 Sound off for Chesterfield. Chesterfield, first cigarette in America to give you premium quality in both regular and king size, brings you drag net. Ladies and gentlemen, the story you are about to hear is true. The names have been changed to protect the innocent. Music You're a detective sergeant. You're assigned a homicide detail. You got a call that a man has been murdered. His killer is unknown. Your job? Get him. Here's what the tobacco trade press has had to say about Chesterfield's. U.S. Tobacco Journal. Boston, Massachusetts. Chesterfield cigarettes in the new king size is still maintaining large turnovers in this area. Dealers report that sales continue to climb on this size, and it seems that volume on the regular size has climbed to new heights with its big brother. And tobacco leaf reports from Chicago. More calls for Chesterfield king size cigarettes than for most brands being marketed. Dealers all over the country tell us no product they ever handled has grown so fast in so short a time as king size Chesterfields. King size cigarettes give you quantity, but only Chesterfield king size gives you quantity plus quality. Premium quality. Chesterfield king size contains tobaccos of better quality and higher price than any other king size cigarette. The only difference between Chesterfield king size and Chesterfield regular is that the king size is larger, contains more of these same tobaccos. Enough to give you more than a one-fifth longer smoke. So remember, Chesterfield is the only cigarette to give smokers premium quality in both regular and king size. Ask your dealer for Chesterfield, either way you'll like them. Premium quality Chesterfields and much milder. 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, May 12th. It was warm in Los Angeles. We were working the day watch out of homicide detail. My partner's Frank Smith. The boss is Captain Lorman. My name's Friday. It was 8.04 a.m. when I got to room 42. That's you, Joe? Yeah, I'm sorry I'm late, Frank. I got held up in traffic. Okay, no problems. I'll sure be dead when I get that freeway finish, won't you? I'm the end of the pass this time of the morning. You can't go more than 10 miles an hour. Yeah, cars will be clever for our own Frank. Oh, boy, when we get through tonight, I'm gonna go straight to bed. I might not even stop to eat. Oh, what's the matter? You have trouble getting sleep last night? Well, I wouldn't have had any trouble if I'd had the chance to do it. What do you mean, I don't get it? My brother-in-law. Oh, what do you have to do with it? A couple of weeks ago, he sent away for one of those courses in hypnotism at home. Book got to the house yesterday. Right away, he's got a new career going to go into the hypnotism business. All right. Book tells how if you do it right, you can have full control over people making do things you want, all that stuff. Right away, he's got to practice on somebody. We just finished dinner, and I was all settled down to watch television. He comes in with this little book, a little bitty mirror in the candle, and the first thing he likes, the candle, and tells me to look at it. Concentrate, you know. I told him to go take a run and jump, and right away, Faye joins in, and says I don't want him to get ahead. I said something about the fact that he could use one, and it started. He ends up with me sitting there, and him trying to control my will. Oh, did it work? I don't know. Waved his hand in front of me, and flashed the mirror in my eyes, and I fell asleep. Right away, he wakes me up, wants to know how it felt, and what it was like when he put me under. I told him he didn't, and I just went to sleep, so he kept trying to use what this book calls post-hypotic suggestion. You know, when I'm asleep, he says something I'm supposed to do when I wake up. Oh, yeah. And then he woke me up and waited for me to do it. What do you want you to do? I never found out. He just sat there and looked at me. Every time I'd doze off, he'd wake me up so I could do whatever it was he suggested, and around 1.30 this morning, he gave up. He said the book wasn't any good, and he was going to get his money back. All the time, Faye's sitting there just watching miserable. If I'd known what it was he wanted me to do, I'd have done it to get him off my back. Never did find out what it was. This morning, would he say hello? I figured I wasn't cooperating, I guess. I get it. Homicide Friday. Yes, ma'am. Yes, ma'am, it is. Yes, well, what was that address again? Next, ma'am, we'll be right out. Something for us? Yeah, a woman out on Burns Street, 6425 says her son's been murdered. Frank and I drove out to the house. It was a typical residential neighborhood. When we got there, a crowd had gathered around the front of the house. A radio