WEBVTT 00:00.000 --> 00:10.720 The story you are about to hear is true. 00:10.720 --> 00:21.880 The names have been changed to protect the innocent. 00:21.880 --> 00:22.880 You're a detective sergeant. 00:22.880 --> 00:25.720 You're assigned the homicide detail. 00:25.720 --> 00:30.640 A small boy is reported missing from his home, his age nine years. 00:30.640 --> 00:32.920 Foul play is suspected. 00:32.920 --> 00:36.640 Your job, find him. 00:36.640 --> 00:43.680 Dragnet, the documented drama of an actual crime. 00:43.680 --> 00:48.520 For the next 30 minutes in cooperation with the Los Angeles Police Department, you will 00:48.520 --> 00:53.000 travel step by step on the side of the law through an actual case transcribed from official 00:53.000 --> 00:54.000 police files. 00:54.000 --> 00:59.720 From beginning to end, from crime to punishment, Dragnet is the story of your police force 00:59.720 --> 01:05.160 in action. 01:05.160 --> 01:06.160 Was Thursday, December 22nd. 01:06.160 --> 01:07.160 It was cold in Los Angeles. 01:07.160 --> 01:10.160 We were working the night watch out of homicide. 01:10.160 --> 01:13.680 My partner's Ben Ramell, the boss is Thad Brown, Chief of Detective. 01:13.680 --> 01:14.680 My name's Friday. 01:14.680 --> 01:19.880 I was on the way into work and it was 3.55 p.m. when I got to room 42. 01:19.880 --> 01:20.880 Homicide. 01:20.880 --> 01:21.880 Hi, Joe. 01:21.880 --> 01:22.880 Ben. 01:22.880 --> 01:27.880 Well, here's the file on the Webster case. 01:27.880 --> 01:30.880 And brought all the file ups in there? 01:30.880 --> 01:31.880 Yeah. 01:31.880 --> 01:32.880 I'll get it. 01:32.880 --> 01:33.880 Homicide Friday. 01:33.880 --> 01:34.880 This Levenson, unit 113J. 01:34.880 --> 01:35.880 Got something for you. 01:35.880 --> 01:36.880 Yeah, Harry, what's doing? 01:36.880 --> 01:42.360 Now, Dorothy and I are out here on Comis Avenue, 4656, trying to track down a nine-year-old 01:42.360 --> 01:43.360 boy. 01:43.360 --> 01:44.360 Yeah, what's the story? 01:44.360 --> 01:45.360 The kid's missing, suspicion of foul play. 01:45.360 --> 01:46.360 How long has he been gone? 01:46.360 --> 01:47.360 About two hours. 01:47.360 --> 01:48.360 Looks like a job for homicide. 01:48.360 --> 01:49.360 How do you figure? 01:49.360 --> 01:50.360 The kid was last seen playing in the backyard of his home. 01:50.360 --> 01:53.800 Yeah? 01:53.800 --> 01:54.800 We checked over the yard. 01:54.800 --> 01:55.800 Did you find anything? 01:55.800 --> 01:56.800 Blood stains, lots of them. 01:56.800 --> 01:57.800 They looked new. 01:57.800 --> 02:04.240 Ben and I left a message for Chief of Detective, Stad Brown. 02:04.240 --> 02:08.120 Then we went over to the crime lab, picked up Lieutenant Lee Jones, and drove out the 02:08.120 --> 02:10.320 Arroyo Seco freeway to Collis Avenue. 02:10.320 --> 02:12.720 It was an average neighborhood. 02:12.720 --> 02:18.520 Number 4656 was a one-story green stucco residence situated on the corner of Collis Avenue and 02:18.520 --> 02:19.520 Harrison Drive. 02:19.520 --> 02:24.960 Beyond the backyard was a tract of undeveloped land covered with scrub oak. 02:24.960 --> 02:28.720 Harry Levinson from Highland Park Juvenile was waiting for us in front of the house. 