 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 drag net You're a detective sergeant. You're assigned to robbery detail a Storkler has been murdered shot to death in a robbery The holdup man is described as tall well-dressed He escapes in a taxi cab your job Get him run. Yes. What a difference in Fatima. The difference is quality You see Fatima is the quality king-size cigarette because it contains the finest Turkish and domestic Tobacco's Superbly blended and Fatima is extra mild with a much different much better flavor and aroma than any other long cigarette Because of its quality its extra mildness its better flavor and aroma Fatima has more than doubled its smokers coast-to-coast Fatima's cost the same as other long cigarettes, but your first puff will tell you that's different Yes, in Fatima the difference is quality Ask your dealer for Fatima the quality king-size cigarette best of all long cigarettes start enjoying Fatima tomorrow Drag net 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 drag net is the story of your police force in action Was Friday August 17th was hot in Los Angeles. We were working the night watch out of robbery detail My partner's Ben Romero the boss is Captain Walker. My name's Friday was 8 35 p.m. When we got to the Church of St. Damian The vestibule that must be her playing the organ. Yeah, I don't see any stairs Wonder how you get up there to the loft Looks like that might be the sexton over there. Let's ask Excuse me, sir. Yeah, we're looking for an Ernestine Matthews understands. He's the organist here at the church That's her playing up there now buying over a few pieces for Sunday Could you tell us how to get up to the choir looser surely through that door over there follow the stairway straight up can't miss. Thank you Sure has been a long time. Yeah, what's that climbing stairs to acquire love? Sing a lot in church when I was a kid voice of Brunel. All right, and find this room. Yeah Voice change. Are you Mrs. Ernestine Matthews? No, ma'am place officer. Oh, can I help you? It's about your husband was Matthews Bert what about him is Bert done something? He was hurt, ma'am. I don't understand But it's working at store. What do you mean? He was hurt. There was a hold up. Dear God my husband Was he hurt bad? Yes, ma'am. What is he? I've got to go to him. Is he in pain? No, ma'am What are you trying to say? Dear God tell me the truth. Which hospital is Ian? It took him to Georgia Street. They helped him all they could Not trying to tell me Bert's dead Not trying to tell me that are you? I'm sorry, ma'am. In the past 16 days seven armed robberies had been committed apparently by the same man The suspect was described by victims as tall heavily built and very nervous. He was armed It's cold logic that every suspect who's armed in the commission of a robbery is a potential killer It's a fact that's been proved a hundred times over The man we were after had proven it again We'd used every means at our disposal to identify him through the stats office the record bureau latent fingerprints through informants and witnesses We'd gotten out an APB on him containing his description in his method of operation. We'd maintained stakeouts We hadn't reached him in time Early that evening a downtown grocery store had been held up one of the clerks 31-year-old Bert Matthews failed to empty the cash register quickly enough and the band had shot him three times through the chest He died almost instantly in the holdup man escaped. It was only one witness Another clerk who had been on duty in the store with Matthews at the time of the holdup His name was Jess Tallman. He was brought to the city hall where we questioned him further You see Bert's wife, does she know? Yeah, we dropped off at the church on the way and drove her to her sister's place Still can't get it through my head one minute. I was talking to Bert next minute. He was dead. It's kind of hard to take, you know I'd like to go over that description of the holdup man You were pretty upset out there at the store. Do you feel up to it now? Yeah, I'm okay All right now. You just take it easy. Tell us everything you remember and take all the time in here Well, I know he was a big guy over six foot. Anyway, I'm sure of that. He had a good build too Wasn't skinny. How about his face? Do you have to get a good look at it? Yeah, I did It was thin and he kept working it around, you know twitching like guy was plenty nervous Can you tell us anything else about it? He was young about 21. I'd say he had dark color eyes That's about all I'd swear to sergeant. He had a hat on I know that How about the rest of his clothing? I wouldn't be sure about it could have been a gray coat blue coat I don't know. I wouldn't want to give you a bum stare. Did you get a look at the gun? I couldn't miss that. It was a big one. It wasn't shiny. He was kind of dark blue color I can see the guy now walking in the store and pointing it at Bert. What time was that again? Yes, when the bandit showed up just about 7 30 Bert was behind the counter I was in the back stacking the shelves a guy just walked in point of the gun said give me the dough I heard him say that mm-hmm What was kind of