1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:12,560 The story you are about to hear is true. 2 00:00:12,560 --> 00:00:16,600 The names have been changed to protect the innocent. 3 00:00:16,600 --> 00:00:25,160 You're a detective sergeant. 4 00:00:25,160 --> 00:00:26,960 You're assigned a homicide detail. 5 00:00:26,960 --> 00:00:32,200 An attractive blonde secretary is found beaten to death in a downtown office building. 6 00:00:32,200 --> 00:00:33,840 You've only one lead to start with. 7 00:00:33,840 --> 00:00:37,280 A length of steel pipe wrapped in heavy paper. 8 00:00:37,280 --> 00:00:39,320 There's no trace of the killer. 9 00:00:39,320 --> 00:00:40,760 Your job? 10 00:00:40,760 --> 00:00:51,760 Get him. 11 00:00:51,760 --> 00:00:52,920 Dragnet. 12 00:00:52,920 --> 00:00:55,560 The documented drama of an actual crime. 13 00:00:55,560 --> 00:00:59,920 For the next 30 minutes in cooperation with the Los Angeles Police Department, you will 14 00:00:59,920 --> 00:01:04,440 travel step by step on the side of the law through an actual case transcribed from official 15 00:01:04,440 --> 00:01:06,020 police files. 16 00:01:06,020 --> 00:01:11,180 From beginning to end, from crime to punishment, Dragnet is the story of your police force 17 00:01:11,180 --> 00:01:17,280 in action. 18 00:01:17,280 --> 00:01:18,720 It was Wednesday, September 28th. 19 00:01:18,720 --> 00:01:20,480 It was hot in Los Angeles. 20 00:01:20,480 --> 00:01:22,760 We were working the night watch out of homicide detail. 21 00:01:22,760 --> 00:01:25,740 My partner is Ben Romero, the boss is Thad Brown, chief of detectives. 22 00:01:25,740 --> 00:01:26,740 My name is Friday. 23 00:01:26,740 --> 00:01:31,760 I was on the way back from the crime lab and it was 11 48 p.m. when I got to room 42. 24 00:01:31,760 --> 00:01:32,760 Homicide. 25 00:01:32,760 --> 00:01:33,760 Romero? 26 00:01:33,760 --> 00:01:34,760 Ben? 27 00:01:34,760 --> 00:01:35,760 Hey Romero? 28 00:01:35,760 --> 00:01:36,760 Not here. 29 00:01:36,760 --> 00:01:37,760 You Friday? 30 00:01:37,760 --> 00:01:40,760 Oh yeah, Lopey, how are you? 31 00:01:40,760 --> 00:01:42,640 You seen Romero around the last half hour? 32 00:01:42,640 --> 00:01:43,640 I was supposed to meet him here. 33 00:01:43,640 --> 00:01:44,640 He's come and gone. 34 00:01:44,640 --> 00:01:45,640 Still around the building though. 35 00:01:45,640 --> 00:01:46,640 Got a call. 36 00:01:46,640 --> 00:01:47,640 What was it about, do you know? 37 00:01:47,640 --> 00:01:49,560 Yeah, I was on that killing tonight. 38 00:01:49,560 --> 00:01:52,320 Call came from one of the cruiser cars checking the neighborhood down where it happened. 39 00:01:52,320 --> 00:01:53,320 Did they find something? 40 00:01:53,320 --> 00:01:56,880 Picked up a guy about three blocks in the murder scene acting suspicious. 41 00:01:56,880 --> 00:01:58,960 Men in the cruiser car figured maybe you'd want to talk to him. 42 00:01:58,960 --> 00:02:00,240 They're bringing the man in now? 43 00:02:00,240 --> 00:02:01,240 Yeah. 44 00:02:01,240 --> 00:02:03,560 You know where we're checking with the crime lab? 45 00:02:03,560 --> 00:02:06,480 Yeah, there's not much. 46 00:02:06,480 --> 00:02:08,120 Murder weapons about all we got so far. 47 00:02:08,120 --> 00:02:10,920 It's a piece of pipe with heavy manila paper wrapped around it. 48 00:02:10,920 --> 00:02:11,920 Uh huh. 49 00:02:11,920 --> 00:02:12,920 Light and prints do any good? 50 00:02:12,920 --> 00:02:14,240 Yeah, they lifted a lot of fingerprints. 51 00:02:14,240 --> 00:02:15,240 They all belong to the victim. 52 00:02:15,240 --> 00:02:16,240 None of them are foreign. 53 00:02:16,240 --> 00:02:18,280 Hey, you got a toothpick Joe? 54 00:02:18,280 --> 00:02:19,280 That corn on the covener. 55 00:02:19,280 --> 00:02:20,280 No, I haven't. 56 00:02:20,280 --> 00:02:22,720 Why don't you try the top drawer over there in Mike Peña's desk? 57 00:02:22,720 --> 00:02:23,720 He usually has some. 58 00:02:23,720 --> 00:02:24,720 Oh, yes. 59 00:02:24,720 --> 00:02:25,720 Thanks. 60 00:02:25,720 --> 00:02:29,120 I understand there wasn't much to look at, the killing I mean. 61 00:02:29,120 --> 00:02:30,400 It was a pretty vicious thing. 62 00:02:30,400 --> 00:02:31,800 The girl took a terrible beating. 63 00:02:31,800 --> 00:02:33,680 Oh, who found the body? 64 00:02:33,680 --> 00:02:35,000 One of the scrub women in the building. 65 00:02:35,000 --> 00:02:38,120 There was an office up on the ninth floor, import-export company. 66 00:02:38,120 --> 00:02:39,120 Victim was the secretary there. 67 00:02:39,120 --> 00:02:40,120 She was a pretty girl. 68 00:02:40,120 --> 00:02:41,120 Mm hmm. 69 00:02:41,120 --> 00:02:42,120 She dead long? 70 00:02:42,120 --> 00:02:43,560 Must have happened around seven o'clock tonight. 71 00:02:43,560 --> 00:02:44,560 That's my figure. 72 00:02:44,560 --> 00:02:45,560 It's just a guess. 73 00:02:45,560 --> 00:02:46,560 What's the girl's name? 74 00:02:46,560 --> 00:02:47,560 Been identified yet? 75 00:02:47,560 --> 00:02:49,560 Yeah, Adele Pryor. 76 00:02:49,560 --> 00:02:50,560 Her boss is out of town. 77 00:02:50,560 --> 00:02:52,160 She was working in the office alone. 78 00:02:52,160 --> 00:02:55,440 There was no one suspicious seen entering or leaving the office around the time of the 79 00:02:55,440 --> 00:02:56,440 murder. 80 00:02:56,440 --> 00:02:57,440 There's no one we know of anyway. 81 00:02:57,440 --> 00:02:58,440 Mm hmm. 82 00:02:58,440 --> 00:02:59,440 Yeah, it's gonna take a lot of checking. 83 00:02:59,440 --> 00:03:00,440 Yeah. 84 00:03:00,440 --> 00:03:02,000 Any idea what the motive could have been? 85 00:03:02,000 --> 00:03:03,000 Well, it wasn't robbery. 86 00:03:03,000 --> 00:03:05,080 They didn't keep any cash in the office. 87 00:03:05,080 --> 00:03:08,080 As far as we know, the girl wasn't carrying much money. 88 00:03:08,080 --> 00:03:10,600 We'll start making the rounds in the morning, checking with her friends, see what we can 89 00:03:10,600 --> 00:03:11,600 pick up. 90 00:03:11,600 --> 00:03:12,600 Mm hmm. 91 00:03:12,600 --> 00:03:13,600 Joe Friday, you're out? 92 00:03:13,600 --> 00:03:14,600 Yeah, I'm right here, back here, Ben. 93 00:03:14,600 --> 00:03:15,600 Oh. 94 00:03:15,600 --> 00:03:16,600 Oh, hi, Joe. 95 00:03:16,600 --> 00:03:17,600 Hi. 96 00:03:17,600 --> 00:03:18,600 Hi. 97 00:03:18,600 --> 00:03:19,600 Well, I'll be brief you about it, Joe. 98 00:03:19,600 --> 00:03:22,360 Yeah, a cruiser car picked up a suspicious looking guy near the murder scene. 