02:28.720 --> 02:30.240 I'll get my bag. 02:30.240 --> 02:35.360 Who notified you that the boy was missing, Harry? 02:35.360 --> 02:36.360 The mother. 02:36.360 --> 02:38.960 Said she went out to do some Christmas shopping about 11 this morning. 02:38.960 --> 02:39.960 Left the boy home. 02:39.960 --> 02:41.960 She came back about two this afternoon. 02:41.960 --> 02:42.960 He was gone. 02:42.960 --> 02:43.960 What's the name? 02:43.960 --> 02:44.960 Johnstone. 02:44.960 --> 02:47.280 The kid's name is Stanley, nine years old. 02:47.280 --> 02:50.240 Was this gate open like this when you got here? 02:50.240 --> 02:51.840 Yeah, I haven't touched the thing yet. 02:51.840 --> 02:55.800 I hear the stains over here, Lieutenant Jones, along the edge of the walk. 02:55.800 --> 02:56.800 See? 02:56.800 --> 02:57.800 Yeah. 02:57.800 --> 02:58.800 Let me see. 02:58.800 --> 03:01.800 Quite a few stains, huh? 03:01.800 --> 03:02.800 Yeah. 03:02.800 --> 03:08.240 Looks like it might be blood. 03:08.240 --> 03:09.720 Ties of benzidine on them. 03:09.720 --> 03:11.720 There we are. 03:11.720 --> 03:13.720 See what happened. 03:13.720 --> 03:16.720 Where's the kid's mother now, Harry? 03:16.720 --> 03:17.720 In the house. 03:17.720 --> 03:18.720 Dory's talking to her. 03:18.720 --> 03:20.760 Did you talk to any of the neighbors? 03:20.760 --> 03:22.800 People next door are the ones on this side. 03:22.800 --> 03:23.800 They couldn't tell us anything. 03:23.800 --> 03:24.800 There it is, fellas. 03:24.800 --> 03:25.800 Yelly. 03:25.800 --> 03:28.200 These spots I covered with benzidine, they're turning blue. 03:28.200 --> 03:29.200 Blood stains all right. 03:29.200 --> 03:31.400 Can't say definitely whether it's human or animal blood. 03:31.400 --> 03:33.560 You have to go back to the lab to run it through. 03:33.560 --> 03:35.560 Yeah, biological precipitant test. 03:35.560 --> 03:38.560 Hand me one of those glass files on my bike, will you? 03:38.560 --> 03:39.560 Yeah, sure. 03:39.560 --> 03:42.560 Okay, here you go. 03:42.560 --> 03:43.560 Thanks. 03:43.560 --> 03:46.920 I'll scrape some flakes off her test. 03:46.920 --> 03:48.920 There we are. 03:48.920 --> 03:51.720 How soon can you tap the blood for us, Lee? 03:51.720 --> 03:53.320 Precipitant test won't run more than 20 minutes. 03:53.320 --> 03:58.200 It'll take three or four hours to run a blood grouping, though. 03:58.200 --> 03:59.880 That's it. 03:59.880 --> 04:00.880 Anything else you want to check? 04:00.880 --> 04:01.880 Levinson? 04:01.880 --> 04:02.880 Anything else? 04:02.880 --> 04:03.880 Oh, yeah. 04:03.880 --> 04:04.880 Right here in my handkerchief. 04:04.880 --> 04:05.880 Empty show. 04:05.880 --> 04:09.880 That marker over there by the rose bush, that's where I found it. 04:09.880 --> 04:10.880 From a.22, huh? 04:10.880 --> 04:11.880 Yeah. 04:11.880 --> 04:12.880 Might tie in, might not. 04:12.880 --> 04:13.880 Mark it and dump it in this envelope, will you? 04:13.880 --> 04:14.880 Mm-hmm. 04:14.880 --> 04:15.880 Here you go. 04:15.880 --> 04:16.880 There you go. 04:16.880 --> 04:19.880 Did you get a missing broadcast on the boy here? 04:19.880 --> 04:22.880 I already did about a half an hour ago. 04:22.880 --> 04:23.880 Here's a description here. 04:23.880 --> 04:24.880 Thank you. 04:24.880 --> 04:25.880 Does your mother know about the bloodstain? 