 The story you are about to hear is true. Only the names have been changed to protect the innocent. Fatima cigarettes. Best of all, long cigarettes brings you dragnet. You're a detective sergeant. You're assigned to homicide detail. An elderly man reports the sudden death of his wife. He claims he awoke in the morning to find her dead on the floor of their bedroom. The cause of death is not apparent. Your job? Investigate. In Fatima, the difference is quality. Yes, in Fatima, the difference is quality. Quality of tobaccos. The finest domestic and Turkish variety is extra mild. Superbly blended. To give you Fatima's much different, much better flavor and aroma. Quality of manufacture. Smooth, round, perfect Fatima cigarettes. Ruled in the finest paper money can buy. Manufactured in the newest and most modern of all cigarette factories. Quality. Even to the appearance of the bright, clean, golden, yellow Fatima package. So compare Fatima yourself today. You'll find Fatima gives you all the advantages of extra length, plus Fatima quality, which no other king-size cigarette has. Yes, light up a Fatima. Your first puff will tell you... Ah, that's different. Because in Fatima, the difference is quality. 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 Friday, November 12th. It was cold 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. It was 9.38 a.m. when I got back to the first floor of the Blackwell Hotel. Room 7. Oh, hi Joe. Come on, you know. How's the old fella doing? Can you tell me anything? Hasn't talked at all. He's pretty broken up. Woman's dead. That's about it. How about the bruise on her forehead? Do you think that could have been in? No, it was just a slight bruise. I don't think that could have killed her. They moved her body out of the room, yeah? Yeah, they just did. Taking it downtown for the autopsy. Well, I guess we can take the old man back to his own room now, huh? Yeah, I think so. He's back here in the kitchen now. Fixed him a cup of coffee. Still feeling pretty bad. Mr. Turner, would you like to go back to your room now? Everything's been fixed up. Mr. Turner? What happened? You didn't tell me. What happened to Gertrude? I'm afraid we don't know, Mr. Turner. Not yet. I told you about it, didn't I? Woke up this morning about eight o'clock. Put my arm over on the pillow and she wasn't there. And I got up and I saw her laying on the floor. My wife, Gertrude. I felt her arms used cold. Ice cold. Somebody ought to know what happened. Well, we'll let you know just as soon as we get the coroner's report, sir. Would you like to go back to your own room now? What's coroner have to do with it? Well, he's going to have to perform an autopsy. We'll have the report for you tomorrow morning. I don't want him to do that to Gertrude. I don't want him to. I'm sorry, sir. I'm afraid it's necessary. Deaths of this kind. There was no doctor in attendance. Nobody to sign the death certificate. There's nothing I can do. Nothing to help her. I'm sorry, Mr. Turner. Can we help you back to your room, sir? Is she still there? No, sir. They're taking her body downtown. Can I give you a hand there? Thank you. All right. I'll get the door. Where'd Mr. Parkson go? Who's that, sir? The hotel manager, Mr. Parkson. Oh, yeah. These are his rooms here. I wanted to tell him thank you for letting me stay down here a while. Well, I think you'll be back in a few minutes. He was busy outside. Nice of him. Let me use his place. I couldn't stay in our room, not the way it was. Gertrude went in there. It's all right now, Mr. Turner. Can you make the stairs all right? Yes, sir. Thank you. I'm just a little tired, that's all. I guess the whole thing's been too much for me. Maybe you'd like to have us call your family doctor. No, we don't have a family doctor. I'll be all right after a spell. Just hard to understand, that's all. Have to think about it a while. Sit down and think about it. Yes, sir. Here we are. I'll get the door. Go ahead, ma'am. Right there on the floor, officer. That's where I found her when I woke up. Right there by the bed. Where have they taken her? Downtown, Mr. Turner, to the county morgue. They'll let me see her, won't they? Yes, sir, they will. Do you feel up to answering a few questions for us now? All right. I'll tell you everything I know about it. I don't see how it's going to help anything. I'm going to try to make it as brief as possible, sir. Now, your wife's full name is Gertrude Agnes, Turner. Is that right? Yes, that's right. All right. Let's see, Gertrude 63. Yeah, that's it. I'm four years older than her. That's how I always tell. Was your wife in good health, Mr. Turner, under a doctor's care or anything like that? No. Nothing wrong with her, I know. Heart trouble? Anything like that? No, sir. She used to have headaches every now and then. A doctor friend of ours back home used to send pills for her to take. That's about all. How was your wife feeling last night? Was she all right then? Just fine. When I woke up, I put my arm over on her pillow. She wasn't there. Then I got up and saw her laying on the floor, right by the bed. Gertrude. She was ice cold. There was