 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 a homicide detail. A woman's knife to death in her home. The body bears the mark of inhuman attack. The killer escapes. Your job. Get him. If you want a long cigarette, smoke the best of all long cigarettes. Smoke extra mild Fatima. Yes, Fatima is the king-size cigarette, which contains the finest Turkish and domestic tobaccos superbly blended to make it extra mild. To give Fatima a much different, much better flavor and aroma than any other long cigarette. That's why Fatima has more than doubled its smokers coast to coast. Enjoy extra mild Fatima yourself. Best of all, long cigarettes. It's wise to smoke extra mild Fatima. It's wise to smoke extra mild 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 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, September 29th. It was warm in Los Angeles. We were working the night watch out of homicide detail. My partner's Ben Romero. The boss is Captain Blaine Steed. My name's Friday. I was on the way back from the interrogation room. It was 11, 23 p.m. when they got to room 42. Homicide. Hi, Lorraine. Hello, Joe. Type this up for me. It's a dead body report. Thank you. How are you doing? They bring Palmer in here. He's in the interrogation room. Captain's with him. What's his story? He claims he had nothing to do with it. You contact any of the boys' relatives? Because he hasn't got any in town. It was just him and his mother. Who called you in the hall, didn't you? Yeah, they look after him for the time being. Pretty big shock for a kid. Yeah. Did you get anything out of him? Harry and I have been talking to him. Just starting to make sense. You want to lend a hand? Sure. We're going to the beach tomorrow with my mother and I. She had the day off and we were going to the beach. That's all I know. That's all she's got with me. Harry? Hi. You want to give it a try? Yeah. All right, Robert. Come on, son. It's going to be all right now. We need your help, Robert. I think you could answer a few questions for us. How about a bite to eat, son? Can I get you something? No, I'm not hungry. Okay. That's the stuff. Here, take it. It's a clean hand. Yeah. You're the cop that drove me down here, aren't you? That's right. I'm not going back to the house. You won't have to, son. I'm never going back to that place. It was off. Could you start from the beginning for us, Bob, and just take it easy? Tell us what you know. Okay. I think I could have a coat. I'll pick up a couple. Be right back. All right, Harry. Thanks, Harry. Well, all I know is I left the house about half past seven. Mom gave me the money to go to a show. Was she alone in the house when you left? Yeah, that's right. We had dinner and then I went to the show. You usually go to the show on school nights, son? No, but mom asked me if I wanted to go. She gave me the money. Double features. She told me to stay for both pictures. Did she usually tell you that? No. She always said to just stay for one picture. She didn't want me coming home so late. Was she expecting anybody to visit her, I mean, after you'd gone? She didn't say so. She just told me to stay for both pictures. That's all. What time did the movie let out? Almost eleven o'clock. Pretty late, so I went straight home. Mom was in the bedroom. She was on the floor. There was this knife, this big knife. What'd you do then, son? I ran outside, hollered. Wallace's came over from next door. I went inside and looked, then they called the cops. That knife you saw in the bedroom? I was blood on it all over it. It was terrible. Did you ever see the knife before? Yeah. Yeah, Roy gave it to my mom last year. It's a bowl of knife. Who is this Roy? Mom's boyfriend. One of them. He's in the Navy. Was he at your house tonight? I told you it was just mom and I. Roy had a fight with mom about two weeks ago. He said he didn't like her having other boyfriends and they had a fight. He argued, is that what you mean? Yeah, and once Roy slept my mother. Do you know one of these, Joe? No, no thanks, Harry. Oh, there's your coke, Ramy. Oh, yeah. Son, did you know most of your mother's friends? Most of them, yeah. Can you think of any of them who might have wanted to hurt your mother? I don't know. Roy Palmer, maybe. He was mad at her. He's the only one I can think of. I don't know. I don't want to think