 Sound off for Chesterfield. Chesterfield, first cigarette in America to give you premium quality in both regular and king size, brings you dragnet. Ladies and gentlemen, the story you are about to hear is true. The names have been changed to protect the innocent. You're a detective sergeant. You're assigned a homicide detail. A nightclub manager has been robbed and killed. The killers made good their escape. Their identity is unknown. Your job, get them. 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, April 7th. It was warm in Los Angeles. We were working the day watch out a homicide detail. My partner's Frank Smith. The boss is Thad Brown, Chief of Detectives. My name's Friday. I was on the way back from R and I and it was 1.46 p.m. when I got the interrogation. Find anything? No, they're checking it now. Mr. Seaton? Yes, Sergeant? I wonder if you'd mind going over all that happened just once more. You might have forgotten something, some little thing that might help us here. All right. Where do you want me to start where I came in this morning? Well, I came in to work about 8.30. Is that the time you usually get there? Yes, sir. Depends on what time I catch my bus. Usually it's about then, though. Was Mr. Kelby there then? Yeah, he usually gets in around 8 or so, comes in and looks a place over. You know, checks the register, liquor supply on the bar, stuff like that. Then he goes to his office to count the money for the night before he gets the deposit slip ready for the bank. That's what he was doing this morning when they came in. You see him come in? Yeah, I was in the kitchen when those two men came in. First, I thought they were salesmen. Both of them were dressed kind of nice. A lot of salesmen come in to see Kelby that time in the morning. I didn't figure anything was wrong. They say anything to you, these men? Well, no. Not at first. They just stood there looking the place over. I went on peeling my potatoes. Then I heard one of them say that he guessed they might as well get it over with, and that's when they pulled the guns and told me it was a stick up. Go ahead. Well, first, I didn't know quite what to do. I asked if they were kidding, not to pull jokes like that. I told them if it was a joke, it wasn't very funny. Then the big one came over and told me to keep a mouth shut, and told me it wasn't any joke. And if I made a sound, they'd just soon blow my head off his look at me. Well, you just know it wasn't about to cause any trouble. Did Mr. Kelby know they were in the place? No, not then. You see, he keeps the door to his office closed when he's counting the money, and I thought about yelling to him. But then when I looked at those two guys, I thought about what they'd said about killing me. I decided not to. The tall one walked over to the door of Mr. Kelby's office and knocked on the door, and Mr. Kelby said for him to come in. They opened the door and walked in. He saw the guns, asked them what they wanted, told them they'd better get out of there with those guns, not to cause any trouble. The little one laughed at him and said they wanted the money and that Kelby was the one who shouldn't cause any trouble. I see. Well, the little one started to pick up the money, his stuff in his pockets, and Mr. Kelby told them they'd better leave it alone, and he had friends to take care of, and the two of them said something they couldn't hear. The little one told Kelby that his friends wouldn't do him any good. And that's when they shot him. Which one actually shot him? Oh, the little one. He's the one who said that thing about the friends. Well, did you try to do anything to help Kelby while all this was going on? Well, what could I do? I told you what those guys said. Kelby wanted to be a hero. Say, the money, fine, I wasn't his money, he belonged to the owners. Look, I tell you, Sergeant, money isn't worth that much. They nailed you into that box, and they don't throw a bankbook in. Those guys told me to stay put, I stayed put. What'd these two fellas do after they shot Kelby? Well, the big one was real surprised like he didn't know the little one was going to do it. It was a good fool. Those were his exact words. That little guy finished getting all the money and then they ran out. Well, I'll tell you, I was scared to death. They were going to kill me, too. It looked like it for a minute, too. How do you mean? Well, when they ran through the kitchen of the back door, little one stopped and asked what they were going to do about me. I thought, sure, my number was up. The big one said not to make it any worse to leave me alone, then they ran out of the place. And boy, that's when I called the cops and those other guys, you know, had one of these men before. Well, sir, I'm pretty sure I haven't. I wonder if you can give us some kind of a description on these two men. Yeah, the big one was about six feet two, maybe three. Weight about 180, 200. Dark. Black curly hair. Anything special about him? The way he talked, any scars, anything like that? No, nothing. How was he dressed, can't remember? Yeah, he had on a gray suit. Glenn clad had kind of red in it, you know. The suit looked expensive. Oh, he was a little one. Five, six, or seven. 