Latest / The Great Detectives Present Dragnet (Old Time Radio) / Dragnet: The Big Hit and Run Killer (EP4904)

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Dragnet: The Big Hit and Run Killer (EP4904) · The Great Detectives Present Dragnet (Old Time Radio)

• 0:28
  Speaker 1: Welcome to the Great Detectives of Old Time Radio from Boise, Idaho.
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: This is your host, Adam Graham. In a moment, we're
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: going to bring you this week's episode of Dragnet. But
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: before we get started, I do want to encourage you.
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: If you're enjoying the podcast, please follow us using your
• 0:51
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• 0:56
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• 1:20
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• 1:25
  Speaker 1: But now, from November eighth, nineteen fifty one, here is
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: the big hit and run Killer.
• 1:39
  Speaker 2: The story you were about to hear is true. The
• 1:42
  Speaker 2: names have been changed to protect the innocent. You're a
• 1:53
  Speaker 2: detective sergeant. You're assigned a traffic investigation hit run felony detail.
• 1:59
  Speaker 2: An elderly woman an your nine year old grandson is
• 2:01
  Speaker 2: struck down on a pedestrian crosswalk by a speeding truck.
• 2:04
  Speaker 3: The woman is killed instantly.
• 2:06
  Speaker 2: Witnesses fail to get the license number they hit run
• 2:09
  Speaker 2: driver escapes. Your job find him.
• 2:22
  Speaker 4: Dragnet the documented drama of an actual crime. For the
• 2:26
  Speaker 4: next thirty minutes, in cooperation with the Los Angeles Police Department,
• 2:30
  Speaker 4: you will travel step by step on the side of
• 2:32
  Speaker 4: the law through an actual case, transcribed from official police files,
• 2:36
  Speaker 4: from beginning to end, from crime to punishment. Dragnet is
• 2:40
  Speaker 4: the story of your police force.
• 2:41
  Speaker 3: In action.
• 2:46
  Speaker 5: Was Tuesday, December twenty first was windy in Los Angeles.
• 2:49
  Speaker 5: We're working the night Watch out of Traffic Division. Hit
• 2:52
  Speaker 5: and run felony detail. My partner's Ben Romero. The boss
• 2:55
  Speaker 5: is Captain Calfi, Commander Aid. My name is Friday. It
• 2:58
  Speaker 5: was ten fifty one pm. We got to the Carleton
• 3:00
  Speaker 5: Theater the box office.
• 3:05
  Speaker 6: Thank you, how many please?
• 3:07
  Speaker 3: Police officers, ma'am like to talk to you for a minute,
• 3:09
  Speaker 3: if you're good.
• 3:10
  Speaker 6: Oh, yes, you mean about the accident.
• 3:12
  Speaker 3: Yes, ma'am. One of the officers in the traffic car
• 3:14
  Speaker 3: across the street. He told us you're one of the
• 3:15
  Speaker 3: people to saw it happened.
• 3:16
  Speaker 6: Yes, that's the right terrible thing. It was an old
• 3:18
  Speaker 6: lady and a gramson.
• 3:19
  Speaker 5: You know, yes, ma'am, would it be possible for you
• 3:21
  Speaker 5: to get a relief for a little while.
• 3:22
  Speaker 7: A few questions we'd like to ask you about. It
• 3:23
  Speaker 7: won't take very long.
• 3:24
  Speaker 6: Well, i'll be off duty eleven. That's when the box
• 3:26
  Speaker 6: office closed, eight minutes to eleven. Now, would you like
• 3:29
  Speaker 6: to wait?
• 3:30
  Speaker 7: All right, ma'am?
• 3:30
  Speaker 3: Fine, who'd win out there?
• 3:32
  Speaker 6: Would you like to wait in here? Right around back here?
• 3:34
  Speaker 3: I'll open the door for you, all right, ma'am, Thank you. Yeah,
• 3:41
  Speaker 3: it's nice and warm.
• 3:42
  Speaker 6: Did anybody get the license number? Do you know, officer,
• 3:44
  Speaker 6: I mean on that truck that ran him down?
• 3:46
  Speaker 5: No, not that we know of. We understand the officers
• 3:48
  Speaker 5: in the traffic car talk to you. You didn't see
• 3:50
  Speaker 5: the number either.
• 3:50
  Speaker 6: No, I'm sorry I didn't. The whole thing happened so fast.
• 3:53
  Speaker 6: Saw the old lady grabbed the little boy pull him
• 3:56
  Speaker 6: next to her. It was an awful thing. The truck
• 3:58
  Speaker 6: hit him both together. One of the things you notice,
• 4:01
  Speaker 6: boy was carrying a little box of candy. I heard
• 4:03
  Speaker 6: this terrible thud when the truck hit them. I looked
• 4:06
  Speaker 6: and the candy was spilled all over the street. Just
• 4:08
  Speaker 6: couldn't help, but I got sick to my stomach.
• 4:10
  Speaker 3: Yes, ma'am, I can understand.
• 4:11
  Speaker 7: How about this truck that ran them down? Do you
• 4:13
  Speaker 7: think you'd know it if you ever saw it again?
• 4:15
  Speaker 6: I'm not sure. I think I might. Yes, it was
• 4:17
  Speaker 6: one of those delivery trucks, you know. I think you
• 4:19
  Speaker 6: call it a panel truck. It was a light tan
• 4:21
  Speaker 6: color all over, and there was black lettering on the side.
• 4:24
  Speaker 7: Could you make out any of the lettering at all?
• 4:26
  Speaker 6: Well, I think there were three or four words painted
• 4:28
  Speaker 6: on the side, and I know one of them was bakery.
• 4:30
  Speaker 6: I'm sure that.
• 4:30
  Speaker 3: Did you recognize what make a truck it was, ma'am?
• 4:33
  Speaker 3: You're the model?
• 4:33
  Speaker 6: It was a late model, I'm pretty sure of that,
• 4:35
  Speaker 6: either a Chevrolet or Ford. I'd say one of those
• 4:38
  Speaker 6: regular delivery trucks like some bakery's hues.
• 4:40
  Speaker 3: Sure about that word? You saw letter on the side?
• 4:42
  Speaker 3: It said bakery, Yes, I'm positive with that.
• 4:44
  Speaker 5: Know anything else out of the ordinary that you might
• 4:46
  Speaker 5: have noticed about the truck, ma'am, anything outstanding that might
• 4:48
  Speaker 5: have caught your eye?
• 4:49
  Speaker 6: No, I'm sorry. So that's about all I can tell you.
• 4:52
  Speaker 6: How is the old lady do you know, and a
• 4:53
  Speaker 6: little boy. Could they tell you anything, Yes, ma'am.
• 4:55
  Speaker 7: The woman's dead. She was killed instantly. They've taken the
• 4:58
  Speaker 7: youngster over to Georgia Street Receiving Hospital. Afraid he's in
• 5:01
  Speaker 7: pretty bad shape too.
• 5:02
  Speaker 6: Terrible shame, poor lady. She lives right here in the neighborhood,
• 5:04
  Speaker 6: you know. Seeing her shopping in the market next door
• 5:07
  Speaker 6: here Saturday afternoon.
