 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 assigned a homicide detail. On the way back to the office, you receive a call. It's about an attempted suicide. You're in the immediate vicinity. Your job? Check it out. 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, drag net is the story of your police force in action. It was Tuesday, March 24th. It was windy in Los Angeles. We were working the night watch out a homicide detail. My partner, Frank Smith, the boss is Captain Warman. My name's Friday. We were answering an ambulance follow-up, attempted suicide. It was 11.52 PM. We got to 2296 Whitworth Drive, front door. Places sure like that. Better try it again, huh? Yeah. You're the police? Yes, ma'am. This Frank Smith, my name's Friday. Come on in. Thank you. He's the mayor of the study. Who is he? Colonel Hamlin. Are you Mrs. Hamlin? Yes. Door is locked, huh? Hamlin. He has a gun, said he was going to kill himself. Yes, ma'am. Is there another key to this door? No. Well, give me a hand, Frank, and try to force it. Yeah. Come on. This isn't going to give. No. There's another way into the room, ma'am. No, this is the only door. How about windows? What? Windows leading into it. Yes, off the gun porch. Came in here drunk because of the scene. Down this way? Yes. Just the window here? Yes, this. Can you see anything? No, let me have your flashlight. Yeah, here you go. Yeah, I can see him there on the floor. Can't you do something? He might still be alive. Well, screen's locked. You got something to cut it with? Get these keys. OK, see if we can get the window open. Yeah, I'm going to have to break this, ma'am. Well, I don't care as long as you get to him. All right, I'm going to hold the flashlight. Yeah, you better stand back, ma'am. We're glad you're here. Let's hurry. Can you reach the latch from there? Hold on a minute. Yeah, I think so. Yeah, I got it. I'll give you a hand, then. Can you see if he's still alive? Just a minute. We'll have to get under the room first, ma'am. Watch your step there, John. Yeah. Come on, I'll give you a hand. All right. As soon as the evidence gets here, will you show the attendant how to get in? Yes, can you tell if he's alive yet? No, ma'am, not yet. I'm going to get the door. I'll check the victim. Yeah. How about it? You know, we better have the attendant look at him. I don't know. Take a look at that. I wonder if we could enforce the door. Well, the chair is in the knob. Locked and bolted. Must have wanted real privacy. Looks like he's got it now. That's the room right there. Yes, ma'am. Hi, how are you? He's dead. Don't wait in there, ma'am. I didn't think he'd really do it. No, nothing. He's dead. That his wife? Yeah. I'm sorry to have to do this, ma'am, but there are a couple of things I've got to know. Go ahead. Want to get me his full name? Carl Hamlin. His age? 43. Does he live here? No. We had a house over in Bronson, 947. Do you have to go through all this? No, that's all, Mrs. Hamlin. I get the rest of it, ma'am. Frank, you want to finish up here? Sure. It's all so wrong. Yes, ma'am. Got anything we can get for you? No. Do you want to go in the other room and sit down? That's better. Would you like to call your doctor for you? I've already called him from my mother. He's on the way over. Where's she now? In the back bedroom when she's lying down. This whole thing's been a shock for her. Yes, ma'am, I understand. When I talked to it, he said for me to give her one of the stills he prescribed. He's supposed to make her sleep. You're going to have to talk to her. Yes, we probably will. I hope you won't have to do it tonight. This whole thing's been a terrible shock to her. She's not too well anyway. Well, we'll try to avoid upsetting her any further. I'd appreciate it more than I could tell you. All right, Ms. Hamlin. There are a few questions we've got to ask if you feel up to answering them. Might as well get it over with. What do you want to know? Do you want to tell us what happened? Well, Carl came over tonight. He got dropped. He caused a big scene. Your husband doesn't live here, then? No, we're separated. I see. Who was here when the shooting took place? A mother and myself. Anybody else living here? No, just the two of us. All right. What time did Mr. Hamlin get here? I'm not sure. I was asleep. I beg your pardon? I wasn't asleep. I don't know. I see. You weren't expecting him, then? No, no. Last time I saw him, I told