130, 35 pounds. He was dark, too. Black hair, real short. How about his clothes? I had on a blue suit. It looked like a Gavardine. Single breasted, light blue. Had on a yellow shirt and dark blue tie. Would you know if there were any marks or scars on him? Oh, yeah. He had a little tiny scar right here. On the edge of his mouth. Made him look like he was smiling all the time. He helped us a lot here. Yeah, well, like I said, I wasn't about to be a hero and try to stop these two, but I knew that you'd want to know what they looked like so I tried to get all the dope I could. We understand. And during the hold up, did either of these men use any names? What I'm calling the other by a name, anything like that? Let me think about that. Yeah. Yeah, there was something. While they were in the office, while a little guy was picking up the money, the big one said, hurry up, Deuce. Yeah, he called him Deuce. He asked the stats office to make a run on the descriptions in the MO for us. Check the oddity in the moniker file in the R&I office and see if they can come up with a deuce or anything on the scar. I'll be fine, thanks a lot. Hey, you got a cigarette, sorry? Yeah. There you go. Thanks. How about a match? Sure. Thanks. Yeah, it's a terrible thing. You know, Kelby being shot, I'll probably lose my job. Not those guys. Well, those are the breaks. You said that when these men came in, the door to the manager's office was closed, is that right? Oh, yes, sir. Mr. Kelby always kept it closed when he counted the money, just like I said. Well, it looks like the men knew that Kelby would be checking the money at that time, doesn't it? That they knew the layout of the place when they came in. Yeah, you know, I never thought of that. My gosh, that's what must have happened. They sure seem to know what was going on. What was going on at that particular time? No, there's nobody else around. But I don't think that Mr. Kelby kept it a secret about the money. Was Kelby conscious of all after he was shot? Do you remember that? Not more than a minute. I ran over to him right after the men left. I wanted to see if I could help, you know. He was shot pretty bad. They'd hit him in the stomach. He was all doubled up, terrible. He looked up at me and said, I know, and his voice kind of trailed off. That's all, just, I know. I don't know what he'd be on the suspects. Nothing that matches the name Deuce, nothing on the scar. Anything from the crime lab, yeah? No, checked by the office. While I was there, Murphy called from Georgia Street. Anything? Yeah, not good. Kelby died and never regained consciousness. With the death of the victim, any information he might have given us about his killers was gone. The one witness to the murder was shown the mug books, but was unable to identify the suspects. Sergeant Skelling Senus and Danny Galindo canvassed the neighborhood and came up with the driver of a bakery truck who thought he'd seen the killers leave the club. He told them that two men answering the description given us had walked out of the club and gotten into a late model Mercury sedan. He'd not been able to get the license number of the car, however. He was brought into the office and shown the mug books, but he was unable to point out the killers for us. In checking the neighborhood, and Senus and Galindo had come up with a waitress who had seen two men answering the description of the killers loitering around the area. She also described the Mercury sedan, but she hadn't paid much attention to it. Because of the smoothness with which the hold-up men had operated, indications led us to believe that they'd been tipped off by somebody working for the club. Proceeding with this theory, we checked with a club owner, a Mr. John Watson. We found him in the kitchen of his home. Hope you don't mind if I finish up here, officer? No, not at all, Mr. Watson. I guess it seems a little silly to you for a man to be in the kitchen, kind of a hobby of mine, cooking. Yes, sir. Making a cheesecake. Got some friends coming over tonight, just to ask you. Not the robbery? Terrible thing. I don't understand why Calvi just didn't give him