Narrator (0:07)

The story you are about to hear is true. Only the names have been changed to protect the innocent. Fatima, Best of all King size cigarettes brings you. Dragnet. You're a detective sergeant. You're assigned a robbery detail. A gang of hijackers is set up operations in your city. Truckloads of merchandise worth thousands of dollars vanish completely. The criminals know their business. Their system appears foolproof. Your job, stop them. Fatima, best of all king size cigarettes. Definitely the best quality in its class. But the same price as the cigarette you're now smoking. And Fatima is extra mild with a much different, much better flavor and aroma. So compare Fatima yourself today. You will find Fatima gives you all the advantages of extra length plus Fatima quality, which no other king size cigarette has. Remember, the cost of Fatima is the same as the cigarette you're now smoking. Remember, in Fatima, the difference is quality. Next time. Bye, 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. Transcribed from official police files. From beginning to end, from crime to punishment. Dragnet is the story of your police force in action. It was Saturday, November 8th. It was foggy in Los Angeles. We were working the day. Watch out. A robbery detail. My partner's Ben Romero. The boss is Captain Didion. My name's Friday. I was on the way back from R and I And it was 11:23am when I got to room 27. A robbery detail. Joe. Hi. Where you been anyhow? I've been sitting here 20 minutes waiting for you. Well, I'm sorry. I've been checking a couple names through R and I took a little longer than I figured. Least you could do is leave a note in the book. I do the same for you. I've been sitting here 20 minutes. Well, I told you I'm sorry. What's the matter? You feeling well? No, I'm all right. I'd just like a little cooperation, Joe, that's all. What's the matter with you? Oh, I don't know. I guess I was mad when I woke up at a crazy house. Well, what's the trouble? Do you have an argument with your wife in laws? They're visiting again. Six of them. Oh, where are they sleeping? All over the place. Four adults, two kids and a gray fox terrier. He's not even housebroken. How long are you gonna stay? A couple of days, two weeks. I don't know how I can last it out. Joe. They're crawling all over the place. Kids screaming, dog tearing up the front room. No privacy. I don't know what I'm gonna do. Well, why don't you just level with them? Ask them if they wouldn't mind staying at a motel for a couple of days. I that to the wife this morning. What's she thinking? That's when the argument started. Hey, I almost forgot to tell you. That truck driver finally showed up at Frank Burr. Oh, yeah? It's about time. Where is he? Took him across the hall to the mug room. Got him checking out some coming out mug books. Guess we better see how he's doing. All right. He sure took his time getting here, didn't he? Yeah, didn't offer any excuses. He's no more help than he was yesterday. Well, surly, not very cooperating. How you doing, Mr. Burris? You remember my partner, Sergeant Friday. How are you, Burris? I got a headache. This is just a waste of time wading through all these pictures. I've been through two of these books already. I couldn't identify any of the guys. You know, we know it's pretty tedious. We'd just like to have you check through a few more volumes, if you wouldn't mind. Look, I don't mind giving you a hand when I got time, but I got things to do today. I got something on for tonight. Have to get a haircut, my suit pressed. Well, this thing's pretty important to us, Burroughs. I know we're putting you out, but we need every lead we can get. We'd certainly appreciate it if you could just give us a little more cooperation. I don't know what else I can do. I told you everything I know. Just the way it happened. A few more things we'd like to ask you about, sir. Some of the details you didn't make quite clear. What details? How do you mean? Details about the hijacking. Mind going over it again for us? I laid it out for you the last time you talked to me. Just the way it went. It's the same as the rest. Well, how do you mean the same as the rest? Well, the other hijackings are the same as those. No different. You pretty familiar with the other jobs, are you? Well, followed them in the paper with a bullet. And the cops got out on them. Stop. On the dispatch board in the garage. Is that fresh water in that cooler over there? Yeah, I think so. Help yourself. Thanks. Gotta have a couple aspirin for this headache. Can't take aspirin without water. Yeah, You've been driving a couple of years for Lavelle Trucking Line. Is that right, Burroughs? That's right. Yeah. Wonder if you'd mind running it through for us again, Burroughs? Maybe there's a few details about the thing that you forgot to mention, huh? Well, it won't be any different than last time. I pulled out from the loading dock about 6:00 yesterday morning, hauling a load of scotch whiskey over to Phoenix. Pulled up for the red light at Alameda and Jackson. That's when the guy pulled open the door and got in next to me. Put a gun in my ribs, Told me to look straight ahead. First thing he did was hand me a pair of goggles and tell me to put them on. Same kind the welders use. Front of the lens was covered with tape. I put him on. I couldn't see a thing. Guy took over the wheel and started driving. Well, did you have any idea what direction you were heading in? Not with the goggles on. I tried to follow at first, but I got all mixed up. Couldn't tell where he was driving. Made quite a few turns. He drove about 20, 25 minutes. I gu. That's where the switching point was. Two more guys met us there. I could only tell by the voices. They pulled me out of the truck and put me in a car. Well, Jeanne, tell us anything at all about that transfer point? I mean, were there any sounds, anything like that? That'd give you an idea that maybe where you were. Well, I figured it must have been someplace out in the valley. Pretty far out. No traffic sounds at all. Just crickets, you know, things like that. He got me in that car. Drove around about an hour, I figure. Then they put me on out at the side of the road. Told me to leave the goggles on for 10 minutes, and then they drove off. How about those two men at the transfer point? If you heard their voices again, you think you could recognize them? I don't know. I doubt it. I didn't say too much. Not that I heard, anyway. I'm just curious, Burris. How is it you thought of calling your company first instead of the police? Well, it's their cargo. A whole load of whiskey. If somebody hijacked it, I figured the company ought to be the first to know. Like to ask you just one more question. There's no offense intended here. Yeah? You ever been arrested? Why? What'd that have to do with. Well, probably nothing at all. Have you ever been arrested? I'd like to set you straight on it right now. If you think I was working inside on this Thing you got it wrong. I didn't have anything to do with it. Then there's nothing to worry about. Is it all right? Yeah. I've been arrested. When was that? Burroughs? About 10 years ago. It was back east West Virginia. What was the charge? Hijacking. Our records showed no previous arrest for Frank Burroughs. For the next few days, he was kept under observation. When we got the kick back from Washington, it showed Burroughs had one previous arrest, the one he told us about for hijacking. We checked all his friends, relatives and associates. We found nothing suspicious. His employer said that they were aware of his police record, but they told us that Burroughs was one of the best drivers they had. There was nothing to link him with a series of hijackings which had been going on all over the city for the past month. Our crime lab checked the pair of goggles which Burroughs had been forced to wear during the hijacking. They were an ordinary industrial type, easily obtained and impossible to trace. Other than those belonging to Burroughs, there were no fingerprints on them. Late that afternoon, the missing truck and trailer was found empty in a deserted section of the valley. No latent fingerprints or other physical evidence. 