him to leave me alone. Said I'd get a court order if I had to. You know. We've been separated about a week this time. This isn't the first time, is it? No, there's been other times. This was the worst. I told him I was finished, but I didn't want anything more to do with him. He's been calling. Here, where I work, most of the time he was drunk. He kept asking for a reconciliation thing, how sorry he was, and asking me to take him back. Yeah. I'm not blaming it all on him. I know some of it was my fault. All right. You want to go on? He called me this afternoon. He had to see me. Had it all worked out that we could get back together again. I told him I didn't want to see him. I said to him to stay away. I came home and told my mother about it. I said Carl might show up, but if he did, I didn't want to see him. All right, go on. I kind of half expected him to show up, but he didn't. I went to bed. After the 1030 news, mother stayed up to read. First time there was anything wrong when I heard the shot. I got up and came right downstairs. Mother was standing in front of the study door. She told me that Carl was inside. But he'd shot himself. I tried to call him. First, I thought he was playing some kind of a joke. Yeah. My mother said she'd heard Carl fall down in the room. I called you right away. Good job, Mom. What do you got? DOA slip. I'll put it on the call of photo lab in the corner. OK. I checked the gun. It's 38 revolver, one shot fired. It fits with the story I just got from his wife. Mm-hmm. I'll make the call. Something like that. I wonder if I could use your phone, Mrs. Hamlin. What? I'd like to use your phone, please. Oh, it's in the hall, the table there. Thank you. Did your mother tell you what happened? Yes, in a way. Why do you mean that? She's over 70, Sergeant Friday. A thing like this isn't easy to go through at that age. I see. Well, my mother and Carl didn't get along. He always said that she caused the trouble between us. Told me a couple of times that if she'd keep her nose out of our business, we might be able to get along. Uh-huh. I wonder if it'd be possible for us to talk to her. You have to. Yes, ma'am, we do. I'll go see. All right, thank you. Crew's on the way, Joan. Is there going to be more policemen out here? Yes, ma'am. We'll try to make it as brief as possible. I'd appreciate it. We'll do everything we can. I'll go get my mother. Thank you. She gave you the story? As much as she knew. What do you mean? Well, she says she wasn't in the room at the time. Her mother saw it happen. Oh. Did you turn your thing in the other room? Mm-mm. The statement from the mother in the corner gets here. We can shove off. Yeah. Can you sit over here, mother? Yes, dear. These men want to ask you some questions. This is my mother, Mrs. Gaylor. Sergeant Friday. This is Officer Smith. How do you do, ma'am? All right, ma'am. How do you do? We'll try to make this as brief as possible, Mrs. Gaylor. Just a couple of questions we've got to ask. You go right ahead. If you get tired, mother, you tell them and they'll stop. Yes, dear. Now, what time did your son-in-law get here tonight? I'm not sure. I think it was about 1130. Mm-hmm. No, I told him Mr. Hamlin might be coming over. But that time at night, you hardly expected anybody to come call him, would you? No, ma'am. He did. He always was doing something no one else did. I think he just sat around and tried to figure things to do that was different. Mm-hmm. Like tonight, came in drunk, yelled about how he wanted to have a showdown. I didn't know what he was talking about. Mm-hmm. Started to yell at me, told me how the split-up was my fault. Started to curse at me. Mm-hmm. I'm 73, Mr. Friday. I've seen a lot of things, met a lot of people. There's not anybody who can talk to me like that. I told Mr. Hamlin, told him to get out of the house. That's when he pulled this gun out of his pocket. Yes, ma'am. Had it right in his coat, the outside pocket. I see. I told him, I said, Mr. Hamlin, you just stop this foolishness and get out of here. That's what I said to him. Oh, ma'am. You just looked at me and said, yeah, you'd like that, wouldn't you? Those are the exact words. Then he told me how he was going to kill himself to show me. Mm-hmm. I thought it was some kind of dramatic. Mr. Hamlin was that kind, you know, always play acting around. Yes, ma'am. Not this time. Next thing I know, he run into the study and locked the door. After