the money, not give him any reason to shoot. Does he have any idea who might have known that the money would be in the office at the time? You know, almost everyone was working the place, not making mention of the salesman that came in. Do you have any of that rolling pin over there? Yeah, here you are. Thanks. Trust with cheesecake is important. That's one of the reasons I make it myself. Can't stand a soggy trust. Are there any of your employees that you think might do a thing like this? I found the club much. Once in a while, I'd drop by and chat with Calvi. He did the hiring and firing. As long as the place made money, I didn't interfere. Well, the way it looks, it could be very likely that one of the employees did it. The men who pulled the job seem to know just what they were doing. That's right. I wonder if we could look through your employment records. Sure, of course. Anything I can do to help out with these things? Would you hand me that pan over there? This one? Yeah. Thanks. Sure, you can look at the records. Don't see what that's going to show, but you're welcome to them. What kind of a car do you drive, Mr. Watson? New Lincoln. Just got it a couple of weeks ago. Any of your employees drive a late model Mercury that you might know of? No. Like I said, I don't really have a lot to do with the actual operation of the club. Calvi took care of that. Good manager. Get a fine job. Can you tell us how much money they took, sir? No. That was in checks. You know that we cash for our customers. Well, that finishes that. Get this together. Now I'll get it in the oven. Looks good, doesn't it? You should taste it. Set it for 350 for 25 minutes and that does it. Now then, can I get you offers or anything? A cup of coffee or something like that? No, sir. If you just arrange for us to check your employment records. Certainly. I'll call the club right away. My brother-in-law is down there looking after things now. He's an idiot. Never could get a job on his own. I only hired him because my wife and sister done it. Yeah, he probably botched up the whole thing. Usually does. Well, if you'd call him, sir. How's Calvi's condition? Going to be laid up long? Well, Mr. Calvi's dead, sir. We thought you knew. No, I hadn't heard. Oh, I can hardly believe it. Such a ruthless thing. Just terrible. Calvi was such a good man. Didn't have an enemy in the world. He had too. We went back five years into the employment records of the club. There were over 200 names. Each of them had to be checked out. Frank and I spent two months running them down. In all instances, the people interviewed had alibis or else they could explain their action at the time of the robbery and killing. In each instance, if the person owned an automobile, it was checked. A broadcast and an APB had been gotten out of the model mercury scene at the club, but there had been no answers. No replies had come in on the descriptions of the two suspects. June 17th, we were checking out the last three names on the list. One of the three, a David Adams, listed a rooming house on West 34th Street as his home address. We checked with a landlady, Mrs. Elvia Collins. Adams? Sure, he lives here. Second floor front. I wonder if we could talk to him, then. Sure, I got no reason to say you can't come in. Thank you, ma'am. He isn't in right now. I hope he gets it. He's a couple of months behind in his rent. Sit down. Just take any chair. Thank you, Mrs. Collins. You officers like anything? Mint on the table? They'll help yourself. No, thank you. Adams give you any idea when he might be back? No, he didn't say right out. I expect he'll be here by six. How's that, ma'am? That's when we served dinner. Mr. Adams hasn't missed more than four meals since he's been living here. Exactly. He baked his birthday cake last Wednesday. Forty-six candles and one for luck. About how tall, would you say, ma'am? Five-six or so. How about his weight? Maybe 120, and that'd have to be soaking wet as a real little man. Is he dark or light? Big pardon? His hair, is it dark or light? Oh, light. A real silky hair. What little there is left of it. Funny the way he combed it. Never could figure it out why a man had combed his hair that way. What's that, ma'am? One side, he lets it grow real long, and then he combs it all the way over the top of his head so it'll look like he's got a lot of hair. It really doesn't, though. It's silly. He's pretty vain about other things, too. Does he have any friends in the building, Miss Collins? Well, there's his two cousins. They've moved, though. How long ago did they move? Must have been about two, three months ago. Yes, that much, anyway. What did these two cousins look like, Miss Collins? Can you describe them? You just bet I can. I struggle with them two always drinking. The first one, he was a big one. Six feet, anyway. Had dark hair, weighed maybe 200 pounds. Miss Collins, how about his complexion? Dark. Anything outstanding about him? Well, now, what do you mean outstanding? Well, I mean anything about him that struck you as being different, maybe anything that attracted your attention, something like that. No. What about the number two man? How old was he? Well, he was a little younger. 