9:00am the next morning, we met with Captain Didion. Cargo's gone, huh? Not a trace of it. That's it, skipper. High grade Scotch whiskey. 150 cases got out of Bolton. All the liquor wholesalers. Serial number's listed that ex con Burroughs. Nothing turned up on him? No, nothing. We double checked everything about him. He's clean. You didn't get a thing off that abandoned truck? No prints, no physical evidence. Seems like they got it down to a science. Tell that to Thad Brown. He's getting all the kicks from the warehouse operators. 30 days and six hijackings. How about moving faster? As you know, we got 12 stakeouts. Running down freight load. Skipper? Yeah, Incoming outgoing. Got three girls in the stats office doing nothing but making runs for us. No new suspect. We've got a meeting with an informant after lunch. He figures he may have something. There's nothing to bank on. How about an inside tip off on these jobs? Any indication the gang's working? Something like that. No, nothing definite, skipper. Jobs seem to be pretty well cased, though. We've checked out everybody with a record working for the trucking lines. No reason to think any of them had a hand in it. Excuse me a minute. Gideon. Yeah? Live Oak near Trenton Avenue. Yeah, I got it. Right, thank you. You got another truck? Early this morning. Where? There's a location. Better move on it. Looks like they got their Signals crossed. How do you mean? Doesn't make sense. Cargo they hijacked. What was it? A load of toothbrushes. 9:23am Ben and I drove to the intersection of Live Oak Drive and Trenton Avenue in the Hollywood Hills where we located the latest driver to fall victim to the gang of hijackers. His story was the same as the others. He'd stopped his truck for a red light at a deserted intersection when a man jumped on the running board and pointed a gun at his head. The man with the gun took over the wheel and forced the driver to put on a pair of blacked out welders goggles. Then the truck was moved to a remote spot where the driver was transferred to a car and later released in a remote section of the Hollywood Hills. The hijacked truck was found empty a day later. And again, there was no physical evidence, no fingerprints. The driver could add little to what we already knew. The only point that made the case any different from those that had gone before was the cargo that had been stolen. A load of toothbrushes. We began an immediate check of the neighborhood where, according to the driver, he was first held up. It was a fairly remote intersection in the San Fernando Valley. After four hours of interviewing ranchers and gas station attendants, we talked to the operator of a practice driving range for golfers located just off the highway. His name was Fred Garrison. Matter of fact, I did notice something out of the ordinary this morning. Little before 6am I think. Spotted this big semi turning off on that dirt road down the highway there. Now which dirt road is that, Mr. Garrison? Oh, right up the highway there. See it? It turns off by that clump of trees. Couldn't figure out why a big truck and trailer be taken. That road. Doesn't make sense. How do you mean, sir? Well, it's a dead end. No reason why a driver turned off there by mistake. There's a big sign right there at the intersection. Says not a through street. Right there. See it? Plain as day. Wonder if you could describe the truck for us, Mr. Yeris? Well, it's pretty good size. One of those big aluminum jobs. Black lettering on the side I think. Yeah, it turned off the highway, went down the dirt road a little ways, and then it turned off into that grove of trees and the driver cut the lights. Mm. Did you notice any activity going on at all? No. No I didn't. Well, maybe I should have walked over and checked it. I figured it was just some truck driver pulling up to catch a few winks of sleep. My boy Dave was with Me at the time wanted to check it, but I told him to mind his own business. Says a couple of minutes after the truck pulled in, he saw a gray sedan come down the road and park next to the truck, right in that same clump of trees. Well now, didn't all this look a little suspicious to you, sir? Oh, I suppose so, in a way. I just don't like the medal where it's not my business, that's all. Well, did your boy Dave get a good look at this Grace at and you know that. You want to come in the office to sit down? Sure. Oh, thanks. Hey, sit right there if you like. Fine, thank you. Let's see now, where were we? About your boy Dave. Oh yeah, you said that he saw a gray sedan pull in next to the truck over in that clump of trees. Did he mention anything else that he noticed about the car? I mean, other than the fact that it was a gray sedan? Well, yeah, I think he did say something else about it. Now let's see. Wasn't listening too close at the time. Dave's doing some errands downtown for me right now. He'll be phone in pretty soon though. I can ask him about it then. He paid a lot more attention to the thing than I did. Well, how long were the truck and trailer and that sedan parked in the grove of trees? Do you remember that? Well, not too long, maybe 15, 20 minutes. The car pulled out first and took off down the highway away from town that way, see? And the truck and trailer left a few minutes after. What do you figure they were up to? We've got an idea. What time was that again, sir? When you saw the truck turn off the highway onto the dirt road. About 6am Maybe a few minutes one way or the other. I wonder if you'd show us the exact exact spot where you saw that truck park, would you? Oh, sure. Here, you want to come over here with me to window? All right. Now, you see the clump of trees there? Yeah. Eucalyptus. They boarded right on the road. Yeah, Maybe that's him now. All right, Garrison Fairways. Oh yeah, Dave. How'd you make out? Oh, fine. No, no, no, listen, a couple policemen here now they're asking about that truck and that gray sedan you saw up on the road this morning. Want to know what you noticed about the sedan, besides the color. Huh? Oh, you did? Uh huh. Yeah. Well, you better head back here. They probably want to talk to you about it. All right, Davey. Bye. What do you have to say? Oh, he'll be back in about 20 minutes. I figured you'd want to talk to him. Well, how about the sedan, sir? Did he get a pretty good look at it? Did he say? Yeah, I guess so. He got part of license number Fred Garrison's son. Dave returned and gave us all the pertinent facts about the truck and the gray sedan which he'd noticed in the neighborhood. His description of the truck and trailer, what he saw of it anyway, matched closely with that of the latest vehicle to be hijacked. He described the car as a gray sedan and he said it looked to him like it was a late model Nash, but he couldn't be sure. He said the first three units on the license plate were 77. The location in the grove of trees where the truck had been spotted was checked thoroughly. Outside of some indefinite tire tracks, there was no physical evidence. 