that, there was a shot and I heard him fall down. Right then, when Nora came into the room. Oh, I'm going to get her. I think we have all the information we need now. Okay, if I go to bed then. Yes, ma'am. Go right ahead. Good night, then. You want to help me, dear? Yes, ma'am. I'll be right with you. I'll be waiting up for you. Mr. Friday. Yes, ma'am. Anything more you want to know about Mr. Hamlin? I'll tell you. No, I don't think there'll be anything else, ma'am. If there is, I'll tell you. All right. Thank you, Ms. Gaylor. I'll be in my room, Nora. All right, ma'am. I'll be right there. It's taking me a lot better than I thought she would. Ms. Hamlin. Yes. I've never talked about suicide before. Yes, several times. Just this last week, I thought he was being dramatic again. I didn't pay much attention to him. It's so hard to tell if he was drunk or if he really meant something. Well, he is. We were married. I don't think he was ever really serious. You've got it wrong, haven't you? Hmm? He was this time. 1.14 a.m. The photographer got to the house and took pictures of the room. The coroner removed the body to the county morgue. At 2.37 a.m., Frank and I left the house. We went back to the office and filled out the 3.11.1 form, listing the death of Carl Martin Hamlin as a suicide. Frank called the coroner's office to find when we could get the results of the autopsy. They told us we'd have the necessary information late that afternoon. 3.18 a.m. We signed out of the office and went home. At 10.15 that morning, we got a call from Ray Pinker. He asked us to come right over to the crime lab. We'll run the routine check this morning. Came up with a couple of things I think you'd like to know. All right, what do you got, Ray? Yeah, take a look. This is the bullet we fired from the gun found in the victim's hand. Yeah. Oh, there. You can see it weighs 130 grains. Uh-huh. Now, this is the bullet that killed the man. Take a look. That's all out of shape. Mm-hmm. See anything else? Well, it's all right to me. Yeah, what are you building, Ray? Well, I checked this one pretty carefully. Made sure that all of it was here. You know, that none of the lead had been sheared off my bone tissue. Yeah. None missing. It's complete. Yeah. Now, take a look. Yeah, let me put this one on the scale. Now, check it yourself. 95 grains. Yeah. 35 grains difference. Let me show you something else here. I figured the length of both bullets. They don't check out either. What's it mean, Ray? Bullet that killed Hamlin's a 380. It's a European calibration. Mm-hmm. Gun he had in his hands, a .38 revolver. Yeah. 380's automatic ammunition. Yeah. This fellow Hamlin pulled a pretty neat trick. Well, what do you mean, Ray? He killed himself with a bullet that couldn't possibly be fired from the gun he was holding. Huh. Something sure out of place. Yeah. Might as well tear up the forms you filled out on this one. No suicide. Yeah. You got to find a murder gun. You are listening to Dragnet, the authentic story of your police force in action. 11.12 a.m. Frank and I along with Ray Pinker left the crime lab and we drove out to see Nora Hamlin. From the physical evidence on hand, the way the door had been locked and the fact that the windows had been bolted from the inside, it appeared unlikely that anybody could have left the room after Carl Hamlin had been shot. Yet from the information we'd gotten from Pinker, there had to be another gun involved in the killing. 11.24 a.m. We got to the house on Whitmore Drive. Good morning. I didn't expect to see you back so soon. You want to come in? Yes, ma'am. Ms. Hamlin, this is Mr. Pinker from our crime lab. Ray, Ms. Hamlin. It's nice to know you, Mr. Pinker. How do you do? Are there some more questions you have to ask? Yes, ma'am, that's right. I wonder if we could take another look at the study. Sure. Didn't the man who were here last night get what they needed? Well, we'd just like to check it again with Mr. Pinker here. Uh-huh. Well, you know where it is. How's your mother feeling this morning? She had a good sleep. The doctor gave her a sedative. She's still in bed. We'll try not to disturb her. Well, you go ahead with what you have to do. I'm trying to get the house in order. If there's anything you want, I'll be across the hall. Thank you. Thanks. It's right over here, right? Mm-hmm. This is where we found him. You can see there where we had to break the window to get