 Ladies and gentlemen, the story you're about to hear is true. The names have been changed to protect the innocent. Dragnet, the authentic story of your police force in action. Your detective sergeant. You're assigned a homicide detail. An elderly woman in your city has disappeared. There's no lead to where she's gone or why she left. Your job? Find her. Dragnet is brought to you by Chesterfield. Made by Liggett and Myers, whose research laboratory in Durham, North Carolina is acknowledged the most modern and best equipped for tobacco research. Enjoy your choice of these three brands, tested and approved by 30 years of scientific tobacco research. L and M filters. Newest, best, and purest of filter-tipped cigarettes. Fatima with tips of perfect cork. And America's most popular two-way cigarette. Regular and king-size Chesterfield. 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 Wednesday, July 14th. It was hot in Los Angeles. We were working the day. Watch out a homicide detail. My partner's Frank Smith, the boss's captain alarm from My Name's Friday. We were on our way out from the office, and it was 9.47 a.m. when we got to 654 Kenmore Avenue. Yes. Ms. Crocker? It's Ms. Crocker, but I'm her. Police officers. Oh, yeah, come in. Thank you. It's my partner Frank Smith, My Name's Friday. How you doing, ma'am? Just sit down there on the couch. Move that afk in. I was laying down when you got here. It's a terrible thing. I just know it. Yes, ma'am. If you tell us about it, please. Just bet I will. First off, can I get you something? Maybe a cup of coffee, a little piece of cinnamon toad? No, thank you, ma'am. Okay. You change your mind. You just let me know. Yes, we will. Now, if you just tell us about Mrs. Gillespie, please. I hope if anything ever happens to me, I get this kind of service. Yes, ma'am. Are you a friend of Mrs. Gillespie? Her best. That's why I know something's happened to her. Uh-huh. She wouldn't just take off like this without telling me, matter of fact, she didn't tell nobody. All of a sudden, she was gone. All right. If you'd start right at the beginning and just tell us the whole story, please. Well, Bertha Gillespie and me been friends for years. I see. Her and me been friends for years ever since her husband died and she opened up the tea cozy. That's the little tea shop she has. Yeah. Nice place. She's done real good with it. All the ladies in the neighborhood go down there for afternoon tea. She serves those little tiny cake rolls with a pot of tea. Ladies fingers, you know. Yes, ma'am. Well, a couple of days ago, I went down there to see Bertha. You know what day that was? I said, do you know the exact date? Oh, well, let's see. This is Wednesday. I guess it must have been Saturday. Yes, that's it. Saturday. All right. Would you like to go ahead, please? Well, I went down to the tea cozy and there was a sign right on the door telling how Bertha was sick and she'd gone away for a couple of days. Was she in poor health? Bertha? Yes, ma'am. Bertha was as strong as an ox. Nothing wrong with her. Besides, that is our only Friday night. She didn't say nothing to me about being sick. Not a word. I see. That's what made me figure that there was something wrong. For the past 10 years, if there was anything on Bertha's mind, she told me about it, you just bet she did. Well, isn't it possible that she just used the pretended illness as an excuse? That she just went away on a trip, maybe? Oh, Bertha wouldn't do that. Why do you say that? Well, because she just wouldn't do it. Not with Saturday coming up. If there isn't anything in the world, it could make Bertha leave. Well, what's happening Saturday? Scrabble. Big party. Scrabble. You know, the word game. Oh, yeah. Yeah, I know what you mean. Well, the ladies in the neighborhood have a sort of club. We meet down at the cozy and play our tournaments. Bertha's the champion. Hasn't been anybody that can beat her real good. You know, not regular. Yes, ma'am. But that's why she wouldn't leave. This Saturday was her first big match outside the club. A woman from West Los Angeles was coming out here to challenge her. Bertha's been in training all week. Well, she wouldn't just walk out on the match. I'm telling you, officers, there's something wrong. Well, has Mrs. Gillespie any relatives here in Los Angeles? No. No, she's got some people back east of Mississippi, I think. Possible that she might have left to go see them. I told you. Not with the big match coming on. Ain't nothing in the world that keeps Bertha from playing in that. Nothing, and you believe it. Yes, ma'am. Does she have any