35, or maybe 37, around there. Five, four, six, or seven. How much do you figure he weighed, would you know? 130 pounds or so. How about his complexion? Dark, just like the other one. Anything outstanding about him? Scars, tattoos, maybe anything like that? Yes, yes, he had a scar right on the corner of his mouth. Made him look like he was smirking all the time. It was a real dirty look. What are these men's names, Miss Collins? Well, now, the big one is called Al Evans. A little one's name was Bill Evans. They were brothers. Did they have a car? No. No, I'm sorry, but I can't tell one kind from another. She was a nice looking one, though. A lot of chrome all over it. Do you have any idea where they might be now, where they moved to? No, I haven't. Well, Mr. Adams can probably tell you, though. I see. Oh, that might be him now, I'll see. We'll go with you, ma'am, all right? Are you expecting any trouble? What's this all about, anyway? Mr. Adams done something wrong? Oh, I do hope not. It's awfully nice. We just like to talk, don't we? Oh, I sure hope they won't be in the trouble. Oh, Mr. Adams. Yes, Miss Collins. These gentlemen would like to talk to you. Oh, something I can do for you? Are you David Adams? Yes, sir, that's right. We're police officers, Mr. Adams. My name's Friday. It's my partner, Frank Smith. How do you do it? What is it you wanted? Well, it might be better if we talk in your room. All right, but I still don't see what it is you want. I'll be able to take care of that matter by the first next week. Oh, it's all right, Mr. Adams. I understand. This is it. It's not much. Sit down anywhere. Thank you. You want to tell me what this is all about now? What it is that you want with me? Well, we'd like to talk to you about the robbery of the Pink Rat Cafe last April. The Pink Rat, yes. I worked there a couple of years ago, but I don't think I've been in the place since then. I lost the job. Kelby fired me for dropping a load of dishes. I also wanted me to pay for the dishes. I didn't feel it was my fault. I told him so. He had a few words. Nothing serious. So why? Mr. Kelby was killed in the hole up at the bar. Yes, I know. That's too bad. But you surely don't think I had anything to do with that, do you? Well, that's what we're trying to find out. Well, why do you think I'd have anything to do with it? I haven't been in the place for a couple of years. Well, the way the thing was pulled, a hole MO makes it look like it's an inside job. Somebody had to give the layout, tell them that Kelby would be in his office with the money at that time, at all points to somebody that either works there now or doesn't work there. Now, Adams, you got any relatives in town? Not now. I had a couple of cousins. They were out here for a while. What are their names? Allen Bill Evans. Mind if we look around your room? No, I got nothing to hide. Go ahead and look around. You won't find anything. Hi. What is it about my cousins? You figure they had something to do with the thing? Well, we think they might have. Their descriptions match the ones we got from the witnesses. You've been talking to Mrs. Collins. This is somebody else's business. Oh, harpy. Joe. Yeah. Look at here. What's this gun for, Adams? You never know when somebody's going to try to break into the house. It's protection, that's all. You never had it out of the house, huh? Not since I bought it. It's a 32, though. What are you so interested for? Kelby was killed with a 38. Well, he was, wasn't he? Seems to me I heard it on the radio or read it in one of the papers. No, you didn't. I mean, we better talk to you downtown, huh? You're going to arrest me? Just like to talk to you downtown. Let's go. Well, sure, but I got nothing to hide. Well, you still got to come up with an explanation for knowing about that gun. Description we got matches your cousins. You know about the gun. You got a lot to explain. I don't want to go to jail. It's too bad, Adams. You should have thought about that before you got involved in this. Well, if I tell you, if I help you get the guys that did it, will you give me a break? We can't make any deals. Well, I don't want to go