about it anymore. All right, son. We won't bother you anymore tonight. Thanks a lot. Yeah. Ben. Mm-hmm. You want to follow through with juvenile hall, see if the boy's taken care of. Okay. You're going to be in interrogation room? Yeah, I got a few more questions for Roy Palmer. Right. Check you later. Okay. Ramy, I'm back here Friday. No, not yet, Captain. Just talked with a Reynolds boy. Yeah. Can't believe anything that kid tells you. He's a liar. He hates me. You give him reason to hate you, Palmer? The kid's a liar, that's all. You were his mother's boyfriend. He says two weeks ago you had a fight with her that you slapped her. All right. I slapped her. That don't make it murder. I wasn't near that house last night and I didn't kill her. We found your knife in her bag. Huh? A polo knife, bone handle. That's not mine. I gave it to her a year ago for a present. Didn't even know she still had it. But why do you have to pick on me? Because you had a motive and you haven't got an alibi. What about all those bums she used to run around with? Why don't you ask them for alibis? When we find them, we'll ask them. Do you know any of them, Palmer? The other men that she went out with? How'd I know them? The only time she ran around was when I was on sea duty. And how'd you know she was running around? Friends of mine. They saw her out with these guys. I get it. Terrigation Room Friday. Lee Jones, Joe. Just got back from the Dixon House. Anything? Off to fast start. Layton Prince checked the murder weapon and that knife. Dust at the handle. Yeah? Fingerprints. Perfect set. Captain Steed and I took the suspect, Roy Palmer, down in the hall and had his fingerprints taken. At the same time, across the street in the crime lab, a set of fingerprints were lifted from the weapon which had taken the life of Mrs. Betty Dixon. The two sets of prints were checked and rechecked. They didn't match. Every object in the murder house was gone over for fingerprints and further evidence. Roy Palmer's fingerprints were on none of them. He was released pending further investigation. The only suspect in one of the most savage murders in the history of the city was free. The next morning, Captain Steed and I met with Chief of Detectives, Thad Brown. How about the dead woman's son? Did you talk to him again? Well, Romero's with him now. He's taken down a list of all the people at his mother's new friends' neighbors, everybody. No luck yet with a set of fingerprints? No, we've got no record on him. Checking him through Washington, we ought to get a kickback pretty soon. A set of prints and a piece of envelope. That's the physical evidence, huh? Yeah. One of the top corners off an envelope. We had a postmark on it down. Sonoma. Sonoma. Tie in with anything yet? No, not so far. Might turn up when we start checking the victim's friends. There you are. The post is the body of this corner, right? She saw this corner's report. Yeah, I did. I don't have to tell you. You're not after an ordinary killer. Twenty-three knife wounds. Revenge motive, maybe? Yeah. The reaction of the dead woman's neighbors. That's what's got me stuck. No one heard a thing? Mitchell and Dillion are still covering the neighborhood. Haven't found anyone yet who saw or heard anything unusual. Well, I can't buy it. A woman isn't just cut down like that without some kind of a commotion. Besides, the homes in that neighborhood are fairly close together. You shouldn't take much to make yourself heard from one house to the other. No sign of robbery or robbery? No, according to the boy, the house is intact. Nobody touched anything. It leaves you with a boyfriend angle. Lovers quarrel. We're stuck with him, yeah. Hi, Chief. Will Romero, good. How'd you make up? Better than I thought. The boy was over most of his shop this morning. Did he talk? Five pages of names and addresses. He gave me all of them. How about that boyfriend angle? About half a dozen names. Seems the mother had quite a social life since the boy's father died. You confirmed the boy's story about going to the movies? Yeah, it checks out. Pretty nice kid considering the environment he's been raised in. How about those names, Ben? Any of them lists Sonoma? Is there a hometown? No, I don't think so. Let me check here. Okay. No. No. No. Huh? Oh, none of them. All right. You better start digging into