4:10pm we put in a call to DMV and asked for a rundown on the three license plate numbers. The next morning, DMV returned to us a list of more than a thousand auto registrations which began with a figure 7T7. We went down the list and gradually eliminated 600 of these as not being physically close in description to the car seen by Garrison's boy, Dave. We kept checking. Almost 300 more on the list were registered in distant parts of the state. That left us with over 100 vehicles registered in or around Los Angeles to check out. It went slow. Three weeks passed. We narrowed the list down to 23 possibles. Tuesday, December 10th. We were checking registrations with addresses in the east end of the city. What's the name on this one again? Perry, sir. Walter R. Perry. Garage is straight back to drive. There's a car park in it. Yeah. Let's try the bell again. What are you saying? All right, let's give the car a look. People sure do get careless. Nobody home. Garage wide open. Car sitting there qualifies so far. You want to check the steering post there? Registration thing. I get it. Yeah, check out. All right. Just a minute. What do you got there? Yeah. Found these under the seat. Oh, maybe we're home. Yeah. It's a pair of goggles. Take a look. Yeah. Both lenses covered with tape. You're in the forgery division of a metropolitan police department. Handwriting analysis. Now let's check it against the forged letter. The capitals print evenly. The O's and the A's are clean. No, this isn't the typewriter we're looking for. Yeah. Capitals print, high as and O's are solid, P slanted. This is the one. It's the same with cigarettes. There are many king size brands to choose from. But when you know all the facts, you'll make your choice Fatima. Here are those facts. Fatimas are the same in length and circumference. 85 millimeters long, 1 and 164 inches around. And Fatima filters the smoke exactly the same long distance as any other king size cigar. But in Fatima, the difference is quality. Remember, Fatima gives you extra mildness, a much different, much better flavor and aroma. You get all the advantages of extra length plus Fatima quality, which no other king size cigarette has. Fatima best of all. King size cigarettes. Definitely the best quality in its class, but the same price as the cigarette you are now smoking. Next time buy Fatima. Tuesday, December 10, 2:15pm the pair of goggles found in the automobile register to Walter R. Perry were the same brand and style as the goggles used to black out the truck drivers and all the previous hijacking. Ben and I searched the car, but we failed to come up with any additional physical evidence. We left the garage, checked the house again to make sure that there was nobody at home. Then we went down the street close to the house to where we parked our car. We put in a call to R and I and requested a make on Walter R. Perry. He had no previous criminal record. A few minutes later, we spotted two women loaded with grocery bags come down the street, go up the stairs of the Perry house and let themselves in with a key. We went up to the front door, rang the bell, and the younger of the two women answered. Dark brown hair, blue eyes, about 5 foot 6, 28, 29 years old. We identified ourselves and she showed us into the living room. She told us her name was Leona Perry and that Walter Perry was her husband. They'd been married 11 years, no children. We asked her where her husband was and she said he was out of town on a business trip up north to Monte Vista, California. We asked her what line of business he was in. Well, right now Walter's a jewelry salesman. He works for himself. Has to do quite a bit of traveling. Your husband's blonde, about 5, £960, is that right? Yes, that's right. How'd he go up north, ma'am? Do you know? Well, I think he went up by train. I'm not sure. Have any idea how we might contact your husband up north? No, I'm afraid I don't. He said he had a couple of business apartments in different towns in that area up there. He didn't tell me where he'd be staying. What's it about, Sergeant? Just a routine check, Ms. Perry. Is that a photograph of your husband over there on the piano? Yes. When's he expected back, do you know? Let's see. This is Tuesday. He should be home sometime Thursday. I see. A minute ago you said right now. Your husband's a jewelry salesman. Is that his usual line of work? No, Walt is a truck driver. He worked here in Los Angeles? No, he built for a company up north in the Bay Area. Oakland, Berkeley. He had that job for 10 years, almost from the day we were married. And then last December, he had a fight with the boss and he quit. We moved down here to find work, but he just couldn't seem to get placed. How long has he been selling jewelry, man? About eight months, I'd say. He's doing very good at it. We have more now than when he was driving a truck. A lot of money in the jewelry business. Well, it's just you and your husband living here, is that right? No, my mother lives with us, too. We just got back from doing the shopping. I guess she's busy putting the groceries away. Mom. Oh, say, that's all right, ma'am. I think you can give us the information we need. Well, I'd like to know what this is about. I'd appreciate it if you'd tell me. Walter isn't in any kind of trouble, is he? Just a routine investigation, Ms. Perry. Doesn't necessarily mean your husband's involved. I can tell you right now, my husband isn't involved in anything. Walter's never had trouble with the police in his life. Walter has trouble with the police? What is it, Leon? It's nothing, Ma. These policemen want to talk to Walter. They just want to ask him a few questions, that's all. This is my mother. Mrs. Burt, Mr. Friday, Mr. Romero. I told you, Leona, I felt it all day. Something's wrong. Walter's done something, hasn't he? No. Don't start on that again, Ma, please. The officers told me they want to talk to Walter, that's all. What for? If he hasn't done anything? Why do they want to talk to him? Routine duty, ma'am. There's nothing to get excited about. I knew it would happen. I felt it all the time. That funny job he has selling jewelry, going out at all hours. Couldn't fool me. I knew it wasn't right. What's he done? Where he's relative, which we got a right to know. Well, there's nothing we can tell you definitely, ma'am. How about these odd working hours? Your husband has, Ms. Perry. What's the reason for that? Could you tell us why? Don't know. Walter works for himself. He just has to make business contacts when he can, that's all. Sometimes it's late at night, sometimes early in the morning. Why don't you stay out of it, Ma? After all, it's our business. Wall isn't mine. You just mark my word. Leona, find out about this. That husband of yours has done something and these policemen are after him. I knew it wasn't right. I felt it all wrong. His jewelry business, his big money. I should have left and taken you with me the day it started. Walter's a truck driver. It's all you'll ever be. It's where he should have stayed. Why are you always picking on Walter? Why? Because I told you in the first place you never should have married him. Eleven years ago I told you I never should have come to stay with you. You couldn't go and marry one of those nice boys you met at school. It had to be Walter Perry. Well, maybe you'll see now. Trouble with the police. Now you'll see what kind of a man you may. Shut up. Smart. Sorry. Office. Well, I'm afraid that isn't helping much, Ms. Burke. I suppose not. What is it that can help? You have kids, you try to tell them something, make it easy for them. Never listen. Now, that gray sedan back in the garage, ma'am, does anyone else drive it besides Mr. Perry? Do you know? No. Leona doesn't drive. Walter's the only one who runs it. He drives it to all