99 00:03:22,360 --> 00:03:23,360 Is that about the size of it? 100 00:03:23,360 --> 00:03:24,360 Little more than that. 101 00:03:24,360 --> 00:03:27,480 They found the man beating his head against a brick wall in the back alley about two blocks 102 00:03:27,480 --> 00:03:29,320 from the office building where we found the body. 103 00:03:29,320 --> 00:03:30,320 Mm hmm. 104 00:03:30,320 --> 00:03:33,640 Guy had been drinking heavily and when they picked him up, he was pretty far gone. 105 00:03:33,640 --> 00:03:38,000 Kept mumbling something about how he didn't deserve to live, how he's a murderer, killer, 106 00:03:38,000 --> 00:03:39,000 not too coherent. 107 00:03:39,000 --> 00:03:40,000 Mm hmm. 108 00:03:40,000 --> 00:03:41,000 They asked him about the dead girl, Adele Pryor. 109 00:03:41,000 --> 00:03:43,240 Yeah, but the stuff he said didn't make much sense. 110 00:03:43,240 --> 00:03:44,800 He sobered up a little since he picked him up. 111 00:03:44,800 --> 00:03:47,400 We might as well see what we can get out of him before we book him in, huh? 112 00:03:47,400 --> 00:03:48,840 Got him in the interrogation room now. 113 00:03:48,840 --> 00:03:50,960 Okay, give it a try anyway. 114 00:03:50,960 --> 00:03:52,680 Any calls come in, you know where to find us, Lopey. 115 00:03:52,680 --> 00:03:53,680 Yeah, sure, right, Joe. 116 00:03:53,680 --> 00:03:54,680 Thanks a lot. 117 00:03:54,680 --> 00:03:58,320 Did you check with the crime lab, Joe? 118 00:03:58,320 --> 00:04:00,520 Yeah, about all we're sure of is the murder weapon. 119 00:04:00,520 --> 00:04:02,680 No prints, no other physical evidence. 120 00:04:02,680 --> 00:04:03,680 Maybe it won't matter. 121 00:04:03,680 --> 00:04:05,720 Got half an idea we might have the killer now. 122 00:04:05,720 --> 00:04:06,720 The guy they picked up? 123 00:04:06,720 --> 00:04:07,720 How'd he figure it out? 124 00:04:07,720 --> 00:04:08,720 Just a hunch. 125 00:04:08,720 --> 00:04:09,720 I don't think he's as drunk as he pretends. 126 00:04:09,720 --> 00:04:12,840 Well, we're going to have to place him a lot closer to the murder scene than two blocks 127 00:04:12,840 --> 00:04:13,840 away. 128 00:04:13,840 --> 00:04:14,840 You can't prove a thing the way it stands. 129 00:04:14,840 --> 00:04:16,520 I was downstairs when they brought the man in. 130 00:04:16,520 --> 00:04:18,920 I talked to him while they were bringing up the interrogation room. 131 00:04:18,920 --> 00:04:19,920 Yeah. 132 00:04:19,920 --> 00:04:20,920 Told me he knows a dead girl. 133 00:04:20,920 --> 00:04:21,920 All right. 134 00:04:21,920 --> 00:04:28,800 Said he was with her an hour before she died. 135 00:04:28,800 --> 00:04:32,680 Shortly before eight o'clock that night, a scrub woman in a downtown office building 136 00:04:32,680 --> 00:04:36,880 near the intersection of 8th and South Grand Avenue entered an office on the ninth floor 137 00:04:36,880 --> 00:04:40,120 of the building to do her usual cleaning chores. 138 00:04:40,120 --> 00:04:44,920 Lying face down behind a desk in the small office, she found the body of 28-year-old 139 00:04:44,920 --> 00:04:47,940 Secretary Adele Pryor beaten to death. 140 00:04:47,940 --> 00:04:52,460 When we arrived at the scene, routine investigation began, but almost immediately we found ourselves 141 00:04:52,460 --> 00:04:54,480 down a blind alley. 142 00:04:54,480 --> 00:04:58,400 Repeated questioning of all persons in or about the office building failed to turn up 143 00:04:58,400 --> 00:05:00,000 anything in the way of leads. 144 00:05:00,000 --> 00:05:03,840 A thorough investigation of the murder scene by the crime lab crew met with the same kind 145 00:05:03,840 --> 00:05:05,240 of luck. 146 00:05:05,240 --> 00:05:06,920 They knew they had the murder weapon. 147 00:05:06,920 --> 00:05:08,160 That was all. 148 00:05:08,160 --> 00:05:12,040 The deputy coroner arrived and removed the body to the morgue for posting. 149 00:05:12,040 --> 00:05:16,520 At 10 o'clock that night, three hours after the approximate time of the Pryor girl's death, 150 00:05:16,520 --> 00:05:20,520 officers in a cruiser car patrolling the area found a drunken man butting his head against 151 00:05:20,520 --> 00:05:23,700 a cement wall and muttering incoherently about a murder. 152 00:05:23,700 --> 00:05:27,000 He was picked up and taken immediately to the interrogation room where Ben and I questioned 153 00:05:27,000 --> 00:05:28,000 him. 154 00:05:28,000 --> 00:05:31,320 We'd talked to him a full hour before he began to make sense. 155 00:05:31,320 --> 00:05:35,800 He gave his name as Robert French, age 34, an unemployed electrical engineer. 156 00:05:35,800 --> 00:05:39,280 While we questioned him, two men from homicide were sent to check the hotel room where French 157 00:05:39,280 --> 00:05:40,280 told us he was staying. 158 00:05:40,280 --> 00:05:42,080 I don't know. 159 00:05:42,080 --> 00:05:46,360 I guess I had three, four drinks at Dusty's Place and I went down the street to the Blue 160 00:05:46,360 --> 00:05:48,200 Canary and had some more drinks there. 161 00:05:48,200 --> 00:05:50,160 I don't remember what happened after that. 162 00:05:50,160 --> 00:05:51,520 I wasn't feeling so good. 163 00:05:51,520 --> 00:05:54,280 You say you were drinking at Dusty's Place around 7 p.m. 164 00:05:54,280 --> 00:05:55,280 Is that right, French? 165 00:05:55,280 --> 00:05:56,280 I suppose so. 166 00:05:56,280 --> 00:05:57,280 I wasn't watching the clock. 167 00:05:57,280 --> 00:05:58,840 I guess it was around 7. 168 00:05:58,840 --> 00:06:00,760 Well, did you talk to anybody while you were in the bar? 169 00:06:00,760 --> 00:06:02,120 No, just the bartender. 170 00:06:02,120 --> 00:06:03,120 His name's Sarge. 171 00:06:03,120 --> 00:06:04,120 I don't know his last name. 172 00:06:04,120 --> 00:06:05,540 He'll tell you I was there. 173 00:06:05,540 --> 00:06:07,560 What time was it when you got to Dusty's Place, French? 174 00:06:07,560 --> 00:06:10,400 I couldn't tell you for sure, about 6.30 maybe. 175 00:06:10,400 --> 00:06:12,600 Sarge could probably tell you, the bartender. 176 00:06:12,600 --> 00:06:15,720 When you were coming up in the elevator, you told us you knew Adele Pryor. 177 00:06:15,720 --> 00:06:16,720 Yeah, I knew her. 178 00:06:16,720 --> 00:06:19,640 I used to work for her husband, or ex-husband, I mean. 179 00:06:19,640 --> 00:06:22,240 They've been divorced seven, eight years now. 180 00:06:22,240 --> 00:06:25,880 You said you saw Adele Pryor in her office late this afternoon, French. 181 00:06:25,880 --> 00:06:27,160 What was the reason for the visit? 182 00:06:27,160 --> 00:06:28,960 I borrowed a couple of dollars from her. 183 00:06:28,960 --> 00:06:30,720 She was always pretty good that way. 184 00:06:30,720 --> 00:06:31,720 Nice kid. 185 00:06:31,720 --> 00:06:34,000 Don't know why anybody'd want to kill her like that. 186 00:06:34,000 --> 00:06:37,520 Well, how about the show that you were putting on out in the street tonight, French? 187 00:06:37,520 --> 00:06:38,680 Beating your head against that wall? 188 00:06:38,680 --> 00:06:39,960 What was that all about? 