that list. Postmark may tie in later. Meantime, you still have that set of fingerprints. No chance for a mistake there. When they reach the right man, those prints will connect him with a killer. That makes it simple for him. The prints will tell us who he is. You've got only one answer to dig for him. There he is. Thursday, September 30th, 11 a.m. We started checking the list of the murdered woman's friends through R&I for any possible criminal record. It's usually the case that a major crime rates headline space twice. When the crime is committed, when the criminal is apprehended. Between the two, more than often there's a space of weeks and months, sometimes even years in which the police officer goes through the monotonous, undramatic business of checking files, asking questions, sifting and sorting leads and evidence until he finally reaches the criminal. For a new story, it's pretty dull material, but it proves out the contention of most working detectives. You don't catch criminals with headlines. Monday, October 4th, we checked with a Miss Lucille Dana, a counter clerk at a little market out on Crenshaw. That's a terrible thing. I've been away on my vacation. Heard about it when I got home yesterday. You were pretty good friends with Betty Dixon. Not right, Miss Dana? Yeah, pretty close. Excuse me a minute, I'll take care of this customer. Yeah, all right. Is everything all right, sir? Uh, no, two bags of them jelly beans, please. All right. Okay, that's all. All right. 19 is not much. Just a minute. Tommy? Yeah. Number two corned beef. How much? Just a minute. 67. Thanks. 217 out of five. 217 to 20, 25, 50, $3.45. Uh-huh. Okay. I just can't get over it, Sergeant. Poor Betty. We understand that you used to go out with the Dixon woman, Miss Dana. Do you know most of her close friends? Well, most of her men friends. We used to double date a lot together. I wonder if you'd take a look at this list of names that we have here. All right. Now, does that about cover all her boyfriends, all that you knew of, anyway? Yeah, I think so. I'll see Tony Mars. Y'all breathe, and I'll kneel. You don't have Floyd down here. Who is that, Floyd? Who? I never did know what his last name was. He used to take both of us out, Betty and I. Seemed to like her quite a bit. When's the last time she was out with him, do you know? Oh, five or six months ago, at least. Kind of strange. How do you mean? Floyd. Jealous, you know? Hot temper. Said he was Spanish, but he had a light complexion. Oh, excuse me, please. Sure. Yes, sir? A pack of that mint gun with some lighter flints, please. Yes, sir. Twenty-five. Thank you. All right. Could you describe this Floyd force, Miss Dan? Well, he was kind of fresh and conceited in some ways. He was attractive. A lot of fun. How about his physical appearance? Weight and height? About six feet, I'd say. Nice build. 180 pounds, I guess. Dark hair, dark brown eyes. Good dancer. How do you and Miss Dixon get along? Oh, I don't think he did it. Floyd and Betty used to fight all the time, but she used to fight with Roy Palmer, too. I don't think Floyd did it. Is he in town now, do you know? No, I don't. As I say, last time I saw him was six months ago. Would you know if Miss Dixon saw him recently? She did. She didn't tell me. You have no idea then where we could get in touch with this Floyd? Well, no, I don't. He's from up north originally. Is that so? Yeah, Sonoma. Ben and I went back to the office and got off a teletype to the Sonoma Police Department along with a description of the suspect named Floyd. Then we checked with the 16-year-old son of the murdered woman. He remembered the man called Floyd, and essentially his description of the suspect checked out with that given us by his mother's friend, Lucille Dana. 3 p.m., we met with Lieutenant Harry Didion, Captain Steed. You want to fill him in, Didion? Finally got in touch with a dead woman's next door neighbor, his name's Conroy. Did you hear anything about him? They seemed to be the only ones who heard anything the night of the murder. What they had to say? Let's see. Yeah, they saw Mrs. Dixon's son, Robert, leave the house about 7.30 the night of the murder. And nothing till 8.30. Yeah. They heard loud pounding on the back door of the Dixon Hall, and the door finally opened. They heard an angry woman's voice and invited