• 5:08
  Speaker 3: It's just tragic.
• 5:10
  Speaker 6: Boys or grandson.
• 5:11
  Speaker 3: You know.
• 5:11
  Speaker 6: Somebody said he was down visiting her for the Christmas vacation.
• 5:14
  Speaker 6: Seemed like a nice kid, well behaved. She seems so
• 5:17
  Speaker 6: proud of him. It suld be a sad Christmas for
• 5:19
  Speaker 6: the family.
• 5:20
  Speaker 3: Just one more question, man, When the boy and his
• 5:22
  Speaker 3: grandmother were crossing the street, would you say the visibility
• 5:25
  Speaker 3: was good? I mean, is there any reason why it
• 5:26
  Speaker 3: would have been hard for a driver to see them?
• 5:28
  Speaker 6: No reason in the world, officer. It's a clear night.
• 5:31
  Speaker 6: You can see how well the intersections lighted up, all
• 5:33
  Speaker 6: the Christmas lights strung up along here. The lights from
• 5:35
  Speaker 6: the theater Marquee was just as well lighted then as
• 5:38
  Speaker 6: it is now. The intersection was perfectly clear, no other
• 5:41
  Speaker 6: cars around. The boy had a white sweater on the
• 5:44
  Speaker 6: old lady was wearing a light colored it certainly easy
• 5:46
  Speaker 6: to see the traffic light too.
• 5:47
  Speaker 3: It said. Stop.
• 5:49
  Speaker 6: I can't understand why that driver didn't see him.
• 5:51
  Speaker 7: Neither can Wait, how.
• 5:52
  Speaker 6: Could anybody do such a thing? Just isn't any excuse
• 5:55
  Speaker 6: for it, no excuse in the world. It's downright murdered.
• 5:58
  Speaker 7: We maybe that explains it. What that's why I kept going.
• 6:04
  Speaker 5: Eleven thirty five pm, Ben and I finished interviewing the
• 6:07
  Speaker 5: cashier in the theater box office, and then we called
• 6:10
  Speaker 5: the office and had them get out a supplementary broadcast
• 6:12
  Speaker 5: and an APB.
• 6:13
  Speaker 7: On the description of the hit and run vehicle.
• 6:15
  Speaker 5: We went back across the street to the scene of
• 6:17
  Speaker 5: the accident, where the officers in the tea car, along
• 6:19
  Speaker 5: with the crew from the crime lab, were finishing up
• 6:21
  Speaker 5: their preliminary investigation. We interviewed two more witnesses to the
• 6:25
  Speaker 5: hit run accident, but they were unable to tell us
• 6:27
  Speaker 5: anything that we didn't already know. When we got back
• 6:30
  Speaker 5: to the office, we put in a call to Georgia
• 6:32
  Speaker 5: Street Receiving Hospital, where they told us the nine year
• 6:34
  Speaker 5: old boy struck down by the hit run driver was
• 6:36
  Speaker 5: still in a critical condition. The husband of the sixty
• 6:39
  Speaker 5: four year old woman who had been killed instantly was
• 6:41
  Speaker 5: brought downtown to the Morgue, where he identified the body.
• 6:45
  Speaker 5: The next morning, we got out a special bulletin too
• 6:47
  Speaker 5: all garages, auto repair and paint shops throughout the city
• 6:50
  Speaker 5: to be on the lookout for a late model tan
• 6:52
  Speaker 5: panel truck black lettering on the sides with damage to
• 6:55
  Speaker 5: the front end. Eight thirty am. I checked with Communications,
• 6:59
  Speaker 5: and then I went back.
• 7:00
  Speaker 7: To the office.
• 7:01
  Speaker 3: Hi, just check with Georgia Street. Joe asked him about
• 7:04
  Speaker 3: the boy, the old lady's grandson.
• 7:06
  Speaker 7: How's he doing?
• 7:06
  Speaker 3: Not the same critical condition? That's about all they'll say.
• 7:09
  Speaker 3: That's a lows of shame. Communications, get any kickback on
• 7:12
  Speaker 3: the old points.
• 7:13
  Speaker 7: Yet, No, nothing at all. Just get in touch with
• 7:15
  Speaker 7: the crime lab.
• 7:15
  Speaker 5: Yeah, they're not going to be able to help much
• 7:17
  Speaker 5: what they find out there, anything at all. Just what
• 7:19
  Speaker 5: we saw a two small pieces of glass, probably from
• 7:21
  Speaker 5: one of the headlights on the truck. You don't think
• 7:24
  Speaker 5: they're going to be able to do much with them.
• 7:25
  Speaker 5: Is not enough fear to going.
• 7:27
  Speaker 7: That's the only physical evidence they got, and.
• 7:29
  Speaker 3: So might be able to tie it down a little
• 7:31
  Speaker 3: tight if we could find that panel.
• 7:33
  Speaker 7: You start checking on that bakery truck angle.
• 7:35
  Speaker 3: Yet McGowan and I called every bakery in town, got
• 7:38
  Speaker 3: a pretty well narrowed down. There's only two companies that
• 7:40
  Speaker 3: use ten late model panels for delivery truck. Only one
• 7:44
  Speaker 3: of them uses black lettering on the sides of the truck.
• 7:46
  Speaker 3: Other companies says they use red lettering. Which one has
• 7:48
  Speaker 3: the black I got it right here. Outfit called Nielsen's
• 7:52
  Speaker 3: Wholesale Bakery. They got afraid of one hundred and seventy
• 7:55
  Speaker 3: three trucks, all the same ten color black lettering on
• 7:57
  Speaker 3: both sides late model for delivery truck.
• 8:00
  Speaker 5: They tell you whether or not any of their drivers
• 8:02
  Speaker 5: could have been making deliveries that time in night ten
• 8:04
  Speaker 5: thirty eleven o'clock.
• 8:05
  Speaker 3: Yeah, they were about a dozen of them out on deliveries.
• 8:07
  Speaker 3: Oh more UPM to account for than that, though, What
• 8:10
  Speaker 3: do you mean all their drivers are allowed to take
• 8:12
  Speaker 3: the trucks home with them when they are off. Dude,
• 8:13
  Speaker 3: if they want to afraid, he's going to mean checking
• 8:16
  Speaker 3: out every one of them.
• 8:17
  Speaker 7: You know, they might as well get moving on it.
• 8:19
  Speaker 7: They're going to give us some kind of a list
• 8:20
  Speaker 7: of work with, are they?
• 8:21
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I got it all set up with him. I'm
• 8:23
  Speaker 3: getting accident investigational Merril. Oh yes, sirs, that's all I see.
• 8:32
  Speaker 3: You're right, thank you, rotten deal.
• 8:35
  Speaker 7: What's the matter?
• 8:36
  Speaker 3: Had young kid the grandison?
• 8:37
  Speaker 7: Yeah, he just.