189 00:06:39,960 --> 00:06:40,960 Drunk. 190 00:06:40,960 --> 00:06:41,960 Really drunk. 191 00:06:41,960 --> 00:06:43,880 Felt so low I wanted to kill myself. 192 00:06:43,880 --> 00:06:44,880 Just lay down and die. 193 00:06:44,880 --> 00:06:45,880 Well, how's that? 194 00:06:45,880 --> 00:06:46,880 You remorseful? 195 00:06:46,880 --> 00:06:47,880 Felt sorry for something you'd done? 196 00:06:47,880 --> 00:06:48,880 I don't know. 197 00:06:48,880 --> 00:06:51,680 I don't think of any special reason for it when I get that way. 198 00:06:51,680 --> 00:06:53,760 I just keep thinking I want to die. 199 00:06:53,760 --> 00:06:57,840 Haven't got the nerve for it, though I know that, like my old man always used to tell 200 00:06:57,840 --> 00:06:58,840 me. 201 00:06:58,840 --> 00:06:59,840 Haven't got the nerve to do anything right. 202 00:06:59,840 --> 00:07:01,360 Just wasn't born that way. 203 00:07:01,360 --> 00:07:02,480 I guess that's it. 204 00:07:02,480 --> 00:07:04,280 Do you use narcotics, French? 205 00:07:04,280 --> 00:07:05,280 No. 206 00:07:05,280 --> 00:07:06,800 I haven't even got the nerve for that. 207 00:07:06,800 --> 00:07:07,800 Booze, that's all. 208 00:07:07,800 --> 00:07:08,800 It's good enough for me, see. 209 00:07:08,800 --> 00:07:13,320 You think we could go out for a cup of coffee? 210 00:07:13,320 --> 00:07:14,840 Maybe I could use it. 211 00:07:14,840 --> 00:07:16,200 We'll have some brought up, huh? 212 00:07:16,200 --> 00:07:18,400 Ben, you mind going down the hall and check with Lope. 213 00:07:18,400 --> 00:07:20,680 Ask him to have some coffee brought up, huh? 214 00:07:20,680 --> 00:07:21,920 Yeah, okay. 215 00:07:21,920 --> 00:07:26,440 And see if those two men will check back in yet, will you? 216 00:07:26,440 --> 00:07:27,440 Right. 217 00:07:27,440 --> 00:07:28,440 Appreciate it, Sergeant. 218 00:07:28,440 --> 00:07:32,280 You're sure going to be mean when all this booze wears off. 219 00:07:32,280 --> 00:07:34,980 I'd like to ask you a little more about the prior girlfriends. 220 00:07:34,980 --> 00:07:36,280 Just how well did you know her? 221 00:07:36,280 --> 00:07:37,280 Not too well. 222 00:07:37,280 --> 00:07:40,280 I guess I used to see her maybe once a month. 223 00:07:40,280 --> 00:07:41,280 Up there at her office? 224 00:07:41,280 --> 00:07:42,280 Yeah, that's right. 225 00:07:42,280 --> 00:07:43,280 She was a nice girl. 226 00:07:43,280 --> 00:07:46,520 Whenever I was broke, I could always depend on her for a couple of bucks. 227 00:07:46,520 --> 00:07:47,520 I liked her. 228 00:07:47,520 --> 00:07:48,520 She was a nice person. 229 00:07:48,520 --> 00:07:49,520 Did you ever go out with her? 230 00:07:49,520 --> 00:07:50,520 No, no. 231 00:07:50,520 --> 00:07:51,520 Never did. 232 00:07:51,520 --> 00:07:52,520 No romance stuff. 233 00:07:52,520 --> 00:07:53,520 I didn't like her that way. 234 00:07:53,520 --> 00:07:54,520 She was just a good person. 235 00:07:54,520 --> 00:07:55,520 We got along okay. 236 00:07:55,520 --> 00:07:56,520 Want a cigarette? 237 00:07:56,520 --> 00:07:57,520 No, it's no thanks. 238 00:07:57,520 --> 00:07:58,520 It's full of cotton already. 239 00:07:58,520 --> 00:08:08,800 How about this business of Adele Pryor lending you money? 240 00:08:08,800 --> 00:08:10,160 Does she think quite a bit of you? 241 00:08:10,160 --> 00:08:12,160 Oh, I did her a couple of favors once. 242 00:08:12,160 --> 00:08:15,640 When I was working for her husband, she was still married to him. 243 00:08:15,640 --> 00:08:17,840 She was going out with a guy she liked on the side. 244 00:08:17,840 --> 00:08:19,760 She was out with this guy once and I saw him together. 245 00:08:19,760 --> 00:08:21,720 She asked me not to say anything, so I didn't. 246 00:08:21,720 --> 00:08:24,820 Before she got a divorce, I used to cover up for her all the time. 247 00:08:24,820 --> 00:08:26,320 She never forgot it, I guess. 248 00:08:26,320 --> 00:08:28,560 How about when you saw her in her office tonight? 249 00:08:28,560 --> 00:08:30,240 Franchi, she seemed all right to you? 250 00:08:30,240 --> 00:08:31,520 Yeah, same as ever. 251 00:08:31,520 --> 00:08:34,160 I asked her if she could lend me a five and she did. 252 00:08:34,160 --> 00:08:35,160 I left. 253 00:08:35,160 --> 00:08:36,880 It was about a quarter after six, I guess. 254 00:08:36,880 --> 00:08:38,760 There anyone else in the office when you left? 255 00:08:38,760 --> 00:08:41,560 Yeah, there was a guy waiting in the little reception room there. 256 00:08:41,560 --> 00:08:42,920 Didn't know who he was. 257 00:08:42,920 --> 00:08:44,720 You remember what he looked like? 258 00:08:44,720 --> 00:08:48,280 Tall fellow, about my size, my age. 259 00:08:48,280 --> 00:08:53,480 Joe, can I see you a minute? 260 00:08:53,480 --> 00:08:54,480 Yeah. 261 00:08:54,480 --> 00:08:58,800 Dorothy and Brian have checked in and just got back from going over Franchi's hotel room. 262 00:08:58,800 --> 00:08:59,800 They find anything? 263 00:08:59,800 --> 00:09:02,360 White shirt, a pair of brown shoes, a pair of dark trousers. 264 00:09:02,360 --> 00:09:03,360 What about them? 265 00:09:03,360 --> 00:09:07,560 Blood stains on all of them. 266 00:09:07,560 --> 00:09:11,440 The stained pieces of clothing found in the suspect's hotel room were delivered to Lieutenant 267 00:09:11,440 --> 00:09:15,120 Lee Jones at the crime lab for detailed examination. 268 00:09:15,120 --> 00:09:19,740 Coffee was brought in and Ben and I continued to question Franchi until about 4 a.m. 269 00:09:19,740 --> 00:09:23,960 He denied any knowledge or complicity in the killing of 28-year-old Adele Pryor. 270 00:09:23,960 --> 00:09:27,280 He told us the blood stained clothing in his hotel room was the result of an accident he'd 271 00:09:27,280 --> 00:09:30,640 been in two weeks before when he'd been drinking heavily. 272 00:09:30,640 --> 00:09:35,040 He was checked through R&I while we talked to him, but he had no previous criminal record. 273 00:09:35,040 --> 00:09:38,560 Franchi kept insisting that we check on the tall, dark-haired man who'd been waiting in 274 00:09:38,560 --> 00:09:43,200 the reception room of the Pryor girl's office the night before when Franchi left her. 275 00:09:43,200 --> 00:09:47,080 We gave the description of the suspect, along with the MO, to the stats office requesting 276 00:09:47,080 --> 00:09:52,720 them to furnish us with any information regarding any assaults or any solved or unsolved murder. 277 00:09:52,720 --> 00:09:59,440 At 4.15 a.m., we booked in Robert Franchi at the main jail on suspicion of 187 P.C. murder. 278 00:09:59,440 --> 00:10:03,040 The next morning at 10 a.m., the legwork began. 279 00:10:03,040 --> 00:10:07,320 Lopez and Doherty from homicide started checking on the background and alibi of the suspect, 280 00:10:07,320 --> 00:10:08,320 Robert Franchi. 