 Ladies and gentlemen, the story you are about to hear is true. The names have been changed to protect the innocent. Dragnet, brought to you by Chesterfield, America's most popular two-way cigarette. Chesterfield king size at the new low price and Chesterfield regular. You're a detective sergeant. You're assigned a homicide detail. A man has been shot down on a street corner of your city. There's no apparent motive, no lead to the assailant. Your job, find him. What a pair! What a buy! They're talking about Chesterfield king size at the new low price and Chesterfield regular. They're the quality twins. Either way you like them, you get the same highest quality, the same low nicotine, the same wonderful taste and mildness, a refreshing smoke every time. Yes, the Chesterfield you smoke today is the best cigarette ever made and it's America's most popular two-way cigarette. So buy a carton today. King size Chesterfield at the new low price or Chesterfield regular. What a pair they are. They satisfy millions. They're best for you. 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 Tuesday, May 8th. It was cool in Los Angeles. We were working the night watch out of homicide detail. My partner's Frank Smith. The boss is Captain Lorning. My name's Friday. I was on my way over from the office and it was 10, 13 p.m. when I got to Georgia Street receiving hospital. The waiting room. How's he doing? I don't know. I'll talk to Dr. Sebastian. How's it look? Well, not too good. Slugs embedded in his lung caused a hemorrhage. He's getting a transfusion. What do you got on him? I just talked to the guys who came in with him for a minute. They didn't have a lot. I don't know. Call came in from a man who owns a newsstand at the corner of Normandy in Willowbrook. See the witness? Yeah. Anything there? I don't know. We'll have to talk to him. What do you got on the victim? Wait a minute. I got it here. Name's Matthew Denton. Address given is 18970 Taft Street in Hollywood. You get in touch with anybody? No. Tried the house but nobody was there. Anything else? Anyone over the personal property. Usual stuff. Cigarettes, lighter, comb. Out of diamond ring on the small finger left hand. Looks expensive. Gold wrist watch. $140 in cash. $1,300 in American express checks. Doesn't spell robbery, does it? No. None of the stuff was disturbed. Maybe you can tell us something, huh? Yeah. Hello, Frank. Hi, Doc. How are you? How's it look? What time I got? 10.16. Mega 10.13. Closing up for the report. What? Time of death. Matthew Trevor Denton, WMA. 31 years, 5 foot 9, 164 pounds and stopped living at 10.13 p.m. on May 8th. We didn't know who he was or why he died. Before we left the hospital, we put in a call to Denton's address but we got no answer. We checked the name and description through our eye. There was no record on the dead man. At 10.48 p.m., we left Georgia Street and drove over to the scene of the shooting where we talked to the witness, Andrew Cates. Right over there is where it happened. The bus stop. I was standing right here. Right here. I saw the whole thing happen. Yes, sir. And by what time was that, Mr. Cates? Oh, I guess it was 9.30 or so. I see. I was just standing here and bang, bang, two shots. Did you see what led up to the shooting? What do you mean, led up? Well, I mean, did you see what happened before? Oh, yeah, whole thing. Uh-huh. Would you tell us about it? Sure. All right, go ahead. Well, one of those nights where just nothing went right, you know what I mean? Uh-huh. I started off my wife burning the coffee. I wouldn't think a person could do that, would you? Burning the coffee. So, I go ahead. I had a big argument before I left home. I just started off that way. Yes, sir. Cut down here and took over. By what time did you open the stands, sir? Oh, I was 7.30 in the morning. I tried to get breakfast business, you know, people on the way to eat, stop off early paper. I see. I tried to get them. All right. I opened her up in the morning, and then there's a school kid takes over for me about three and a half, and then he's here on the ground, 6.30, when I come back from supper. I see. That's when she burned the coffee. Night supper. All right. Do you want to tell us about the shooting? Oh, sure. They're kind of hard, you know. This is the first time for me. How's that? Well, it's the first time I've ever been a witness. First. I see. What time did you first see the victim? Man who was shot. Yes, sir. Well, I told you. It was about 9.30. The car pulled up to the curb, and his fellow got out. He kind of stood there for a minute, and he talked to the other fellow in the car. He just stood there a minute and told. Kind of leading the window. Car pulled away, and the one man, one who got out. Yeah. He walked over and sat out on the bench, like he was waiting for the bus. It's case you get a good look at the car and get out of it. My sword, if that's what you mean. What did you describe it for us? It was a black Chevy. I'd say maybe a 