• 8:38
  Speaker 5: Died many times and on many different occasions. The police
• 8:45
  Speaker 5: officer has it proved to him that there can be
• 8:47
  Speaker 5: very little difference between a crime of neglect and a
• 8:50
  Speaker 5: crime that's been willfully premeditated. If you look at it
• 8:53
  Speaker 5: closely enough, you can judge it for yourself. How much difference,
• 8:57
  Speaker 5: for example, as far as moral guilt is concerned, is
• 8:59
  Speaker 5: there between the following number one, a man who plans
• 9:02
  Speaker 5: a killing, takes up a gun, finds his victim, and
• 9:05
  Speaker 5: shoots him to death. Our number two, the man who
• 9:08
  Speaker 5: thinks he has to look out for no one's welfare
• 9:10
  Speaker 5: but his own, gets behind the wheel of a car,
• 9:12
  Speaker 5: disregards the ordinary rules of safety, and proceeds to commit
• 9:16
  Speaker 5: homicide with a motor vehicle. Oftentimes the crime masquerades under
• 9:20
  Speaker 5: the guise of an accident, Moraley. No matter how you
• 9:23
  Speaker 5: spell it, it adds up to murder just as surely as
• 9:25
  Speaker 5: if the person had taken a gun and shot the
• 9:26
  Speaker 5: victim down.
• 9:28
  Speaker 7: The way it looked to us.
• 9:29
  Speaker 5: The hit and run killing of the elderly woman and
• 9:31
  Speaker 5: her grandson was a prime example. Wednesday, December twenty second,
• 9:35
  Speaker 5: Ben and I began checking out the delivery trucks owned
• 9:37
  Speaker 5: by Nielsen's wholesale bakerate. Late that afternoon, we located one
• 9:41
  Speaker 5: of the trucks with recent damage to the front end.
• 9:43
  Speaker 7: We checked and found the driver's name was Arthur V. Singer.
• 9:47
  Speaker 7: We drove out to his home to interview him.
• 9:48
  Speaker 8: No, I wasn't working last night, off, sir, I was off.
• 9:51
  Speaker 8: What's it all about?
• 9:51
  Speaker 3: Did you spend the night at home, mister Singer?
• 9:53
  Speaker 8: Or where you was home part of the time? After dinner,
• 9:56
  Speaker 8: I went downtown to Little Bowling, our neighborhood team bulls
• 9:58
  Speaker 8: every Tuesday night.
• 9:59
  Speaker 3: Where is that place?
• 10:00
  Speaker 8: Downtowns on West Seventh got a pretty good team.
• 10:03
  Speaker 7: Did you drive down, mister Singer?
• 10:05
  Speaker 3: Did you take the bus? No?
• 10:06
  Speaker 8: I drove down, had the company truck with me. I'll
• 10:08
  Speaker 8: just used him when we're off duty. We pay for
• 10:09
  Speaker 8: the gas.
• 10:10
  Speaker 3: Did you drive down by yourself or was there someone
• 10:12
  Speaker 3: else with you?
• 10:12
  Speaker 7: No?
• 10:12
  Speaker 3: I was alone.
• 10:13
  Speaker 8: The other boys had their cars.
• 10:14
  Speaker 3: When did you leave the bawling yell? You remember about
• 10:17
  Speaker 3: ten ten fifteen, I'd say.
• 10:18
  Speaker 7: How'd you drive home, mister Singer? I mean what route
• 10:21
  Speaker 7: did you take?
• 10:22
  Speaker 8: I drove straight out west Seventh, got the carnado, came
• 10:25
  Speaker 8: over carnaut of the house here.
• 10:27
  Speaker 3: What do you want to know?
• 10:28
  Speaker 7: What time did you get home?
• 10:29
  Speaker 8: About quarter to eleven? This wouldn't be about that little
• 10:32
  Speaker 8: scrape I had last night with her? What was that
• 10:34
  Speaker 8: down at seventh in Grand View, right by west Lake Park?
• 10:37
  Speaker 8: The old guy in the car head he stopped fast
• 10:39
  Speaker 8: right in front of me, didn't even signal. I almost
• 10:42
  Speaker 8: plodded right into him like I was watching, and slammed
• 10:44
  Speaker 8: on the brakes, turned in toward the curb. Should have
• 10:46
  Speaker 8: seen it. I clipped the headlight in the right fender
• 10:48
  Speaker 8: against a telephone poll had it. Take the truck in
• 10:50
  Speaker 8: this morning, get it fixed up.
• 10:51
  Speaker 7: Are there any witnesses to this accident that.
• 10:53
  Speaker 3: You had, Singer?
• 10:54
  Speaker 8: Yeah, a half dozen people saw it.
• 10:55
  Speaker 7: Did you get any names?
• 10:56
  Speaker 3: No address?
• 10:57
  Speaker 8: Well, no I didn't. I was so teed off about
• 10:59
  Speaker 8: the whole thing. I guess I didn't think about it.
• 11:01
  Speaker 3: Is there anyone at all we can check with? Anybody
• 11:03
  Speaker 3: to corroborate your story?
• 11:04
  Speaker 8: Just the old guy in that car. Sure a lousy driver.
• 11:06
  Speaker 8: I really chewed him out.
• 11:07
  Speaker 3: Did you get his name in Andre?
• 11:09
  Speaker 8: No, but I took down his license number. Wasn't gonna
• 11:11
  Speaker 8: pay for that damage, he admitted it was his fault.
• 11:13
  Speaker 3: Let me see.
• 11:14
  Speaker 7: Do you mind giving us that license number?
• 11:16
  Speaker 8: No, if I can find it. Wrote it down on
• 11:17
  Speaker 8: the back of an old envelope. Thought I put it
• 11:20
  Speaker 8: in my jacket when I looked this morning, wasn't there.
• 11:22
  Speaker 8: It's around someplace, so I'll check around again for a
• 11:24
  Speaker 8: leave for work. It'll bound to turn up.
• 11:26
  Speaker 5: I'd like to have you look for it now, mister Singer,
• 11:27
  Speaker 5: if you would, it's pretty important.
• 11:29
  Speaker 8: Wow, I think I get it. Officer, what it's all about?
• 11:31
  Speaker 3: Anyway? Then lemonary investigation? I want to see if you
• 11:33
  Speaker 3: can find that number four?
• 11:35
  Speaker 5: Wow?
• 11:35
  Speaker 8: What did it I have to do with an investigation?
• 11:37
  Speaker 8: I didn't do anything at oh man, it was his fault.
• 11:39
  Speaker 8: The old bakery.
• 11:40
  Speaker 7: Truck was involved in a serious accident last night, the
• 11:42
  Speaker 7: same kind that you were driving. Fred. You're gonna need
• 11:44
  Speaker 7: some kind of an alibi, mister Singer.
• 11:46
  Speaker 3: Alibi.
• 11:47
  Speaker 8: I don't know what you mean.
• 11:48
  Speaker 3: Why do I have to have an alibi?
• 11:49
  Speaker 7: I'll just take my word for it. You're gonna need one.
• 11:51
  Speaker 8: Why do I need one?
• 11:52
  Speaker 3: Two reasons?
• 11:53
  Speaker 7: Yeah, A nine year old boy and his grandmother.