these business appointments he has at odd hours. That's right. Only times he doesn't take it is when he's out of town. You ever seen this pair of goggles before, ma'am? No, I never have. What does it mean, that tape all over the front of him? How about your son in law's friends? You ever bring any of them here to the house? Since I've been staying here the last six months, a lot of different men call him on the phone. He goes out. Doesn't bring anyone around, though. Oh, I'm just sick. Well, can you tell us anything about this jewelry business Mr. Perry's working in? I don't even want to think about it. I raised four daughters. Nice girls, every one of them attractive. You make plans for them and you want them to be happy and marry some nice fellow, have a nice comfortable home. You try to tell them, they never listen. How about the car, ma'am? They get to be 17 and they know everything. My girls could have married wealthy if they were smart. A lot of other girls have done it. They had nice clothes. They got through business school, good home training. All this talk about love. They're also smart. They know everything and they know nothing. This is what happens. They wake up and find out. Would you finish putting the groceries away, Ma? Talk to the office. Anything you want, Leona. Didn't mean to upset you. Maybe things will be all right. Just a few more questions, Ms. Perry, and that's all. Well, whatever it is, I know Walter hasn't done anything wrong. He wouldn't do anything wrong. Doesn't make sense. There's just no reason for it. I remember your father, Leona. Sixteen years we were married. And one night he packed up and left me. There wasn't any reason for that either. Wasn't there, Mom? We continued questioning the wife and the mother in law. The suspect, Walter Perry. From the wife, we got the names and addresses of four close friends of Perry's who were supposed to be associates of his in the jewelry business. In the basement and in a loft over the garage, we found more than a dozen cases of high grade scotch whiskey, cases of expensive furs and other loot taken in the hijackings. Mrs. Perry said her husband told her he was storing the stuff for some friends. It was only a small portion of the take. We called the office and got out of broadcast and an APB on the suspect and arranged for an immediate stakeout on the Perry house. Then, together with Matthews and Gonzalez from robbery detail, we began checking out the four close friends of the suspect. We could locate only two of them, but those two paid off. In the basements and garages of their homes. We found another portion of the loot along with evidence that showed that both men had taken active parts in the hijackings. They were booked at the main jail on suspicion of 211pc. A full week went by. The stakeout continued on the Perry house. Still no sign of him. Saturday, December 20, 4:45pm we checked back in at the office. This thing's sure dragging out, huh? It'd be nice to wrap it up before Christmas, wouldn't it? Get it out of the way. Might work into a couple of days off. I don't know if I'm too interested, Joe. What? The day's off. I mean, we got visitors on the way again. What do you mean? For the holidays. Who's coming? Same old bunch. My brother in law and his wife and his kids and that little dog over there. Well, they Were just with you for three weeks, weren't they? What's the deal? Oh, brother in law got home, found a notice from his company. He's been transferred out here. They're gonna stay with us all through the holidays and then they'll start house hunting. How about that? He's got a problem. He's got a new rug in the living room. How about 20 to 1 on it, Joe? What's that? A little fox terrier. Oh, hi, skipper. Anything before we check out? Piece of news for you. Just talked to the Ventura Sheriff's Office. We owe him a favor. What do you mean? They grabbed Walter Perry. Half an hour ago. Monday, December 22, suspect Walter Perry was returned to Los Angeles. He was taken to the interrogation room where Captain Diddy and Ben and I questioned him for almost two hours. He was confronted with the evidence and testimony against him. And after another hour and a half of interrogation, he broke. He gave us a full, signed statement describing his part in the campaign of hijackings. He also gave us the names of everyone in the gang, how they participated and to what extent. He said most of the property looted from the hijacked trucks was stored in a rented barn located at the north end of the San Fernando Valley. A detail of men checked it and confirmed the information. The suspect's wife, Leona, was notified of her husband's arrest. 1:35pm we completed our interrogation. That's it, Perry. Let's go. You ask me a lot of questions. How about it? Can I ask you one? What's that? Why do you think I did it? Why I got mixed up in this? Well, according to your statement, you wanted the money admitted. Well, you've been out to my house, haven't you? You met my wife. Yeah, that's right. I guess you met her mother too. Yeah. Well, then you got it. Nobody in the world could make me go for a hijack deal. But she could. I even remember the morning I'd made up my mind to do it. I was out in the kitchen. You'd hear yapping at Leona in the other room. Same old roasting, lousy truck driver. That was me. 11 years the wife and I have been married. Her mother lived with us. Nine of them didn't get any better. Didn't get any worse. Just the same old yapping. Her and her four girls. Why couldn't they listen to her? They were the best girls in the world. Why couldn't they marry? Money. Why do they have to be guys, like truck drivers? Stupid truck drivers. Same thing every day. Always the same nine years of it. So I went out to get enough money to rub in her face enough to make her choke on you. You can hate somebody for that. I don't know how many years they'll give me. But I'm gonna hate her every one. Dad. Oh, hi, Olson. Wanna remain jail. This one ready to go? Only be a minute, Rex. Right. Thank you. All right. Tony. Yeah, Sergeant? My wife's been told. She knows about it. She's waiting outside in the hall with her mother. You can see him on the way out. Thanks, Walder. Hi, honey. I'm sorry, Walter. Why did you do it? Ask him whether there. Honey, you heard as much of it as I did. Nine years worth, I guess. It finally got me sick. She wanted you to have money, so I went out to get it. You come and see me when you can, Leon. I isn't going to any jail to see you. I knew it all along. I knew what you were. It's the truth. She never should have married you. Sorry, Perry. Let's go, mister. Hold. Hold. Fine. How you figure? I don't know. How about some coffee? Okay. Sure is funny you see other people sweating it out. Your troubles look like nothing. I just thinking about it. What's that? Those in laws of mine. What about them? Guess I haven't got it half bad. The story you have just heard was true. Only the names were changed to protect the innocent. On March 5, trial was held in Superior Court Department 87 City and County of Los Angeles, State of California. In a moment, the results of that trial. And now, here is our star, Jack Webb. Thank you, friends. From our many talks with law enforcement agencies and letters from police officers. We're especially gratified to know that a great number of these men agree with us that Fatima is the best of all long cigarettes. Now our latest sales figures back that up. Every week more and more smokers are enjoying King size Fatimas. People from every state, from all walks of life. If you haven't tried Fatimas yet, buy a pack tomorrow in Fatima. The difference is quality. The quality is better. But the cost of