card arrived, and the officers had gotten the people back from the lawn and the entrance of the house. We went in and met the woman who had placed the call, a Mrs. Edith Curtis. She was a woman in her late 40s with graying hair, and as we talked to her, she kept leaning a handkerchief in her hand. Jeff was cleaning the gun. Middle of the week, he looked at it and said that it needed cleaning. He's always home on Saturday, so this morning he said he might as well get at it. After breakfast, he got out all the things he uses, put them on the table in there, and started to clean the guns. I was in the bedroom, tidying up the place. I heard these loud voices and then a shot. I went to the living room and I saw this man standing there. As soon as he saw me, he turned around and ran for the door. I yelled at him, but he didn't stop. What'd you do then, ma'am? I went over to Jeff. He was just lying there, still and quiet. I could see where he'd been shot. I knew he was dead, and then I called you. Before you got here, the other men, the ones in the car, got here. But it was too late. My boy was dead. Terrible. Just terrible. I'll go see if my partner's finished with the call, Mrs. Curtis. Would you like us to call your family doctor? No. Very kind of you, but I'll be all right. This house has been full of tragedy. The last couple of years, nothing but sadness. I'm used to it. I guess the good Lord makes you used to it. If he didn't, I don't think a mother could go on. Ma'am. My youngest daughter, Alice, two years ago, this next month, the 24th, she killed herself, Sergeant. It almost killed me too losing her. Yes, ma'am. That's why Sam used to it. I got to the point after Alice was dead where I couldn't see any reason for going on. Then I figured that the good Lord must have wanted it this way. And I wasn't the one to say it was wrong. Alice was going to have enough trouble as it was. I don't think I understand. Suicide, Sergeant. The one unforgivable sin. Yes, ma'am. Okay, Joe. I called them. Checked with the fellas in the car. They're looking around the neighborhood. Miss Curtis. Yes. I wonder if you could give us a description of the man you saw. We'd like to get out a call on him. Of course. I saw him pretty good just standing there looking at me. Well, how old a man would you say he was? Maybe 35 or 40. Not any older than that, I'm sure. How tall would you say he was? Taller than you. About how much taller? Oh, maybe a couple of inches. Well, I'll make him about 6'1 or 2. Is that right? Yes. I think that's pretty close. About his weight. How heavy do you think he was? I'm not very good at that. I guess about 180 round there. What about his clothes? What was he wearing? Could you remember? He had on one of those blue denim outfits. You know, the trousers and the jacket light blue. Then the coat had that dark blue trim knitted around the bottom and collar. Had on a white shirt. No tie. The pair of those shoes were the real thick soles. That rubber. Anything unusual about them? I don't think I know what you mean. Whether they have any marks or scars, anything that might make it easier for us to identify them. No, not that I could see. But you won't have any trouble identifying them. I'll tell you if you have the right one or not. Did he have a car? Would you know that? I don't think so. I didn't see one. All right. Thank you, ma'am. I'll call us in right away, Joe. Get out the local and APB. You know, Miss Cruz? Yes. Could you tell us exactly what time the shooting took place? Not exactly, but I'd say about a quarter to eight. Did this man say anything to you? No. Not a word. You never saw him before? Maybe around the neighborhood of the stores? In the street someplace? No, I never saw him. I know that. But if I see him again, I'll know him. I'll be right back, Joe. I hope you won't take offense, ma'am. What's that, Sergeant? Well, you don't seem too greatly concerned about your son's death here. I thought I'd explain that to you. I told you that I have to figure that it's the Lord's will. I might as well tell you, Sergeant. You'll probably find out anyway. What's that, ma'am? Well, Jeff and I had a few arguments. Nothing serious, but we did have words. I beg your pardon, ma'am. I told you that my daughter took her own life. I am. She lived with us here in this house. I thought it was a happy home. I found out it wasn't. I found out too well, huh? You see, Alice, that's my daughter. Yes, ma'am. Well, she was going to marry. She'd met a young man who worked in an aircraft factory. She seemed to think he was very nice. I couldn't see much in him. I told her so. We had quite a few rows about it once when he was here. And that night, the row, Alice's young man left, made quite a fuss about my trying to run the children's lives. Told