• 11:58
  Speaker 5: We continued questioning the suspect, Arthur Singer, but he denied
• 12:01
  Speaker 5: any knowledge of the hit run accident the night before
• 12:03
  Speaker 5: at the intersection of Drexel and Pico Boulevard. We stayed
• 12:06
  Speaker 5: with him while he searched his home for the licensed
• 12:08
  Speaker 5: number of the car, which he said caused him to
• 12:10
  Speaker 5: have his accident the night before.
• 12:13
  Speaker 7: After half an hour of.
• 12:14
  Speaker 5: Looking, he came up with a number scribbled on a
• 12:15
  Speaker 5: scrap of paper which he'd found back in one corner
• 12:18
  Speaker 5: on the floor of his closet. We put in a
• 12:20
  Speaker 5: call to our DMV and they came back with the
• 12:22
  Speaker 5: information that the license number was registered to a mister
• 12:25
  Speaker 5: Thomas Foley on Lancasham Boulevard. We drove out to the
• 12:28
  Speaker 5: address to check with mister Foley, but there was nobody home.
• 12:31
  Speaker 7: We left our card along with.
• 12:32
  Speaker 5: Our message to contact us as soon as possible four
• 12:36
  Speaker 5: fifteen pm. Ben and I got back to the office
• 12:38
  Speaker 5: at four thirty five. Mister Foley returned our call.
• 12:41
  Speaker 3: Yes, that's right, well you did uh huh, I see
• 12:45
  Speaker 3: well what time was that do you remember? Well, all right,
• 12:48
  Speaker 3: mister Foley, thank you very much. We may be contacting
• 12:50
  Speaker 3: you later. Right by. I thought this was starting up
• 12:54
  Speaker 3: too easy.
• 12:55
  Speaker 7: Why what you say?
• 12:55
  Speaker 3: Apparently this Arthur Singer is telling us the truth. Mister
• 12:58
  Speaker 3: Foley says he did have a little scrape with a
• 12:59
  Speaker 3: Baker truck last night. Described singers driver the truck. What
• 13:02
  Speaker 3: about the location? Is fully pretty sure about that? Grand
• 13:05
  Speaker 3: viewing lest seven says it happened about ten thirty five
• 13:07
  Speaker 3: last night. That put Singer about three miles from the
• 13:10
  Speaker 3: scene of they hit run. It's impossible, Joe, Yeah, this
• 13:12
  Speaker 3: mister Foley's right Singer couldn't have done it wasn't anywhere
• 13:15
  Speaker 3: near the scene. I sure thought he was it in
• 13:16
  Speaker 3: jew we can drive out and double check with fooling.
• 13:19
  Speaker 3: Can't think of any reason why he'd lie about it,
• 13:21
  Speaker 3: can you?
• 13:22
  Speaker 7: I saw get it Acts Investigation Friday? Yeah, Ted? Where yeah? Nobody? Huh? Yeah?
• 13:31
  Speaker 3: Right away?
• 13:31
  Speaker 7: Thanks, that's moving a little fast. Got a piece of
• 13:34
  Speaker 7: luck here. Who was Ted Zimmerman? He and McLendon are
• 13:37
  Speaker 7: down the south end of town. Yeah, they hit and
• 13:38
  Speaker 7: run truck. They think maybe they found it. Four twenty
• 13:44
  Speaker 7: eight pm.
• 13:44
  Speaker 5: Ben and I left the office and drove to the
• 13:46
  Speaker 5: south end of the city, where we met with Sergeants
• 13:48
  Speaker 5: Zimmerman and McLendon a block from where the Tan Panel
• 13:51
  Speaker 5: Bakery truck had been located. As soon as the truck
• 13:53
  Speaker 5: had been discovered, an immediate stakeout was placed on it.
• 13:56
  Speaker 5: A Code five was broadcast on the vehicle's location, warning
• 13:59
  Speaker 5: all you to stay away so as not to discourage
• 14:02
  Speaker 5: the suspect in case he decided it was safe to
• 14:03
  Speaker 5: return and get the truck.
• 14:05
  Speaker 7: Ben and I drove down the side street where the
• 14:07
  Speaker 7: truck was parked and got a good look at the
• 14:09
  Speaker 7: front end of it. The right headlight was damaged and
• 14:11
  Speaker 7: so was the right fender. While Zimmerman and McLendon remained.
• 14:14
  Speaker 5: On stakeout, Ben and I contacted the Nielsen Bakery people again,
• 14:18
  Speaker 5: gave them the number of the truck and they traced
• 14:20
  Speaker 5: down the driver's name for us.
• 14:21
  Speaker 7: He was listed as Daniel Miller.
• 14:23
  Speaker 5: He'd been employed by the bakery for the past three
• 14:25
  Speaker 5: years and he had a good record. They told us
• 14:27
  Speaker 5: this was his day off five point thirty pm. We
• 14:30
  Speaker 5: checked at his home address, but his wife told us
• 14:32
  Speaker 5: he wasn't there. She said that Besides driving a truck
• 14:35
  Speaker 5: for the bakery, he also had a part time job.
• 14:37
  Speaker 7: At night.
• 14:38
  Speaker 5: He worked as a counter man at a small coffee
• 14:40
  Speaker 5: shop out on Wilshire Boulevard. We drove out to the
• 14:43
  Speaker 5: coffee shop and interviewed him on the job.
• 14:45
  Speaker 9: No, I'm sorry, I don't know where the truck is.
• 14:47
  Speaker 9: I wish I did and what happened, mister Miller?
• 14:49
  Speaker 3: Was his done?
• 14:50
  Speaker 9: No? No, not exactly. A fellow that comes in here quite
• 14:52
  Speaker 9: a bit. His name's Paul, good customer. He borrowed the
• 14:55
  Speaker 9: truck from me last night, said he don't be gone
• 14:56
  Speaker 9: and now I haven't seen him since.
• 14:58
  Speaker 7: Where does this man live? This friend of yours, Paul?
• 15:00
  Speaker 9: I'll tell you the truth. I don't know good Customy
• 15:03
  Speaker 9: comes in quite a bit at night when I'm working.
• 15:05
  Speaker 9: Gott to know him pretty well. He has to borrow
• 15:07
  Speaker 9: the truck for an hour. Didn't think much about it.
• 15:09
  Speaker 9: Let him have it. Is there anything wrong?
• 15:11
  Speaker 7: What's this Paull's last name? You know?
• 15:13
  Speaker 9: Oh? I guess I don't never thought to ask him,
• 15:15
  Speaker 9: as a matter of fact, because they never had any
• 15:17
  Speaker 9: reason to about.
• 15:18
  Speaker 3: What time was it last night that you lean in
• 15:20
  Speaker 3: the truck.
• 15:21
  Speaker 9: At eight o'clock. I think it was. He said he
• 15:23
  Speaker 9: wanted to take his television set over to the guy
• 15:25
  Speaker 9: he knew and get it fixed. He told me he'd
• 15:27
  Speaker 9: be backed by tenn oy' clark at the latest.
• 15:29
  Speaker 7: And you don't know where this man lives. You have
• 15:30
  Speaker 7: no idea at all how to get in touch with him.