surprised? He just stood there for a minute and the guy said hurry up. Give me the dough and Bert said, okay You can have everything they reached to get the dough from the cash register That's when the guy did it. He hit Bert right in the chest. What happened then? Bert moaned a little and fell down on the floor. I got some mad. I started running for the guy But he swung around at me with a gun and said stay where you are. Well, I didn't want to get killed. I stopped You can't blame me for that, can you? Did you follow the man when he left? Well, you see he backed out of the store and when he got to the sidewalk he jammed the gun in his pocket and ran down the street I Ran out after him saw him jumping a taxi cab and take off. Did you get the cab's number? Well, it was too far away for that at least halfway down the block. I Know somebody else must have been driving it though How do you know that the cab is already moving when the hold-up guy jumped in he got in the front seat Oh, you know, it was the front seat and not the back the way those cab doors open You know front doors swing out to the left back when swing out to the right that ties in Joe used the same memo on those holdups last week Yeah You got anything else to adjust anything you think we ought to know it's about the size of it sergeant You don't think I'm yellow. Do you? Well, how do you mean I mean because I stopped when he pointed the gun at me Guess I should have grabbed them but that gun looked as big as a cannon Let's face it. I'm not that much of a hero. I'll put in with you Jess. Hmm. Neither am I Along with the team of men from homicide detail we continued our investigation of the hold-up and killing Ballistics reported that the slugs taken from the body of Burt Matthews had possibly been fired from a 38 caliber Colt revolver The slugs were in good condition for identification All the possible suspects picked from the mug books by the victims had been checked out all of them had been cleared Fingerprints left but abandoned at the scene of his latest crime were checked out. No make We tried to check the taxi cab used in the escape. We got nowhere The morning after the Matthews killing we got a call from sheriff's homicide. We went across the street and checked with inspector bowers Either one of you remember that case about six months ago the Harry Solomon killing. Oh, yeah inspector. It's pretty vague right now Your men handled it at Connie case. Yeah, let me lay it out for you. It's just possible with Mike tie in with that killing You fellas had last night. What's the angle Harry Solomon was a taxi cab driver the night of February 26 Somebody saw him pick up a fare at sunset in Highland about 10 30 p.m. That's the last time he was seen alive Yeah, I think I remember the next morning We found Solomon's body in a ditch out in the valley 238 slugs in his head found his cab a few yards up the road abandoned killer used to 38 Same kind of gun used on last night's job. Here's something else that ties in Yeah, a description of the passengers Solomon picked up at sunset in Highland the night he was murdered the last fairy ever handled White male American over six feet tall heavy bill age 2021 dark eyes had a dark suit on the hat matches up all the way down the line You had a robbery motive figured on the Solomon killing didn't you? That's right except for a five dollar bill hidden in his wallet Solomon didn't have a penny of his receipts for the night Might have been another reason behind the killing besides that. Yeah, it's just belly possible Solomon might have known the hold-up man the guy who killed him. How do you figure Solomon had been a cabbie for 14 years before he was Merv from this hold-up man's MO using cabs for a getaway car It's possible. He might have been a cab driver at some time around it Mean if the killer got in the cab and told Solomon Solomon recognized him was suspicious. That's right Could have been reason enough for him to kill Solomon I know there's a lot of coulds and ifs and maybes in it, but I thought you might be interested Well, we'll check it out first thing. How are your men coming on the Solomon face progress is pretty slow Well, we'll keep you posted on anything new We can help let me know right by Two sets of 38 slugs. What do you think? Let's ask the crime land We put in a request to Russ camp in ballistics to check the 38 slugs found in taxi driver Solomon's body against those found in the body of Grocery clerk Burke Matthews Then we contacted the special agent at the taxi cab company We asked him for pictures of all their drivers employed by the company during the past year who were six feet in height or over He told us that they'd have a file ready for us the following morning We drove back to the office and checked in with Russ camp at the crime lab He was examining the 38 slugs under the comparison mine Just a few more minutes fellas have a chair. Yeah Now much luck so far No No Well, that's it. Yeah, no make these slugs come from two different guns That night two more armed robberies were committed wanted a liquor store the other at a cafe in both cases the hold-up man escaped in a taxi Cam the description of the man who robbed the liquor