Alice that he'd marry her right away that night. But when they were married, he didn't want to have anything to do with Jeff or me. Well, did Jeff take any part in this quarrel? No, ma'am, yes. Finally, the young man stormed out of the house. Alice was in tears, just seemed to go to pieces. That night, she took an overdose of sleeping pills. I'll never forget when I called her for breakfast. Terrible. That's not doing any good. I'm sorry, Sergeant. That's quite all right, ma'am. You said you and your son had several arguments. Was it about this engagement thing? Yes, after Alice's funeral, Jeff seemed to sulk around the house. Then at night, he'd go out and drink quite a bit. He seemed to think that I'd caused Alice to do away with herself. I tried to tell him that I didn't, that I was just as sorry as he was. I told him how badly I felt, but he didn't seem to do any good. Well, have you heard from Alice's fiancé since that night? He was at the funeral. What's his name, Mrs. Cruz? Dudley. Bruce Dudley. You know where we can get in touch with him? I think Jeff had his address. I can look for it. Thank you. But you don't think that Bruce had anything to do with this. I know it wasn't him. I know Bruce. I know what he looks like. It wasn't him in the living room. Well, we just want to talk to him, ma'am. Of course, he might have hired someone else. No, I'm sure Bruce had nothing to do with it, even with what he did say that night when they had the fight. Jeff told him that if he didn't get out, he'd throw him out. When he left, Bruce said that someday our meddling in other people's lives was going to backfire. That it might take some time, but that we'd be repaid. And that look in his eyes when he went through the door. Sergeant, maybe he did do it. He looked mad enough to kill us both. At 9.12 a.m., the coroner arrived and removed the body. The men from the crime lab crew went over the place. A complete set of pictures was taken before the body was removed. Layton Prince went over the rifle on the table and the cleaning apparatus. Frank and I noticed that the tablecloth on the living room table had been on the floor when we got to the house. Mrs. Curtis had told us that her son had grabbed it as he fell to the floor. We talked with the neighbors. One of them, Mrs. Alvin Kemper, said that she had been watering the lawn between 7.30 and 8.00 a.m., but that she had seen no one enter or leave the Curtis house. She told us that she had heard frequent and loud arguments between Mrs. Curtis and her son. Frank and I drove out to the address of Bruce Dudley. It was a modern one-room apartment on Riverside Drive in the San Fernando Valley. We rang the buzzer a second time and waited. Looks like he's not in. What time you got? 12.17. He's probably gone out. Come on, we can check the manager. Yeah? Mr. Dudley? Yeah, where do you want? Well, police officers would like to talk to you. Okay. Come on in. Just got up out late last night. I don't feel it all well. I'll move those clothes and sit down. I'm going to put a pot of coffee on. Oh, I feel like a troop of midgets ran barefoot over my tongue. Yes, sir. Go right ahead. What do you want to see me about? You know what, Jeff Curtis? Yeah, I know him. Hey, what do you say your names were? Well, my name's Friday. It's my partner, Frank Smith. You got any badge, something to prove that you're cops? Yes, sir. Here's my ID. Sergeant Joseph Friday. Okay. Now, what's this about Jeff? He's dead, Mr. Dudley. Dead? Yes, sir. How'd it happen, accident? Well, we're not sure. He didn't kill himself, did he? Why'd he ask that? I just thought he might have. His sister killed herself, thought he might have done the same thing. Do you know of any reason that he'd do something like that? No, no, not that I could name. I understand you and Mr. Curtis didn't get along too well. Well, we got along all right. Oh, and Alice and I split up there with some worries. Nothing serious. Well, the way we get it, you pretty sought him. Yeah? Yeah. I understand that you and he had quite an argument. He was ready to throw you out of the house. You've been talking to his mother. She's been throwing lies around again. Well, is it true? Did you and Curtis have an argument? Yeah, I got nothing to hide. You been out of the house this morning? No, why? Have any way of proving you were here all morning? Just got up. You know that? You guys got me out of bed. What are you trying to prove? Just want to know if you can account for your time. That's all. You think I had something to do with Jeff's death? Is that it? We didn't say that. No, but you meant it. Oh, excuse me. No, don't think. How about you? No. You don't mind if I have a cup, huh? No, sir, go right ahead. Thanks. Now, let's face it. You guys really think I had anything to do