 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 the homicide detail. A man crouches on the window ledge of a downtown building 13 stories above the street. He threatens to leap to his death within the hour. Your job, stop him. You'll be amazed when you compare Fatima with other long cigarettes. You'll find they now cost the same. But in Fatima the difference is quality. You'll see Fatima is the quality king-size cigarette. Because it contains the finest Turkish and domestic tobaccos superbly blended. And Fatima is extra mild. With a much different, much better flavor and aroma than any other long cigarette. So compare Fatima yourself. Fatima's now 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-size cigarette. Best of all, long cigarettes. Start enjoying Fatima for a new year of greater smoking enjoyment. DragMet, 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, DragMet is the story of your police force in action. Thursday, September 6th was warm in Los Angeles. We're working the day watch out a homicide detail. My partner's Ben Romero. The boss is Captain Steve. My name's Friday. I was on the way back from communications and it was 1.28 p.m. when I got to room 42. Homicide. You ready, Skipper? Yeah, coming. Man, what's up? Just got the call, 3rd and Temple. Fitchfoy building, 13th floor, they got a jumper. Ready, Ben? That sounds like it, right? What's the story? Skipper took the call. Not much to tell. The guy's perched out on a window, leds 13 floors up, threatening to jump. Yep. What time you got, Romero? 1.33. Not much time. What? The guy on the leds you served notice. Well, how do you leave? He says he's going to jump at 2 o'clock. 1.36 p.m. Ben pulled the car to a stop at 3rd and Temple. We double parked near the intersection and started across the street to the building on the northeast corner. It was a steel frame structure with a block granite facing. The stone lettering over the main entrance read, R.H. Fitzroy building, 1927. The immediate area had been blocked off in all directions. The sidewalks directly adjacent to the building on 3rd Street and on Temple Street had also been cleared of all pedestrian traffic. Hundreds of curious onlookers jammed against police lines at the far side of the intersection. Reaching back for a full block in either direction, hundreds more had packed in behind them. 13 stories above the pavement was the center of attraction. The figure of a man standing upright on a narrow ledge, looking down at the crown. From the street directly below and men from the fire department's rescue squad were hurriedly stretching out nets. We entered the building, took the elevator to the 13th floor. Who was standing by up here, Skiver? Back to Owen Wiseman. I saw the crowd gathering in the street on the way back from lunch. I looked up and saw a guy on the edge that came right up. How long's the guy been standing up here? About 15 minutes. If you're going on crowd, must be a couple thousand people down there. How was that room number Friday? Uh, 13-05. Yeah, it's down this way. There's Beckham. Beckham? I've been watching for you. The office is down here. Okay. How's it stand now? He's still out there ready to jump. We've got 22 minutes to figure out how to stop him. What's the story anyway? I'll let the doctor tell you. Go ahead. Through here. There's where Dr. Turner goes. He went down to Dr. Wright. He's bringing him right up. Uh, this is Captain Steed homicide in Atlanta. How do you do? How do you do? How's your Friday room out? How do you do? Here's how he climbed outside. There's a window here. Yeah. Right now he's standing on the ledge about 12 feet to the right of the window. The ledge is about 14 inches wide. No other windows closer to him? No, this is it. Did you try to talk him out of it? Get him back inside? We took a turn at it. Yeah, Wiseman crawled out on the ledge. Talked to him. So did I. One of the queerest jumpers I've come across. What do you mean? Got a hammer with him. Crappler's hammer. Whenever you get close to him, he takes a cut at you. Wiseman wasn't looking for it. Had a duck fast. He almost went over it. Was there any other way to reach him? Double check the whole layout. This window's the closest. What about lowering a man from the roof? Why'd he's a cornice up there? A big overhang. Put a man down on a rope and he'd be hanging three feet from the side of the building. Wouldn't come close to the guy. How about this doctor you mentioned, Beck? You figure he can help? It's worth a try. Just one hand? Yes, Sergeant. You saw it happen. You know better than I do what Dr. Turner's idea is. Would you fill these men in, please? Surely. Another man on the ledge. Who is he, do you know? Walter Harrison, sustained. He's one of the doctor's patients. His sister brought him in for a routine checkup. That was about one o'clock. How old was the man? 41. His sister told us he's been complaining of a backache lately. While the doctor was examining him, and Mr. Harrison slew up all of a sudden, he yelled out we were trying to cripple him that we wanted to kill him. Oh, excuse me, please. Sure. Dr. Turner's office. No, I'm sorry. Not this afternoon. We have an awful lot