the person in. A man? Yeah. In a description? Not much. He was tall, good build. Not much, Jack. The neighbor said it was quiet then for about an hour, and they heard a woman crying, said it sounded like Mrs. Dixon. They make out any of the conversation? I got it right here now. About 9.30, they heard Mrs. Dixon a lot of loud talking. She said, why don't you kill me then, Floyd, put me out of my misery? Anything else? They said it was quiet between 9.30 and 10, and they heard something that sounded like the thought of a body falling on the floor, a piece of furniture overturned. No screams for hell. Funny, but the neighbors say no. The only other thing they heard was Mrs. Dixon. Here's a quote. She said, do a good job, finish me off. None of the neighbors thought of calling the police. Well, they told me they didn't want to get mixed up in a family fight. None of their business. She had quite a few men visitors. Well, that's all of it, huh? No. One more thing. I guess this is what made the neighbors think everything was all right. About 10.15, they heard a man's voice, couldn't make out any words, and they heard Mrs. Dixon say, please, kiss me goodbye. A few minutes after that, they heard someone leave for the back door. They see him? Not very good. They think it was the same man they saw go in. Pretty tall, good build. That's it. Where does it leave us? Pretty weird. Huh, by that. I don't know. She was supposed to be a sane woman. She'd have to be pretty drunk to ask a man to kill her. A man would have to be pretty drunk to take her up on her. Why, the killer used that bow knife on the victim. That piece of envelope we found with the body. Yeah, it was postmarked sonoma. There's a state mental hospital up there. Just Hans? Maybe we're dealing with a maniac. 4 p.m. Monday. R and I could give us nothing because of the meager description. Ben and I checked out of the office and went over to the state building to the Department of State Institutions. First we checked the name Floyd through the files using it as a last name. Then as a first name, we failed to connect. Either the names didn't fit the description of the suspect or were elderly men still confined to the institution at Sonoma. We checked through the files using Floyd as a middle name. We came up with two recent parolees from Sonoma. Both matched the description almost perfectly. Both had the middle name of Floyd. We checked out the first one, Charles Floyd Johansson. We found out that he'd been returned to Sonoma almost a month before. The second parolee still had his freedom. We took a set of his fingerprints back to the office and had them checked out with a set of prints found on the murder weapon. How's it shaped up, Joey? Floyd Coleman. That's the right name? Yeah, any make. He's your killer. You are listening to Dragnet, the case history of a police investigation presented in the public interest by Fatima Cigarettes. If you smoke a long cigarette, it will be in your interest to listen to a typical case history of a Fatima smoker. It's the case of skating star Helen Davidson of the 1951 Ice Capades. This is her actual signed statement. Recently on tour with the Ice Capades, you notice more and more people smoking Fatima. You know why? If you like king-sized cigarettes, you're bound to prefer the one that's extra mild. I know I do. And I agree it's wise to smoke extra mild Fatima. More and more smokers are discovering this every day. Actual figures show extra mild Fatima has more than doubled its smokers coast to coast. So enjoy extra mild Fatima yourself. The king-sized cigarette, which contains the finest Turkish and domestic tobaccos, superbly blended to make it extra mild. You will prefer Fatima's much different, much better flavor. You will agree. It's wise to smoke extra mild Fatima. It's wise to smoke extra mild Fatima. The best of all, long cigarettes. Monday, October 4th, 7 p.m. We got on an APB and a radiogram on Richard Floyd Coleman. We checked DMV for possible auto ownership. From his record, we found that he had been confined twice to the state mental hospital at Sonoma. The first time for a period of two years, the second time for 14 months. Hospital file showed us that on both occasions, he had been committed by his older sister Evelyn Coleman, his only living relative. Her address was listed as 5640 Upper