with what happened to Jeff? We're not paid to say what we think. We try to get the facts. Yeah. And if I was you, I'd concentrate on Mrs. Curtis. I wouldn't put it past the old bat to kill her own son. You check around the bars in the neighborhood and talk to his friends, I'll tell you. His mother was scared to death that he'd marry one of these days, walk out on her. She used to be on his back all the time about the girls he went out with. I knew some of them. He used to double date with them once in a while. They ever have any arguments about this while you were around? A couple of times, yeah. If you don't believe me, why don't you check with Harry? He'll tell you the same story. Lord knows he went through enough of it. Harry? Yeah, Jeff's brother. He got married... Oh, let's see, about five years ago. Moved out of the house, locked stock in baggage. He went through a thrash with his mother about it. He'll tell you about it. He used to come over to see Jeff once in a while after he got married, but the old lady caused so much trouble that they started me at a bar. Got to the point where Harry wouldn't go in the house. Check with him. He'll tell you. You know where we can get in touch with him? No, I haven't got the address. Look it up in the book. Harry Curtis. I think it's out on Selma someplace in Hollywood. All right, sir. What do you work? Myer Aircraft. I'm a toolmaker. You work today, sir? Yeah, I'm off today. What's this for? Just wanted to know where we could meet you. You still think I had something to do with it, huh? No, we didn't say you did. Your name came up and we had to check it out. Yeah. Well, there were a lot of times when Jeff and I didn't get along. I won't try to tell you that there weren't. I never do anything to hurt him. He got enough in his hands with that mother. Yeah. Sure, one night we came home from a date. Alice, me, Jeff and his date. We're sitting around the kitchen having something to eat. Mother came in madder than a wet hand. Ray's cane told Jeff to get the woman out of the house. Jeff totally wouldn't have her talk to the girl like that. He thought quite a bit of her. The old biddy walked right over and slapped the girl across the face. Told her to leave Jeff alone. Said she'd rather see him dead than tie up with a girl like that. 2.40pm, we drove back to the office. There had been no replies on the local or the APB. We checked the names of Jeffrey Curtis and Bruce Dudley through R&I. There was no record on Curtis, but Dudley had been arrested twice for LAMC 4127C, being drunk in a public place. He'd served sentences in the city jail in both charges. We checked with the coroner's office and they told us that Curtis had been killed by a .38 caliber bullet. It had been fired at close range in the city. The bullet was booked for evidence and we made out a dead body report. We put in a call to the brother's house, but we were told that he was out of the city and he wouldn't return until sometime that night. We left word for him to call our office as soon as he returned. We checked on the suicide story given us by Mrs. Curtis and found that an Alice Curtis had taken her own life by an overdose of sleeping pills two years before. 5.20pm, Frank and I drove out to talk to Mrs. Curtis again. You want to look at Jeff? Yes, Mrs. Curtis. This way. When we were here this morning, you didn't say anything about your other son. Harry? Well, you see, Officer, Harry doesn't care much for me. I know it's hard to believe that a boy would desert his own mother, but that's what Harry did. He got married and right away his wife started to cause trouble between it. A rifle your son was cleaning this morning. Oh, yes, those men from the crime lab, I think they said they took it. Yes, ma'am. Did your son do much hunting? Well, he used to. He used to do quite a bit before Harry got married. He used to be a great pal. Mother couldn't ask for a better pair of sons. And when Harry left home, Jeff sort of gave it up. He cleaned the gun when he had to, but he didn't go after game anymore. Then, too, he was afraid to leave me alone at night. Ma'am. Well, we've had a lot of trouble with prowess in the neighborhood. Had to call the police a couple of times. They didn't find anybody, though. Is your son's clothes, ma'am? Yes. This man you saw this morning, did you notice that he had a gun? Yes, he did. It was a revolver. When I came into the room, it was still smoking. Did your son keep any other firearms in the house? Oh, no. Just the rifle. I wouldn't have any other guns in the place. I don't like them. Had me called to go up on the attic, led me, Mr. Curtis. What? The attic man. Have you seen him? The attic man. Have either you or your son had any reason to go up there? No, I don't think we've been up there since we