52 or 53. Sedan or Coupe? No, it was a sedan, four door. Nothing special about it. Did you get a look at the man that was driving? No, no. The light's kind of bad over there. You can see for yourself. The one fellow leaning in the car, I couldn't get a good look. I didn't pay a lot of attention to it anyway. It didn't seem anything to get all concerned about. All right, sir. You want to go ahead? Well, a fellow sat there for a minute, not doing nothing, just waiting. And this other car pulled up, right up the curb. One guy got out of the car, got right out, and walked over to the fellow sitting on the bench. All right, sir. Oh, excuse me a minute, the customer. All right, sir. What do you think? I don't know. Oh, Bert. Oh, he stops by same time. He gets one of each, you know, same time every night for the old Bert. You want to see? How about if you go ahead with your story? Oh, oh, yeah. Well, this kind of pulled up and the fellow got out. He walked over to the bench, started talking to the first man, and he got in an argument. How do you know that? What? Well, how do you know they were arguing? Well, I could see you standing over there waving their arms around. I could even hear some of the yelling. Wasn't going to pick it all to see that they were having some kind of trouble. Mm-hmm. Could you hear what the trouble was about? No, just a lot of yelling and waving. Could hear no outright words. You want to go ahead, please? Well, the next thing I knew was when the fellow got out of the car, I started swinging at the other one. That was the victim? Yeah, one who was shot. All right. Well, you just bet the guy tackled more than he could handle. The victim fellow started to clean up on himself, and he just started to mollusk you with it. I see. That's when the guy who was waiting in the car got out and went over to help his friends. You see? Mm-hmm. Three of them kind of struggled around for a while, and the one from the car pulled the gun. Bang, bang. Two shots. The first guy dropped right down on the sidewalk. The other two got in the car and took off. Went roaring down Normandy. That way. Can you describe the second car? Well, not too good. I just got a glance at it. I wasn't paying a lot of attention. At first, the time I figured I should take a good look, it was gone. I see. Now, how about the men driving? Well, what do you want to know? Can you describe them? Not good. Well, if you tell us just what you can, Mr. Kates, it'll help. Sure. First one was a tall lanky fellow. He didn't weigh much. Sort of string beam. How tall would you say? Well, I had a low cost of 6'3, maybe 6'2 round in there. He's a tall one. About how old? 23, 25. I couldn't tell that too good. Let me see. What about his coloring? Was he lighter or darker? Do you remember? Light. He was long. How about his clothes? He had on a pair of jeans. One of them jackets, you know, made out of the same kind of material, rivets like on them. We're real tight jeans. Both of them were wearable. And any else you can tell us about the tall man? No. Was he the driver of the car? Oh, yeah. He was the one who did the shooting, the tall fellow. Could you see the gun? Yeah, but not good. Do you remember whether it was a revolver or an automatic? Well, it looked like a revolver to me. All right. Now, what about the other man? He was shorter than the first one. No run, but shorter. Guess anybody looks small next to him. About how tall was he? Always about 5'9, 5'10. Give a couple, take a couple. All right. How was he built? Sort of like, maybe 140. Anything else about the two men? Did either of them wear glasses, do you remember? No, no, not so as I could see. He might have taken them off, you know, before they got out of the car. Might have, but I didn't see him when the fight started. Did either of them use a name that you could hear? I told you before I couldn't hear anything they said. They're just a lot of yelling when the fight started. All right. Wasn't anything special about the two fellas? They'll make them stand out one tall, the other short. No big reason to remember them. Great you got it wrong, mister. Huh? We got a reason. We made arrangements for Andrew Cates to come down to the ops and look through the mudbooks. The rest of the neighborhood was checked again, but we were unable to find anyone else who'd witnessed the shooting. While we'd been talking to Cates, a team of detectives from homicide detail had gone out to the victim's house. They didn't find anyone at home, but when they spoke to the neighbors, they were told that Matthew Denton's wife was in a hospital. Frank and I checked with her doctor and found out that she was in the maternity ward. He recommended that we delay talking to the woman as long as possible since she was in a weakened condition. From the hospital record, we found that Denton was employed by an advertising agency. We checked with the nurses on duty and found that he'd left the hospital with another man. They gave us a description of him, but