of trouble. Yes, all right, thank you. Well, what happened after Harrison started to act up? Dr. Turner and I tried to hold him. He shoved us both out of the way. He hit the doctor in the face, then he landed the window, got out on that ledge, and crawled along the side of the building. He's been there ever since. Ms. Harrison has a mental case? Yes, he's been for 10 years. He's been in and out of the state hospital at Camille a couple of times. Sister Ruth's been taking care of him. She was ill when it happened. Where is she now? Next door, the treatment room. That's the other nurse. She's looking after Ms. Harrison. She's pretty close to hysterics. Tried to talk to her skipper. Not much help so far. You said the doctor's been treating this, Mr. Harrison? No, he just came in for a physical checkup. Dr. Reich has been handling this mental condition. That's where Dr. Turner is now getting Reich. He has his office in the next building. What time have you got bed? It's getting short, 19 minutes to 2. How about a time element, Beck? If he's going to kill himself, why is he waiting for 2 o'clock to do it? It's got me. He's scribbled a note out there, threw it down to the street. One of the men in the rescue squad grabbed it and brought it up. I got it right here. Let me see. And I look at that tattoo. They want my life. They want... What's his next one? Dead. Dead. They want me dead. I'd like to pray first. I'll jump at 2 o'clock. What's this last thing, Ben? Let me see. At 2 o'clock, don't touch my body. That's it. Don't touch my body. You saw the guy at close range. Beck, what do you think? He's serious. I don't know. I don't want to guess. How about me going out and talking to him? He might work and won't do any harm. That ledge is 14 inches wide, Romero. If you slip, I don't want to explain it to your wife and kid. Well, how about me giving it a try? That jumper case last October, I was on that one. It's volunteer duty, Joe. I'm not going to order you. You know the risk. Yeah, I'll watch it. You want to stand by here at the window, Ben? Yeah, okay. Okay. Skip that window up, huh? There's a blind. There's a blind, huh? Okay. I'll give you a hand with the window. All right. Come on. Up you go. I'm a little stuck. All the way up. There he goes. Okay. Make careful now, huh? Yeah, I will. Joe, you're back. Don't forget about that hammer the guy's got. It's just my guess. Yeah, what's that? The guy might want to die. I don't think he wants to do it alone. 1.43 p.m. If we could take Walter Harrison's word for it, we had exactly 17 minutes to talk him into a change of mind before he plunged to his death in the pavement. 13 stories below. I crawled out of the window and started inching my way along the narrow ledge. Went slow. I kept my eyes on Harrison. He stood about ten feet away from me, looking down at the crowd's jamming his feet below. I edged along to within eight feet of him. He didn't seem to notice me. He was a fairly tall man, about five foot ten, medium billed dark hair. He was wearing gray pinstripe trousers, a white shirt, no coat, no necktie. I got to within six feet of him. He raised one arm and made a motion with his fist at the crowd below. You animal! You dirty bag of animal! You won't touch me! I'll chop right through you! You won't even touch me! I kept edging toward him. He still didn't seem to notice me. I turned his body a little. Kept pounding the side of the building with a hammer. I got a look at his right hand. And when he held the carpenter's hammer, I got to within five feet of him. An airliner passed overhead. Harrison looked up and muttered something. Then he turned and saw me. I'm going to kill you. It's all right with me, Walter. Why do you want to kill yourself? You're only going to hurt people. You don't care about people. You don't care about me. What am I doing out here? You got it wrong, Walter. A lot of people care about you. They want you back inside. They want you where it's safe. You're another one of those. You want to get your hands on me. You want to grab me. Or you're not. I'm going to kill you. It's all right, Walter. You can kill me. I want to help you first. You stay back. Don't you move anymore. I got this hammer and I'll smash your face with it. I'll smash you. I only want to talk. I know we can straighten this out. I'll do it my way. You understand? My way. I know who you are. You've been after me before. I know what it's all about. I know you do, Walter, but you got it wrong. Now, look, you're going to jump off this building at 2 o'clock. That's in 15 minutes. That's right. You bet I am. All right, now let's talk it over for five of those minutes, huh? Can't do any harm. I'm not going to hurt you. How about it, okay? Why should I talk to you? Because I care about what happens to you. So does your sister. So do a lot of people. Well, then you're like a lot of people. You want to get your hands on me. Like those animals down there, the whole story track them. They want to grab on and get all around close and put their hands on me. Well, they're not going to do it. Of course they're not. Nobody's going to hurt you. You know that, don't you? You bet your life they're not. You see that dirty pack down there? Well, they don't know it, but I'm going to jump right through. I'm going to jump right through all of them. They won't even touch me, and I can do it right now. Wait a minute, Walter. Don't forget your promise. What are you talking about? What promise? 