moved. Could I get you officers a cup of coffee or anything? I've got some nice fresh cake, like a slice of that. No, ma'am. Thanks. Just the same. Oh, no. Look at here. Ma'am, look at here on the shoulders of these suits in the back. See this dirt? Looks like it came down from that door to the attic. Now, let me get a chair, and we'll have a look. What's this all about? I told you we haven't used that attic. Don't you believe me? I'd just like to take a look if you don't mind, ma'am. Well, maybe I do mind. It's just going to take a minute, ma'am. I think your officers have sure got your nerves. I tried to be nice to you. Help you out. Isn't enough that my boy said, now you have to come in here and tear my home apart. There's something up here, Frank. I can reach it. Have you ever seen this, Mrs. Curtis? No. I haven't got any idea how that gun got there. It doesn't belong to us. What do you think, Joe? I don't know. 38-calibre. You are listening to Dragnet, the authentic story of your police force in action. And now, a report every smoker should hear. Nose, throat, and accessory organs not adversely affected by smoking Chesterfields. First, such report published about any cigarette. A responsible consulting organization reports a study by a competent medical specialist and staff on the effects of smoking Chesterfields. For six months, a group of men and women smoked only Chesterfields, 10 to 40 a day their normal amount. 45% of the group of smoked Chesterfields from one to 30 years for an average of 10 years each. At the beginning and end of the six months, each smoker was given a thorough examination, including x-rays and covering the sinuses, nose, ears, and throat. After these examinations, the medical specialist stated, in my opinion, that the ears, nose, throat, and accessory organs of all participating subjects examined by me were not adversely affected in the six months period by smoking the cigarettes provided. Remember this report and buy Chesterfields, regular or king size, premium quality Chesterfields, and much milder. We took the gun back to the city hall. It was checked for fingerprints, but none were found. We checked with pawn shop records, but the gun had not been registered. By checking with the manufacturer, we got the retailer's name. It had been sold to the victim, Jeff Curtis. The gun was turned over to Russ Camp for the routine check through ballistics. Look it up. Right. Look at this, Mike. It's right up there. Got a make, Russ? Yeah, a match. 1146 p.m., Harry Curtis called the office. He was surprised to hear of his brother's death but said that he would be down to see us in the morning. Frank and I checked out and the next morning we drove out to the house on Burn Street and picked up Mrs. Curtis. We talked to her in the interrogation room. This is perfectly ridiculous. I don't understand what you're trying to get me to say. Well, maybe if we laid out for you, ma'am. Yes, that might do it. At least it would be something. All right. When we walked into your house yesterday morning, you said that nothing in the house had been touched, that everything was just as it was when your son was killed, is that right? Yes. I guess I said that. Mike, have you been sure one way or the other, ma'am? What did you say? I said that. I hadn't touched anything. Nobody did. Would you tell us what your son was doing when you left the room? I told you he was cleaning the rifle. On the living room table? Yes, that's right. What did you say he did after he was shot? I said he fell down. Did he touch anything as he fell? Brush up against anything? Well, when he fell, he grabbed the table cloth, pulled it down with him. Well, then maybe you can explain how it was that all the things he used to clean the rifle and the gun itself were still on the table. What? How is it those things didn't come off the table when he pulled the cloth off? I don't know what you're trying to get me to say. Well, you'd like me to tell us the truth. I'm telling that. All right, ma'am. When the crime lab went over your house, they found two places in the kitchen floor that had been filled in with plastic wood. The job didn't look very old. Well, what's wrong with that? Jeff took good care of the house. He might have tried to plug up some place where ants were getting in. When the men from the lab dug up the patches, they found 238 caliber bullets underneath. They checked them with a bullet that killed your son. The bullets came from the same gun. I don't know what you're talking about. What does all this show? You talked about the prowlers, said you had trouble with them in the neighborhood. That's right. What action did you take to stop this? I called the police. Had them come out and try to find the person who was causing the trouble. When did you call