they were unable to identify him for us. We asked that they call the office in the event the man returned to the hospital. Frank and I went back to the office and checked out. The next morning, Wednesday at 8.40 a.m., we were back in the squad room. Kessler, you looking for somebody? I'd like to see somebody about this story on the paper. Which one is that, Sue? I thought you were shooting last night, calling Normandy and Willowbrook. All right. What is it you want to talk about? Are you the officer's handling the case? Yes, sir. My name's Sterling Hall. I think maybe I can help you out. All right. We'll have a seat, Mr. Hall. Sure. Right here. Thank you. Sit right here. Thank you. It's my partner, Frank Smith. My name's Friday. How do you do, Mr. Smith? All right. What do you got? Well, it says here on the paper where Denton left the hospital with the man. It says you're looking for him. That's right. Well, you don't have to look no further. I'm him. You were with Denton last night, were you? Just said that. All right. How long were you together? Till about 9.30. It dropped him off the bus stand right where he was shot. I don't want you to start at the beginning and tell us the whole story, will you? Sure thing. Well, you see, I got a lady friend. Same hospital as Denton's wife. I was over there last night to say hello. I brought her a box of caramels and said hello. Uh-huh. But I was on the way out of the place and I stopped off for a cup of coffee in that little old shop they got there. You know, whether it has the gifts, books, and what the name of the baby and all. Yeah, I know it. Well, I was having a cup of coffee and this here Denton come in. He wanted to buy a little plant for his wife. They just had a baby, wanted to send her something. I see. Now, we got to talking and I had a cup of coffee. It turned out he didn't have his car so I asked him if I could give him a ride home. He was kind of nervous and all. New father. Yes, sir. We left the hospital and he said it wasn't necessary for me to take him all the way home. Said for me to just drop him off the bus stand. Told me there was one way right near his house. All right. But on the way we was following this car and all of a sudden it stopped. No signal, nothing. Just slams on the brakes and we rammed into it. Well, didn't hardly do no damage to the other car. Broke one of my headlights is all, but didn't hurt the other car at all. I see. Now, two fellas got out and they walked back and they started a little ruckus. Said we was speeding and driving reckless, all that kind of stuff. Real loud and this Denton, he telling the shove all. Said their car wasn't hurt at all and said not to make a big thing out of it. He told them it was their fault anyway. Were you still in the car? No, we got out to see what damage had occurred. I see. Now, these two guys started to get rugged now like they wanted to start some real trouble and Denton said if they wanted to make a problem out of it, thing to do was to call a cop to make a complaint. What'd they say to that? Nothing, just said to forget it and then they got in the car and shoved off. Mm-hmm. Now, I didn't see them again, but I got to thinking about it this morning when I saw the story in the paper. You think it might have been one of them too who shot Denton? Well, we don't know, sir. Can he give us a description of the man? Sure thing. Now, one of them was real tall. The other one was about my height. It'll be about 5'8, 5'8 and 3 quarters. All right, can he give us a description of the car? Yes, sir. It was a light blue forward. One of them new ones, you know, with the plastic on top? Yes, sir. I took a good look at it. Matter of fact, I kind of thought there might be some trouble about the accident. I didn't want to be out on a limb with my insurance company. So I made sure. Yeah. I got the license number. Well, I got a complete description of the two men. Frank checked DMV on the license number. Five minutes later, he came back to the office. Joe? Yeah, you got it? If you find out who the car belongs to, it shouldn't be anything to pick up them two fellas. It's not going to be that easy. Mm-hmm. The car was stolen. Before Frank and I left the office, we made arrangements for Sterling Hall to check the mudbooks in the hope that he might be able to identify the suspects. At 11.20 AM, we drove over to talk to the registered owner of the stolen car. He told us that the vehicle had been taken from a parking lot the day before and that he'd made an immediate report on it to the police. Additional broadcasts were gotten out on the automobile and on the suspects. That afternoon, we drove over and talked to the victim's wife. She told us that the money and the express checks Denton had been carrying were for the payment of the hospital and the doctor bills. We questioned her about her husband's friends and associates. Although we had the story given us by Sterling Hall, it seemed unlikely that the man was killed as the result of an