• 15:32
  Speaker 9: No, I guess they don't sag it.
• 15:33
  Speaker 3: Why you're in the habit of lending the truck to
• 15:35
  Speaker 3: strain you?
• 15:36
  Speaker 9: No, not usually? Well, what's your beef anyway? What's this
• 15:39
  Speaker 9: all about?
• 15:40
  Speaker 7: What are your hours here at the coffee shop? Mat
• 15:42
  Speaker 7: or when do you check in for work? When do
• 15:43
  Speaker 7: you leave?
• 15:44
  Speaker 9: I checked in at seven o'clock. I go straight five
• 15:46
  Speaker 9: hours to midnight. That's when we close out midnight.
• 15:49
  Speaker 7: You worked that shift last night? Did you? Seven pm?
• 15:51
  Speaker 7: Straight through to midnight?
• 15:52
  Speaker 9: That's right, Monday through Saturday, six days a week. That's
• 15:54
  Speaker 9: a schedule. It's just a part time job for me,
• 15:57
  Speaker 9: extra door. You know, my regular job's driving the truck
• 16:00
  Speaker 9: the bakery.
• 16:00
  Speaker 3: Was anyone around last night when your friend Paul came
• 16:02
  Speaker 3: into board the truck, Maybe another customer, waitress, somebody we
• 16:05
  Speaker 3: could double check with.
• 16:06
  Speaker 9: No, there we were a couple other customers in the place.
• 16:09
  Speaker 9: I don't know who they were, though. Why do you
• 16:12
  Speaker 9: have to double check? Anyway? I haven't done anything. I
• 16:14
  Speaker 9: loaned Paul a truck. That's all I'll have.
• 16:16
  Speaker 3: You ain't wed all of proving you were here from
• 16:18
  Speaker 3: seven to twelve last night. Must have been some customers
• 16:21
  Speaker 3: you withed on that you remember.
• 16:22
  Speaker 9: Sure, at least half dozen of them. They'll tell you
• 16:25
  Speaker 9: I was here.
• 16:25
  Speaker 7: I'd like to have their names and addresses, if you
• 16:27
  Speaker 7: don't mind.
• 16:28
  Speaker 9: Miller, Yeah, excuse me a minute. H I've got a customer.
• 16:31
  Speaker 3: Away right in. All right, Dan, I missed you last night.
• 16:34
  Speaker 3: All right, Fred?
• 16:34
  Speaker 9: What do you have coffee?
• 16:36
  Speaker 3: A couple of those doughnuts back there? Potter sugar ones?
• 16:38
  Speaker 10: Okay, I mean the message dropped in for a sandwich
• 16:42
  Speaker 10: after the show last night.
• 16:43
  Speaker 9: We're looking for you that so you how about ten thirty?
• 16:46
  Speaker 3: Where were you? Dan?
• 17:05
  Speaker 5: Seven fifteen pm, Wednesday, December twenty second. We continued questioning
• 17:09
  Speaker 5: the hit run suspect Daniel Miller for a full hour,
• 17:12
  Speaker 5: but he seemed to be unable to account for his
• 17:14
  Speaker 5: time the previous night. His first story was that he'd
• 17:17
  Speaker 5: been on duty behind the counter and the coffee shop
• 17:19
  Speaker 5: without a break between the hours of seven pm and midnight. Then,
• 17:23
  Speaker 5: after the customer entered and disclosed that he was in
• 17:25
  Speaker 5: the coffee shop at ten thirty the night before and
• 17:27
  Speaker 5: that Miller was nowhere about the suspect switched his story.
• 17:31
  Speaker 5: He said he thought he left the coffee shop briefly
• 17:33
  Speaker 5: for about fifteen minutes between ten thirty and ten forty
• 17:36
  Speaker 5: five pm to run down the street to a hotel
• 17:38
  Speaker 5: to say goodbye to some friends of his who were
• 17:40
  Speaker 5: leaving for New York. We checked at the hotel, but
• 17:43
  Speaker 5: they didn't know Miller, and they hadn't seen him the
• 17:45
  Speaker 5: night before.
• 17:45
  Speaker 7: They were sure of it. We returned to the coffee
• 17:48
  Speaker 7: shop and.
• 17:48
  Speaker 5: Took up the questioning of the suspect all over again,
• 17:51
  Speaker 5: but he made littler no sense at all. Apparently he
• 17:53
  Speaker 5: was piling up lie after lie in an effort to
• 17:55
  Speaker 5: cover his tracks before and after they hit and run murder.
• 17:58
  Speaker 7: The night before eight pm, Ben and I pulled Miller.
• 18:01
  Speaker 5: Off the job at the coffee shop and took him
• 18:04
  Speaker 5: downtown to the interrogation room.
• 18:06
  Speaker 9: I'm telling you it's the truth. I wasn't in that
• 18:08
  Speaker 9: truck last night. I wasn't in an accident. I don't
• 18:10
  Speaker 9: know what you're talking about. Well, then give something to
• 18:12
  Speaker 9: go on, Miller. You've vented three different stories so far.
• 18:15
  Speaker 9: Not one of them is strong enough the whole water.
• 18:16
  Speaker 9: I'm telling you the truth. What are you trying to
• 18:18
  Speaker 9: hang this on me for? I didn't have a wreck
• 18:21
  Speaker 9: and I didn't kill anybody. Why are you picking on me?
• 18:23
  Speaker 7: Because you don't make sense? Mister.
• 18:25
  Speaker 5: You're trying to sell us a story and you haven't
• 18:27
  Speaker 5: got one ounce of proof to back it up. At
• 18:28
  Speaker 5: bakery truck you're responsible for as the same truck that
• 18:31
  Speaker 5: killed the old woman and the little boy. Now you
• 18:33
  Speaker 5: come up with a solid story that we can check
• 18:35
  Speaker 5: on her, you're going to be resting your back in
• 18:36
  Speaker 5: the main jam.
• 18:37
  Speaker 9: I wonder they call you cops, dumb. I wasn't in
• 18:40
  Speaker 9: that truck last night. Can't you get that through your heads?
• 18:43
  Speaker 9: I wasn't in the truck. I didn't have an accident.
• 18:45
  Speaker 3: Didn't prove it to us, mister Miller, that's what we're
• 18:46
  Speaker 3: waiting for. Listen, call Bill Colder. He's a good customer.
• 18:50
  Speaker 3: He was in last night. I think he'll tell you.
• 18:52
  Speaker 3: Go ahead and call him. He'll back up what I say.
• 18:54
  Speaker 7: What's his numbered? You know?
• 18:56
  Speaker 9: Yeah, I got it right right here in my wallet.
• 19:00
  Speaker 9: The bill can tell you. Yeah, here it is.
• 19:03
  Speaker 5: Well, thank you, hello, William Calder there please, yes, ma'am,
• 19:15
  Speaker 5: it's important, all right. Well you have him called Michigan
• 19:18
  Speaker 5: five to two one one, yeah, five two one one
• 19:21
  Speaker 5: as extension two five one two right, Thank you very much.
• 19:25
  Speaker 7: He's busy. You'll call back in a minute.