men friends? Well, you mean romantic? Yes. Well, there's Chester. But that's not what I'd call a real romance. Bertha'd go out to the movies with him once in a while. Maybe he'd come over to the T-Cos even in the evening and they'd sit there and watch the television. But there'd always be somebody else there, mostly me. No, no, you couldn't say that it was any kind of a romance with Chester. Do you have his address? Are you going to talk to him? Yes, we'll have him. He won't be any good. I already did. He don't know where Bertha is. If you'll just give us the phone number of this Chester, we'll check on your friend. Yeah, you check. You'll find out what I said is true. Yes, ma'am. I'd thank somebody done Bertha in. She wouldn't just take off like this without telling me. Well, ma'am, did she have any enemies in the neighborhood? Anybody that you think might want to do her harm? No, not a soul, not a single one. Isn't anyone who didn't like her. Well, maybe Mrs. Ruhman didn't care much for her, but I think that was kind of a jealous thing. What do you mean? Scrabble. What's that? Mrs. Ruhman, a Helen. She thought she could play the game. Then when she challenged Bertha to a match, well, it was pretty terrible. 457 to 214. Helen was pretty upset. She tried to make out like she was a good loser. You know, kind of smiled, laughed. I can tell. She didn't like being skunked. Yes, ma'am. Can you think of any reason why anyone would want to harm Mrs. Gillespie? Not right off, unless it was for money. What? Last time I saw her, she was carrying a lot of cash money around with her. Yeah. $2,500. 1033 AM. We put in a call to Missing Persons Detail and checked the name Bertha Gillespie through the files. There had been no report filed on her, and her name did not appear in the Gaga file. We checked the name through R&I, but she had no criminal record in Los Angeles. 1047 AM. We drove by the T. Cozy restaurant. On the front door, attached with cellophane tape, was a hand-lettered note reading, Taking a short vacation, watch for reopening. Through the glass pane, we could see the interior of the shop. Everything appeared to be in order. Frank and I checked the rear of the building, but from what we could see, there was nothing out of line. 1128 AM. We put in a call to the missing woman's boyfriend, Chester Avan. He told us that he talked to the Gillespie woman on the previous Friday night, and she'd appeared in Good Spirits, and had said nothing about leaving. We checked at her bank. We found that she'd made a withdrawal from her savings account to the amount of $2,500. This left a balance of over $12,000 in the savings account. $6,000 in the checking account. The manager of the branch told us that he'd spoken with Mrs. Gillespie when she'd taken the money, and that she told him that she was thinking of taking a short vacation. We got in touch with Miss Crocker and told her what we'd found. We asked her if she wanted to file a missing persons report. She said that she'd wait until the end of the week and if her friend hadn't returned by then, that she'd come into the office. A month passed before we heard from her again. On the morning of Friday, August 20th, she called to tell us that she still hadn't heard from Mrs. Gillespie, and asked that we conduct a formal investigation. She came down to the office and filled out a form 316. Frank and I drove out to the restaurant to check it again. It was exactly as it had been when we'd last seen it. We tried the doors and found that they were still locked. 1.43 p.m. We went back to the office. Yes, sir. Well, it's kind of high, isn't it? Yeah. Well, did your people check into it? I see. Well, thank you, Mr. Jones. If you find out anything, we'd appreciate it if you'd give us a call. Right? That's Michigan 5211, extension 2521. Yes, sir. Either officer Frank Smith or Sergeant Joe Friday. That's right. Thanks for your help. Yes, indeed. Thank you. Goodbye. Well, that finishes up the utility calls. Oh, what do you got? Telephone bill for the past 30 days is just the service charge. No toll calls. Same with the electric lights. Uh-huh. They received payment in the last month today? No. Telephone company says they haven't been paid in over 60 days. Says they've sent a couple of reminders. Only reason they haven't cut off the service is the bills have always been paid properly in the past. I see. I checked with our business office. Girl tells me the bill usually runs around 10 bucks. Possible, and that the phone hasn't been used at all, huh? Yeah, it shapes up that way. Same with the lights. The one thing doesn't match. Yeah, what's that? The water bill. I checked with them. Normal bill's about 4 bucks for the place. Yeah. Last 60 days, it's been $79. That's a lot of water, isn't it? Yeah. I talked to one of the engineers who jumped like that. Yeah. A water tap. Yeah. Running for about a month. 