281 00:10:08,320 --> 00:10:10,200 It didn't hold much water. 282 00:10:10,200 --> 00:10:13,080 None of the people at either of the bars where Franchi said he'd been drinking at the time 283 00:10:13,080 --> 00:10:17,360 of the murder could definitely vouch for his presence, but they all volunteered the information 284 00:10:17,360 --> 00:10:20,960 that no matter how much he drank, Franchi was never violent toward other people, only 285 00:10:20,960 --> 00:10:21,960 himself. 286 00:10:21,960 --> 00:10:25,000 Lopez and Doherty continued investigating the suspect while Ben and I checked on the 287 00:10:25,000 --> 00:10:27,160 background of the victim, Adele Pryor. 288 00:10:27,160 --> 00:10:29,360 At 8.25 p.m., we got back to the office. 289 00:10:29,360 --> 00:10:30,360 Hi. 290 00:10:30,360 --> 00:10:32,000 Been waiting for you two. 291 00:10:32,000 --> 00:10:34,200 Lopey, you and Doherty do any good? 292 00:10:34,200 --> 00:10:35,680 Nothing to celebrate over. 293 00:10:35,680 --> 00:10:37,120 Long day, tired feet. 294 00:10:37,120 --> 00:10:38,360 What'd you find out, Lopey? 295 00:10:38,360 --> 00:10:39,360 Anything new at all? 296 00:10:39,360 --> 00:10:41,880 Oh, maybe Franchi's arman can't prove it but me. 297 00:10:41,880 --> 00:10:44,240 Every place we checked, everybody we talked to, same answer. 298 00:10:44,240 --> 00:10:45,240 Yeah? 299 00:10:45,240 --> 00:10:46,240 He's a smart guy with a good education. 300 00:10:46,240 --> 00:10:48,760 He's on the bottle and he's out of work. 301 00:10:48,760 --> 00:10:49,760 Everybody seems to like him. 302 00:10:49,760 --> 00:10:51,520 He gets drunk, but he never bothers anybody. 303 00:10:51,520 --> 00:10:54,240 That's about the worst anybody can say about him. 304 00:10:54,240 --> 00:10:55,240 Drinks too much. 305 00:10:55,240 --> 00:10:56,240 Well, how about his being friends with a dead girl? 306 00:10:56,240 --> 00:10:57,560 Did he pick up anything there? 307 00:10:57,560 --> 00:11:00,080 Yeah, it only proves he was telling you the truth, though. 308 00:11:00,080 --> 00:11:03,640 As far as we could find out, there was nothing going between the two of them. 309 00:11:03,640 --> 00:11:06,340 Everything we got only verifies what he told you. 310 00:11:06,340 --> 00:11:09,240 He had no interest in the girl except the bar offer when he was broke. 311 00:11:09,240 --> 00:11:11,360 You got in touch with the girl's ex-husband, did you? 312 00:11:11,360 --> 00:11:12,840 Yeah, he couldn't add anything. 313 00:11:12,840 --> 00:11:13,840 All clear there. 314 00:11:13,840 --> 00:11:16,560 Hey, uh, by the way, here. 315 00:11:16,560 --> 00:11:19,120 Lee Jones called from the crime lab just before he came in. 316 00:11:19,120 --> 00:11:20,640 What did he have, Lopey? 317 00:11:20,640 --> 00:11:24,000 He was testing the blood stains on those clothes they found in French's hotel room. 318 00:11:24,000 --> 00:11:26,440 None of the stains are on a mass victim's blood type. 319 00:11:26,440 --> 00:11:27,800 It's another dead end. 320 00:11:27,800 --> 00:11:29,520 Yeah, sure hard to figure. 321 00:11:29,520 --> 00:11:30,520 You got anything else, Lopey? 322 00:11:30,520 --> 00:11:31,520 Oh, yeah. 323 00:11:31,520 --> 00:11:32,520 You're good links, Doc. 324 00:11:32,520 --> 00:11:34,880 A report for you from the stats office. 325 00:11:34,880 --> 00:11:35,880 Oh, thank you. 326 00:11:35,880 --> 00:11:37,880 You asked to make a run for you last night, didn't you? 327 00:11:37,880 --> 00:11:38,880 Yeah, I did. 328 00:11:38,880 --> 00:11:39,880 What's it look like? 329 00:11:39,880 --> 00:11:40,880 Just a minute. 330 00:11:40,880 --> 00:11:44,160 Yeah, it doesn't help much. 331 00:11:44,160 --> 00:11:45,480 Looks like more leg work. 332 00:11:45,480 --> 00:11:46,480 What's that, Joe? 333 00:11:46,480 --> 00:11:50,000 Well, French told us when he left Adele prior last night there was a man in the reception 334 00:11:50,000 --> 00:11:51,000 room waiting to see her. 335 00:11:51,000 --> 00:11:54,960 He gave us the guy's description and the stats office made a run on it for us. 336 00:11:54,960 --> 00:11:56,280 This is the best one they got. 337 00:11:56,280 --> 00:11:57,280 Yeah? 338 00:11:57,280 --> 00:12:02,440 Guy's name is William Tanner, WMA, 33 years old, 6 foot 195 pounds, dark hair, dark complexion. 339 00:12:02,440 --> 00:12:04,680 Fits the description French gave us as a guy. 340 00:12:04,680 --> 00:12:06,360 The rest of it's a lot closer to home. 341 00:12:06,360 --> 00:12:08,080 What do you mean? 342 00:12:08,080 --> 00:12:12,840 William Tanner was a prominent suspect in the Donaldson murder last September. 343 00:12:12,840 --> 00:12:15,400 Testimony of friends and relatives subsequently cleared him. 344 00:12:15,400 --> 00:12:16,840 Donaldson's murder is still unsolved. 345 00:12:16,840 --> 00:12:17,840 Mm-hmm. 346 00:12:17,840 --> 00:12:18,840 Well, what's the point? 347 00:12:18,840 --> 00:12:20,560 The only thing that killed Donaldson killed Adele prior. 348 00:12:20,560 --> 00:12:21,560 What do you mean? 349 00:12:21,560 --> 00:12:25,040 Piece of steel pipe wrapped in paper. 350 00:12:25,040 --> 00:12:29,240 To the working detective assigned to examine a criminal case, the element of coincidence 351 00:12:29,240 --> 00:12:33,320 when it occurs generally serves to complicate any investigation. 352 00:12:33,320 --> 00:12:37,600 Toward the solution of the crime, coincidence may mean a lot or it may mean nothing. 353 00:12:37,600 --> 00:12:39,940 In any event, it can't be dismissed. 354 00:12:39,940 --> 00:12:43,080 This time we had two examples of coincidence to deal with. 355 00:12:43,080 --> 00:12:45,720 A girl had been beaten to death in an office building. 356 00:12:45,720 --> 00:12:49,720 In two blocks of the murder scene we found a man fairly well acquainted with the victim 357 00:12:49,720 --> 00:12:52,840 who admitted seeing the girl within an hour of her death. 358 00:12:52,840 --> 00:12:57,200 Primary investigation uncovered some facts which tended to incriminate the man, some 359 00:12:57,200 --> 00:12:59,600 facts which tended to prove him innocent. 360 00:12:59,600 --> 00:13:03,160 Was his presence in the immediate neighborhood of the killing only coincidental or was he 361 00:13:03,160 --> 00:13:05,720 there at the particular time for the purpose of murder? 362 00:13:05,720 --> 00:13:06,880 We didn't know. 363 00:13:06,880 --> 00:13:11,760 By the same token, a man by the name of William Tanner was suspected one year before of beating 364 00:13:11,760 --> 00:13:16,080 an elderly woman to death with an identical murder weapon, a length of steel pipe wrapped 365 00:13:16,080 --> 00:13:17,200 in paper. 