04:25.880 --> 04:26.880 No, we didn't tell her. 04:26.880 --> 04:27.880 She's worried enough already. 04:27.880 --> 04:28.880 She has no idea what might have happened to her boy, huh? 04:28.880 --> 04:29.880 No more than we do. 04:29.880 --> 04:30.880 She checked all her friends and relatives. 04:30.880 --> 04:31.880 We're covering the neighborhood in a craze so far. 04:31.880 --> 04:32.880 Not much to go on. 04:32.880 --> 04:33.880 Bloodstain. 04:33.880 --> 04:42.880 Empty cartridge. 04:42.880 --> 04:54.880 Yeah, it could mean a hundred things. 04:54.880 --> 04:55.880 Any ideas for me? 04:55.880 --> 04:56.880 Just one, and I don't like it. 04:56.880 --> 04:57.880 4.30 p.m. Thursday, December 22nd. 04:57.880 --> 05:01.880 The neighborhood search for nine-year-old Stanley Johnstone continued. 05:01.880 --> 05:06.880 Lee Jones went back to the crime lab to start the precipitant test and the blood grouping. 05:06.880 --> 05:10.880 Levinson and his partner, Dorothy, from Highland Juvenile, stood by. 05:10.880 --> 05:14.880 We called Chief of Detectives Thad Brown, and he ordered up a special detail to aid in 05:14.880 --> 05:16.880 the search for the missing boy. 05:16.880 --> 05:21.880 Ben and I questioned the boy's mother, Mrs. Ruth Johnstone, a woman in her early 40s. 05:21.880 --> 05:24.880 She seemed fairly calm under the circumstances. 05:24.880 --> 05:27.880 Miss Johnson, is your boy Stanley in the habit of wandering off without telling you where 05:27.880 --> 05:28.880 he's going? 05:28.880 --> 05:31.880 No, he's not in the habit of wandering off, but he has done it before. 05:31.880 --> 05:34.880 Well, when was the last time Miss Johnson? 05:34.880 --> 05:35.880 You don't have any children, do you, Sergeant Fidey? 05:35.880 --> 05:36.880 No, they might not marry. 05:36.880 --> 05:40.880 Well, there comes a time in every young boy's life when he feels it is time to leave home, 05:40.880 --> 05:41.880 go out on his own. 05:41.880 --> 05:42.880 Usually it happens somewhere around eight to ten. 05:42.880 --> 05:43.880 I think I know what you mean. 05:43.880 --> 05:44.880 I have a boy. 05:44.880 --> 05:45.880 Well, then you know how it is. 05:45.880 --> 05:48.880 My husband and I scolded Stanley one afternoon after school, and he was quite put out about 05:48.880 --> 05:49.880 it. 05:49.880 --> 05:50.880 But George and I were unfair. 05:50.880 --> 05:51.880 Patrick filled his things and left. 05:51.880 --> 05:52.880 Well, how long was he gone? 05:52.880 --> 05:53.880 Oh, no time at all. 05:53.880 --> 05:54.880 About two hours. 05:54.880 --> 05:59.880 I was worried about him, but my husband said to leave him alone, but every boy had to go 05:59.880 --> 06:00.880 through that stage. 06:00.880 --> 06:03.880 Well, then you think that he's run away from home again this time? 06:03.880 --> 06:04.880 Yes, I think so. 06:04.880 --> 06:05.880 He's been gone about four hours now. 06:05.880 --> 06:06.880 I have a funny feeling about it. 06:06.880 --> 06:07.880 Did you and his father have some misunderstanding with the boy recently? 