store maxed that of the bandits who shot and killed Burke Matthews The big switch came when we checked the cafe hold up there The victims described the suspect is short and fat with dark blonde hair. He had a deep scar on his chin During the robbery this suspect had become so nervous that he dropped his gun But he'd succeeded in getting outside and escaping in a taxi cab before it could be apprehended The gun was taken back to Lakewood fingerprints and checked was clean Russ camp checked it through ballistics Some days are like this fellas. What do you mean that cab driver Solomon? We shot with the 38 Yeah, but Matthews was shot with a 38 different one though. It's kind of banded drop tonight. It's a 38 to know that What are you getting at doesn't match either case? The next morning we started working one of the few leads we had left We drove down to the taxi cab company and collected the pictures of all the drivers that they employed during the past year Who were six feet in height or over the radio seven of them? We started checking them out. It's what the working detective calls legwork. It's slow and it's tedious And you're not sure it's gonna amount to anything even by the time you finish Two nights later the taxi cab band had hit again his first repeater a restaurant in South Figueroa He'd robbed the same place less than three weeks before Ben and I interviewed the manager of mr. Cavallo Telling you sergeant. I can't take any more of it twice in one month. Yes, sir. Could we talk back there in one of the booth? Oh, yeah, come on You've got a good look at the man. Did you mr. Cavallo two feet from him? Memorizes face from the first time No joke, you know So I have no time for the customers and too busy open the cash box for that thief Sit on thanks When you're positive, it's the same man who robbed you before there's no question there None I'm positive and he used the same M. Oh, too. Yeah, sure M. Oh, what's that? Oh, excuse me? I mean he used the same approach the same method of operation Everything was the same the man the gun the taxi cab everything you didn't get the number of the cab I looked for it. I didn't see any must cover it up some way We've got some pictures here mr. Cavallo. I'd like to have you look at them Just tell us if you recognize any of them. I won't do any good. Hmm. I already did that They showed me pictures the last time and this is a different lots. Oh all right Quite a few of them like to have you check each one of them carefully if you would just take your time Yeah, we can't sit here without coffee Natalie. Well, I wouldn't Natalie. I don't care for you Don't be silly. You can't work without eating Natalie. Yeah coffee three cups And now where do I start these right here if you just check these over please No, not him Not him either Thank you. Thank you. Is that all? No, I have some more here Hey, that's an ugly-looking guy. I look at that scar. They look familiar. No Better check with this kippin. We finished here. Yeah, it's been a couple hours, and that allows you no good thief Sir right here. This one. That's a guy. You're sure I open my cash box twice for my nose facing a million Morris Copely age 21 Description matches. Let's go Ben Thanks, mr. Kuala. It's only 40 minutes since the robberies probably not even home yet. What can you do? We'll wait up? 10 30 p.m. We parked down the street from 527 Dayton Avenue a two-story white stucco apartment house We checked the names on the mailboxes Morris Copely's wasn't on any of them. We rang for the manager Copely Morris Copely. No, he doesn't live here. Never heard of him. I wonder if you'd take a look at this man This picture ma'am. You ever seen this man before? Let me get over here in the light No, he doesn't live here, and you've never seen him before Didn't say that. I just said he doesn't live here. You have seen him before I believe I might have yes Matter of fact, I'm sure of it. The friend of mr. Tobin's apartment 5 comes to visit mr. Tobin every now and then Is this mr. Tobin in now ma'am? We'd like to talk to him. No, I'm afraid not He works nights never comes home for 2 a.m. Yeah, he's a cab driver You are listening to drag net authentic stories of your police force in action. Ah, that's different. Yes, what a difference There's a difference you can hear. There's a difference you can see but the difference in Fatima is quality Yes friends when you compare long cigarettes You'll find that in Fatima the difference is quality quality of tobaccos The finest turkish and domestic varieties extra mild and superbly blended to give you a much different Much better flavor and aroma than any other long cigarette quality of manufacture Smooth plump cigarettes rolled into the finest paper money can buy Quality even to the appearance of the bright clean yellow package Carefully wrapped and sealed to bring you Fatima's rich fresh extra mild flavor Fatima's cost the same as other long cigarettes, but your first puff will tell you Ah, that's different. Yes in Fatima the difference is quality Ask your dealer for Fatima the quality king-sized cigarette Best of all long cigarettes start enjoying Fatima tomorrow 10 45 p.m In the presence of the manager we made a