366 00:13:17,200 --> 00:13:20,920 This same person, William Tanner, matched the description of a man reportedly seen entering 367 00:13:20,920 --> 00:13:24,720 Adele Pryor's office shortly before she was murdered. 368 00:13:24,720 --> 00:13:28,260 Tanner also had a criminal record of one conviction for assault. 369 00:13:28,260 --> 00:13:30,520 Maybe it was a lead, maybe it was nothing. 370 00:13:30,520 --> 00:13:32,040 It had to be checked out. 371 00:13:32,040 --> 00:13:36,920 We showed Tanner's mugshot to our first murder suspect, Robert French, but he failed to identify 372 00:13:36,920 --> 00:13:37,920 it. 373 00:13:37,920 --> 00:13:40,940 We went to William Tanner's last known address but he'd moved. 374 00:13:40,940 --> 00:13:43,400 We checked with his next of kin, his brother, Martin Tanner. 375 00:13:43,400 --> 00:13:45,640 He was with the city fire department. 376 00:13:45,640 --> 00:13:49,120 We found him on duty at the neighborhood fire station on Norwich Avenue. 377 00:13:49,120 --> 00:13:53,280 No, I'm afraid not, Sergeant. 378 00:13:53,280 --> 00:13:55,160 I haven't seen my brother Bill in three weeks now. 379 00:13:55,160 --> 00:13:57,240 If he's not at his apartment, I couldn't tell you where to find him. 380 00:13:57,240 --> 00:13:58,920 We tried the last address we had on him. 381 00:13:58,920 --> 00:13:59,920 He wasn't there. 382 00:13:59,920 --> 00:14:00,920 8625 Norman Road. 383 00:14:00,920 --> 00:14:01,920 Oh, no, no. 384 00:14:01,920 --> 00:14:03,760 He moved out of there six, seven months ago. 385 00:14:03,760 --> 00:14:05,240 I got his new address in my locker. 386 00:14:05,240 --> 00:14:06,240 I can give it to you if you want. 387 00:14:06,240 --> 00:14:07,240 We'd appreciate it, yeah. 388 00:14:07,240 --> 00:14:09,720 Okay, back this way and then upstairs. 389 00:14:09,720 --> 00:14:10,720 All right. 390 00:14:10,720 --> 00:14:11,720 What's it about, Sergeant? 391 00:14:11,720 --> 00:14:14,720 My brother in some kind of trouble again, I guess, huh? 392 00:14:14,720 --> 00:14:16,120 Oh, it's just a routine check. 393 00:14:16,120 --> 00:14:18,880 You sound like you almost expect your brother to be in trouble, Tanner. 394 00:14:18,880 --> 00:14:19,880 I'm going to tell you the truth. 395 00:14:19,880 --> 00:14:20,880 I guess I do. 396 00:14:20,880 --> 00:14:21,880 I don't know what... 397 00:14:21,880 --> 00:14:22,880 Excuse me, man. 398 00:14:22,880 --> 00:14:23,880 No, it's not our call. 399 00:14:23,880 --> 00:14:27,680 Well, how would you mean that, Tanner? 400 00:14:27,680 --> 00:14:28,680 What's happened to your brother? 401 00:14:28,680 --> 00:14:30,120 Well, to tell you the truth, I don't know. 402 00:14:30,120 --> 00:14:32,200 Bill and I used to live together with our mother. 403 00:14:32,200 --> 00:14:33,640 Ma died about two years ago. 404 00:14:33,640 --> 00:14:35,240 I don't think Bill ever really got over it. 405 00:14:35,240 --> 00:14:37,160 He was a lot closer to Ma than I was. 406 00:14:37,160 --> 00:14:38,160 I see. 407 00:14:38,160 --> 00:14:42,000 He died, he drank quite a bit for a while, then he tried women, lots of them. 408 00:14:42,000 --> 00:14:43,120 After that, he turned to religion. 409 00:14:43,120 --> 00:14:44,120 We thought that'd help. 410 00:14:44,120 --> 00:14:46,640 It would have too, except that he's an odd guy. 411 00:14:46,640 --> 00:14:49,720 He even finds ways of distorting the Bible. 412 00:14:49,720 --> 00:14:51,160 I guess he's still pretty religious. 413 00:14:51,160 --> 00:14:54,000 He goes to all the revivals, the tent meetings, all that kind of thing. 414 00:14:54,000 --> 00:14:55,000 Uh-huh. 415 00:14:55,000 --> 00:14:56,000 Do you know any of his women friends? 416 00:14:56,000 --> 00:14:57,720 Yeah, I do, two or three of them. 417 00:14:57,720 --> 00:14:59,000 How about the name Adele Pryor? 418 00:14:59,000 --> 00:15:00,520 Does that mean anything to you? 419 00:15:00,520 --> 00:15:03,920 Wouldn't she be kind of a pretty girl, blonde hair, nice clothes? 420 00:15:03,920 --> 00:15:04,920 Yeah, that's right. 421 00:15:04,920 --> 00:15:05,920 Have you met her, Tanner? 422 00:15:05,920 --> 00:15:06,920 Yeah, Bill had me meet her once. 423 00:15:06,920 --> 00:15:08,520 He seemed to like her quite a bit. 424 00:15:08,520 --> 00:15:09,520 Why? 425 00:15:09,520 --> 00:15:10,920 Was he pretty serious about her, or would you know that? 426 00:15:10,920 --> 00:15:12,480 Yeah, he was serious about her, all right. 427 00:15:12,480 --> 00:15:13,480 He told me that. 428 00:15:13,480 --> 00:15:14,840 I don't think it worked both ways, though. 429 00:15:14,840 --> 00:15:17,400 It looked to me like she was playing the field. 430 00:15:17,400 --> 00:15:18,560 Bill took it way too serious. 431 00:15:18,560 --> 00:15:19,560 How do you mean? 432 00:15:19,560 --> 00:15:22,500 Well, they went together steady for a while, then they broke it up. 433 00:15:22,500 --> 00:15:23,500 She did, I mean. 434 00:15:23,500 --> 00:15:24,500 Uh-huh. 435 00:15:24,500 --> 00:15:25,500 How'd your brother take that? 436 00:15:25,500 --> 00:15:26,500 Not so good. 437 00:15:26,500 --> 00:15:27,800 I remember the night about a month ago. 438 00:15:27,800 --> 00:15:29,480 Never saw Bill like that before. 439 00:15:29,480 --> 00:15:30,480 Real bad shape. 440 00:15:30,480 --> 00:15:31,480 Wasn't drinking, either. 441 00:15:31,480 --> 00:15:32,480 Is that so? 442 00:15:32,480 --> 00:15:33,800 Never saw Bill like that in my life. 443 00:15:33,800 --> 00:15:34,800 Like what, Tanner? 444 00:15:34,800 --> 00:15:35,800 Off his head. 445 00:15:35,800 --> 00:15:40,240 He just went out and killed a girl. 446 00:15:40,240 --> 00:15:44,960 Before we left the fire station, we got William Tanner's new address from his brother, Martin. 447 00:15:44,960 --> 00:15:48,980 It was the same address as that of the murdered girl, Adele Pryor, an apartment house close 448 00:15:48,980 --> 00:15:51,700 by the intersection of Wilshire and La Brea. 449 00:15:51,700 --> 00:15:55,600 Tanner's apartment was on the third floor, just down the hall from the Pryor girl's apartment. 450 00:15:55,600 --> 00:15:57,480 But Tanner wasn't there. 451 00:15:57,480 --> 00:16:00,880 The apartment manager told us he'd moved out the night before without leaving a forwarding 452 00:16:00,880 --> 00:16:02,200 address. 453 00:16:02,200 --> 00:16:06,000 Then put in a call to the suspect's place of business, an industrial chemical company, 454 00:16:06,000 --> 00:16:08,440 where Tanner was employed as assistant office manager. 455 00:16:08,440 --> 00:16:09,440 What was the reason, sir? 456 00:16:09,440 --> 00:16:10,440 Oh, I see. 457 00:16:10,440 --> 00:16:11,440 Uh-huh. 458 00:16:11,440 --> 00:16:12,440 Yeah, well, all right. 459 00:16:12,440 --> 00:16:13,440 Thanks very much. 460 00:16:13,440 --> 00:16:14,440 We'll be checking with you later. 461 00:16:14,440 --> 00:16:15,440 Why? 462 00:16:15,440 --> 00:16:16,440 What'd they say? 463 00:16:16,440 --> 00:16:17,440 Tanner left yesterday. 