Fatima is the same as the cigarette you're now smoking. Next time, buy King size Fatima. Walter Richard Perry was tried and convicted on several counts of robbery in the first degree. He was sentenced to the state penitentiary for the term prescribed by law. First degree robbery is punishable by a term of five years to life. His accomplices receive similar sentences. Ladies and gentlemen, as we know, thousands of people in Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma and Illinois have been driven from their homes by Floodwaters. Many are being sheltered and fed by the Red Cross. All Americans are urged to give through their local Red Cross chapters. Your contribution of just a dollar will give you a feeling of justifiable pride. You have just heard Dragnet. A series of authentic cases from official files. Technical advice comes from the office of Chief of Police W.H. parker, Los Angeles Police Department. Fatima Best of All King Size Cigarettes has brought you Dragnet. Transcribed from Los Angeles. Stay tuned for Counter Spy, next on NBC. The story you are about to hear is true. Only the names have been changed to protect the innocent. Fatima Best of All King Size cigarettes brings you Dragnet. You're a detective sergeant. You're assigned a homicide detail. A 30 year old woman is missing. Three months pass before her disappearance is reported. There's not a trace of the woman, no lead to her whereabouts. Your job, find her. In Fatima, the difference is quality. That's right. Fatima's our difference. They taste better. Yet king size Fatima costs no more than the cigarette you are now smoking. And because of its quality, more smokers are now insisting on Fatima than ever before. You see, Fatima contains the finest domestic and Turkish tobacco. Superbly blended. And Fatima is extra mild with a much different, much better flavor and aroma. So compare Fatima yourself today. You will find Fatima gives you all the advantages of extra length plus Fatima quality, which no other King size cigarette has. Remember, the cost of Fatima is the same as the cigarette you're now smoking. But in Fatima, the difference is quality. Next time, buy Fatima Best of All King Size Cigarettes. 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. Transcribed 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, June 9th. It was warm in Los Angeles. We were working the day watch out of homicide detail. My partner's Ben Romero. The boss is Thad Brown, Chief of Detectives. My name's Friday. I was on the way back from the stats office and it was 10:18am when I got to room 42, homicide. How are you, Joe? Been waiting for you. Hi, Ma'am. I'd like to have you meet my partner, Sergeant Friday. Joe, this is Ms. Daley. Ruth Daly. How do you do? How are you? Ms. Daly came in to file a missing report on her sister, Joe. She already talked to Missing Persons and they sent her in to see us. Oh, have it, Chairman. Thank you. What's it all about, miss? I just started to tell Sergeant Ramirez. Sergeant Romero, ma'am. I'm sorry, Romero? Well, it's about my sister, Bernice, Sergeant. She's missing. I wondered if maybe you people could help me find her. Well, what's your sister's name? Bernice, I guess. You want her married name. Mrs. James Butler. Her description will be just about the way I look. Bernice and I are twins. When's your sister disappear, ma'am? In March. The first weekend in March. She disappeared on a Saturday. Well, that's three months ago, Ms. Daley. How is it this wasn't reported sooner? Well, as a matter of fact, I halfway expected her husband to report it. I talked to him about it. When Bernice was gone two weeks, he didn't seem too worried. Is there any reason for him not to worry? Well, there is no way. You see, Bernice has gone off before. About a year ago, she picked up and went to Arizona without telling anybody. When she came back, she said she just wanted to get away for a while. She didn't want to be around here. Well, how long did she stay away that time? Almost a month. How about your sister's married life? She get along with her husband all right? Well, first five years they were married, it worked all right. Then it sort of turned sour. I don't know what happened. They used to be happy. What was the trouble, do you know? That's the funny part. I don't. Wouldn't even know who to blame for it, Jimmy or Bernice. Both of them started drinking a lot. Pretty heavy. Seemed to me around that time Jimmy began to get a little funny. I see. Has he ever been violent towards your sister, Ms. Daley? I mean, has he struck her or anything like that? Oh, no, really. Jimmy's kind of a milquetoast character. Timid, skinny most of the time, afraid to say boo. Yesterday, I went over to the house to visit Jimmy. I tried to make conversation. He just sat in his chair reading a book. Every time I'd mentioned Bernice, he'd kind of look up and growl at me. I got sick of it. I put on my coat and started for the door. He followed me. Did he say anything at all? Yes. When I opened the door, I turned around to say goodbye. He had this real horrible look on his face. He said it right out loud, plain as day. What's that? He said, you'd be surprised if I killed her, wouldn't you? You'd be surprised. 10:40am we finished taking a complete statement from Ruth Daley regarding the Disappearance of her married sister, Bernice Butler. Before she left, we got the business address of her brother in law. A broadcast and a missing bulletin was gotten out. And then Ben and I drove across town to have a talk with the husband of the missing woman, James Butler. We located him at work in a job printing shop on South Vermont. Where he was employed as a journeyman printer. He was in his early 30s, thin blond hair, light complexion, about 5 foot 7, 125 pounds. He wore a pair of rimless glasses. Ben and I introduced ourselves and began to interview him. He was close mouthed and not too cooperative. Seemed to resent every question we asked him while we talked. He worked over a paper cutting machine. You'll have to admit it's a little out of the ordinary, Mr. Butler. Your wife missing three months and you acting like she's been gone three hours. Did you hear me, Butler? I heard you. Well, what about it? Just a minute. Well, you know, it's not ordinary. You're going away. I'm married to her. I know my own wife. We talked to your wife's sister this morning, Ruth Daley. She seems to think you might know all about your wife this morning. He does? That's right, in my way. I got to get that other set of cards. Oh, yeah? What do you think? I don't know. There's something wrong with him. Sure got a big grudge for somebody his side. Wonder what that girl meant when she called him bashful. About as bashful as a wild boar in a plum. Thick in my way. I got to get in there. Yeah, go ahead. Haven't got any spare time to talk. I have to get this order out. It'll only take a few minutes if you'll be good enough to cooperate. Haven't got the time, that's all. It's almost your lunch hour, isn't it? Suppose we can talk then. Got no time then either. Why don't you talk to Ruth? She seems to know. Now listen, that's about enough of this, mister. We ask you civil questions, we expect civil answers. If you think this isn't important, change your mind. Your wife's been gone for three months. Nobody's seen or heard from her and it's our job to check it. Now, you can talk to us here or downtown. You take your pick. I have to finish up this badge first. We can talk out in the alley and back. I want everybody knowing my business. That's fine with us. You do what you have to do. We'll wait for you. Sure is aching for an argument yeah. Wonder what his big trouble is. Maybe a