• 19:27
  Speaker 9: He'll tell you the truth. I was in the coffee
• 19:29
  Speaker 9: shop all night, Just those couple of minutes, I ran
• 19:31
  Speaker 9: down to the hotel, I say goodbye to those friends
• 19:33
  Speaker 9: of mine. That's the only time I left the place.
• 19:35
  Speaker 3: How come you couldn't tell us that to begin with?
• 19:37
  Speaker 3: Mauh You say you've got nothing to hide, Well, why
• 19:40
  Speaker 3: do you have to hand his three different stories? Which
• 19:42
  Speaker 3: when are we supposed to believe?
• 19:43
  Speaker 9: I got nervous, that's all, when you first come in
• 19:45
  Speaker 9: and started to ask questions. I didn't know what it
• 19:48
  Speaker 9: was all about it. I didn't know there was any trouble.
• 19:50
  Speaker 9: I just loaned the truck to this guy. Paul is
• 19:52
  Speaker 9: a favor. How do I know what he was going
• 19:54
  Speaker 9: to do getting himself in a jam like that?
• 19:56
  Speaker 7: All right, I'll try to look at it from where
• 19:58
  Speaker 7: we stand. Miller, you rown out your true to him.
• 20:00
  Speaker 3: Man.
• 20:00
  Speaker 7: You don't know his last name, you don't know where
• 20:02
  Speaker 7: he lives.
• 20:03
  Speaker 5: You say he must have been driving the truck when
• 20:04
  Speaker 5: the lady and the boy were killed.
• 20:06
  Speaker 9: Sure he must have been driving that.
• 20:07
  Speaker 3: I wasn't.
• 20:08
  Speaker 9: I was back at the coffee shop. I was there
• 20:10
  Speaker 9: until midnight.
• 20:11
  Speaker 7: Mark, Then prove it to us. If you know the
• 20:13
  Speaker 7: man well enough to loan him the truck, you ought
• 20:14
  Speaker 7: to be able to find him. Now.
• 20:16
  Speaker 9: They must be bill called a hill. Tell you go ahead,
• 20:18
  Speaker 9: see what he said.
• 20:21
  Speaker 7: Interrogation room. Friday. Oh yeah, mister Kolver.
• 20:25
  Speaker 5: My name is Sergeant Friday, LABD Accident Investigation Friday.
• 20:28
  Speaker 7: Yes, sir, that's right. Wonder if you'd tell me if
• 20:31
  Speaker 7: you know a Daniel Miller. When's the last time you
• 20:35
  Speaker 7: saw him? Do you remember? I see the place where
• 20:39
  Speaker 7: he works, the coffee shop. Were you in there last night?
• 20:42
  Speaker 7: By any chance? Did you see Miller in there? You're sure? Yes, sir. No.
• 20:49
  Speaker 7: So that's all for now, Thank you very much. We're
• 20:50
  Speaker 7: going to contact you later on. Thank you, goodbye.
• 20:53
  Speaker 9: Well how about it?
• 20:54
  Speaker 3: He told you?
• 20:55
  Speaker 9: Didn't I that enough for you?
• 20:56
  Speaker 7: He says, he hasn't been in the coffee shop for
• 20:58
  Speaker 7: three days. Nine For five.
• 21:01
  Speaker 5: PM, our interrogation of the hit and run spect Daniel
• 21:04
  Speaker 5: Miller went on. At his suggestion, we called half a
• 21:07
  Speaker 5: dozen people who he figured might substantiate.
• 21:10
  Speaker 7: His alibi, but none of them were able to.
• 21:12
  Speaker 5: Miller continued to deny any knowledge of the hit run killing,
• 21:16
  Speaker 5: but he still couldn't account for his whereabouts at the
• 21:18
  Speaker 5: exact hour the nine year old boy and his grandmother
• 21:20
  Speaker 5: were run down. The time element especially didn't work in
• 21:23
  Speaker 5: his favor. Nothing worked in his favor. Eleven thirty PM,
• 21:27
  Speaker 5: Ben and I took Daniel Miller over to the main jail,
• 21:30
  Speaker 5: where he was booked in on suspicion of four eighty VC.
• 21:33
  Speaker 5: The following afternoon, his lawyer obtained a writ and he
• 21:36
  Speaker 5: was released from custody.
• 21:37
  Speaker 7: The writ was returnable in five days. He came immediately to.
• 21:40
  Speaker 5: The office to plead with Ben and I to help
• 21:42
  Speaker 5: him find Paul, the man who borrowed his truck, and
• 21:45
  Speaker 5: thus clear himself. We took him up on it. Either way,
• 21:48
  Speaker 5: we figured we'd get to the bottom of it. If
• 21:49
  Speaker 5: Miller dreamed up the character Paul to escape blame for
• 21:52
  Speaker 5: the hit and run killing. We were bound to find
• 21:54
  Speaker 5: out sooner or later if Miller was telling the truth.
• 21:57
  Speaker 7: We had little reason to believe he was.
• 21:59
  Speaker 5: And a man named paul All that borrowed the truck
• 22:00
  Speaker 5: the night of the hit and run killing, we were
• 22:02
  Speaker 5: bound to find that out too.
• 22:04
  Speaker 7: In any event, we had to investigate.
• 22:06
  Speaker 5: It's the job of the police officer to prove guilt
• 22:08
  Speaker 5: or innocence, not guilt alone. Two days passed, and then
• 22:12
  Speaker 5: another two the Monday following the Christmas weekend.
• 22:15
  Speaker 7: We were ready to call a halt.
• 22:19
  Speaker 3: I don't know what else we can do. I think
• 22:20
  Speaker 3: we've given enough time, don't you know.
• 22:22
  Speaker 7: The deeper we get into it, the more it looks
• 22:23
  Speaker 7: like Miller's our man. I still can't make in my mind.
• 22:26
  Speaker 3: Why do you have to be stubborn about it? We've
• 22:27
  Speaker 3: checked every possible angle on this story. We still having
• 22:29
  Speaker 3: an ounce of proof that this guy Paulie talks about
• 22:32
  Speaker 3: even exists. We can't string along with.
• 22:33
  Speaker 5: Miller for even I suppose you're right we've given him
• 22:36
  Speaker 5: a square enough break on it. I still got that
• 22:38
  Speaker 5: funny hunch as possible he might be telling the truth.
• 22:40
  Speaker 3: We've gone four straight days on a Joe haven't come
• 22:43
  Speaker 3: across one lead to back up his story. It's too
• 22:45
  Speaker 3: much for me. I can't bite any more for.
• 22:47
  Speaker 7: Him, so I do.
• 22:50
  Speaker 9: Oh, Holli, Miller, I'm okay, glad to see I've been
• 22:53
  Speaker 9: looking for you.
• 22:53
  Speaker 3: We've been looking for your friend Miller, still having found
• 22:56
  Speaker 3: a trace of him.
• 22:56
  Speaker 9: That's why I came down to see you. A friend
• 22:58
  Speaker 9: of mine called me this morning. He knows this guy
• 23:01
  Speaker 9: Paul I told you about. He says he saw him
• 23:03
  Speaker 9: last night going into a hotel down on South Flower.