search of the apartment registered in the name of Ralph Tobin The man who was supposed to be a friend of the suspect morris copely We found nothing that would tie either of them up with the robberies and the killings Before the manager returned to her apartment We instructed her to say nothing about our being there in case Tobin or copely returned We called the office and told them we'd received an identification on morris copely They checked them both through r&i neither had any criminal record. They got an apb on copely We waited Midnight came Nothing happened 1 a.m 130 Still no sign of either man 145 Somebody's coming around back to your kitchen door You back already hold it right there mister police officers. I'm fanning Who are you? Is this a stick up police officer? He's clean Joe. What's it all about? What do you want? You Ralph Tobin? That's right. This is my apartment. You know a morris copely Copely Yeah, I know him you're looking for him. He's not here. We know that. Where is he? Wish I knew I'm looking for him too. He owes me money Copely's a pretty steady visitor here. Is that right? He was till I let him at $65. I haven't seen him since he took off When was that? When about two weeks ago. Yeah, just about Look, you mind if I sit down? I'm a little nervous. Go ahead Kind of upset you, you know Why you're looking for morrick like to have you repeat what you said when you came in that door What I said Asked who you were didn't I know I mean before that I don't think I know what you're getting that officer. You said morry. You're back already. Not what you said Yeah, I guess I did. I guess I thought morry came back to pay me the 65 he borrowed You didn't make it sound like that tov and I got the idea you were expecting Expecting them I haven't seen morry in two weeks. Maybe three took me for 65 hours. All right. That's enough small talk Mr. Now copely's in deep you're gonna match him if we don't get a straight story some cans of beer in the Refrigerator let's have one around skip the beer. Where's copely? I'll swear in the bible if you want me to I don't know Look at morry pulling the thing heavy. I'm not in on it ben. You want to check with the manager Ask her when's the last time she saw copely here. Yeah, right now. Wait a minute officers I want to cooperate Morrie's in deep. That's his fault not mine. That's right, isn't it? That's right. No worries. I don't know. That's the truth I'll tell you something else I wasn't squaring. I saw morry early tonight six o'clock came here and borrowed another five from but you know the worry is now No Said sure like a can of beer if you don't rise it still I'll get it for you You sure you won't have one? No, not me. No, thanks. I don't want to There you go Good cold beer I like it when I get nervous Oh, this calms me down Say tobin Yeah, sorry You haven't taken your head off. Oh, I was nervous. I guess I forgot There your hair always been dark blonde since I was a kid. Yeah, why? How about that scar on your chin? It's a pretty deep one I'm very sure good. I asked you about the scar It's kind of embarrassing. I got a little high one night. I fell off a merry-go-round Big night Now I've heard everything. We had a robbery report a couple nights ago. Tobin hold up man was just about your height and weight Yeah, dark blonde hair had a scar on his chin too. I'm afraid you got a wrong slide officer I worked my cab every night of the week wasn't me Mind if we have a look at your car son How'd you know I had a car? We didn't let's give it a look shall we? Why do you want to look at it? You have nothing to hide, have you? Of course not. I mean like moray's always in trouble always on the lamp You'll probably think it's funny when you check the glove compartment in my car. Will we? Yeah, you will why is that? Keep a gun in there You know how many cab drivers get shy the guy can't be too careful What kind of gun do you have Tobin revolver regular revolver what caliber 38 why? 2 30 a.m. We searched his car picked up his 38 caliber revolver and then we drove Ralph Tobin back to the office where it was detained for questioning We had a stake out placed in his apartment Russ camp and ballistics checked Tobin's gun against the slugs which had taken the lives of Harry Solomon and Bert Matthews Was found beyond the question of a doubt that his gun had been used in the Solomon killing We confronted Tobin with the evidence He started talking He told us that Copely was responsible for the murder of both Solomon and Matthews That copely had borrowed his gun for the Solomon job In all the robbers except one he described himself only as the accomplice. He drove the getaway taxi cab The only occasion he tried to handle the actual holdup was at the cafe where he became so nervous that he dropped his gun Before he was booked on suspicion of murder Tobin told us that morris copely still had two 38 revolvers in his possession He insisted he had no idea where copely was Ben handled the questioning while a stenographer took Tobin's statement I contacted inspector Bowers and informed him of our progress 11 a.m. I got back to the squad room All right, did you check back through that personnel record we got from the cab