argument over a minor traffic accident. We spent the rest of the day interviewing people who knew the victim. From them, we learned that Denton was well-liked and was respectful. He took an active interest in neighborhood clubs and events. The more we went into his background, the more convinced we became that he'd been killed by the men in the stolen Ford. Two days passed. On Saturday, May 12th, the vehicle was found abandoned. A stakeout was placed on it and when no one approached it, the crew from Layton Prince went over the car. We found several partial fingerprints, but not enough for classification. The prints were photographed and held for evidence. Frank and I continued to work on the killing. A month went by without additional information turning up. On Tuesday, June 19th, we got a call from Burgary Detail. Yeah, mm-hmm. No, nothing. Where do you come from? I'll have my check, huh? No, no. We'll pick them up. Yeah. Okay, right. Thanks. Mack over in Burgary. Yeah. He says he just picked up a guy for receiving. Uh-huh. Tried to make a deal. Said if he got a break, he might be able to help us clean up something. Say what I was? Yeah, he did. The Denton killing. We left the office. We went over to room 45. We talked with the officers who'd picked up the suspect. They told us that they found a large quantity of stolen automobile supplies in his possession. We took him to the interrogation room for questioning. For almost an hour, he remained silent. How about it, Keneally? Gonna give us a hand? Keneally? All right, come on, stand up. Let's go. Giving up, huh? No, we'll be back. Where you taking me? Back to Burgary. Making a book here. Main jail? Yeah. But you guys are all through with me, huh? Yeah, for now. We'll talk to you again. Oh, you won't get any more. Tell me something, will you? Why? A little while ago, you said you knew something about a killing. Now you shut up, won't give us a time of day. Why? I told that other cop if I got a break, you get one. You know we can't make deals. No, that's gonna cost you. You're gonna take an installment. How do you figure that? You said you knew something about Matthew Denton's murder, isn't that right? I don't remember that far back. We do, and we can prove you did. You're up on a receiving wrap now. That's bad enough. But if we can tag you with holding information, we'll make you as an accessory after the fact. You mean you'll try? I think we'll make it. Well, from here it's got another color. Well, let's see how it comes out, huh? Come on, let's go. Down this way. I know. What's the tab for being an accessory? Five years. Okay, let's go back. Huh? I'll tell you all about it. You are listening to Dragnet, the authentic story of your police force in action. In regular or king size, you can get them either way. The best smoke ever made's the Chesterfield you buy today. Smokers coast to coast are changing. It's a cinch to do. Here's all you have to say to get the one that's best for you. Chesterfield's for me. Chesterfield's for me. You just say it's Chesterfield's for me. Friends, for your vacation, take along plenty of Chesterfields. Buy them with a cart. Chesterfield King's Eye. At the new low price, Chesterfield regular. What a pair. They're the quality twins. The same highest quality, the same low nicotine. Either way you like them, they're best for you. Smoke Chesterfield. It's America's most popular two-way cigarette. We returned Harold Connealy to the interrogation room. We put out a call to Gene Bechtel to come and take a statement. Connealy asked that we send out for some coffee for him. Frank went down the hall and brought back three cups. After he'd finished his, Connealy leaned back. It's good coffee, strong. I like it that way. Yeah, well now that you've had the clients, let's start the story. What do you say? Sure. What do you want to know? Who are the two men? I don't know. Now you're going to start this all over again, are you? I'm giving it to you on the line. I don't know who they are. What do you know about them? Not much. A couple of guys. They're doing pretty good with radios. You one of their customers? Yeah. Me and a half a dozen others. You know who they are? You're not going to get the names. All right, let's get back to the two men. What do you think they had something to do with Denton? Well, about three weeks ago, they was in my place, had five new radios that came with the bar to pick the stations, you know, like the new cabs. Yeah, I know. They had five of them, want to turn them over. Yeah. The price they were asking was way out. I told them so, so they'd have to find something by themselves to drop them. All right. Told me there was a beef. They had to get out of town, so they needed the money to swing it. That still doesn't add up to Denton's killers, does it? Well, it will. All right, come on, tell us. Well, I went out of the office for a couple of minutes, told them I had to make a phone call. Yeah. I got a mic hidden in the room, found out it helps