in. Mm-hmm. Right? Yeah. You got that sketch you made last night? Yeah. Yeah, here it is. We'll take a look, right? Yeah. You can see the body was about here. Mm-hmm. Over here. And the feet were about here. That's about right, isn't it, Joe? Yeah. It was right next to the chair there. Mm-hmm. That's the way I got it there. Just about on the perfect line between the floor lamp and the chair over there. Mm-hmm. What about the gun? In his right hand. Was the gun in his hand when you found him? Yeah, that's right. Pictures from the photo lab will bear that out. Sure. He's out in left field. How do you mean? I talked to Doc Newbar when he sent the bullet over. Mm-hmm. The way he described the wound, it's pretty tough to buy it. The right-handed man could shoot himself, so the slug it ended up where it did. Exactly. How do you mean? Well, the bullet entered just to the right of the center of his chest. About here. Uh-huh. Came to rest under the right arm. Here. Line of travel's way off. Sure would have been an easier way to do it, huh? Yeah. What about the door when you found it? I'll show you how it was locked. Give me that chair. Yeah. There you go. The key was turned. The bolt was thrown. And then this chair was popped up under the knob like this. How about the key? Was it still in the lock? Yeah. It sure looks like he meant the door to stay shut. Yeah, we could figure that. The place looks pretty solid. Plaster walls. Not much chance of anybody getting through them. Mm-hmm. You checked the bookcases? What do you mean? Any of them pulled away from the wall? Well, I looked at them last night. They all seemed solid enough. Mm-hmm. You got any ideas, right? I don't know. The way that door looks, the rest of the room, doesn't seem likely anybody could have shot him then going outside and locked the door. I think they could have come in through the window. You had to break it? Yeah. Well, you had to set up. You shouldn't have any trouble finding the suspect. What do you mean? Find a butler built like an envelope. How'd he find it? You didn't see a shell casing around last night, did you? I don't know. There wasn't any reason to look for it. Mm-hmm. No sign of one now. Looks like the room's been cleaned. Yeah. Well, I guess we'd better check with the Hamlin woman, huh? And get this stuff away from the door. Ms. Hamlin? Ms. Hamlin? Oh, yes, just a minute. Something you want? Yes, ma'am. Has anybody been in the study since we left last night? I didn't know. I wasn't supposed to. You didn't say anything about it. Well, did you clean the room? Yes, I told you. I was straightening up the house. I ran the vacuum in here. You see an empty shell casing? I don't know what you mean. Well, it looks like this, ma'am. See? The brass part on this bullet. No, I didn't see anything like that. Have you emptied your cleaner since you used it this morning? No. I wonder if we could see it. Sure. I don't understand what this is all about. But if you want to see the vacuum, I'll get it. If you won't tell me where it is, I'll get it for you. It's no trouble. In the closet here in the hall. Can I give you a hand with it? It's not heavy. You want the attachments, too? No, ma'am. Just the cleaner itself. All right. All right, if we use a piece of this newspaper. Sure. Go ahead. I guess you know what you're doing. That's the way you take the dust bag out. Yeah, just flip that little catch on the side there. If you'll tell me what you're looking for, I might be able to help. How about it, right? Yeah. Here it is. 380? Yeah. What's all that mean? Do you have another gun in the house, Miss Hammer? No. You're pretty sure about that? Yes. What makes you think there might be another one? Well, how many shots did you hear last night, Miss Hammer? What do you mean? Well, just that. How many shots did you hear? One. You're sure about that? Yes, why? We've got reason to believe that there were two shots fired. What difference does it make? How many there were? Pretty big difference. Why is it important? My husband killed himself. Can't be sure how many I heard. One, two, three, a half a dozen. What difference does it make? Well, I was trying to explain it to you. Your husband was holding a .38 caliber revolver when we found him. But the bullet that killed him came from a .380 automatic. I don't know what you're talking about. What are you trying to say? Why don't you understand this? Your husband didn't kill himself. You're not serious. I'm