2 o'clock. You wrote that down yourself. You said you wouldn't jump until it was 2 o'clock. That was no promise. I just wrote it down. That's all. Just 2 o'clock. Yeah. Well, your sister believed it. We gave her the note. She says that you promised. Now you're going to make a liar out of yourself? You're the liar. Ruth didn't say that. She didn't say it was a promise. You've got to take my word for that. All right, let's go in and ask her. How about it? See Ruth inside? Sure. Come on. Come on, take my hand, Walter. All right. All right, I'll take your hand. Watch your step. Look out, will you? You'll get back there. Get back. Now, next time I won't miss. I'll just raise your whole arm up. You think you're pretty smart, don't you? You're trying to trick me. Well, I told you before. I know who you are. You're trying to get your hands on me. You promised your sister 2 o'clock. You're still going to break that promise. I'm not like you in that fact down there. I don't break promise. Everybody knows that, Walter. They trust you. Now, come on. How about talking this thing out? What time is it? 1.46, 14 minutes to go. You're lying. How do I know that's the time? Well, you can look at my watch. Here, right here. No, no, you stand back. I told you before. You just stay away from me. I just wanted to show you the time, that's all. All right, you can look at that big clock up the street, see? The one on the side of the Hobart building up there? 14 minutes. How do I know that's right? How do I know they're not in with you too? You already said it, big company. They don't care about you or me. They got a business to run. They're clocked. They don't care what happens. No, of course not. They don't care. All right, well, I'll just keep an eye on this clock. All right. You don't mind if I talk while you wait, do you? What's that plane? What's it doing? Well, it's just an airliner. Probably on its way into Burbank. You're not fooling me. That plane's been by before. It's flying low, too. Yeah, I guess I didn't notice it. Well, what difference does it make? Probably watch it. Flying back and forth. Maybe they're the police. They're trying to do something. They're trying to get their hands on me. Well, let's see. Yeah, might be their plane. The big one. Sure, they're trying to do something coming right by here, flying low. It's the same one I can see. You see there on the wing? Yeah, what's that? The number right there on the wing. It's the same one that's passed over a few minutes ago. And you get away from me! Give it to me! You thought you tricked me. You didn't know I had my pocket knife. Well, I can kill you with it now. I can kill you right now. I told you before it's all right with me. Look out there. Watch your step on the lens, will you? I should have cut your hand off. I should have cut your whole arm off and thrown it to those animals down there. Look at that blood all over your hand. No, I'm sorry, Walter. It's not your fault. I just want to talk the whole thing over to tell you how your sister feels about me. You're a liar! I knew it when I looked at you. Now you get away! You get away before I kill you! Look, there's only one thing I can tell you. Your sister Ruth's sitting inside there and she's worried sick. She's waiting for you. She wants to take you home. Now, how about it? There's no reason for all this. You know that, don't you? Do I? Sure you do. Your sister and your family, they care about you. They want you home again. They want you with them. There's no reason to be standing out here now, is there? You waited two o'clock, mister. I'll show you the reason. One forty-eight p.m., twelve minutes left. I made my way along the ledge through the window back into the office. Dr. Wright, a man who'd been treating Walter Harrison for his mental sickness, was already there with Dr. Turner. While the nurse bandied up my hand, Captain Steed, Ben and I talked with him. I've treated Harrison for ten years on and off, I guess. He showed some improvement, not much definite paranoid tendencies. Did he ever try this before, Dr. Wright? Not to my knowledge. His sister might tell you more. I really don't know what to advise you to do. He's never been this violent before, using a hammer and knife. There you are, sir. I can help you, Laura. Yeah, that's fine. Thank you. There's only one thing I've got to know, Doctor. Is it worth letting another one of my men go out there on that ledge? I'm afraid that's your decision, Captain. It may help, it may not. I know the patient, but I can't read his mind. I was just thinking. We might bring Harrison's sister to the window and have her talks on. Think that might help, Doctor? Very possible it might. In a spot like this, I'm the same boat you are. So, guess what? You think Harrison's really going to be ready to jump at 2 o'clock, Doctor? From what Sergeant Friday tells me, yes, I think he'll jump. We've got to come up with something. We can't just stand around and watch the guy take a dive down 13th story. I wish I knew the answer. There's got to be one someplace. There's got to be an answer. Well, let's check your watch. We've got 10 minutes to find it. You are listening to Dragnet, authentic stories of your police force in action. And now, here's an authentic report from Fatima Cigarette. 