company? Yeah, I got half an idea. I think yeah See here on copely's application for the job Well, I'm sure we checked out all those references. They don't go anywhere. No, I mean this right here All right. Yes children one daughter age four months When this application is dated may 6 that means his baby was born in February yeah Copely was working here then so it's 10 to 1 the baby was born in a local hospital So what I mean if we find the right hospital of the doctor they could latest on There's the phone book. Let's go From noon until 4 p.m. We called every hospital sanitarium clinic and rest home listed in the book The answers were the same no record of confinement for a mrs. Morris copely Well, it seemed like a good idea We're going now and we've got one more at the county hospital Hmm. Well, this is sergeant friday police department robbery detail Yes, I'd like to find out if you have any record of confinement for a mrs. Morris copely No, that's copely c is in charlie. Yes. Thank you. I might have sent his wife out of town to have a baby Yeah, mm-hmm 1118. Thank you 1118 rochester copely's aunt. Let's go 4 30 p.m. Together with olsen and faxed her from homicide detail We drove out to 1118 rochester avenue in the krenshaw district. The house was vacant From a neighbor. We learned that copely's aunt had moved two weeks before We got her address from one of her friends in the neighborhood and finally located her at work in a beauty shop on melrose avenue We posed as traffic investigators The aunt told us she thought we could find her nephew morris at home and address on east 13th street 6 p.m. We located the house and parked the cars a half a block away As we approached the house on foot. We saw a light burning in one of the windows on the left side of the house faxed her and olsen covered the back had a given signal they entered the back door ben and i went through the front It's empty. Yeah faxed her. Nothing back here joe. That's great. It looks like somebody passed him a tip off just in time Look at them messes places in they got out in the hurry Hey, what's going on here? What do you men think you're doing? Police officers, your name? Silvera one of the neighbors you're looking for the copely's when they leave 20 minutes ago, I guess in an awful hurry. What's the trouble? You know where they were going? Well, no, but you might try mr. Copely's aunt. She lives over in rochester. They're not there Well, have you tried his sister's house? 6 45 p.m. The neighbor silvera directed us to the home of morris copely's sister A small frame cottage on the edge of bevelly hills the lights were on the living room, but the shades were drawn Thaxter and olson made their way quietly around to the bank ben and I went up the front steps and rang the bell Yes, what do you want? You miss copely Yes, what is it police officers ma'am? I'm sorry. Oh, he isn't here more. He isn't here. We know he's here living rooms empty Must be in the back. Yo, you can't He's in the bedroom of the baby. He's got a gun. You can't go in there. Where's the bed? See into the hallway at that door He was sleeping. I think he's awake now the baby close to him In the same bed she's propped up on pillows right next to it. He's got that gun with him. Don't go in. Please Where's the bed situated in the room? It's right inside the door at the left Please don't go in. He won't care what happens to the baby Ben, I'll open the door. You hit the light switch and cover me. Watch the baby You better stay here miss copely. Your baby won't get hurt. Let's go. Drop it you Drop the gun Ben All right, I got it joe. All right copely get him up. Come on up Yo, just a little frightened ma'am. She's all right. I'll kill you mary. You tell him where to find us didn't you? I'll kill you for that Lousy dame nobody else. No. She's the one who told you didn't she? Yeah, and who did who told you you're looking at her? What do you mean your baby? The story you've just heard was true Only the names were changed to protect the innocent on december 16th trial was held in superior court 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 The working detective knows that there is one mark of identification that never changes a man's fingerprints The suspect may change his appearance in many ways, but his fingerprints always remain the same a mark of identity that cannot be changed When you compare fatima with other long cigarettes, the difference is quality A mark of identity which never changes And fatima is extra mild If you're a long cigarette smoker like i am smoke fatima They cost the same, but in fatima the difference is quality smoke fatima Morris john copely and ralph edward tobin were tried and convicted of murder in the first degree two counts They were both sentenced to be executed in the lethal gas chamber of the state penitentiary san quentin california You have just heard dragnet a series of authentic cases from official files technical advice comes from the office of chief of police wh parker los angeles police department the team of cigarettes the best of all long cigarettes has brought you dragnet portions transcribed from los angeles Coming up. We the people tomorrow enjoy the life of riley on nbc