hangover. Looks a little used up. That could be. If he had something to do with his wife's disappearing. You'd think he'd try to cover where he's acting. He doesn't seem to care what we think. Well, let's see what kind of a story he's got. Okay. It's this way, out the back. Well, go ahead. Yeah, what's the big deal? You ever been arrested, Butler? No, almost. Couple of times. They couldn't get me. What kind of trouble were you in? They said they didn't get me. I'm not gonna put myself in hot water. We'd like to find out how your wife was before she disappeared. You know of any reason why she'd go off the way she did? Any reason why she'd stay away three months without any word? No, I don't know any reason. How about your relatives, your friends? You checked to see if she might be with one of them? They'd call if she was. You never checked with them? No. I think, Ruth. Did you have any big arguments with your wife, Butler, around the time she disappeared? I mean, we had them all the time. She bothered me. She was too fresh. I beat it out of her. That too. You got to give him a little freedom. I think he can take over. Nagging. Tell you what to do, what not to do. Sick of it. We'd like a straight answer here, Butler. Did you want your wife out of the way? What do you mean by that? I mean, do you know why she's missing? Could be a lot of reasons. I know one. Did you kill your wife, Butler? It'd be silly to tell you that, wouldn't it? Yeah. Did you kill her? Only one way. I'll say yes to that. Yeah, when you prove it. Well, it wasn't easy to understand from the way it started. Our interview with James Butler would get us nothing. We had no evidence against him. Nothing to indicate definitely that his wife had met foul play. Nothing but a suspicious remark he was supposed to have made to his sister in law, Ruth Daley. But once we'd left the print shop and got out in the back alley where he couldn't be overheard, he was full of information. Besides telling us that he beat his wife, Butler also admitted that he'd threatened her life on several occasions. Twice in the presence of friends. He seemed to take some kind of a peculiar pride in admitting how violent he'd been with his wife. Ben and I took him downtown, questioned him further and listened to him talk he made veiled hints that he'd been involved in various criminal activities in this country and also in Europe. That he was a close friend with a half a dozen notorious underworld gang leaders. That he was ruthless and clever enough to dispose of his wife if he wanted to and still avoid prosecution. While we were talking, Ben had James Butler's name and description double checked through the Record Bureau files. There was no previous criminal record listed for him. As far as we knew. At no time had he even been held under suspicion in the criminal investigation. The next day, together with Brian and Lopez from Homicide, Ben and I made the rounds of Mr. And Ms. Butler's friends, relatives and neighbors. 4:25pm we got back to the office. Oh, hi. Eloping. Hi, Ben. Joe. What's doing? Nothing. Great. How'd you two make out? It's a funny setup. To me, I'd say the guys are phony. Everybody we talk to, everybody who knows Butler, they all say the same thing. What's that? Guy's afraid of his own shadow. He's a milquetoast. Nothing to him. What'd you get? About the same. Every housewife around the neighborhood, out where they live, they all told us the same thing. The guy's a henpecked husband. His wife laid down the laws and he follows. Psycho case, huh? Must be. I don't know how else to explain it. Every time I asked one of their friends if Butler beat up his wife, they laughed in my face. Said he wouldn't even dare cash his check on payday. He had to bring it home. If anybody got beat up, it must have been him. Yeah, it sure tells a great story. He can make you believe he was a Bluebeard. Did you get any different answers at Tall Loafer? Yeah, one maybe. You want me to take a look? Yeah. Let's see. Yeah, here. Mrs. Irene Brady. She's an animus. Butler. She said the same thing about Butler, about him being a real mouse and all. And she told us about the dizzy things he'd been doing the last couple of years. Yeah, what was that? Four or five times. She said he just went out looking for trouble. Go in a neighborhood bar, insult some Big Steved or he'd get his face pushed in. He always picked big guys. Didn't seem to mind getting beat up as long as he could insult them. Not much doubt. I guess the guy's ready for the nut. For him? Well, apparently he's got a big beef with people who push him around. Maybe he figured if he could take care of just one of those People he could even up the score. What do you mean, Joe? Well, Mrs. Butler, the wife, she's probably the one who gave him the worst time. If he's a little bit off mentally, that'd make him capable of murder one. Couldn't be. Yeah, maybe the wife poured it on real strong, drove him to it. Crazy as a coot, that guy. Too many movies, mystery books. I got him Homicide from MEL oh, yes, ma'am. How's that now? When was that? Yes, ma'am. Yes, as soon as we can. But that does it. What's that? That was his sister in law. Ruth Daly. Just told me she's positive Butler murdered his wife. What makes you think so? Number one, she says Butler told her so. He admitted it to her last night. Well, it doesn't hold any more water than the rest of his stories. I don't know. The Daly girl says she's positive. She's got the evidence to prove it. What's that? A murder weapon. Blood stains all over it. 4:45pm and I got in the car and drove out to the home of Mr. And Mrs. Butler, where we found the missing woman's sister waiting for us on the front stairs. She told us she'd been doing some kind of checking of her own through the house that afternoon. In going over the attic, she said she'd found a claw hammer hidden under a loose board in the attic floor. She said the hammer was covered with what appeared to be dry blood stains. She took us inside, up the stairs to the attic. Catholic steps, officers. An old house getting ready to fall apart. Yeah. Watch the step here, Jill. Yeah, I'm all right. Go ahead. Light's good and bright. That's how I happen to see the loose boards over here. Did you pick up the hammer, Ms. Daley? No. I started to, but then I remembered about fingerprints and things. Just where I found it. Didn't touch it. You want a pencil, Joe? Maybe you can get it in the claw there. No, I think we can see it right where it is. Let's see. Could be, huh? Blood stains. Well, it sure looks like it. On the handle here. All over the head of the hammer. I knew it. I knew there was something wrong the day she disappeared. Hey, look at this, Joe. I just noticed these stains on the floor. Whole trail of them, see. Made right for the door. We better get the crime lab on and have Lee Jones run the benzidine test on him. What time does he usually get home from work, Ms. Daly? Your brother in law, about 6:00? Don't know about today, though. How do you mean? Does he work late on Tuesday? No, but I wanted to make sure he wouldn't be home when I came over today. I called the print shop where he works. He's not there. Called again this afternoon. Jimmy hasn't been seen since last night. Is he in the habit of skipping work? No, he never does. I called every one of his friends. I know of Bernice's friends too. I call them the places he hangs around. Nobody's seen him? Not since last night. Since you talked to him, you got no idea where he might be? No. Just like Bernice, he disappeared. You're in the statistician's office of a metropolitan police department. Have you made the run on this one? WMA. 5 foot 7, 160 pounds. Suspect is left handed, operates on foot. We punched up the master. The cards are in the machine. We'll make the run now. Okay, fine. There are many suspects to choose from. You're looking for one. Thank you. Yeah, this is the one we want. When you have a choice to make, you want to be sure. And you can be sure of Fatima quality. That's why we ask you to compare Fatima with any other king size cigarette side by side. Fatimas are the same in length and circumference. 