51, enjoy Fatima quality yourself. Yes, friends, 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. Quality of manufacture. Smooth plump cigarettes rolled in the finest paper money can buy. Quality, even to the appearance of the bright, clean, golden, yellow package. Carefully wrapped and sealed to bring you Fatima's rich, fresh, extra mild flavor. Compare Fatima yourself. Fatima's now 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. Start enjoying Fatima for a new year of greater smoking enjoyment. Insist on Fatima, the quality king-size cigarette. Best of all, long cigarettes. It's the sworn duty of the peace officer to protect the lives of the citizens of the community in which he serves. That isn't always limited to protecting the citizens from criminals and lawbreakers. Oftentimes, the citizen has to be protected from himself. The drunken driver can do as much harm to his own person as he can to others. The same for the narcotic addict, the same for a mental incompetence such as Walter Harrison. If he was being assaulted, robbed or shot at by a gunman, he would have been no more serious. Harrison's life was in jeopardy. Trying to save him had to be the first consideration. 1.50 pm, Sergeant Jack Wiseman inched his way out on the ledge of the 13th story and kept Walter Harrison busy talking, anything to keep his mind off the jump. Captain Steed got on the phone and talked to the manager of the Hobart building. A 12-story structure three blocks away with a large clock set into either side of it. The same clock Harrison was keeping time by. Yeah, that's right. Just so you don't make it look too obvious. Okay, Mr. Walsh, thank you. They're going to do all they can. That's what works. Yeah, what do you say? They're going to start slowing down the clock in the building right away. If Harrison goes by that time, it's going to be a long ten minutes. Well, how much they figure they can stretch it? About five or six minutes without making it look too obvious. Well, you sure use it. Let's hope Harrison doesn't catch on. The manager said they'll stop the clock when it's a minute to go. It'll never reach to a car. I just checked with the rescue squad down the street. They're straying out more nets. They're not guaranteeing anything. How do you mean? They're worried about those ledges jutting up from the building every other floor. You see, if Harrison jumps close enough, he's bound to hit one of them. If he does, he'll be dead before he reaches street level. Nets down there won't do him any good. I don't think we can do about it. Something else we'll have to hand over to Locke. Have they come up with any ideas, Ben? Just one. Sounds like a good word. What's that? They figured, like we did, the overhang on the roof is too wide to lower a man directly down on top of Harrison to grab him. They think it might work if they try this. Put a man in a rope sling just over the edge of the roof. Lower him down toward Harrison as close as possible without dipping him. Give him a good line, let him try to rope Harrison. I don't know. They've got any candidates to try? Yeah, one. The guy's been on the rescue squad for years, supposed to be an expert with a lasso. Kevin? Yeah, I might do it. I don't know. What happens if he misses Harrison? Who knows? What happens if Harrison jumps? Captain? I just got off that ledge in a hurry. He came at me with that knife. Is he any closer to the window? He backed off again. Something else, that clock in the Hobart building. Yeah. Pretty sure he's wise to that gimmick. He's giving it up. What do you mean? The two o'clock deadline. He's not going to wait for it. 1.55 p.m. A specially equipped police car with loudspeakers mounted on the roof was rested the intersection of 3rd and Temple Street opposite the Fitzroy building. Sergeant Jack Wiseman took Walter Harrison's sister, Ruth, down on the elevator to the street. She got on the police car microphone and started talking to her brother over the loudspeakers. Word was passed to the special detail of men from the fire department's rescue squad standing by on the roof of the building. They went to work. Captain Steed went up to the roof to see if he could assist them. Ben and I waited in the office on the 13th floor. The nurse, Ms. Lenehan and Jean Bechel were with us. 1.57 p.m. The men on the roof started to lower the man from the rescue squad in the rope sling. He held a double-strength lasso in his hand. The end of it was wrapped around his body and tied securely. Ben and I watched from the window. We looked along the narrow ledge. Walter Harrison stood erect and motionless. An open pocket knife in one hand. His feet poisoned the brink of a 13-story jump. The voice of Harrison's sister drifted up from the loudspeakers down on the street. Walter? This is Ruth, Walter. Can you hear