little blues up here on her forehead. I thought I was dreaming. She was dead. I mean, weren't you married a year? Do you want to go on, sir? You think you feel all right? Yeah, it's all right, officer. I got a little bit of brandy in that cupboard over there. I think I could use some if you two officers don't mind. That's probably all right, sir. Yeah, I'll get it, Mr. Turner. We had it all figured out Tuesday, November 16th. That's her names day. How's that, sir? November 16th. It's my wife's names day. You see, Gertrude's a German girl. A lot of German people don't celebrate their birthday. They celebrate their names day instead. Next Tuesday is St. Gertrude's day. Oh, I see. There you are, Mr. Turner. Thank you. Either one of your officers cares for them, Brandy. Certainly welcome to them. Oh, thank you very much. Do you or your wife have many friends in town, Mr. Turner? No, no. Just a few around the hotel here. Gertrude and I have only been in California a few months. Come out from Indiana, you know, Fort Wayne. Yes, sir. No relatives here? No, sir. My wife only had one relative living, sister. She's back in Indiana. How did you and your wife get along, all right? Oh, fine. We never had any trouble. I loved her, officer. Did your wife have any enemies that you know of, sir? People she didn't get along with? Somebody who might have wanted to hurt her? Well, I can't think of any one. Well, how about some of the men your wife knew before she married you, Mr. Turner? Any bad feelings one of them might have had towards your wife? No, sir. Nothing I know of. Besides, all her old friends are still back there in Indiana. You say your marriage was working out pretty well. Your wife didn't have any gentlemen and friends that she might have been interested in? No, sir. I know that for the truth. Gertrude spent her time at home. She didn't run around. She was a good wife. Would you know if your wife had any reasons at all to take her own life, maybe? Well, it's the last thing in the world Gertrude would do. No reason for it. We had too many things to look forward to, lots of things. You don't stop living just because you passed 6 to 5. Yes, sir. Tell me the truth, officer. Don't you really know what happened to her? No, sir, no more than you do. Frade will have to wait for that coroner's report. I don't understand it, officer. How am I supposed to understand it? Sir? I went to bed last night and I had a wife. Yes, sir. Today's Monday off. We're going to take a car ride down the beach. That's the dress she was going to wear hanging up there. Gertrude made it herself. She was, she was in the wet today. I'll try to take it easy, Mr. Turner. I beg your pardon. She's all I had. Why should she have to die? She didn't have to die, did she? I don't know, sir. Maybe she didn't have a choice. The body of the dead woman, Mrs. Gertrude Agnes Turner, was removed to the county morgue for autopsy. Ben and I filled out the 311 form, the dead body report, and filed it pending the outcome of the autopsy. A couple of Mr. Turner's friends, who lived upstairs from him at the Blackwell Hotel, agreed to look after the old man until he got over the shock of his wife's sudden death. 7.45 the next morning, I checked in for work as usual. Morning, Joe. Morning. What do you know? Not much. Pretty slow. How about the Turner woman? No word in the autopsy, huh? No. Corner hasn't called yet. If you've got any smokes, I left the house in a hurry this morning and forgot everything. Yeah. Right here. Thanks. Here you are. Thanks. Lousy morning. Another row with a wife. Huh? What's the matter? Oh, now that one of those church bazaars, she got herself mixed up in. She's calling on me for help again. Oh, yeah? What's she want you to do now? Remember the last time, don't you? That spring bazaar had me working on decorations down the church seven nights a week. 18 women running around telling you what to do. Yeah. It's like a madhouse, Joe. This time, it's even worse. I mean... This time, the ladies figured they ought to have a little more production. They want me to dress up in some kind of funny costume, auctioned off pies and cake. You know, stove pipe hat, false mustache would work. No. You turned them down. You won't do it with it. Well, not exactly. Wife kicked up such a row. Guess I'll end up doing it. Got an idea, though. Huh? Wouldn't be so bad if I had somebody to work with me. You wouldn't like to help me out, would you, Joe? Well, I'll tell you. I'm going to be a little busy, Ben. But if I get a chance, I'll drop out to see you, though. I get it. Homicide Friday. Oh, yeah. How's that? Mm-hmm. All right. Yeah. Okay, we'll be right over. Was Doc Cephalo over at the morgue about Ms. Turner? Got the autopsy report for her? Yeah. They won't sign the death certificate. What's the trouble? Couple of things. Looks too suspicious for them, I said. How'd they list the cause of death? She suffocated. 