85 millimeters long, 1 and 164 inches around. And Fatima filters the smoke exactly the same long distance as other king size cigarettes. But in Fatima, the difference is quality. Fatima gives you extra mildness, a much different, much better flavor and aroma. Remember, Fatima gives long cigarette smokers all the advantages of extra length. Plus Fatima quality, which no other king size cigarette has. Next time, insist on the best buy. Fatima. Best of all King size cigarettes. Tuesday, June 10, 5:20pm Ben got on the phone and called around town to check further on the whereabouts of James Butler, the husband of the missing woman. No luck. We called the office and they got out a broadcast and an APB on Butler. We drove downtown to the crime lab, gave him the claw hammer that we found in the butler's attic and asked him to run a benzidine test on the stains. We'd also made arrangements for Lee Jones to run similar tests on the stains we'd found on the floor of the attic. Three days passed. Butler was gone. There was no sign of him. The search was intensified. Another three days went by. Monday, June 16, we got an answer on the APB. A phone call from the chief of police in Tulare, California. Yeah, James Michael Butler, WMA. 33 years, 5 foot 728 pounds, blond hair, hazel eyes. You got a North Hancock street address down there. That right? Yeah. That sounds like the man we're looking for. He's a real weird one, Franny. Caused a little trouble at one of the taverns up here last night. Kept picking fights with the biggest truck drivers he could find. We locked him up after his third fight. He had her jailed in an uproar all night. Wild one. What'd he do? All shouting all over the place. Couldn't do anything with him, huh? Keeps telling everybody how smart he is. Yeah. Says he killed his wife, but nobody's ever gonna find out. James Butler was returned to Los Angeles where he underwent further interrogation in addition to a psychiatric. The test showed that he was definitely abnormal, but he was still judgmentally competent. The crime lab's tests on the blood stains found on the hammer and on the floor of the attic in the Butler's home revealed that the stains were made by animal blood, not human. We questioned Butler about it, but we failed to get him to even admit he knew anything about the stains. He was released from custody, but he was kept under surveillance. A week passed, two weeks, nothing developed. Still no sign of the missing woman, Bernice Butler. Still no definite sign of foul play in connection with her disappearance. No definite sign that her husband was criminally involved in any way. Considering all the angles of the case, we were still inclined to figure that he fit it in somewhere. He had some direct hand in his wife's disappearance. We stayed on it. Nothing happened. On June 26, the twin sister of the missing woman, Ruth Daley, met Ben and I at the office and laid out a plan she had in mind. She insisted we try it. You mean you want to work on his emotional nature and try to get some kind of an admission out of him. Is that the whole idea? That's it, Sergeant. I know what a nut he is about being dramatic. I know it'll work. It's possible, yeah. How do you figure to set it up? It won't be very hard. For one thing, you know, my sister Bernice and I look quite a bit alike. People always take us for one another. You can get Jimmy out of the house at night for some reason or other. I'll slip in and go upstairs and put on one of the dresses Bernice used to wear all the time. I'll sit there in the upstairs bedroom with just the hall light on. Just enough light so we can see me when you bring him upstairs. I'll even bring over Bernice's pet cat. She had Siamese. I always hated the cat? I don't know, ma'am. I'm not quite sure about it. It might be worth a chance. It's not too orthodox, but maybe it'll work. If I know Jimmy, it'll work. Sergeant, if you can just warm him up to it ahead of time before you bring him upstairs. When he sees me sitting in that room with a cat, I know he'll think it's pretty bound to get some kind of reaction. That's better than we're doing. Yeah. Ben, what do you think? Sounds like a movie script. I don't know. It's like she says, I guess. We're bound to get a reaction. I know it'll work. I'm sure of it. Jim. All right, let's give it a try. The following night, a few minutes before 8:00, Ben and I got James Butler away from his house on the pretext of taking him downtown for further interrogation. We delayed long enough to make sure that Ruth Daley, the sister of the missing woman, had plenty of time to get into the house, change her clothes, and take her place in the upstairs room with her sister's pet Siamese cat. Then we started back for the house. We'd made arrangements to have Brian and Lopez from Homicide standing by, concealed in the immediate vicinity of the house in case they were needed. 1105pm While we drove him back toward his home. Butler was talkative, but not too relaxed. Was the same line we'd heard before. How tough he could be when he wanted to. The same hints that he was an undiscovered killer, one of the more talented professionals in the deadly circles of the underworld. I came from Illinois originally. Cicero. You guys know how it is back there. You have to stay right up on your toes. Yeah. How long you been out here? Now, brother, you expect me to tell you that I'm wise. The way you guys work, you're not gonna get me on questions like that one. I understand you do quite a bit of reading, Jim. You come across anything good lately? Nothing lately. All the good books, they've already been. Edgar Allen Poe, Stevenson, de Moppasant, Gogo. They know how to tell a good murder story. These new guys are a waste of time. Reading, that's all. Reading. That's what I like to do. Not that modern junk. Only the best. You take some of Poe and Stevenson, for instance. I know those guys. Sure. I know their stuff well enough to tell you I got whole pages memorized. How'd you like to hear some Stevenson, maybe? All right, go ahead. I have to belie my nature, all men do. All men are better than this disguise. It grows about and stifles them, you see? Each dragged away by life like one whom bravos have seized and muffled in a cloak. If they had their own control, if you could see their faces, they would be altogether different. They would shine out for heroes and for saints. I am worse than most. Myself is more overlaid. My excuse is known to me and to God. But had I the time, I could disclose myself. That's out of Stevenson, you know. Pretty smart fella, huh? Yeah, sure is. You got pretty good memory. I read those books all the time. Nothing better. This is the house, all right? Yeah, that's right. Well, maybe I'll see you later, huh? Thanks for the ride. Well, I tell you, we'd like to come in the house with you, if you don't mind, Butler. One or two things we like to check over, if that's all right with you. It's all right. Sure. Guess you ought to know by this time, huh? Nothing I'd hide in that house that you'd ever want to find. Come on, let's go. Sure dark out, isn't it? A little bit chilly? Yeah. What do you want to check over in the house? Oh, just one or two things. Just routine, Jim. We won't keep you long. Guess