 Ladies and gentlemen, the story you are about to hear is true. The names have been changed to protect the innocent. Drag net. 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. It was Tuesday, May 8. It was cool in Los Angeles. We were working the night to watch out a homicide detail. My partner's Frank Smith. The boss is Captain Lawman. 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. Hi Frank. How's he doing? I don't know. I'll talk to Dr. Sebastian. How's it look? 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 know. A 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. I'll have to talk to him. What do you got on the victim? Wait a minute. I got it here. Name's Matthew Denton. The address given is 18970 Taft Street in Hollywood. Did you get in touch with anybody? No. Tried the house but nobody was there. Anything else? Everyone over the personal property. The usual stuff. Cigarette, slider, comb. A diamond ring on the small finger left hand. Looks expensive. Gold wristwatch. $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. Good job, Frank. Hi, Doc. How are you? How'd it look? What time you got? 10-16. Make it 10-13. Close enough for the report. What? Time of death. Matthew Trevor Denton, WMA. 31 years, 5'9", 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 Kate. Right over there is where it happened. The both stuff. Uh-huh. I was standing right here. Right here. I saw the whole thing happen. Yes, sir. By what time was that, Mr. Kate? 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, like, go ahead. I had a big argument before I left home. I just started off that way. Yes, sir. Got out here and took over. By what time did you open the stands? Oh, I'm 7.30 in the morning. I try to get breakfast business. You know, old people on the way to eat, stop off for the paper. I see. I try to get them. All right. I open it up in the morning, and then there's a school kid takes over for me about three and a half. And he's here around 6.30 when I come back from supper. I see. That's when you burn the coffee. Tonight's supper. All right. Do you want to tell us about the shooting? Oh, sure. 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? The man who was shot. Yes, sir. Well, I told you. It was about 9.30. The car pulled up to the curb, and this 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 him. Kind of leaning the window. Mm-hmm. The car pulled away, and the one man, one who got out. Yeah. He walked over and sat down on the bench. I was waiting for the bus. In case you get a good look at the car, you got out of my sword, if that's what you mean. What did you describe before us? It was a black Chevy. I'd say maybe a 52 or 53. A sedan or a coupe? No, it was a sedan, a 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 all the way. You can see for yourself. The one fellow leaning the car, it doesn't get a good look. I didn't pay a lot of attention to it anyway. I 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. Mm-hmm. 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. Old Bert always stops by the same time. He gets one of each, you know, same time every night. Good old Bert. Yeah, sir. Now, what if you go ahead with your story? Oh, oh yeah. Well, this car 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 standing over there, waving their arms around. I could even hear some of the yelling. There wasn't no ticket at 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. They had no outright word. 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 of them was shot. All right. Well, you just bet the guy tackled more than he could handle. The victim, the fellow, started to clean up on himself, and he just started to mop the streets 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. First guy dropped right down on the sidewalk. The other two got in the car and took off, went roaring down Normandy. It was 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 the first time. I figured I should take a good look at the... It was gone. I see. Now, how about the men driving it? Well, what do you want to know? Can you describe them? Not good. Well, let me tell us just what you care, Mr. Cateson, and help. Sure. First one was a tall length. He didn't weigh much. Sort of a string beam. Mm-hmm. How tall would you say? Well, either no close to 6'3", maybe 6'2", round in there. He's a tall one. About how old? 20 feet, 25. I couldn't tell. That's too good. Let me see. What about his coloring? Was he lighter dark, do you remember? Light. He was blonde. 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. Mm-hmm. They were real tight jeans. Both of them were wearing them. Anything 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. What about the other man? 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, you know, shorter. I guess anybody would look small next to him. About how tall was he? Only about 5'9", 5'10". Give a cup or take a cup. All right. How was he built? Short of light, well, maybe 140. Anything else about the two men? Did either of them wear glasses, do you remember? No, not so as I could see. Might have taken them off, you know, before they got out of the car. Might have, but I didn't see them 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 and make them stand out one tall, the other short, no big reason to remember them. I'm afraid you got it wrong, mister. Huh? We got a reason. We made arrangements for Andrew Cates to come down to the office 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 Massive 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 records, 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 if they'd call the office and 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. Yes, sir, you're looking for somebody? I'd like to see somebody about this story in the paper. Which one is that, sir? About the shooting last night corner Normandy and Willowbrook. All right, what did you want to talk about? Are you the officer who's handling the case? Yes, sir. My name's Sterling Hall. I think maybe I can help you out. All right. Want to have a seat, Mr. Hall? Sure. 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 in 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? You said that. All right. How long were you to get it? I dropped him off at the bus stand right where he was shot. All right. 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. Well, I was on my 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 to name the baby on. 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. And they just had a baby, wanted to send her something. I see. Now, we got to talking and had a cup of coffee, and 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 at all. New father. Yeah, sir. We left the hospital. 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 that went right near his house. All right. But on the way, we was following his car, and all of a sudden it stopped. No signal, nothing. Just slams on the brakes, and we rammed in. 