in business once in a while. I turned it on and listened to the guy's talk. Go ahead. They were yacking about some guy that got shot. The big fella was saying there was no other way to handle it, so that he didn't like it either, but there just wasn't any other way. The big thing then was to get some money and just beat down. I waited outside for a couple more minutes, but they didn't say anything, so I went back in. I told them I couldn't swing the radio deal. What'd they do then? Well, they said they had to dump them someplace. If I couldn't take them, they'd find somebody who wouldn't. Told them to go ahead. What do these guys look like? A couple of bums, one tall, the other short, wearing those jeans with the coats made out of the same cloth, you know. You had dealings with them before? Yeah, a couple of times. You know their names? No. All I know is the big one's called Dusty. I don't know the last part. How about the other one? Nothing there. Anything else about them? They're both luscious. Yeah. The big one, this Dusty, always got a flask on his hip. You mean a bottle, huh? No, a metal flask. Like they used in Prohibition. This one's all beat up, dented. It's all dirty. But I never seen Dusty without it. Both of them all the time nipping at it. All right. You know where these guys live? No, someplace downtown. They've got a pad there. I don't know where it is, though. How do you know it's downtown, man? Well, I don't know for sure. It's just a guess. Do you ever hear either one of them say anything about a job? Not those two. They never done a day's work in their lives. So only thing they're good at is lifting radios. They wouldn't work steady if stealing was legal. That all they take, radios? All I've ever seen. Guess they got a gimmick. Figure they can make a living with them while I change. Mm-hmm. I guess they do pretty good. I don't know. I paid them enough times. All right, anything else you can tell us? No. They work with anybody else, do you know? Not that I've ever heard. How about close friends? None. They say when they be back to your place? No, they don't have a regular route when they pick up some things. They come in. If they got nothing to sell, I don't see them. When did you see them last? The time I told you about. They're still around? Well, I don't know. Rumble says they are. I haven't seen them myself. You know where we can reach them? No, you don't make an appointment with them. You know if these guys have ever been arrested? Oh, we never talked about it, where they seem to feel about cops, though. You sure figure they feel. They from L.A., do you know? I don't think so. Never heard them say. Only done business with them a couple of times. We never got real buddy-buddy. They don't call that chummy set much. All right, Canali, any more you want to tell us? I guess that's it. All right, come on. Why don't you check the box? Yeah. Hey, can you spring another cup of that coffee? It's sure good, about the best they ever tasted. Hey, wait a minute. Yeah? There's one more thing about the guys you're after. All right. Take it easy with them. Like I told you, they're both luscious. I think they're off their rockers. Yeah, we'll watch it. Well, you're better. They're packing heavy. Yeah. Any way you slice it, they're loaded. Harold Canali went through the mug books, but he was unable to find a picture of the two suspects. The name Dusty was checked to the moniker file without result. Information was forwarded to George Brereton up at CII Sacramento, and a supplemental APB was gotten out. We spent the rest of the day with officers from Burgary Detail going over reports. We found that they'd been working on a string of car radio thefts for the past several weeks. When we compared notes with them, it seemed more than possible that their two suspects were the same men we wanted for the killing of Matthew Denton. However, they were no closer to the men than we were. From the reports, we were able to figure that the pair was still in Los Angeles. That evening, we met with Captain Warman, Captain Bernard, and Chief Detective Stad Brown. We worked out a system of rolling stakeouts that would cover most of the territory where the thieves had been working. Three additional teams of men from Burgary were assigned to help us, and on Wednesday, June 20, the operation was started. For three days, there was no action. Thefts from autos continued, but when they were checked out, the method of operation used eliminated any suspects that we were looking for. On Sunday, June 24th, we got a call that a man answering the descriptions of one of the thieves had been seen in the vicinity of Beverly Boulevard and Elmwood Avenue. Frank and I left our position in the stakeout and we drove out to the area. Should be a couple of more blocks. Yeah, we just passed Ridgewood Place. You better take it easy. Next block, we can start cruising. Yeah. See anything? No. Want to take a left here? All right. Doesn't look like it. Let's go up a couple