the police lab? Three weeks ago. Well, you've checked the reports, ma'am. There's no record of anyone having called the police to check prowlers in that neighborhood for the past six months. Are you trying to make me out a liar? Is that what you're trying to do? We're trying to get the truth. Frank. Yeah, Joe. Check the office and see if Mr. Curse is here. Yeah, sure. You've brought my son here? Yes, ma'am. We've got to get the truth to this. Well, why did you have to get him involved in it? Well, as I said, ma'am, we're trying to find the facts. You don't believe what I've told you? Well, no, ma'am, you've made it a little difficult. How can you say that? Well, first you tell us that nothing was touched, yet the physical setup doesn't make that possible. You deny knowing anything about the gun when we find it, but we find two bullets that have been fired from the same gun embedded in the floor of the kitchen. You told us about prowlers in the neighborhood, but there's no police record of it. Your next door neighbor says she was out in front of her house all morning, but she didn't see anyone enter or leave your house. If we find the murdered gun up in the attic, you told us you saw the killer leave the house with the gun. Your son died instantly. Now, can you tell us who put the gun there? No, ma'am. There's too much here that doesn't gel. They got you into this, didn't they, Harry? Yes, mother. They're trying to tell you that I killed Jeff. They want me to tell them that I killed my own boy. Tell them. Tell them I wouldn't do a thing like that. Not my own boy. Pray that I can't, mother. What do you mean you can't? The officers just told me about it. Well, who are you going to believe, the policemen or me, your mother? You don't give me much choice. What? I love you, mother. You got to believe that. I know that whatever you did, you thought was right. I know you didn't mean to hurt Jeff. I know that. And you think I killed him too, don't you? Harry, give me an answer. You think I killed Jeff, don't you? Yes, mother. Well, I did. I didn't think I meant to do it. I think I just wanted to frighten him. He was running around so much. Those tramps he was seeing, terrible women. I had to keep him home. I had to keep him with me. He was all I had. I'm not young anymore, Harry. You went away, then Alice. Jeff was all I had. I didn't want him to leave, and he was going to. We had an argument. He was cleaning the guns. I got the revolver. That way I knew that I'd always have him with me, that he wouldn't leave. I pulled the trigger, then I knew what I'd done. That Jeff was gone too. I didn't know what I was doing. I didn't know. You've got to believe that, officer. Yes, ma'am. Do you believe me? That I just wanted my boy? I wanted to keep him. That's all any mother wants. I tried to keep my boy. I mean, that's what was wrong. What do you mean? You tried too hard. The story you've just heard was true. The names were changed to protect the innocent. On September 4th, trial was held in Department 87, Superior Court of the State of California, in and for the county of Los Angeles. In a moment, the results of that trial. Now, here is our star, Jack Webb. Each of our dragnet case histories is based entirely on facts taken from authentic police files, and everything we tell you about Chesterfield is based on facts too. Chesterfield, for example, is the first to name its ingredients. Chesterfield tells you what it's made of, because you should know it gives you the best possible smoke. It brings me to the report that George Veneman and Hal Gibney read earlier. That too is based entirely on facts. Nose, throat, and accessory organs not adversely affected by smoking Chesterfield. First such report ever published about any cigarette. Remember this the next time you buy cigarettes and ask for Chesterfield. Regular or king size, premium quality Chesterfield gives you the best possible smoke. Edith A. Curtis was tried and convicted of murder in the first degree and was sentenced to the state penitentiary for women to Hatchopee, California. While serving her sentence there, she died from natural causes. Murder in the first degree is punishable by death or confinement in the state penitentiary for life. 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. Technical Advisors Captain Jack Donahoe, Sergeant Marty Wynne, Sergeant Ben Spracer. Heard tonight were Ben Alexander, Herb Ellis, Helen Cleve, Whit Conner. Script by John Robinson. Music by Walter Schumann. Hal Gibney speaking. Tomorrow, sound off for Chesterfield. Either way you like them, regular or king size, Chesterfield gives you the best possible smoke. Much milder Chesterfield. Chesterfield has brought you dragnet, prescribed from Los Angeles. This is NBC, the national broadcasting company.