Terrace, an apartment court in the East Wilshire District. We drove out to question her. And one of her apartment windows was a hand-lettered sign. Seamstress dresses made to order Evelyn Marie Coleman. She turned out to be a tall, quiet girl in her 30s. Grey eyes, brown hair. She worked on the sewing machine while we talked with her. I'm sorry to be so rude, Sergeant, but I have to have this blouse ready by two this afternoon. This towel is putting the call for it. It's perfectly all right, Miss Coleman. Exactly. What was it that you wanted to know? It's about your brother, Richard. Oh, anything wrong? No, we're just checking that's all. We'd like to talk to him. What about? Routine check. We understand he spent some time up at Sonoma. Yes, he did. Richard's had a hard time of it. Doctors don't seem to know the trouble. Poor Richard. He's so mixed up. You're his only living relative? Yes, I am. Folks died when we were both young. Practically raised, Richard, myself. Have you seen your brother lately, Miss Coleman? No, not lately. Why? Do you have any idea where we might contact him? Well, no, I don't. You see, he travels around the state a good deal. Oh, is he working? No. Well, he writes from time to time. Oh, what was it you wanted to see him about, Sergeant? Just routine questioning. We'd like to talk to him. Oh. Where was he when you last heard from him, Miss Coombe? Well, couldn't you tell me what you wanted to see him about? We'd just like to question him, that's all. Well, what about? You can tell me. Is your brother in the city now? Oh, I don't know. I just got back. I haven't heard from him in two weeks. Almost three weeks. Does he usually stay here when he's in town? Well, sometimes, yes. Is Floyd in some kind of trouble? Is that the name he usually goes by, Floyd? Well, most of his friends call him Floyd. Why? You think he might be staying with one of his friends here in the city? He might be, I don't know. Look, Sergeant, if Floyd's in trouble, you can tell me. I've seen him through lots of trouble before. Not this kind, Miss. Women? Where's there something I could do? Where was he when you last heard from him? He was in Santa Barbara. He wrote me. Please, Sergeant, why do you have to see Floyd? Excuse me. Yeah, sure. Yes, Miss Tower? Uh-huh. Well, maybe just a few minutes late. Would 230 be all right? Oh, fine. Thank you. All right, Miss Tower. Bye. I have to hurry. This is Tower's blouse. Sure, you go right ahead. I really don't make much of a dressmaker, but I'm saving up. I'm going to buy a place for a valet further out. You find for Floyd, you mean? You're awfully good for him. Floyd has to get away from excitement. He's awfully nervous. Hello, Miss Coleman. Are those your brother's suitcases in the alcove back there? Yes, they are. They've been there for a month. I keep these odds and ends for him. I'm sure he hasn't been here in the past month. Oh, yes, I'm sure. Please, Sergeant, why don't you tell me the truth? I've been through this before. Was trouble with Floyd? What is it this time? It's pretty bad. Well, what is it? We want to ask him about a murder. Oh, no. He wouldn't do that. Are you sure it was Floyd? We'd like to talk to him. Floyd? It didn't have to happen. I was going to buy a place in the valley. Floyd would have liked it there. I was going to take care of him out in the valley. Do you have any idea where we could find him, Miss Coleman? No, I don't. I don't know where he is. Santa Barbara, that's the last I heard. I've been worried about him. If he was in the city, would he come here to stay, ma'am? All he did before, yes, but I don't know about now. Does he have a car? No, not that I know of. No, I... I don't know what he's living on. He doesn't have any money. Who was the woman? Well, Mrs. Dixon seems to know your brother pretty well. Oh, boy. You'd better grab that, Ben. Yeah, all right. Hello. Hey. That's all right. Thank you. Yeah. Mrs. Tire, I shall pick up her blouse tomorrow. I left Evelyn Coleman's place and went back to the office. The stakeout was placed on her apartment. Two days went by, nothing happened. Despite the fact the suspect's sister had promised to cooperate fully with us and locating her brother, a team of men was assigned to follow her wherever she went as insurance against any possible slip-up. As far as we were concerned, no