I ought to be a little burned at you cops by now, huh? Getting all this rousting. How about laying off pretty soon? Maybe I am getting a little. You can prove something on old Jimmy Butler. Prove it. If you can't do it, let him alone. We're just tying up a few loose ends here, Jim. There's nothing to get excited about. What's the matter? Forget your front door key? I got it. My business. You learn not to forget anything. Can't afford to forget. Yeah, it's quite a big place you got, Butler. You stay here all by yourself. That's the way I like it. By myself. Wanna look at anything? You can look now. You're through. I got some bourbon in the cellar. I keep a big booze cellar, you know, all first rate stuff. What's the matter? Oh, nothing, Jim. Thought I heard a cat someplace. Did you? No cats in this house. What do you mean you heard a cat? I hate the lousy things. I wouldn't have one. Didn't you tell us once your wife had a cat? I think it was you. You didn't like it much, did you? Killed the lousy thing. Got an accent. Killed it. Them wife of mine used to drive me crazy with the cat hair. All over the place. You know how it is. Got an axe and killed it. Yeah, there it is. I thought I heard it. Guess you got another one, huh, Butler? We'll get rid of that thing. I'll find him and get rid of him right now. Upstairs. I suppose the house makes you think of your wife quite a bit, doesn't it, Jim? Why? Well, I mean, you spent so much time in it together, you and Bernice. It's got quite a few memories for you, I guess, huh? Find that thing if it takes all night. I'll get the ax and I'll find the thing. It's up here, all right. Maybe down the hall there. Bernice's room. She had the cat. What's it doing here? There's no reason for it. Could have wandered back in. Can we get more light in this hallway? I can't see anything. Cat could be anywhere. What's it doing here alone? The cat was always with Bernice. Never left him. Sounds to me like it's just around here. Maybe through that door there. You think it's Bernice's room? I killed a lousy cat. He couldn't be in there. Well, maybe it's just a cat out in the street, you know, out in the side alley, maybe, huh? Mm. Probably not even in the house. Take a look in the room here. Oh, no. It ain't real. She's not there. She's not there. Don't hurt the cat. Not the poor cat. Jimmy, don't kill him. Not both of us. Don't kill the cat. Please. Don't kill two of us. You go away. You go away. You're not there. It's a fake. You're not there, Bernice. Please, Jimmy, not both of us. Don't kill both of us. Some kind of a trick. Now you go away, Bernice. You're dead, and I killed you. You're downstairs. You're in the ground. You're deep in the ground. I killed you. You can't be sitting here. Please, Jimmy. Please. All right, buddy. Come here. No. Get away. You get away from me. She's downstairs. She's in the ground. I'll show you. You can't trick me. I'll show you. I can't. I can't. Dear God. Come on, Ben. Downstairs. Yeah. I tried to grab him. Tried to. He broke away. Yeah. Lopez. Lupe. Did you see it? Lope? Yeah. Good drop from the window. He came fast. Yeah. Not too pretty, huh? Must be something, huh? How about getting the doctor? Yeah. He lost the doctors when he hit that sidewalk. Only one thing left. I know. Yeah. Call a priest. In his suicide leap from the top story of his house, James Butler died instantly on the pavement below. Afterwards, when the reports were made out and the deputy coroner removed the body, a special detail of men was sent out to help probe the grounds around the Butler home and also the ground directly beneath the house. The search was thorough. The ground was dug up foot by foot. We found nothing. Butler's last admission before his death, that he'd killed his wife and buried her in the grounds adjoining the house, seemed to be as empty and worthless as some of the other stories. Stories that he told us. The painstaking search for the body of James Butler's wife went on. We found nothing, alive or dead. There was still no trace of her. Butler's friends and relatives held a modest funeral for him. And he was buried in a small cemetery south of the city. In Missing Persons Bureau. There were still no leads on the case of Bernice Butler. It was still open. Summer finally got to an end. The fall season came and went. And then Christmas and the holiday. And then back into January and February. On a rainy morning early in March, almost a year to the very day when the case started, we got a communication from San Francisco. It had come to the notice of the police through the county health department in regard to your APB of June so and so last year. This is to inform you that Mrs. Bernie Sputler has been a patient in the tubercular ward County Hospital, San Francisco, since June 16th of last year. Apparently, her case was considered critical from the day she was admitted to the hospital last Thursday. She succumbed to the illness. Identification was established, next of kin notified, but no one claimed the body. She was buried at county expense. I trust this may aid you in establishing facts pertinent to her disappearance, so on. Well, how about that? It doesn't figure, does it? Sooner or later you get them all. How would you figure out? That night we had butter at the house. You mean we had his sister in law in there and he thought he saw his wife? Oh, who knows? Suppose he really had himself talked into it. He thought he committed 100% murder. Yes. He thought about it long enough till he convinced himself. Must have worked out something like that inside his mind. Mm. Imagine he lived right through it. Figured he really killed her when he came for the punishment. He's ready to buy that there wasn't any way out. So he jumped a little mixed up. Killing Gad, huh? That's too bad. All things considered, I guess he loved her quite a bit. Well, it doesn't seem to matter now. What he did wasn't much of a chance either way. How do you mean? Well, the girl TB on one side, maybe murder on the other. Either way, she had to die. The story you have just heard was true. Only the names were changed to protect the innocent. On March 9, the meeting was held in the office of Captain of Homicide Police Department, City and county of Los Angeles, State of California. In a moment, the results of that meeting. And now here is our star, Jack Webb. Thank you, friends. We've spent about two of the past 30 minutes telling you why so many smokers coast to coast have switched to king size Fatima. And they really have. Just listen to some of these brand new sales figures. I'll give you a few of them state by state, alphabetically, just as they're listed here. Fatima sales up 92%. Up 72%. Up 107%. Up 192%. Up 69%. And so it goes, up and up. Thousands and thousands of king size cigarette smokers are changing to Fatima. And there's a reason. Fatima's cost no more than the cigarettes you're now smoking. They filter the smoke exactly the same long distance as other king size cigarettes. Yet there's a big difference. Fatima quality, which no other king size cigarette has. Buy them tomorrow in the golden yellow package. Fatima Best of All King size cigarettes. After locating Mrs. Bernice Butler in the tubercular ward in San Francisco County Hospital, final disposition was made of her case. Her late husband, James Butler was cleared of any connection with her disappearance. You have just heard, Dragnet, a series of authentic cases from official files. Technical advice comes from the office of Chief of Police W.H. parker, Los Angeles Police Department. Fatima Best of all King size cigarettes has brought you Dragnet. Transcribed from Los Angeles. Stay tuned for Counter Spy, next on NBC.