me? Oh, it's me, Walter. Please. You've got to understand. Sister's doing all right. Finish it for sure if he looks up. There's nothing wrong. No one's going to hurt you. I can't see, Joe. They're letting the man down. They're nothing to be afraid of. You know that, don't you? Show how Harrison's doing. Can you see? He's looking down, not moving at all. Nobody's going to hurt you. What? Man coming down on the rope. He's just above Harrison now. There you are. You can trust me, your sister, Ruth. I see the man now. He's right above me. Got the lasso ready. Keep your fingers crossed. What is it? What's happening? The lasso. He's throwing it. Get away from me! Miss, Joe, he missed. Wait a minute. Harrison! I'm calling the ledge. I'm going out. Joe, wait a minute. It's only a chance. Why don't you get him mad at you? Anything to make him go for you. If you can get him down to this window, I can grab him. If I get him by the window, I'll hold onto him. When you grab him, try to lean as close to the building as you can. Not much to lean on the other way. 1.59 p.m. I got to the window and out onto the ledge. The crowds jamming the streets below had swollen to almost twice their size. A few blocks away, the big clock on the side of the Hobart building was about 30 minutes to two, but Harrison wasn't looking at it. He still had his eyes fixed on the pavement 13 stories beneath it. He turned off his collar and his shirt was broken with a neck. He waved his arms and shouted at the crowd below as he tottered along the ledge toward the corner of the building, away from the window that I was supposed to lure him into. In his right hand, he still held on with the open pocket knife. You're not going to get your hands on me! You're not even going to get close! I'm going to jump right through them down there! Oh, dirty animal! You just watch! All right, wait a minute. I got a message for you from your sister Ruth. Now, do you want to hear it? You won't get your hands on me! None of you! I'll see you later! You're a phony, Harrison! You're a phony liar! I'm a widow! Don't hurt me! You're not kidding anybody! You don't think I can jump, huh? Well, you just watch! Anybody can jump, any phony can do that. That doesn't take anything. There are animals down there in the street. Anyone of them could do that. You're just like one of them. I've still got this knife. I've used it before. I can kill you. You couldn't kill anything. You haven't got the guts. You're a phony! You're a rotten liar! I can cut you to pieces! Oh, you talk big, Harrison, but you're all talk. I can cut you to pieces. You haven't got me fooled, mister. Not for a minute. I'll cut you to pieces. You haven't got half the nerve. You're staying still, go on! You're staying still and I'll kill you. Oh, you talk a real good game, but that's about all. You're all talk. I'll kill you! I still have my knife, and I'll kill you right now. Yeah, sure you will. You're backing away! You're a phony! You're a phony, Harrison. Nobody's afraid of a phony. I'll cut you to pieces. I'm waiting for you. Come on. What's the matter, Harrison? Stay still and stop backing away! Now stop! I tell you, you come and get me, huh? Haven't you got enough nerve? You're just talking again. All talk, huh? That window. You've got to stop by the window and then I'll cut you to pieces. All right, Harrison. Here, now you go ahead. Prove you're a phony. All right. I'll show you. All right, Warren, I'll drop it! I'll cut you to pieces! You're not in your heart. I'll cut you to pieces! Go, look out! They're going to fall! Well, how close can it get? Yeah. That was just wonderful, sir. I didn't boast of you. Are you all right? Yeah, fine. Would you mind getting Captain Steve for us, please? You know who he is. Surely, right away. That was a rough one. You're going over the side. Yeah. Thought I'd lost you, Joe. Oh, you didn't have to worry. No? No. You told me which way to lean. Only the names were changed to protect the innocent. On September 10th, the Sanity Hearing was held at the County Hospital Psychopathic Ward City and County of Los Angeles State of California. In a moment, the results of that hearing. Now, here is our star, Jack Webb. Thank you. This is the difference in long cigarettes, and here's the one sentence that tells the full story. In Fatima, the difference is quality. That's why this headline is being featured in leading national magazines. Yes, these new Fatima full-page color ads are another proof of Fatima's fast-growing popularity. More long cigarette smokers are insisting on Fatima quality than ever before. Now, if you're a long cigarette smoker like I am, buy a pack of extra mile Fatima. You'll find, as I have, that Fatima's now cost the same, but in Fatima, the difference is quality. After being examined by six psychiatrists, Walter John Harrison was judged mentally incompetent. On his sister's request, he was committed to a private sanitarium. Seven months later, Harrison took his own life by hanging. 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. Fatima's cigarette. Best of all, long cigarettes have brought you Dragnet, Los Angeles. We the people is next with stories of today on NBC.