• 23:06
  Speaker 3: How come we haven't heard from this friend of years before.
• 23:08
  Speaker 3: We've checked through twice on the list of everybody you know.
• 23:10
  Speaker 9: This fella has been out of town, just got back
• 23:12
  Speaker 9: yesterday when he heard about the gem I was in.
• 23:15
  Speaker 9: He called me about seeing Paul.
• 23:17
  Speaker 7: This hotel Paul was supposed to have been seeing going into.
• 23:19
  Speaker 3: If you got the.
• 23:20
  Speaker 9: Advessity, Yeah, it's around South Flower, right near Twelfth. I'm
• 23:23
  Speaker 9: going to go over there with me right now. This
• 23:25
  Speaker 9: friend of mine wouldn't kid me. Paul must be there.
• 23:27
  Speaker 7: You're sure about that.
• 23:28
  Speaker 9: He must be there. I'll bet a month's pay on it.
• 23:30
  Speaker 3: He might be low, mister, what stands to court you
• 23:34
  Speaker 3: a lot? More than that.
• 23:38
  Speaker 5: We went up to the third floor, room three eighteen,
• 23:40
  Speaker 5: but the man registered as Paul Barton wasn't in. He'd
• 23:43
  Speaker 5: left no word at the desk as to when he'd returned.
• 23:46
  Speaker 5: We sent Miller home and told him to wait for
• 23:48
  Speaker 5: our call. Ben and I went on steak out at
• 23:50
  Speaker 5: the hotel. At seven twenty five that night, Paul Barton
• 23:54
  Speaker 5: returned to his room and we began questioning him.
• 23:56
  Speaker 7: He showed no signs of being upset.
• 23:58
  Speaker 5: His answers were quick, straightforward, and they seem to make sense.
• 24:02
  Speaker 5: The interview went on a half hour an hour, and
• 24:05
  Speaker 5: Barton began to grow a little nervous. He contradicted himself.
• 24:08
  Speaker 5: Big holes began to show up in his story as
• 24:10
  Speaker 5: to how and where he'd spent his time the night
• 24:12
  Speaker 5: of the hit run killing. Eight forty five pm, Ben
• 24:15
  Speaker 5: and I took Barton back to the office. We found
• 24:17
  Speaker 5: Zimmerman in the squadroom and had him phone Miller at
• 24:20
  Speaker 5: his home and ask him to come downtown as soon
• 24:21
  Speaker 5: as possible. Meantime, we checked Paul Barton through R and I,
• 24:25
  Speaker 5: and then we took him to the interrogation room, where
• 24:27
  Speaker 5: the questioning went on.
• 24:29
  Speaker 3: You're a little mixed up about that, aren't you? Mister Barton?
• 24:31
  Speaker 3: I thought you said you went to that boar downtown
• 24:33
  Speaker 3: about ten pm and then you went to visit at
• 24:34
  Speaker 3: your sister's house. Now you tell us you went to
• 24:36
  Speaker 3: your sister's house first, and then you went to the
• 24:38
  Speaker 3: bar downtown. And which is it? Well?
• 24:39
  Speaker 10: I was getting a little high handed, isn't it. Why
• 24:41
  Speaker 10: do I have to account for my time to you?
• 24:43
  Speaker 7: If it wasn't important, we wouldn't be asking you. I
• 24:44
  Speaker 7: think you know that.
• 24:45
  Speaker 10: Well, I don't know anything of the kind. You're trying
• 24:47
  Speaker 10: to take advantage of me. That's the only impression I
• 24:49
  Speaker 10: can get. Can't answered enough of your questions. I'm going
• 24:52
  Speaker 10: back to the hotel just.
• 24:53
  Speaker 3: A minute, Barton, is one more thing?
• 24:54
  Speaker 10: Huh?
• 24:55
  Speaker 3: Last time you were arrested for a traffic violation. You
• 24:57
  Speaker 3: want to tell us what the george was? Why I
• 25:00
  Speaker 3: think you've heard me? Well, that was a year ago.
• 25:03
  Speaker 10: I was driving a little too fast going out Beverly Boulevard.
• 25:06
  Speaker 3: And what's that got to do with our record?
• 25:07
  Speaker 7: Bureau says? The charge was for drunk driving? Your license
• 25:09
  Speaker 7: was revoking that right?
• 25:10
  Speaker 3: Well, so what I haven't been driving? I haven't been
• 25:12
  Speaker 3: near a cup about.
• 25:13
  Speaker 7: Last Tuesday night. Last Tuesday night, did you do any
• 25:15
  Speaker 7: driving then?
• 25:16
  Speaker 10: No, No, of course, not sure about that. You're not
• 25:19
  Speaker 10: trapping me. I answered all your questions.
• 25:21
  Speaker 7: To stay right where you are, mister, stay put, Ben.
• 25:23
  Speaker 7: You want to check next door, see if Miller's coming.
• 25:25
  Speaker 3: Yeah, okay, you can't make me stay here. It's illegal.
• 25:28
  Speaker 8: You got none to hold me.
• 25:29
  Speaker 5: All right, and there's nothing to worry about. This won't
• 25:31
  Speaker 5: take very long. We got him in by the name
• 25:32
  Speaker 5: of Miller. Coming in, He says, he thinks he knows you.
• 25:34
  Speaker 3: Miller. I don't know anything.
• 25:35
  Speaker 7: Miller.
• 25:39
  Speaker 9: Nice going, Paul, Why you've been? I said, why you been?
• 25:42
  Speaker 9: What'd you do with the truck?
• 25:45
  Speaker 3: Grab him?
• 25:45
  Speaker 5: Ben?
• 25:45
  Speaker 7: Grab him?
• 25:48
  Speaker 3: All right?
• 25:49
  Speaker 9: Let me write down?
• 25:50
  Speaker 3: Said, come on, mister said, I didn't do I didn't
• 25:54
  Speaker 3: do a thing. Well, look, you can't prove it. You
• 25:57
  Speaker 3: can't prove I did.
• 25:58
  Speaker 9: They're going to approve it.
• 25:59
  Speaker 3: Paul.
• 26:00
  Speaker 9: Well, I'm going to help improve it. You should have
• 26:02
  Speaker 9: been a real good friend.
• 26:03
  Speaker 3: But give me a break, Danny, I didn't mean it, honest,
• 26:07
  Speaker 3: I didn't mean it.
• 26:08
  Speaker 9: I loan you the truck. You get boozed up, you
• 26:09
  Speaker 9: run down a little kid, and the grandmother. Then you
• 26:12
  Speaker 9: take off and leave me hole in the sack like
• 26:14
  Speaker 9: I did it.
• 26:14
  Speaker 3: But I didn't mean it, Danny, it was an accident.
• 26:17
  Speaker 3: I wasn't boozed up.
• 26:18
  Speaker 9: Yeah, you're a real good friend. I hope you get
• 26:21
  Speaker 9: it in the neck. I hope you get it with
• 26:22
  Speaker 9: both batts. Look, sergeant, it's not true. I wasn't boosed up.