8.15 a.m., we went across the street and talked with Dr. Cephalo. All he could tell us was the Gertrude Turner had suffered severe convulsions and that she died of suffocation. There was a small bruise in her forehead and numerous other small bruises around the base of the throat. Not enough to say that the woman had been murdered and yet too much to dismiss the case as an accidental death. Together with Norman and Barrett from Homicide, Ben and I looked up some of the friends of Mr. and Mrs. Turner. We found two points which didn't check out with the story that Mr. Turner had told us. According to the friends, Turner had had some violent arguments with his wife. On at least one occasion, he'd struck her. And secondly, the dead woman did have a gentleman friend in the neighborhood but his conduct with her had been above question. It was strictly friendship. We decided to take it from there. We went back to the Blackwell Hotel and found Mr. Turner in his room. He was wrapping up some of his wife's personal effects and packing them in corrugated boxes. We told him about the coroner's report. I don't think I believe that, Sergeant. People just don't suffocate. There's got to be a reason for it. Yes, sir. That's what we're looking for. Well, don't they know? Can't they tell you how it happened with the doctors? Well, she had severe convulsions. She suffocated. That's just all they could tell us. Well, the bruise on her head, Gertrude's forehead. What did they say about that? Well, that wasn't the cause of death, Mr. Turner. She could have gotten a bump when she fell out of bed. It might have been that. It might not. I just don't understand. You'd think they'd be some way of telling. Well, we were around talking to some of your friends in the neighborhood this morning. Friends of you and your wife. Oh, yeah. Oh, they've been real friends, officers. Everyone, they've been up to see me, brought me meals and things. Say, isn't that a pretty thing? Just look at them. Yes, sir. Real-born China. A cup in the saucer. Gertrude used to collect them. Had all kinds. Pretty. Yes, sir. When we were talking to you yesterday, sir, you told us that you and your wife got along pretty well. No arguments? Yes, sir. That's right. Well, now, some of your friends tell us you used to argue with your wife quite a bit. Who told you that? Some of your friends here in the neighborhood. Is that true? Well, when we first got married, Gertrude and I, I guess we had a few spats. No different than other people. Getting used to each other, things like that, you know. Mm-hmm. Well, did you ever strike your wife, Mr. Turner? Why do you ask that? Routine question. Did you ever strike your wife, Mr. Turner? Yes. One of the first arguments we had. I don't even remember what it was about. That's how important it was. Mm-hmm. I, well, I lost my temper, I guess. I, I kind of slapped her. I felt like a no-good bum. Never once happened again. Slapped and Gertrude. It's hard to remember right now. Well, we asked you the same question yesterday, sir. Couldn't you tell us that then? Well, I'm sorry, officer. I, I guess I missed it. I, well, I wasn't feeling too good. I think you know what I mean. But you remember us asking if your wife had any gentlemen friends? Yes, I remember that. Well, now is it true? Well, there's one fellow named Clyde Warren, runs a drug store down the street. I guess Gertrude knew him better than anybody, but he was my friend, too. Well, did you ever complain to this Clyde Warren that he was spending too much time around your wife till he ought to see last hour? I think I did maybe once or twice. It was kind of in a foolin' way. Certainly didn't mean it. Clyde Warren's one of my best friends. Well, did you ever complain to your wife that she was spending too much war? No, sir, never even mentioned it. Why ask me all these things? Well, your wife's dead, Mr. Ternan. We still haven't found out why. But you asked me questions like I had something to do with it. Well, you were the last one to see her alive, sir. You were alone with her in this room the night she died. You think I killed Gertrude? Is that it? You think I killed my own wife? No, sir, we didn't say anyone killed her. You think I killed my own wife? You think I killed her? Or did you kill her, Mr. Ternan? You know I didn't kill Gertrude. You know I didn't do that. I'm sorry, sir. There's not much else we can do now. What do you mean? Korner found a series of bruises on the body right around here, in the base of the neck. We know she died of suffocation. The two things seem to fit pretty well. I don't know what you mean. I didn't see any bruises, not on her neck. I don't know what you mean. Well, I'll take you downtown, sir. Call your lawyer now, if you like. I don't have a lawyer. Why are you taking me downtown? No alternative. We're going to have to book you. How's that? Suspicion to murder. 