464 00:16:17,440 --> 00:16:18,440 He quit without giving any notice. 465 00:16:18,440 --> 00:16:19,440 Told him he had a better job lined up. 466 00:16:19,440 --> 00:16:20,440 Where? 467 00:16:20,440 --> 00:16:21,440 South America. 468 00:16:21,440 --> 00:16:42,960 Saturday, October 1st, 8 a.m. 469 00:16:42,960 --> 00:16:47,020 We got out of broadcast and an APB on murder suspect William Tanner. 470 00:16:47,020 --> 00:16:50,380 We checked with the local U.S. State Department office, but they had no record of granting 471 00:16:50,380 --> 00:16:54,980 a passport recently to a William Tanner to travel in a South American country. 472 00:16:54,980 --> 00:16:58,520 We talked to the various consulates in the city representing South American nations, 473 00:16:58,520 --> 00:17:03,560 but none of them had issued a visa to a William Tanner recently or anyone answering his description. 474 00:17:03,560 --> 00:17:07,760 Together with Brian and Lopez from homicide, Ben and I continued the search for the missing 475 00:17:07,760 --> 00:17:08,760 suspect. 476 00:17:08,760 --> 00:17:12,480 The deeper we checked into his background, the more we became convinced that mentally, 477 00:17:12,480 --> 00:17:14,540 Tanner was far from normal. 478 00:17:14,540 --> 00:17:18,320 Most of the people who knew the suspect told us the same story his brother had given us. 479 00:17:18,320 --> 00:17:21,720 In recent months, Tanner had taken strongly to religion. 480 00:17:21,720 --> 00:17:26,280 He attended revival meetings and similar religious exercises every night in the week. 481 00:17:26,280 --> 00:17:27,820 He talked nothing but repentance. 482 00:17:27,820 --> 00:17:30,000 He quoted the scriptures constantly. 483 00:17:30,000 --> 00:17:34,240 He adopted the habit of carrying a Bible with him wherever he went, reading from it aloud 484 00:17:34,240 --> 00:17:35,840 every chance he got. 485 00:17:35,840 --> 00:17:39,520 He kept urging his friends to join him in being saved. 486 00:17:39,520 --> 00:17:43,760 On Monday, October 3rd, we began a check of the various revival halls. 487 00:17:43,760 --> 00:17:46,320 On Wednesday, October 5th, we found him. 488 00:17:46,320 --> 00:17:50,720 He was attending a gospel revival in a meeting hall in the south end of the city. 489 00:17:50,720 --> 00:17:54,320 He told us he had a room in a small hotel directly above the meeting hall, but he seemed 490 00:17:54,320 --> 00:17:56,360 reluctant to take us up there. 491 00:17:56,360 --> 00:18:00,160 While Lopez and Brian got a passkey from the manager and went up to check the room, Ben 492 00:18:00,160 --> 00:18:03,680 and I questioned Tanner downstairs in the lobby of the meeting hall. 493 00:18:03,680 --> 00:18:05,880 I'm sorry to hear about Del. 494 00:18:05,880 --> 00:18:06,880 What happened to her? 495 00:18:06,880 --> 00:18:07,880 It's a terrible thing, isn't it? 496 00:18:07,880 --> 00:18:08,880 Yes, sir. 497 00:18:08,880 --> 00:18:10,720 We understand you and you and Del prior fairly well, Mr. Tanner. 498 00:18:10,720 --> 00:18:11,720 Is that correct? 499 00:18:11,720 --> 00:18:12,720 Yes, that's correct. 500 00:18:12,720 --> 00:18:13,720 I liked her quite a bit at one time. 501 00:18:13,720 --> 00:18:14,760 We used to see a lot of each other. 502 00:18:14,760 --> 00:18:16,040 I was engaged to her, you know. 503 00:18:16,040 --> 00:18:17,640 Well, how is it you never married, Tanner? 504 00:18:17,640 --> 00:18:18,640 Did she break off the engagement? 505 00:18:18,640 --> 00:18:19,640 No, no. 506 00:18:19,640 --> 00:18:20,640 I was lucky. 507 00:18:20,640 --> 00:18:21,640 I found out in time. 508 00:18:21,640 --> 00:18:22,640 I broke off with her. 509 00:18:22,640 --> 00:18:23,640 Well, how do you mean you found out in time? 510 00:18:23,640 --> 00:18:24,640 What did you find out? 511 00:18:24,640 --> 00:18:26,880 I found the truth, Sergeant, the everlasting word. 512 00:18:26,880 --> 00:18:32,400 For know this and understand that no unclean person or covetous one has any inheritance 513 00:18:32,400 --> 00:18:37,960 in the kingdom of Christ and God, for these have given themselves up in despair to sensuality, 514 00:18:37,960 --> 00:18:40,800 greedily practicing every kind of uncleanness. 515 00:18:40,800 --> 00:18:43,480 Do not then become partakers with them. 516 00:18:43,480 --> 00:18:45,480 That's the everlasting word, Sergeant, the holy book. 517 00:18:45,480 --> 00:18:46,480 Yes, sir. 518 00:18:46,480 --> 00:18:48,320 I'm not quite sure I follow you. 519 00:18:48,320 --> 00:18:52,240 Open your eyes and ears to the everlasting word and you will know and understand all things. 520 00:18:52,240 --> 00:18:53,960 It's a very simple, Officer. 521 00:18:53,960 --> 00:18:56,880 I don't want to say anything uncharitable about her. 522 00:18:56,880 --> 00:18:57,880 Adele wasn't for me. 523 00:18:57,880 --> 00:18:59,520 I'm glad I found out in time, that's all. 524 00:18:59,520 --> 00:19:01,120 When's the last time you saw her, Tanner? 525 00:19:01,120 --> 00:19:02,120 Do you remember? 526 00:19:02,120 --> 00:19:03,120 No, I don't. 527 00:19:03,120 --> 00:19:04,120 Not exactly. 528 00:19:04,120 --> 00:19:07,240 I think I saw her a week or so before it happened, before they found her dead. 529 00:19:07,240 --> 00:19:08,440 Where was that that you saw her? 530 00:19:08,440 --> 00:19:09,440 How's that? 531 00:19:09,440 --> 00:19:11,720 I say, where was it the last time you saw her? 532 00:19:11,720 --> 00:19:12,720 On the street. 533 00:19:12,720 --> 00:19:13,720 It was downtown somewhere. 534 00:19:13,720 --> 00:19:14,720 I passed her on the street. 535 00:19:14,720 --> 00:19:16,840 You were in the same apartment house she did, isn't that right? 536 00:19:16,840 --> 00:19:17,840 Just down the hall from her? 537 00:19:17,840 --> 00:19:18,840 Yes, sir, I did. 538 00:19:18,840 --> 00:19:19,840 Why? 539 00:19:19,840 --> 00:19:22,520 And for a full week you didn't happen to see the Pryor girl around the apartment building 540 00:19:22,520 --> 00:19:23,520 at all? 541 00:19:23,520 --> 00:19:24,520 No, that's right. 542 00:19:24,520 --> 00:19:25,720 When I broke off with Adele, that was it. 543 00:19:25,720 --> 00:19:27,080 I had no reason to see her anymore. 544 00:19:27,080 --> 00:19:28,560 Well, it's not too clear, Tanner. 545 00:19:28,560 --> 00:19:31,320 It doesn't jive with what we've been told about you and the Pryor girl. 546 00:19:31,320 --> 00:19:32,520 Well, the lies, of course. 547 00:19:32,520 --> 00:19:33,520 I suppose you know that. 548 00:19:33,520 --> 00:19:36,000 Adele was a beautiful girl, very beautiful. 549 00:19:36,000 --> 00:19:38,480 A lot of men she knew were jealous of her. 550 00:19:38,480 --> 00:19:41,680 Well, the way we understand it, Tanner, you never did break off with Miss Pryor. 