• 26:26
  Speaker 9: I only had two drinks, now, believe me. That's all
• 26:28
  Speaker 9: I had. Yeah, I couldn't have been drunk. It doesn't
• 26:30
  Speaker 9: affect me that way. Two drinks never hurt me. Cover
• 26:33
  Speaker 9: of drinks never hurt anybody.
• 26:35
  Speaker 2: They killed a little boy and his grandmother. The star
• 26:45
  Speaker 2: you have just heard was true. The names were changed
• 26:49
  Speaker 2: to protect the innocent.
• 26:50
  Speaker 11: On February twenty eighth, trial was held in Superior Court,
• 26:53
  Speaker 11: Department eighty seven, City and County of Los Angeles, State
• 26:56
  Speaker 11: of California. In a moment the results of that trial,
• 27:08
  Speaker 11: Paul Barton was filed on for violation of the State
• 27:10
  Speaker 11: Vehicle Code Section four eight, a hit and run felony,
• 27:14
  Speaker 11: and also for manslaughter two counts. He was convicted only
• 27:18
  Speaker 11: for Section four eight and received sentence as prescribed by law.
• 27:21
  Speaker 11: A hit and run felony is punishable by imprisonment in
• 27:24
  Speaker 11: the state penitentiary for not less than one or more
• 27:27
  Speaker 11: than five years. You have just heard Dragnet, a series
• 27:39
  Speaker 11: of authentic cases from official files. Technical advice comes from
• 27:43
  Speaker 11: the Office of Chief of Police W. H. Parker, Los
• 27:46
  Speaker 11: Angeles Police Department.
• 27:56
  Speaker 1: Welcome back. This is a story that I really do
• 28:02
  Speaker 1: have a great place in my heart for because it's
• 28:05
  Speaker 1: a bit unusual and different from so many other Dragnet episodes,
• 28:11
  Speaker 1: and particularly when we come to this man who's working
• 28:16
  Speaker 1: the second job, it really does feel like an utterly
• 28:22
  Speaker 1: unbelievable nonsense alibi. In fact, if you weren't dealing with
• 28:28
  Speaker 1: a case or a series that used true life cases,
• 28:35
  Speaker 1: you would not make this up because it is such
• 28:39
  Speaker 1: a transparently nonsensical story. And indeed, I think the first
• 28:46
  Speaker 1: time I encountered the episode, I thought we were heading
• 28:49
  Speaker 1: towards a point where by helping them him out, they
• 28:55
  Speaker 1: would actually find evidence that he really was involved and
• 29:02
  Speaker 1: he'd see that the lie was pointless. And that has
• 29:06
  Speaker 1: happened on Dragnet a few times, but this one took
• 29:11
  Speaker 1: a really big turn towards the end, because right up
• 29:14
  Speaker 1: until the end, it looked like the same sort of
• 29:18
  Speaker 1: flim flam.
• 29:19
  Speaker 7: You know.
• 29:20
  Speaker 1: He told a story, but they could find no corroboration
• 29:24
  Speaker 1: for it. They tried to reach out to his friends
• 29:28
  Speaker 1: and the people whose names he'd given them, and they
• 29:32
  Speaker 1: couldn't find anyone. Until at last he's able to come
• 29:38
  Speaker 1: through and we get a really good confrontation at the
• 29:43
  Speaker 1: end with someone that, like I said, the first time
• 29:46
  Speaker 1: I encountered this and I think it's when I saw
• 29:50
  Speaker 1: it on television, I really thought that it was a
• 29:56
  Speaker 1: case where he was making the whole part about pull up.
• 30:03
  Speaker 1: But this story serves as yet another reminder that people
• 30:07
  Speaker 1: can behave oddly, and sometimes even more oddly in real
• 30:12
  Speaker 1: life than authors of fiction might imagine. Well, now we
• 30:18
  Speaker 1: turn to our Patreon supporter of the day, and I
• 30:22
  Speaker 1: want to thank Lisa, Patreon supporter since April of twenty sixteen,
• 30:28
  Speaker 1: currently supporting the podcast at the shawmus level of four
• 30:31
  Speaker 1: dollars or more per month. Thanks so much for your support, Lisa,
• 30:35
  Speaker 1: and that will do it for today. If you're enjoying
• 30:38
  Speaker 1: the podcast, please follow us using your favorite podcast software
• 30:44
  Speaker 1: and be sure to rate and review the podcast wherever
• 30:47
  Speaker 1: you download it from. We'll be back next Thursday with
• 30:51
  Speaker 1: another episode of dragging that. But join us back here
• 30:54
  Speaker 1: tomorrow for yours truly Johnny dollarware right.
• 30:58
  Speaker 12: After waiting twenty years for this old beneficiary to show
• 31:01
  Speaker 12: up twenty years. Like I told you, the insured was
• 31:04
  Speaker 12: Albert Schuyler King sixty five grand. Yes, he was a widower,
• 31:08
  Speaker 12: lived up near Elizabeth City, North Carolina, and he had
• 31:10
  Speaker 12: a son named Henry. Henry was his sole heir and
• 31:12
  Speaker 12: beneficiary of his policy. Okay, and you say that Kingwin
• 31:16
  Speaker 12: died twenty years ago. Yes, during that big hurricane back
• 31:18
  Speaker 12: in thirty eight. Remember it did about forty million dollars
• 31:21
  Speaker 12: damage up and down the coast.
• 31:22
  Speaker 2: Earl.
• 31:23
  Speaker 7: I was a mere child at the time.
• 31:25
  Speaker 12: Oh sure, Oh was Henry, Well, he was ten, just
• 31:28
  Speaker 12: a kid. Anyhow, it was several days before the old
• 31:30
  Speaker 12: man's body was fine and the boy no trace of
• 31:33
  Speaker 12: him disappeared in due course of time because of the
• 31:36
  Speaker 12: statute of limitations. The old man's estate was well, I
• 31:40
  Speaker 12: guess it went to the state, but not his insurance. No, No,
• 31:43
  Speaker 12: we kept the matter of the insurance. Open company policy
• 31:46
  Speaker 12: requires a lot of legal finagling. But in the company's
• 31:49
  Speaker 12: history they turned up beneficiaries as much as fifteen eighteen
• 31:53
  Speaker 12: years after death by advertising. And that's what accounts for
• 31:57
  Speaker 12: the sudden appearance of two Henry Kingdom's claiming to be
• 32:00
  Speaker 12: the beneficiary of Albert Kingman's policy, and each having a logical,
• 32:04
  Speaker 12: legitimate story, each saying he didn't know about the insurance
• 32:07
  Speaker 12: until he saw it.
• 32:08
  Speaker 1: I hope you'll be with us then in the meantime,
• 32:11
  Speaker 1: send your comments to Box thirteen at Great Detectives dot nit,
• 32:17
  Speaker 1: follow us on Twitter at Radio Detectives, and check us
• 32:20
  Speaker 1: out on Instagram, Instagram dot com slash Great Detectives from Boise, Idaho.
• 32:28
  Speaker 1: This is your host, Adam Graham signing off.