more blocks. Should be a break if we nail them tonight. Yeah. A little rough on the study time. How's it going? No, I don't know, Joe. At times, I don't think I'm ever going to make a sergeant. What are you doing now? You mean studying? Yeah. Legal procedure. Well, you should know that. More practical stuff, yeah. Putting it in the legal language, it makes it rough on me. Yeah, I had the same trouble. I haven't been able to hit the books for the past week. Wait a minute. No, nothing. Keep going. What did you say? I said I hadn't hit the books. I missed a couple of lectures, too. You're never going to make it that way. That's what Faye says. Wait a minute. Slow down. What do you got? Up there, see? Next block on the left. About 50 feet on the other side of the street line. I don't see any. Look to me like somebody's trying to get into a car. I'm not sure. Well, let's check it. All right. Just up ahead there. Yeah. See anything? Well, it looks like somebody on the other side. Better pull up. We'll take a look. OK. All right, let's go. All right. I'll come to the other side. Take it easy if it's the one we want. They're heavy. All right. All right, Mr. Let's hold it right there. What? Stand where you are. You talking to me? That's right. What are you causing me trouble for? I didn't do nothing. We didn't say you didn't. How about it, Mr. Is this your car? Certainly this is my car. What did you think of long time ago? You got the white slip. This is a machine. It's right out in plain sight. Where it's supposed to be. You've been drinking, haven't you? Small one of you officers don't do better at solving crimes. I had a couple, yeah. What's your name? I don't see that's any business to yours. That's all I'm trying to do is get into my car. I'm not causing any trouble. What's your name? It's Kyle. Peter Kyle. You got the keys to this car? Matter of fact, I haven't. That's why I'm having so much trouble getting in. If I had the keys, I could just flip the door open and drive off. Fine. Yeah. Yeah, what are you doing? Just want to see what you're carrying. Watch your job. All right, Mr. Come on. Like I said, I'm doing it. Try it again, try it. Yeah. I didn't mean it, but I didn't mean the truth. Yeah, sure. Oh, then she's got to believe it. Come on down here into the light. And I stand still. Yeah, the match is the description pretty good. Where's your partner? I didn't mean to do it. It was an accident. I just hit the guy. I just got in a fight with him. Dusty did the shooting. He did it. I didn't. I just got in a fight. All right, now calm down. Where is he? I knew you'd catch us a note all the time. I kept telling Dusty we had to get out of town. We got to go. I kept telling him all the time I was telling him. Where is he? Home. Where's that? He's the one who did it. I just got in a fight. Dusty's the one who shot. Not me. Where do you live, Mr. Down on Fort. That's where old Dusty is. Old safe Dusty. He said we didn't have to leave. Said you'd never catch us. All right, let's go. Old Dusty is always right. Always knows what he's doing all the time. Never makes a mistake. Not old Dusty. Yeah, well, he made one this time, didn't he? The story you've just heard is true. The names were changed to protect the innocent. On November 6th, the trial was held in Department 95, Superior Court of the State of California, in and for the county of Los Angeles, in a moment the results of that trial. L and M goes king size. Yes, L and M goes king size. Now L and M is king size as well as regular. Both have the same low price. Both have the miracle tip for the effective filtration you need. Yes, it's the filter that counts. And L and M has the best. You get much more flavor, much less nicotine, a light and mild smoke. Yes, this is it. L and M filters, just what the doctor ordered. Biocotten, king size or regular, both at the same low price. L and M filters, America's highest quality and best filter tip cigarette. Peter Gregory Kyle and Jesse Haywood Pool were tried and convicted of murder in the second degree and petty theft 18 counts. They received punishment as prescribed by law. Petty theft is punishable by imprisonment for a period of not more than one year in the county jail. Second degree murder is punishable by imprisonment for a period of from five years to life. You have just heard dragnet, a series of authentic cases from official files. Technical advice comes from the Office of Chief of Police W.H. Parker, Los Angeles Police Department. Technical advisors Captain Jack Donahoe, Sergeant Marty Wins, Sergeant Franz Freischer. Heard tonight were Ben Alexander, Vic Rodman, Jack Prussian. Script by John Robinson. Music by Walter Schumann. Hell, give me speaking. Watch an entirely different dragnet case history each week on your local NBC television station. Please check your newspapers for the day and time. Chesterfield has brought you dragnet transcribed from Los Angeles. Dane Clark stars in crime and Peter Chambers tonight on the NBC radio network.