551 00:19:41,680 --> 00:19:44,760 You were going around with her and you were seen with her right up to the day of her death. 552 00:19:44,760 --> 00:19:48,380 Well, that's certainly a lie and I can prove that as soon as I found out about Adele. 553 00:19:48,380 --> 00:19:49,600 That was weeks before she was killed. 554 00:19:49,600 --> 00:19:51,920 As soon as I found out, that was the end. 555 00:19:51,920 --> 00:19:53,440 I broke off with her right away. 556 00:19:53,440 --> 00:19:54,920 Like to know what you're referring to, Tanner. 557 00:19:54,920 --> 00:19:55,920 You found out why. 558 00:19:55,920 --> 00:19:58,080 Adele, Adele, she was one of those. 559 00:19:58,080 --> 00:19:59,080 Huh? 560 00:19:59,080 --> 00:20:00,080 I'm sorry, she was. 561 00:20:00,080 --> 00:20:01,080 The sinner. 562 00:20:01,080 --> 00:20:04,480 I almost went out of my mind when I found out. 563 00:20:04,480 --> 00:20:05,480 She knew it was wrong. 564 00:20:05,480 --> 00:20:06,480 She must have known. 565 00:20:06,480 --> 00:20:09,480 It was right there in the book for anybody to read. 566 00:20:09,480 --> 00:20:13,080 Do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts. 567 00:20:13,080 --> 00:20:15,280 Now look, Tanner, what are you trying to tell us? 568 00:20:15,280 --> 00:20:16,360 It was terrible. 569 00:20:16,360 --> 00:20:17,680 She sinned all the time. 570 00:20:17,680 --> 00:20:21,120 She committed terrible sins. 571 00:20:21,120 --> 00:20:23,160 Will you come into this side room over here? 572 00:20:23,160 --> 00:20:24,160 I can tell you all about her. 573 00:20:24,160 --> 00:20:26,000 I just as soon as I talk about it here. 574 00:20:26,000 --> 00:20:28,560 Sure, go ahead. 575 00:20:28,560 --> 00:20:30,120 In here. 576 00:20:30,120 --> 00:20:31,600 All right. 577 00:20:31,600 --> 00:20:33,920 Just one question before you get started, Tanner. 578 00:20:33,920 --> 00:20:34,920 Yes? 579 00:20:34,920 --> 00:20:37,800 Did you ever visit Adele Pryor at her place of business downtown at her office? 580 00:20:37,800 --> 00:20:38,800 No, I never did. 581 00:20:38,800 --> 00:20:39,800 Why? 582 00:20:39,800 --> 00:20:42,000 Did you visit Adele Pryor at her office the day she was killed? 583 00:20:42,000 --> 00:20:43,360 The Lord is my witness, Sergeant. 584 00:20:43,360 --> 00:20:44,640 I have nothing to fear. 585 00:20:44,640 --> 00:20:46,160 Why should you ask me that question? 586 00:20:46,160 --> 00:20:49,120 We have a report that you were seen going into the office less than an hour before the 587 00:20:49,120 --> 00:20:50,240 Pryor girl was murdered. 588 00:20:50,240 --> 00:20:52,560 I'd like to have you clarify that for us, if you would. 589 00:20:52,560 --> 00:20:53,560 Certainly, it's a lie. 590 00:20:53,560 --> 00:20:56,200 You're sure you weren't in that office with her just before she died? 591 00:20:56,200 --> 00:20:58,080 Well, let me tell you about her sins. 592 00:20:58,080 --> 00:21:00,840 There was never anything as evil as this, Sergeant. 593 00:21:00,840 --> 00:21:01,840 Is that right? 594 00:21:01,840 --> 00:21:03,160 Yes, it was a terrible shock. 595 00:21:03,160 --> 00:21:04,160 I liked Adele. 596 00:21:04,160 --> 00:21:05,160 I think I loved her. 597 00:21:05,160 --> 00:21:07,280 We'd been going out for two months sometimes. 598 00:21:07,280 --> 00:21:10,640 I'd take her here so that she could learn about the everlasting words, so that she could 599 00:21:10,640 --> 00:21:17,040 know about the terrible sins some people commit, drinking and parties and carryings on, things 600 00:21:17,040 --> 00:21:19,640 no one should do, especially girls like Adele. 601 00:21:19,640 --> 00:21:21,000 Beautiful girl. 602 00:21:21,000 --> 00:21:22,960 How can you be sure she was doing anything wrong, Tanner? 603 00:21:22,960 --> 00:21:24,600 Do you have any real proof of that? 604 00:21:24,600 --> 00:21:28,520 Everything, Sergeant, I knew, just knowing that she was sinning against the Lord. 605 00:21:28,520 --> 00:21:30,680 Did you know any of the other men she went out with? 606 00:21:30,680 --> 00:21:32,160 They were sinful, I knew that. 607 00:21:32,160 --> 00:21:34,220 They only liked Adele because she was beautiful. 608 00:21:34,220 --> 00:21:35,540 Did you know any of the men, Tanner? 609 00:21:35,540 --> 00:21:37,120 Did you know for a fact that there was anything wrong? 610 00:21:37,120 --> 00:21:38,480 I knew everything, Sergeant. 611 00:21:38,480 --> 00:21:41,820 She was a beautiful girl and I thought she was a woman of the Lord and I wanted her for 612 00:21:41,820 --> 00:21:44,640 my wife, but she gave in to sin. 613 00:21:44,640 --> 00:21:47,040 Now I guess that's her business, Tanner, how she lived. 614 00:21:47,040 --> 00:21:48,360 We're trying to find out how she died. 615 00:21:48,360 --> 00:21:51,320 Well, just let me tell you about it. 616 00:21:51,320 --> 00:21:55,400 I'd lie there in the dark in my room upstairs and I'd wait to hear her come in down the 617 00:21:55,400 --> 00:21:56,400 hall. 618 00:21:56,400 --> 00:21:57,400 It was always late. 619 00:21:57,400 --> 00:21:58,840 Two and three o'clock in the morning I'd hear her come in. 620 00:21:58,840 --> 00:22:00,120 You still haven't told us, Tanner. 621 00:22:00,120 --> 00:22:02,360 What about the men she went out with this bar girl? 622 00:22:02,360 --> 00:22:04,440 Slaves of the devil, every one of them. 623 00:22:04,440 --> 00:22:05,720 I thought I'd go out of my mind. 624 00:22:05,720 --> 00:22:06,980 All right, now come on. 625 00:22:06,980 --> 00:22:08,520 You want to tell us, Mr. How about it? 626 00:22:08,520 --> 00:22:09,680 Is that what made you do it? 627 00:22:09,680 --> 00:22:10,680 No, wait a minute. 628 00:22:10,680 --> 00:22:11,680 You don't want to wait to listen. 629 00:22:11,680 --> 00:22:13,160 You say made me do it, made me do what? 630 00:22:13,160 --> 00:22:14,480 I think you know what we mean, Tanner. 631 00:22:14,480 --> 00:22:15,480 You want to tell us now? 632 00:22:15,480 --> 00:22:17,720 It's a terrible thing, all this sin around us. 633 00:22:17,720 --> 00:22:20,480 It's a grave thing, the whole world. 634 00:22:20,480 --> 00:22:22,560 There is not one just man. 635 00:22:22,560 --> 00:22:24,520 There is none who understands. 636 00:22:24,520 --> 00:22:25,960 There's none who seeks after God. 637 00:22:25,960 --> 00:22:27,520 There is none who does good. 638 00:22:27,520 --> 00:22:29,720 No, not even one. 639 00:22:29,720 --> 00:22:31,220 Their throat is an open sepulcher. 640 00:22:31,220 --> 00:22:33,840 With their tongues they have dealt deceitfully. 641 00:22:33,840 --> 00:22:36,000 The venom of asps is beneath their lips. 642 00:22:36,000 --> 00:22:38,560 Their mouth is full of cursing and bitterness. 643 00:22:38,560 --> 00:22:40,240 Destruction and misery are in their ways. 644 00:22:40,240 --> 00:22:43,040 And the path of peace they have not known. 