afraid we are, ma'am. But this whole thing is ridiculous. The evidence makes it true. Who'd kill him? Who'd have a reason? We'd like to know that, too. Would you get your mother, please? What do you want to talk to her about? What if you'd get her, please? I'm not going to have her dragged into anything. She's had enough trouble. There's no reason for you to make any more. Don't worry about it, Nora. Not there. You shouldn't be out of bed. I heard this often. I've been listening. I haven't seen you before. You policemen, too? No, ma'am. I'm Ray Pinker. How do you do? Jesse Gaylor. Nora's mother. How are you? Now, what's all this about, Mr. Hamlin? Not killing himself. That's right, Miss Gaylor. What makes you think it is? A lot of things. Do you have a gun in the house? You mean a pistol? That's right. Mike? Why? Where is it? In the table there. Left hand drawer. I'll get it. That gun belonged to you, Miss Gaylor? Yes. My husband had it. Mm-hmm. All this talk about Mr. Hamlin. If he didn't kill himself, who do you think did? Well, that's what we're trying to find out. Uh-huh. But you've got somebody you're looking at, haven't you? Somebody you figured did it? This is your gun. Uh-huh. You're the only person who witnessed the shooting. That's right. Well, why don't you tell us about it? Because if I did, you'd never believe it. We'll give us a try, huh? All right. Mr. Hamlin came here last night, like I said. He was drunk. Came in and started yelling. I was sitting in that chair reading. He started to curse at me. Yeah. I didn't pay him no mind. Told him to go away. But Nora was through with him. He wouldn't go. Yes, ma'am. All of a sudden, he pulled out a gun and started waving it around. He said if I didn't get Nora, he'd kill himself. I thought it was just some of his play act. Yes, ma'am. I didn't pay any attention to him. Figured when he was through, he'd go away. I went back to the book. Made him madder never. He grabbed the book out of my hand and shot. Shot right at it. Then he threw it into the fireplace. He threw your book into the fireplace, is that right? That's right. Just all of a sudden, something happened to me. Don't think I've ever been so mad. I took the gun out of the table then shot him. Got real scared and ran into the study. Closed the door behind him. I heard him lock the door and move something up to the door. Must have been the chair. Yeah. I guess it was. Right after that, I heard him fall down. Right after that, Nora came into the room. Why didn't you tell me, mother? There wasn't any reason to. I had to think about it. But I'd done what I had to do. I was going to call you men this morning and tell you the truth. I really was. You believe that? I really was. Just all of a sudden last night when he shot my book, I've never been so mad. I really wanted to kill him. You remember it all pretty well, don't you? Yes, I do, all of it. You want to get a coat and just give it? I'm going to take you downtown. Yes, sir. I'll do it right away. Better go with the thing. Yeah. Is it going to be all right? We don't decide that, ma'am. But she told the truth. Isn't that going to make a difference? Let's go down that way. You want to get that book ready? We're going to need it. Yeah. She doesn't say a word about it. Yeah, I know. The story's still pretty hard to believe, isn't it? Here we are. Here's the book Hamlin shot. The slug is still in it. Looks like a 38. Might have made her mad enough to kill him. Yeah. What is it, Mr. Friday? Holy Bible. The story you have just heard is true. The names were changed to protect the innocent. On July 14th, a trial was held in Department 96, Superior Court of the State of California, in and for the county of Los Angeles. Jesse Margaret Gaylor was examined by three psychiatrist appointed by the court and found to be insane during the commission of the crime. A sanity hearing was held and she was made awarded the state. She was placed in the state hospital at Mendocino for treatment. This week, a group of men are meeting in New Orleans for the 61st annual conference of the International Association of Chiefs of Police. Dragnet is pleased to extend its best wishes to our top law enforcement officers and to thank them for the protection they give our homes and families. May their convention be an outstanding success. Dragnet, the story of your police force in action is a presentation of the United States Armed Forces Radio Service.