06:07.880 --> 06:08.880 That's just it. 06:08.880 --> 06:09.880 We haven't. 06:09.880 --> 06:10.880 I don't mind telling you now that we're talking about it. 06:10.880 --> 06:11.880 I am getting worried. 06:11.880 --> 06:15.060 Well, is there any place around that he might like to visit, a hobby shop, a 06:15.060 --> 06:16.060 shop that he likes? 06:16.060 --> 06:17.060 Well, I don't know. 06:17.060 --> 06:18.060 I don't know. 06:18.060 --> 06:19.060 I don't know. 06:19.060 --> 06:20.060 I don't know. 06:20.060 --> 06:21.060 I don't know. 06:21.060 --> 06:22.060 I don't know. 06:22.060 --> 06:23.060 I don't know. 06:23.060 --> 06:24.060 I don't know. 06:24.060 --> 06:25.960 Is there any place around that he might like to visit, a hobby shop, playground, some place 06:25.960 --> 06:26.960 he might be? 06:26.960 --> 06:29.960 Yes, there's Jensen's model shop, Little Sharon Burroughs. 06:29.960 --> 06:32.960 But I've already called there and he hasn't been seen all day. 06:32.960 --> 06:36.120 I've called all his friends and they have no idea who he is either. 06:36.120 --> 06:38.960 We'd like a list of all of his friends and the places that he was known to frequent. 06:38.960 --> 06:39.960 Yes, all right. 06:39.960 --> 06:40.960 I'll get into it. 06:40.960 --> 06:42.960 Where do you suppose he is? 06:42.960 --> 06:44.960 Where's your husband now, Miss Johnson? 06:44.960 --> 06:45.960 At work. 06:45.960 --> 06:46.960 George works for the city. 06:46.960 --> 06:47.960 He's a fireman. 06:47.960 --> 06:48.960 What house is he staying at? 06:48.960 --> 06:49.960 Engine Company 12. 06:49.960 --> 06:50.960 He's working the A-partoon. 06:50.960 --> 06:51.960 He'll be home tomorrow morning. 06:51.960 --> 06:54.960 I haven't told him his family's gone. 06:54.960 --> 06:59.360 Is there any chance the boy might be down at the firehouse with his father? 06:59.360 --> 07:02.360 No, he seldom goes down there anymore. 07:02.360 --> 07:05.360 Nor I don't think he's there. 07:05.360 --> 07:06.360 I'm awfully worried. 07:06.360 --> 07:07.360 May I call my husband? 07:07.360 --> 07:08.360 Certainly, go ahead. 07:08.360 --> 07:11.360 I know George will be worried. 07:11.360 --> 07:14.360 Engine Company 12, please. 07:14.360 --> 07:22.360 The family's been gone too long. 07:22.360 --> 07:23.360 Hello? 07:23.360 --> 07:27.360 May I please speak with George Johnson? 07:27.360 --> 07:28.360 This is Mrs. Johnson. 07:28.360 --> 07:29.360 Thank you. 07:29.360 --> 07:30.360 I hate to call George at his work. 07:30.360 --> 07:31.360 Yes, ma'am. 07:31.360 --> 07:32.360 Does your husband own the gun? 07:32.360 --> 07:33.360 Yes, he does. 07:33.360 --> 07:34.360 What caliber do you know? 07:34.360 --> 07:35.360 It's a.45 automatic. 07:35.360 --> 07:36.360 You've got to knock. 07:36.360 --> 07:37.360 George? 07:37.360 --> 07:38.360 This is Ruth. 07:38.360 --> 07:39.360 George, just hand me down the door. 07:39.360 --> 07:40.360 I'm going to go get George. 07:40.360 --> 07:45.360 Oh, no, I can't find him anywhere. 