206 p.m., we called the bank where Mrs. Gillespie had her accounts. The head cashier told us that since the date she'd withdrawn the $2,500, it'd been no deposits or withdrawals made. We telephoned the missing woman's friend, Mrs. Winifred Crocker. From her, we got the name and address of the owner of the building where the tea cozy restaurant was located. Frank and I signed out of the office and drove out to see him. The address we'd been given was a large house and we rang the bell to the front door, but we got no answer. We walked around to the back of the property to a large garage. Now, Joe, if we find this guy, we can find out if she gave him some indication she was going to leave. Yeah. Sounds like there's somebody there. Yeah. In here again. Yeah. We'd like to see Virgil Medina. I'm him. What do you want? Police officers. We'd like to check out a few things with you if we can. What about? All might be easier if we talked inside. I got no truck with the cops. I got nothing I want. Now, you can just ask your questions from out there. All right, sir. That's the way you want it. That's the way it's going to be. Now, I'll get your questions asked and go about your business. You own a building located at 687 Kenmore Avenue? Why? Look, Mr. Medina, we're trying to conduct an investigation. We'd like to have your cooperation. If you don't want to talk here, we can go downtown. I own the building. Why? You have a tenant named Bertha Gillespie? Yes. Why? When'd you see her last? What's all this about Bertha anyway? What are all these questions? You got something you want to know about her? Go ask her yourself. Anything I can tell you that she can't. Go talk to her. Leave me alone. Where'd you see her last? Down at the restaurant. What time of day? Night. Nighttime. Would you try to remember what date it was? It's pretty important. Wait a minute. I'll try to figure. See, I guess it must have been on a Saturday night. Do you have any way of being sure that that's the date? Look, you come around here asking questions, and I'll give you an answer. You can take it or leave it. I got no way of being sure. That's the day I think I saw her last. She seemed in good spirits. What do you mean by that? Was she happy or was there something worrying her? She seemed happy to me. I didn't pay a lot of attention. What are your cops trying to find out? You come right out and tell me what you want. Maybe I'll have the answer. But I haven't got time to stand around and waste time with you. You tell me why you're asking these questions or you can leave. Mrs. Gillespie's been reported missing. We're trying to trace it. Well, who done that? Who says she's missing? Well, that's not the important point here. We got the report. We've got to check it out. Well, whoever told you that's crazy. If Bertha's gone, there's good reason for it. I guess she just finally got fed up and left town. What do you mean? She made a mint of money from that place. Regular mint. She used to tell me that when she had enough, she was going to just take off and see the world. Go around the whole world on a tramp steamer. She told me when she signed the last piece that she thought this would be the last one. Aye, she ain't missing. She's just gone. Is she saying anything to you about the fixtures in the place? What do you mean? Well, you know, the furniture, all the fixtures. They belong to her, don't they? Yes, I guess so. Well, is she making arrangements to dispose of them? Not for me. She didn't. Wonder if you have a key to the place. The T-Cosy? Yes, sir. No, I don't. You own the building and you don't have a key to the restaurant? Well, no, I had one, but I lost it. Never had another one made. Why? What do you want with the key? We want to check the premises. Well, as far as I'm concerned, you've got no right to do that. These belong to Mrs. Gillespie. You've got no right to go tromping around in there. I'm afraid we're going to have to. Then you're going to do it without my say so. All right, sir. That's the way it's going to be. I'm telling you, she ain't going to like it. She ain't going to like you going in the placement she isn't there. Well, we'll take that up with her. Well, you better, because I'm not going to take any responsibility for it. We're not asking you to, Mr. Medina. I'll give you this, though. Yes, sir. What's