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 it going. 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. This Denton, he'd tell them to shove off. Said their car wasn't hurt at all, and said not to make a big thing out of it. He told them it was air 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, the thing to do was to call the cops 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. 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 quarter. 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, shouldn't there be anything to pick up them two fellas? It's not going to be that easy. Hmm? The car was stolen. Before Frank and I left the office, we made arrangements for Stirling Hall to check the mug books in the hope that he might be able to identify the suspects. At 11.20 a.m., 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 Stirling 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 respected. 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 when no one approached it to crew from Lainton Prince went over the car. They 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. No, nothing. Where'd he come from? Not with my chick, huh? No, no. We'll pick him up. Yeah. Okay, right. Thanks. It's Mack over in Burgary. He says he just picked up a guy for receiving. He tried to make a deal. He said if he got a break, he might be able to help us clean up something. Say what it 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 this 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? Now, come on, stand up. Let's go. Give it up, huh? No, we'll be back. What are you taking me? Back to Burgary, make him book you. Main jail? Yep. But you guys are all through with me, huh? Yeah, for an hour. We'll talk to you again. Well, you won't get any more. Tell me something, will you? What? A little while ago, you said you knew something about a killing. Now, you shut up and 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. Now, 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 his way. I know. What's a tab for being an accessory? Five years. Okay, let's go back. Huh? I'll tell you all about it. 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. Yeah. It's good coffee. It's strong. I like it that way. Yeah, well, now that you've had the clats, 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. Are you 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 two men. I think they had something to do with Denton. Well, about three weeks ago, there was, in my place, had five new radios, a kind with the bar to pick the stations, you know, like the new cats. Yeah, I know. They had five of them. Wanted to turn them over. Yeah. The price they were asking was way out. I told them so, so they'd have to find somebody else to drop them. All right. Tell me there was a beef. They had to get out of town, so they needed the money to swing it. Well, it still doesn't add up to Denton's killer, does it? Well, it will. All right. Come on, tell us. I went out of the office for a couple of minutes, told them I had to make a phone call. Yeah. I had to help some 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 wasn't 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 town. I waited outside for a couple more minutes, but I 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 or wouldn't. Told them to go ahead. And what do these guys look like? A couple of bums, one tall, the other short, wearing those jeans with the coats made out of same cloth. You had dealings with them before? Yeah, a couple of times. You know their name? 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 is Dusty. Always got a flask on his hip. You mean the bottle, huh? No, a metal flask. They used some 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 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. The only thing they're good at is lifting radios. They wouldn't work steady if stealing was legal. Is that all they take, radios? All I've ever seen. I guess they got a gimmick. I figure they can make a living with them while I change. 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. Close friends? No. They don't have a regular route when they pick up some things. They come in. They got nothing to sell. I don't see them. When did you see them last? The time I told you about them. 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 of these guys that have ever been arrested? Well, we never talked about it, where they seem to feel about cops, though. You sure figure they feel. They're 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 go that chummy-set much. All right, Canealy. 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 sping 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. Anyway, you slice it. They're loaded. Harold Canealy 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 Brayden 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 to 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. They 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 20th, 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 Helmwood Avenue. Frank and I left our position in the stakeout and we drove out to the area. Could be a couple of more blocks. Yeah, we just passed Ridgewood Place. You better take it easy next block when we 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. It'll 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. Well, practical stuff, yeah. Putting it in the legal language that 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. Yeah. No, it's nothing. Keep going. What'd you say? I said I hadn't hit the books and missed a couple of lectures, too. Well, you're never going to make it that way. That's what faith says. Wait a minute. Huh? 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. Well, I don't see anything. Look to me like somebody trying to get into a car. I'm not sure. Well, let's check it. All right. Just up ahead there. Yeah. See anything? I don't look like somebody on the other side. Better pull up. We'll take a look. Okay. 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 it's my car. Who did you think it belonged to? They got the white slip. You know, machines 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. 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 Cox. 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. All right. Yeah. Yeah, what are you doing? Just wanted to see what you're carrying. What a joke. All right, Mr. Come on. I didn't mean to do it. I didn't mean to do it. Yeah, I'm sure. Honestly, you got to believe me. Come on down here into the light. Yeah, it matches the description pretty good. What'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 Fourth. That's where old Dusty is. Old, safe Dusty. He said we didn't have to leave. He 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? Gregory Keil and Jesse Haywood Poole 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. Dragnet is a presentation of the United States Armed Forces Radio Service. The United States Armed Forces Radio Service