement right then an ambulance crew was wheeling a body in the moor the attendant left the ignition keys in the ambulance shouldn't be too rough to track them if they're in an ambulance suffering you think on the copy coming back fast we can make them chief have another batch for him you had any reports at all yet boss couple they're moving fast frank you want to get that i can't see in this dark room yeah i'll get it yeah chief brown in there yeah it's money now locker what do you got uh kill that dry one oh yeah now what do you got gas station out on sunset lachom and thurston just held it up we picked up our car in the city hall to rise and drove out to the service station on the corner of sunset full of ardent Lorraine drive defective ruins and strongwall from robbery were already on the scene the two escapees that abandoned the ambulance there robbed the station of 56 dollars in currency and stolen a 1938 gray packard coop license number seven robert 6336 we left the station and started to cruise the area with 155 he'll give it up you know 380 north sunset at 211 in progress 6380 north sunset at 211 in progress this is the 61 by the drop come on maybe push it hey that's our pulling out of my head there a great cool friend wait a minute seven robert that's them life's changing they can't make it they're going through they're skinny they have no handfuls look it off all right pull up come on all right let's go lucky if i live through this one yeah all right come on help me with this door yeah all right can you take him yeah i'll get a little comb you look okay yeah it's first and out of here all right come on you come on all right look home come on oh sure you will come on all right don't try to walk out there it's okay a couple of stretching all right get on over there cool it's funny they don't look great too they can't play their part they haven't got their guns only the names were changed to protect the innocent on march 3rd 1947 trial was held in superior court department 91 city and county of los angeles state of california in a moment the results of that trial it's amazing how many long cigarette smokers are changing to fatima here are the actual figures new york division chicago division but los angeles division but yes in 1949 more and more smokers discovered that fatima is the best of all long cigarettes they found fatima extra miles they found fatima has a much different much better flavor they found the name fatima means the best in cigarette quality in 1950 enjoy fatima yourself best of all long cigarettes amel thirstin john lachom and loyde newton were convicted of first-degree murder and robbery and sentenced to life terms for turning states evidence 19-year-old herald steves received special consideration as a result of the jailbreak thirstin and lachom were convicted of assault and escape they are now serving life terms in the state penitentiary you have just heard dragnet a new series of authentic cases from official files technical advice for dragnet comes from the office of acting chief of police w. a. worton los angeles police department dragnet honors the city of pasadena state of california and the men who make up the pasadena police force another of america's great law enforcement agencies one of these men chief of police clarence h morris traffic specialist and veteran police administrator dedicates his life to making yours more secure fatima cigarettes the best of all long cigarettes has brought you dragnet portion transcribed from los angeles be sure to hear songs by morgan donnie tonight on 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