that? You go nosing around. You're allowed to come up with something that you ain't looking for. Well, thanks for your help, Mr. Medina. Don't mention it. Just remember what I told you about finding trouble and ain't looking for it. Well, that doesn't happen often. Huh? We're looking for it. 314 p.m., Frank and I drove back to the T. Cozy restaurant on Kenmore Avenue. We checked the front door of the place. It was locked. While Frank covered one side of the building, I took the other side, looking for open windows. How about it? No, no luck. Me neither. What do we do now? Well, we'll have to try to force one of the windows in the back. All right. Well, I think maybe we can get in here. You're going to break it? Well, we're going to have to. Wait a minute, Joe. Huh? You hear water running? It sounds like it's coming from inside. Yeah, it might be. Well, let's get in there. You want my gun? No, I'll use the handcuffs. See if I can knock a hole in the top half of the window here. Wait a minute. You better use your handkerchief. Let me borrow yours. Here. All right. All right. There, that does it. All right. Yeah, let me shot in front. All right. See anything? No, I'm a look gent. This must be the living room. Everything looks OK here. A little dusty. Yeah. Water's running someplace. Wait a minute. Sounds like it's coming from over there. Better turn it off. They call a crime lab, huh? Yeah. Kind of a rough one, isn't it? Yeah. Looks like she put up quite a fight. Blood stains all over the place. Look here. Huh? I guess this is what killed her. Yeah. Butcher knife. From a picture in the description that we'd gotten from Winifred Crocker, we identified the victim as the missing woman, Bertha Gillespie. We put in a call for the crime lab. Lee Jones and his crew came out and went over the place. The rest of the restaurant seemed to be in order. There was no sign of a struggle of any kind, except in the bathroom where the body had been found. The murder weapon, the butcher knife, was dusted for prints as was the rest of the restaurant, but the partials that the crime lab came up with were worthless for classification. They would be sufficient, however, for comparison if we caught the killer. The search of the personal effects of the dead woman revealed no further information to Adis in apprehending her killer. The $2,500 that she was known to have had when she was last seen was missing. 621, the men from the crime lab finished their investigation on the scene, and the coroner's office was called. They came out and removed the body. They also locked the door and affixed the coroner's seal. 645 p.m., Frank and I got back to our car to go down to the office. Well, let's go, Frank. Yeah. Hey, wait a minute. Hold it, Frank. Huh? That's a little kid. You guys the cops? Yeah, son, what's the matter? Not excitement around here, huh? Yeah, that's right. Something we can do for you? No. I figure maybe there's something I can do for you. What do you mean? You know who did the murder yet? Why do you say it was a murder, son? I know who did it. You are listening to Dragnet, the authentic story of your police force in action. There are good reasons why thousands of people are changing to Chesterfield every day. Why Chesterfield is the largest selling two-way cigarette in America. Why Chesterfield is best for me and best for you. People these days want facts. When you want people to use your product, you have to tell them what effect it has on people who do use it regularly. That's why a doctor has examined for almost two years a large group of Chesterfield smokers. 45% of them have on the average been smoking Chesterfields for well over 10 years. What is the effect on these people from smoking Chesterfield? No adverse effects to the nose, throat and sinuses, says the doctor. Consider Chesterfield's record with these smokers, with millions of other smokers throughout America. Another good reason for you to change to Chesterfield. Regular or king size, Chesterfield is best for me, best for you. The working detective has learned by experience that approximately 60% of all homicides are solved within 20 minutes after the arrival of the authorities. Two things are necessary in establishing the identity of a killer. Motive and opportunity. In the present instance we had the motive. $2,500 that the dead woman had withdrawn from her account was missing. However a month had passed between the time the actual murder had taken place and it had been discovered. Ample time for the killer to cover his tracks. Now before we could leave the scene, we had a witness who stated that he could