precaution was out of reason. A maniac was on the loose in the city. The same maniac who had murdered the Dixon woman had done it once, and if the urge was there, he'd do it again. We sweated out the next three days. On the afternoon of the sixth day, we got an urgent call from one of the parole officers in the state institution's department, Ms. Gertrude Vaughn. Ben and I went over to check with her. The call came in about 20 minutes ago, Sergeant. Man's voice. What do you have to say? He wanted to talk to me about the Betty Dixon case. He seemed nervous. You're saying to anything about it? I didn't want to frighten him off asking too many questions. I got the idea he had something he wanted to get off his mind. Well, did he mention anything specific? I mean, names, places, anything like that? No, but I got the impression he knew quite a bit about the case. What else? He promised he'd be here by four o'clock. Said he'd be ready to talk. Well, it's 2.45 now. All right, Ben. Okay. Pull up a chair. We waited. 3.15, 3.30, 3.45. No sign of the anonymous caller. 4 p.m., still no sign. We waited. At 4.30, the office door opened and a tall, thin girl with brown hair came in and walked straight toward the desk of parole officer Gertrude Vaughn. We saw Miss Vaughn motion the girl across the room toward us. It was Evelyn Coleman. Sergeant. Miss Coleman? How are you? I know where Floyd is. I'll take you to him. 4.35 p.m., Ben and I left the state building with Evelyn Coleman. Got in our car and drove north across the city, according to her directions until we got on Highway 66. We continued driving north out of the city. Evelyn Coleman sat quiet in the back seat, looking at her hands folded in her lap. Except for directions, she said nothing. Approximately 3 miles out of the city, she directed us off onto a county highway. We drove east for a few miles, then we turned north onto an unpaved road lined with eucalyptus trees. We've gone a little less than a mile when she directed us to pull up. We can walk the rest of the way. Okay. It's not far. All right. This way. Your brother been out here all this time? He didn't tell me. He called this morning. He's supposed to give himself up. What happened? I don't know. He's worse now, I think. I could hardly understand him on the phone. It doesn't make sense. Is he alone now? He was when I left him. We'd go across this field here. Okay. Was your brother armed? No. Are they over there? Yeah. Shacked by the trees. You'll see. He's treated right. Yes, ma'am. We'll see to it. I brought them in, Floyd. They'll take you back. I'm Richard Floyd Coleman. I want to tell you I killed Betty Dixon. All right, Ben. I wanted to marry her. She didn't want to. She dared me to kill her. I grabbed a knife. We can talk about it later, huh? She was lying on the floor. She said, kiss me goodbye. I held onto her. She seemed to go to sleep. We have to go, Floyd. You tell him, Heavy. I loved her. You tell him that. Yeah, I will. She dared me to kill her. She said I didn't have the nerve. She asked me to. Yeah, all right. Come on. Try to tell him that at the hospital. Yeah. I'm not crazy. The story you have just heard was true. Only the names were changed to protect the innocent. On December 4th, trial was held in Superior Court, Department 86, 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. To prove a suspect's gilder innocence is in tonight's case, the working detective spends many a long hour with a man in question. In the interrogation room, the crime lab, with his friends, his enemies, gets to know his man well. And so, with a cigarette, if you're a long cigarette smoker like I am, get to know Fatima. Live with her awhile. Pack after pack, they're extra mild. Get to know the best of all long cigarettes. Smoke Fatima. Richard Floyd Coleman was examined by six psychiatrists appointed by the court and was found to be criminally insane. He was committed to the state mental hospital at Mendocino for an indefinite period of time. You have just heard Dragnet, a series of authentic cases from official files. Technical advice for Dragnet comes from the office of Chief of Police W.A. Wharton, Los Angeles Police Department. Fatima's cigarettes, the best of all long cigarettes, has brought you Dragnet from Los Angeles. Sarah Burner is delightful in Sarah's private caper, next on NBC.