to jail. You can't do anything for me, huh? All we can do is see that the district attorney's office knows that you've helped. But you will tell him, huh? If I give you a hand? He'll know about it. Okay. I got claustrophobia putting me in a solid driving nuts. I'll tell you who did the job, more than that. Yeah. I can show you the gun they used. You are listening to Dragnet, the authentic story of your police force in action. Listen to what the nation's press has had to say about Chesterfields. Atlantic City Evening Union. Wholesalers and retailers report an extraordinary demand for Chesterfields in both sizes and sell-outs in many instances. Cleveland Press. Dealers everywhere report the big-pack sale phenomenal. Last week in Cleveland, some areas reported the long-sized Chesterfield outsold all other brands. And from all over the country, we're getting reports from dealers telling us no product they ever handled has grown so fast in so short a time as king-sized Chesterfields. Yes, with a buying public today, high quality for the money is a must. And that's why so many smokers are changing to Chesterfield. First, cigarette in America to give you premium quality in both regular and king-size. King-size Chesterfield is exactly the same as regular Chesterfield, except it's larger. Contains so much more of the same tobacco, it gives you a 21% longer smoke, yet costs very little more. And the tobacco in king-size Chesterfield is of better quality and higher price than the tobacco in any other king-size cigarette. Try Chesterfield. Either way you like them. Regular or king-size, they're much milder. Chesterfield gives you the best possible smoke. We took David Adams back to the office and checked the gun with pawn shop records. It was clean. We printed him and checked him through R&I. We took him over to Westlake Park and he showed us the approximate place in the lake where the gun had been thrown. He explained that his two cousins had talked him into helping them with the robbery of the club. He also said that as soon as he found out that there'd been a shooting, he'd washed his hands of the entire affair and told them that he'd have nothing more to do with it. The loot from the robbery had been divided between the two cousins, Adams taking no part of it. It took us two hours of searching before we were able to find the gun. It was turned over to Russ Camp in Ballistics. He fired test shots from the gun and comparison with the death bullet showed that it was the murder weapon. Markings on the shell casing found at the scene of the crime were the same as those left on the test casing. Adams told us that Bill Evans owned a late model Mercury sedan and that the two brothers had left for St. Louis in the car. He also was able to give us the license number. We checked with DMV and they told us that the legal owner was a finance company on Crenshaw. The manager there told us that their payments were up to date. They were able to give us a St. Louis address used as a reference by Bill Evans. We called the St. Louis Police Department, gave them a rundown and asked them to pick up the Evans brothers for us. The witness to the killing was unable to identify David Adams as one of the holdup men. He was taken to the main jail and booked on suspicion of 287 PC. Frank and I waited for word from the St. Louis Police Department. They're all the same, aren't they, Joe? What do you mean? They'll put any of them in a tight spot and they'll spill all I know to save their skins. Well, it seems that way doesn't it? Adam seems pretty sincere, though. Seems like he does really want to help. We'll know more when we hear from St. Louis. You figure that Adams is telling the truth? I don't know. The story seems to check out about how he laid the thing out for him. Showing us where the gun was. Being that far back in his room, I didn't make that part about him not taking any of the money fit. I'll get it. Homicide Friday. Yeah, I'll take it. Mellow. Yeah, we've been waiting to hear from you. Did you pick up the Evans brothers? Uh-huh. Yeah, wait a minute. All right, go ahead. Uh-huh. What was that again? I didn't... Yeah, I got it. Okay, thanks. Anything we can do for you, give us a call. Yeah, sure, we sure appreciate it. Right, bye. What does it mean? St. Louis checked the address. They'd been there all right, but they left this morning. Any idea where they went? Yeah, the Evans boys told us. They left the forwarding address. Motel out on Ventura Boulevard. They had a reservation for June 24th under the name Evans. She told us that they'd be in Cottage 12. In view of the fact that the suspects had not been alarmed, we decided not to put out an APB on