name the killer for us. We asked the boy to get into the backseat of the police car while Frank and I questioned him. What's your name, son? Good, Eric. Kids always call me Gordy. Uh-huh. How old are you? Seven. Now what's all this about you being able to tell us who killed Mrs. Gillespie? I can't. Well, who was it? Mr. Medina. You mean the man who owns the building? Yeah, that's who I mean. Well, that's a pretty serious charge, Gordon. Do you have any way to prove that? I guess I really can't prove it, but I know it's true. Well, how do you know it? I just know that's all. I've seen him there. I just seen him going in and out. Well, when was this? Three weeks ago. Maybe a month. But he used to go in and out all the time. Argued with Mrs. Gillespie. What do you mean by argument? Loud. Mr. Medina screamed at Mrs. Gillespie. Well, you ever hear any of these arguments, son? Sure. My mother's a friend of Mrs. Gillespie. We just served a couple blocks away on Dewey Street. I play over here all the time. I've heard Mr. Medina yell at her and yell at her. What they argue about, son? Mostly about at least something. Seems like Mr. Medina wants Mrs. Gillespie to move out. She didn't want him. Made him pretty sore. You've got to talk to him. He'll tell you the same thing about how he used to fight with her. All right, son. Your mother ever hear any of these fights? Sure. You ask her. She'll tell you the same way just as I did. Okay. Is she home now? Should be. Maybe she went out to the store or something. She should be home. Okay, son. Let's go prank. Yeah. I guess this is about the most excitement we've had for a long time. Yeah? Poor old Mrs. Gillespie. She was a nice old lady. Real nice. Mm-hmm. Wasn't hardly anybody that didn't like her. Hardly anybody. How about Mr. Medina? 7.04 p.m. We drove young Gordon Eric to his home and talked with his mother. She verified his story about the arguments between the victim and Medina. She went on to say that Medina had threatened Mrs. Gillespie saying that if she wouldn't vacate the premises, he'd take care of her. We had their statements taken and at 8.40 p.m. we went by Medina's house and asked him to accompany us downtown. We finally agreed, although he was sullen and uncooperative. When we got him down to the office, we checked his name through the record bureau, but we found that he had no criminal record in Los Angeles. His prints were rolled and sent to Harlan Stahl for comparison with those found on the murder weapon. While we waited for the results, we talked to him in the squad room. You're going to regret this, you know that? Yeah. You're dragging me down here with all these questions. You just wait until my lawyers get here. You put a stop to all this foolishness. You want to tell us what it's all about, Medina? Tell you about what? One of my tenants got himself killed. Now listen, I got property all over town. A lot of tenants. I worried about each one of them. I wouldn't have no time to do nothing else. We understand you had some pretty big arguments with Mrs. Gillespie. Who said that? Who told you that? Is it true? Why, it's a lie. You bring the person in here and send it, and I'll tell them it's a lie. Write their fate. You just bring them in here. We can't do that, and you know it. Yeah, of course you can. You know why? You want me to tell you? Go ahead, you tell us. You can't show the person who said that because there ain't no such person. Anybody in the world who says, I'll get with Bertha. Uh-huh. You try to get her to break her lease with you? That's none of your business. I told you before. I'm not about to answer a lot of questions that aren't none of your concern. Couple of things we better set you straight on, Mr. You're a suspect and a murderer. Now, if you're smart, you're going to realize that and give us some straight answers. Just wait until my lawyer gets here. He'll take care of all this. He's going to fix you for taking my fingerprints. I still don't think you have any right to do that. No right at all. I'll get it. Homicide Friday. Yeah, Harlan. How many? Thank you. You want to tell us why you killed her, Medina? What are you talking about? That was our fingerprint, man. They checked your prints against the ones we found on the murder knife. They match perfectly. Mm-hmm. You sure, are they? They're sure. All right. I didn't mean to do it. I really didn't mean to, honestly. Just all of a sudden, I got so mad. I was standing there smiling. You should have known it. She had a way of smiling at you and you knew that there wasn't anything that you could do. You just stand there smiling. I