645 00:22:43,040 --> 00:22:46,040 There's no fear of God before their eyes. 646 00:22:46,040 --> 00:22:47,040 No fear of God. 647 00:22:47,040 --> 00:22:48,680 Well, yes, sir. 648 00:22:48,680 --> 00:22:50,240 We'd still like an answer to our question. 649 00:22:50,240 --> 00:22:51,840 Maybe we could talk a little better downtown. 650 00:22:51,840 --> 00:22:54,400 The wisdom and the knowledge is here and now. 651 00:22:54,400 --> 00:22:56,320 I knew Adele and her terrible sins, 652 00:22:56,320 --> 00:22:58,360 they had to be paid for. 653 00:22:58,360 --> 00:22:59,800 Adele had to pay for every one of them. 654 00:22:59,800 --> 00:23:01,480 You want to get to the point, Mr. Now, what is it? 655 00:23:01,480 --> 00:23:02,480 What are you trying to tell us? 656 00:23:02,480 --> 00:23:03,840 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ 657 00:23:03,840 --> 00:23:04,880 and the charity of God 658 00:23:04,880 --> 00:23:06,200 and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit 659 00:23:06,200 --> 00:23:07,200 be with you all. 660 00:23:07,200 --> 00:23:08,200 Amen. 661 00:23:08,200 --> 00:23:10,760 And so she sinned and so she died. 662 00:23:10,760 --> 00:23:11,760 Yeah. 663 00:23:11,760 --> 00:23:15,480 In the name of God and in the name of our Lord, amen. 664 00:23:15,480 --> 00:23:20,920 I killed her. 665 00:23:20,920 --> 00:23:23,200 William Harold Tanner was brought downtown immediately 666 00:23:23,200 --> 00:23:24,840 where he volunteered a complete statement 667 00:23:24,840 --> 00:23:28,080 admitting full guilt for the murder of Adele Pryor. 668 00:23:28,080 --> 00:23:29,520 Blood stained clothing found in his room 669 00:23:29,520 --> 00:23:31,460 corroborated his story. 670 00:23:31,460 --> 00:23:34,480 It was obvious that the man was mentally unbalanced. 671 00:23:34,480 --> 00:23:36,760 He gave us the details of how he murdered Adele Pryor 672 00:23:36,760 --> 00:23:39,080 because she spurned his attentions. 673 00:23:39,080 --> 00:23:41,160 We began questioning him about the Donaldson murder 674 00:23:41,160 --> 00:23:43,160 which had taken place more than a year before 675 00:23:43,160 --> 00:23:45,400 and which was still unsolved. 676 00:23:45,400 --> 00:23:47,640 The victim, 64-year-old Louise Donaldson 677 00:23:47,640 --> 00:23:49,960 had met death in the same manner as Adele Pryor. 678 00:23:49,960 --> 00:23:51,400 No, I didn't know the old lady, 679 00:23:51,400 --> 00:23:53,160 but she had money, I'd been told that. 680 00:23:53,160 --> 00:23:54,640 I was broke and I needed the cash, 681 00:23:54,640 --> 00:23:56,000 so I thought it'd be a good thing. 682 00:23:56,000 --> 00:23:58,400 This was in September, a year ago that you murdered her. 683 00:23:58,400 --> 00:23:59,600 Yes, sir, September, all right. 684 00:23:59,600 --> 00:24:01,440 She was all alone, she didn't have anybody, 685 00:24:01,440 --> 00:24:02,440 she was sick. 686 00:24:02,440 --> 00:24:03,640 I probably did her a favor. 687 00:24:03,640 --> 00:24:05,960 Your package here says that you figured in the investigation 688 00:24:05,960 --> 00:24:07,800 on the plot to blow up the Rexmore Hotel 689 00:24:07,800 --> 00:24:09,720 about three years ago, homemade bomb planted 690 00:24:09,720 --> 00:24:10,640 in the basement of the hotel. 691 00:24:10,640 --> 00:24:12,920 Yes, that was mine three years ago in September. 692 00:24:12,920 --> 00:24:14,040 Never could have traced it. 693 00:24:14,040 --> 00:24:16,760 Too bad the bomb didn't go off, I hated those hotel people. 694 00:24:16,760 --> 00:24:18,000 Is that right, what was the matter? 695 00:24:18,000 --> 00:24:20,840 I worked at that hotel once, you know, worked hard too. 696 00:24:20,840 --> 00:24:22,640 One Saturday they held up a paycheck, 697 00:24:22,640 --> 00:24:24,680 I didn't get it till next Tuesday. 698 00:24:24,680 --> 00:24:26,920 Never forgot that, September. 699 00:24:26,920 --> 00:24:28,680 September, now what's that got to do with it? 700 00:24:28,680 --> 00:24:29,520 I don't know really, 701 00:24:29,520 --> 00:24:31,480 September's always been the time, that's all. 702 00:24:31,480 --> 00:24:33,600 I work into some kind of trouble. 703 00:24:33,600 --> 00:24:36,480 Last four years, every September, I don't know what it is. 704 00:24:36,480 --> 00:24:39,020 Seems to be the best time to get rid of them. 705 00:24:39,020 --> 00:24:40,880 Yeah, September, it's always September. 706 00:24:42,120 --> 00:24:44,040 I didn't really want to kill Adele, 707 00:24:44,040 --> 00:24:46,160 wasn't anything else I could do, she was a sinner. 708 00:24:46,160 --> 00:24:46,980 Yeah. 709 00:24:46,980 --> 00:24:49,600 Drinking, running around, she committed sins all the time, 710 00:24:49,600 --> 00:24:52,120 worst kind of sins, terrible. 711 00:24:52,120 --> 00:24:54,160 Let me tell you, maybe you better check the book, Tanner, 712 00:24:54,160 --> 00:24:55,300 you're way ahead of her. 713 00:24:55,300 --> 00:24:56,140 What do you mean? 714 00:24:56,140 --> 00:24:58,200 What kind of sins worse than murder? 715 00:24:58,200 --> 00:25:03,200 The story you have just heard was true. 716 00:25:08,480 --> 00:25:11,000 The names were changed to protect the innocent. 717 00:25:11,000 --> 00:25:13,640 On January 10th, trial was held in Superior Court, 718 00:25:13,640 --> 00:25:16,040 Department 87, City and County of Los Angeles, 719 00:25:16,040 --> 00:25:17,080 State of California. 720 00:25:17,080 --> 00:25:19,080 In a moment, the results of that trial. 721 00:25:19,080 --> 00:25:24,080 The investigation proved beyond a doubt that William Tanner, 722 00:25:32,080 --> 00:25:34,760 besides murdering Adele Pryor, had also taken the life 723 00:25:34,760 --> 00:25:37,880 of 64 year old Louise Donaldson the year before, 724 00:25:37,880 --> 00:25:40,240 and that he was responsible for the attempted bombing 725 00:25:40,240 --> 00:25:42,860 of the Rexmore Hotel the year before that. 726 00:25:42,860 --> 00:25:45,500 After examination by three psychiatrists appointed 727 00:25:45,500 --> 00:25:48,040 by the state, the suspect was found to be sane 728 00:25:48,040 --> 00:25:49,680 at the time of the murders. 729 00:25:49,680 --> 00:25:51,600 Tanner was convicted of first degree murder 730 00:25:51,600 --> 00:25:53,240 and received the death penalty. 731 00:25:53,240 --> 00:25:55,240 He was executed in the lethal gas chamber 732 00:25:55,240 --> 00:25:57,840 at the state penitentiary, San Quentin, California. 733 00:26:06,640 --> 00:26:09,680 You have just heard Dragnet, a series of authentic cases 734 00:26:09,680 --> 00:26:11,220 from official files. 735 00:26:11,220 --> 00:26:13,320 Technical advice comes from the Office of Chief 736 00:26:13,320 --> 00:26:18,320 of Police, W.H. Parker, Los Angeles Police Department.