10, 25 a.m. Before we booked him at the main jail, Mr. Turner asked us if we'd get off a telegram to his sister-in-law, Mrs. Helen Raymond in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and forming her of what had happened. We told him we would, and we did. We booked him in on suspicion of 187 PC, and then we checked back in at the office. We put in a call to the insurance company that held a policy on Mrs. Turner. Yes, sir. Gertrude Agnes Turner. Mm-hmm. What was that? All right. Right. Thank you, sir. Goodbye. What'd they have to say? Mrs. Turner had three different policies on her life, total of $5,000. Mr. Turner's a beneficiary on all three. Well, that'll do for a motive. And something else here. Yeah. Newest policies for $1,000. Industrial policy. When was it taken out? Three weeks ago. You are in the Scientific Investigation Division of the Metropolitan Police Department, the Ballistics Room. You have just heard a test bullet fired from a 38-caliber revolver found in the possession of a suspect. The test slug is removed from the Ballistics box and compared with the slug found at the scene of the crime. There they are. Side by side, they look alike, but examination will prove a world of difference. You'll find the same is true when you compare king-size cigarettes. Fatimas are the same length as any other king-size cigarette, 85 millimeters. Fatima has the same circumference, one and one-sixty-fourth 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. You get all the advantages of extra length plus Fatima quality, which no other king-size cigarette has. So compare Fatima yourself. Your first puff will tell you... Ah, that's different. Yes, in Fatima, the difference is quality. Buy Fatima. Best of all, long cigarettes. Monday, November 15th, 10 a.m., the investigation went on. We failed to uncover any additional evidence against the suspect, Mr. Turner. We had three main points against the man. The recently issued insurance policy on his wife for $1,000, the fact that he had fought with his wife and struck her on several occasions, and the series of bruises which had been discovered at the base of the dead woman's neck. Well, as it stood, we weren't too sure that the case had holed up in court. Ben was less sure that the old man was actually responsible for the death of his wife. We figured if Turner was guilty, we might try to impress him with the evidence against him and attempt to get a confession. Monday, 1 p.m., we went over to the main jail to interrogate the suspect. You want to step aside there? They want to lock that door. Oh, yes, sir. This way, Mr. Turner. I'll get the light switch right here, Mr. Turner. Mr. Turner, you'd like to sit down? All right. Thank you. Why'd you come to see me? Have you found out something? We've been checking a little bit further into the case, Mr. Turner. We've got a few more questions for you, if you don't mind. Did you send the message to my sister-in-law, Mr. Raymond, the one I asked you to send? Yes, sir, we took care of it. You got the address right, didn't you? Fort Wayne, Indiana? That's right. They sent a telegram, told her all about it. That was two days ago. She should have gotten it, but now I haven't heard a word from her. Are you sure she got the telegram all right? Pretty sure. We'll check on it and we'll get back to the office. A few things we got here that you might like to know about, sir. Maybe you can help clear them up for us. What's that, officer? We understand that your wife, Gertrude, had some insurance on herself. $5,000 worth. Yes, that's right. Something you want to know about it. Well, she named you as the beneficiary in each of her policies. Is that correct? Yes, sir. Gertrude was a great believer in insurance. Don't hold with it too much, myself. She used to tell me all the time. Yes, sir. In case she died first, she wanted me to have a little something for old age. Something to retire on and get a little ranch out in the valley. I understand she took out a policy just lately. $1,000, about three weeks ago. I know about it. I didn't want her to do it. Clean waste of money, I told her. Payments are pretty steep. Well, sir, is there anybody who can back that up that you told your wife you didn't want her to take out that policy? No, I don't think so. We didn't talk about our business with other people. Yeah. Friday of the month. Yeah? What is it? Phone calls, that's important. Do you want to get it, Ben? You okay? You can take it out to the desk here. All right, Ben. I think I know what you mean, the insurance. You think that's why I killed Gertrude. Isn't that right? Well, sir, put yourself in our place, Mr. Turner. What would you think? You know in your heart I didn't kill my wife. You know that in your heart. Well, they don't pay us for what we believe, Turner. They pay us to get the facts to run down evidence. Doesn't make any difference what I believe. Would you know I didn't kill her? You know that, don't you? Well, sir, I know we ask you if you ever argued with your wife and you told us no. We found out you beat her up a couple of times. We ask you if she was friendly with any of the men in the neighborhood you told us no. We found one. We ask you about the bruises the coroner found on her neck. You don't know. You can't explain them. We ask if your wife had been ill, if she had any sickness to explain her dying the way she did and you said no. We ask you about the insurance. You can't explain that either. Three weeks before she dies, she takes out $1,000 on her life. She dies in the same room with you and you don't know how or why. Now, you tell me, Mr. What are we supposed to believe? I didn't kill