didn't mean to kill her, though. You've got to believe that I didn't mean to kill her. You want to tell us how it happened? Have you got a cigarette? Yeah. Here you go. Thanks. There's a match. I had a chance to lease the place to some other people. More money. I tried to get her out. Go ahead. I tried to talk to her. I tried to get her to retire. She had enough money. She didn't ever have to worry. All I wanted to do was to get out. But she wouldn't. He said I'd sign the lease with her and she was going to keep it. How much difference was there between what she was paying and what the new people were going to give you? $50 a month. You killed her for that? Oh, yeah, you don't understand. You've got to try. Not really. This is important. If you knew Bertha, you'd know why I did it. You see, I went to her. I told her that I'd give her a lease on another piece of property. I'd give it to her at less money. I was trying to be fair. You can see that. I wanted to be fair. Well, that Saturday night, I decided to have it out with her. I went over to talk, tried to convince her that she wouldn't listen. She just wouldn't listen. I tried everything to make her listen, but she wouldn't. She just stood there and told me that she had the lease and that she was going to keep it. She just stood there with that superior smile of hers, like she knew it all, makes you want to shithead as hard as you could. If you knew her, you'd see what I mean. You'd see, you'd see. Did you take the money? Yes. I don't know why I did that. Just all of a sudden, I got so mad at her, I picked up the knife and I killed her. I didn't mean to honest, I didn't. As soon as I saw her, I was sorry. I was real sorry. Did you turn that water on? Well, I guess so. You see, I don't remember too good. I washed my hands after I killed her. I remember that. I guess I did leave the water on. I guess I did, yes. All right. Do you want to get the stenographer, Frank? Sure. Thanks. You've seen the way she thought she was so much better than anybody else, you know. Is that right? Sure. All those old hands clucking around all the time, building her up, making her feel superior, real superior. If she'd just moved out, if she'd just let me have the place, it all would have been all right. If she'd just done that, that's a lot of money, you know. Fifty dollars a month. That's what I stood to make on the deal. Yeah. It was worth it, don't you think? Fifty dollars a month without turning a hand? Everybody had figured that way, wouldn't they? Well, everybody'd think so. Now, when you get where you're going, you're going to ask them. The story you have just heard is true. The names were changed to protect the innocent. On November 10th, trial was held in Department 97, 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. Thank you, George Veneman. Friends, we've told you that Chesterfield is the best cigarette for you to smoke. Now, to me, Chesterfield's record with people who do smoke them regularly backs up that statement. Chesterfield's are best because they're highest in quality, low in nicotine, because they smoke mild, and they're really satisfying. I wish you'd give them a try and see for yourself. America's most popular two-way cigarette, regular or king-sized Chesterfield. Best for me, best for you. Virgil Amel Medina was tried and convicted of murder in the second degree and received sentence as prescribed by law. Murder in the second degree is punishable by imprisonment in the state penitentiary for a period of from five years to 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 Wynn, Sergeant Vance Brasher. Heard tonight were Ben Alexander, Victor Rodman, Billy Chapin. Script by John Robinson. Music by Walter Schumann. Hell, give me speaking. Watch an entirely different dragnet case history each week on your local NBC television station. Please check your newspapers for the day and time. Chesterfield has brought you dragnet transcribed from Los Angeles. Filter tip smokers, this is it. L and M filters. The one filter cigarette with plenty of good taste. And the pure non-mineral filter. You get effective filtration because only the L and M filter contains alpha cellulose, entirely pure, harmless to health. L and M filters give you much more flavor, much less nicotine. It's the light and mild smoke. Yes, this is it. As Frederick March puts it, quote, L and M filters are just what the doctor ordered. Never had a filter cigarette that tasted so good. And a filter that does the job so well. Try them, unquote. Today by L and M filters. Here's John Cameron Swayze and the news next on the NBC Radio Network.