the car. We felt reasonably sure that having made the reservations, they'd keep them. But in the event the suspects arrived earlier than expected, a surveillance was placed on the motel 24 hours a day. Sgt. Howard Hudson and Bill Cummings took the period from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Frank and I covered the other 12 hours. Directly across from the motel was a used car lot. We talked to the manager and he gave us permission to sit in any one of his cars while keeping the place under surveillance. As we relieved each other, the police car was taken back to the city hall so there would be no indication that the place was staked out. Four days passed. No sign of the suspects. June 23rd, 4.32 a.m. Ciao. Yeah, Mercury sedan. Licensed checks. Two men. Stopping at the manager's cottage. They're ringing the bell. They're on the register. Must be. There. He's giving them the key. All right, let's let them get to the cottage we told her we would. All right. There's the landlady's signal. Let's go. All right. This is the manager. Gonna have to move your car. Huh? You gotta move your car. Put it in the back. They want. There you go. Get the animal. Yeah. Go in no place, mister. You can't get over that wall. Throw that gun out here. You haven't got a chance. Do you see I got no gun? Get a doctor for me. All right. Yeah, we'll call one. You didn't have to shoot, did you? No, it was a deal. You didn't have to shoot. You didn't give me much choice, mister. I wasn't trying to hit you. I was just trying to scare you. That's all. I didn't want to hit you. I'm a good shot. I knew what I was doing. Yeah, you proved you're a good shot. What do you mean? When you killed Kelby. You just heard was true. The names were changed to protect the innocent. On October 4th, trial was held in Superior Court, Department 87, City and County of Los Angeles, State of California. In a moment, the results of that trial. Nose, throat, and accessory organs not adversely affected by smoking Chesterfields. First such report ever published about any cigarette. Yes, and it applies only to Chesterfield. A responsible consulting organization has reported the results of a continuing study by a competent medical specialist and his staff on the effects of smoking Chesterfield cigarettes. A group of people from various walks of life was organized to smoke only Chesterfields. For six months, this group of men and women smoked their normal amount of Chesterfields 10 to 40 a day. 45% of the group smoked Chesterfields continually from one to 30 years, for an average of 10 years each. At the beginning and at the end of the six months period, each smoker was given a thorough examination, including x-ray pictures by the medical specialist and his assistants. The examination covered the sinuses as well as the nose, ears, and throat. The medical specialist after a thorough examination of every member of the group stated, quote, it is my opinion that the ears, nose, throat, and accessory organs while participating subjects examined by me were not adversely affected in the six months period by smoking the cigarettes provided, unquote. Now remember this Chesterfield report. It's the first such report ever published about any cigarette. Nose, throat, and accessory organs not adversely affected by smoking Chesterfields. Buy Chesterfield either way you like them. Regular or king size. Chesterfield gives you the best possible smoke. William M. Evans and Alfred T. Evans were tried and convicted of murder in the first degree. They received life sentences in the state penitentiary. Because David R. Adams had turned state's evidence, and since he was not actually involved in the crime, in the interest of justice, the charges against him were dismissed and he was released from custody. This program is dedicated to the 59th annual conference of the International Association of Chiefs of Police held in Los Angeles this week. We've 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 Winn, Sergeant Vance Brasher. Heard tonight were Ben Alexander, Virginia Gregg, Jack Krushen, script by John Robinson, music by Walter Schumann, Hal Gibney speaking. These great programs sound off for Chesterfield. Radio, Dragnet, the Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis show, and every weekday Arthur Godfrey time, on television, Dragnet, gangbusters, Arthur Godfrey and his friends in the Perry Como show. Tomorrow you'll want to sound off for Chesterfields because either way you like them, regular or king size, Chesterfield gives you the best possible smoke. Chesterfield has brought you Dragnet, transcribed from Los Angeles. This is NBC, the national broadcasting company.