her. Somebody has to believe that somebody... I didn't kill her. Joe, see you in a minute. Yeah. Yeah. I'm calling Carl. It was a long distance. Turner's sister-in-law Mrs. Raymond. And what she want? Calling from Fort Wayne. She's flying out here tonight. Seems pretty raw to her. About her sister, huh? Mostly about Mr. Turner. She claims he's innocent. Seems pretty sure of it. She can prove that Turner didn't kill his wife. That's what she said. She's bringing the proof with her. Tuesday, November 16th. Turner's sister-in-law Mrs. Raymond was scheduled to arrive at 6 p.m. by plane from Indiana. At 2 p.m. one of the main points in the case against the suspect was proven false. A woman friend of Mrs. Turner, after reading of the husband's arrest in the paper, informed us that while Mrs. Turner was visiting her home a few days before she died, she complained of a severe headache. The woman's son, who was studying to be a carer, attempted to treat Mrs. Turner's headache by manipulating the muscles in her neck and shoulders. The woman said that Mrs. Turner called the next day and complained about receiving bruises on her neck as a result of her son's experimental treatment. The son came down to the office and signed a full statement to this effect. At 7 p.m., Mr. Turner's sister-in-law arrived. Wither was a Dr. John Grant, a Fort Wayne physician. The two of them told us their story and gave us all the information they had concerning the case. Ben and I went immediately to the main point and picked up Mr. Turner and brought him back to the office. His sister-in-law and Dr. Grant waited in the adjoining room. Why did you bring me here? You're going to ask me more questions? I told you everything. No, sir. No more questions. You can't take me off the prison. I haven't had a trial yet. No, sir. You're not going to have a trial, Mr. Turner. We're releasing you. How's that? Your sister-in-law, Ms. Raymond, she's in the next room with her doctor. They're going to take you home, sir. I don't think I understand, officer. How do you mean? Your sister-in-law just got in from Fort Wayne tonight, and she has her family doctor with her. They told us about your wife, Gertrude, everything we had to know. About Gertrude? My wife? What do you mean, officer? Well, maybe you can understand, sir. Your wife was afraid to let you know. She told her sister she was afraid it might break up her marriage. Afraid to tell me what? Well, your wife suffered from epilepsy. She had it most of her life. She had epilepsy? Yes, sir. She did. This doctor, Grant, showed us that he's been sending your wife medicine ever since you moved out here to California. We treated her many times for the same thing before you met her. She figured it might ruin her chances of marrying you, so she kept it a secret. The medicine? I remember that. You used to come through the mail. Well, that's it, sir. Counts for the headache she had the night before she died. She probably had an attack during the night, suffocated. That's how you found her in the morning. Well, why didn't they know the corner they examined her? Well, sir, that's just the point. If you die of epilepsy, there's just no way of telling, not even by autopsy, convulsions and suffocation. That's the only way they can list it. And she was ashamed, Richard. She was afraid to tell me. Yes, sir. That's what she wrote to your sister-in-law. We saw the letters. And I can leave now if I want to? Is it all right? You'll get you things from the property clerk first, and then you can go. Can I see Helen now, my sister-in-law? I'd like to say hello. Yes, sir, you can. It's right through that door. Well, thank you kindly. It's all right. Officer. Yes. Just one thing I'd like to ask. Yes. You knew all the time, didn't you? I mean, in your own heart. How's that? I couldn't have killed Gertrude. In your own heart, you knew that, didn't you? Officer. Yes, sir. I know it. I thought you did. I'll be right back. Joe, I wouldn't worry about it. Well, sir, we'll call it a white lie. The story you've just heard was true. Only the names were changed to protect the innocent. On November 16th, the meeting was held in the office of Blaine Steed, Captain of Homicide. In a moment, the results of that meeting. And now here is our star, Jack Webb. Thank you. Friends, the makers of Fatima do everything possible to produce the king-size cigarette that you want. Just as we on Dragnet try to bring you the kind of entertainment that you want. Well, in our honest opinion, Fatima is the best of all long cigarettes. And I know from reading our Dragnet mail that more and more of you back me up on that. If you haven't tried Fatima's yet, may I suggest you buy a pack? You'll find Fatima gives you all the advantages of extra-length plus Fatima quality, which no other king-size cigarette has. Remember, tomorrow, first chance you get, buy Fatima. The death of Pertrude Agnes Turner was proved beyond a doubt to be due to natural causes. A 9.10 report was made, which completely exonerated the husband of the dead woman. 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. Stay tuned for counterspying, next over most NBC stations.