07:45.360 --> 07:52.360 He wasn't here when I came home from doing my shopping. 07:52.360 --> 07:54.360 There are two policemen here. 07:54.360 --> 07:57.360 No, I said there are two policemen here. 07:57.360 --> 08:00.360 No, dear, I'll call you if we don't find him soon. 08:00.360 --> 08:02.360 All right, dear. 08:02.360 --> 08:04.360 Yes, you too. 08:04.360 --> 08:05.360 Goodbye. 08:05.360 --> 08:09.360 I didn't think he'd be with George. 08:09.360 --> 08:12.360 That.45, is that the only gun in the household? 08:12.360 --> 08:13.360 Yes. 08:13.360 --> 08:14.360 Why are you asking about guns? 08:14.360 --> 08:16.360 Has anything happened that you're not telling me about? 08:16.360 --> 08:17.360 No, ma'am, just routine checking. 08:17.360 --> 08:20.360 We'll have to take a look at that.45 if you don't mind. 08:20.360 --> 08:24.360 Maybe I should tell you we do have another gun in the house, but it's all wrapped up. 08:24.360 --> 08:26.360 George bought it for Stanley's Christmas present. 08:26.360 --> 08:27.360 What if we could see it, please? 08:27.360 --> 08:30.360 Yes, well, will you have to unwrap it? 08:30.360 --> 08:32.360 Yes, ma'am, I'm afraid so. 08:32.360 --> 08:34.360 In the closet. 08:34.360 --> 08:40.360 They had to hide it. 08:40.360 --> 08:42.360 Let me see. 08:42.360 --> 08:46.360 Well, it says the paper was wrapped in and Stanley must have found it. 08:46.360 --> 08:47.360 It's gone. 08:47.360 --> 08:51.360 You see, here's the gift card and the box of gun came in, the rifle. 08:51.360 --> 08:54.360 I wonder if I could look at that box, ma'am. 08:54.360 --> 08:56.360 Thank you. 08:56.360 --> 08:57.360 How about it, Jim? 08:57.360 --> 09:01.360 22 caliber. 09:01.360 --> 09:06.360 Thursday, December 22nd, 5 15 p.m. 09:06.360 --> 09:08.360 It was getting dark. 09:08.360 --> 09:10.360 The search for the missing boy continued. 09:10.360 --> 09:13.360 We checked the list of Stanley Johnstone's friends. 09:13.360 --> 09:17.360 None of them or their parents had any idea of his whereabouts. 09:17.360 --> 09:19.360 We talked with Levinson again. 09:19.360 --> 09:22.360 He'd been in touch with the detail combing the neighborhood. 09:22.360 --> 09:23.360 They'd found nothing. 09:23.360 --> 09:28.360 We went down to Collis Avenue and 10th Street, the service station on the corner. 09:28.360 --> 09:29.360 One neck on you. 09:29.360 --> 09:31.360 Oh, I got it. Will you watch the fan? 09:31.360 --> 09:32.360 Yeah. 09:32.360 --> 09:48.360 Okay. 09:48.360 --> 09:49.360 City Hall? 09:49.360 --> 09:50.360 2667, please. 09:50.360 --> 09:54.360 2667? 09:54.360 --> 09:55.360 Crime Lab, Jones. 09:55.360 --> 09:56.360 Hi, Ali. Joe Friday. 09:56.360 --> 09:58.360 Yeah, Joe. Any sign of the Johnson kid? 09:58.360 --> 10:00.360 No, not yet. How are you coming? 10:00.360 --> 10:02.360 Finished the precipitant test. It's human blood. 10:02.360 --> 10:03.360 Yeah? 10:03.360 --> 10:04.360 Working on the blood group now. 10:04.360 --> 10:06.360 You know what type the Johnson boy had? 10:06.360 --> 10:07.360 Well, I didn't want to upset his mother. 10:07.360 --> 10:10.360 I thought I'd wait until the last thing we're in the neighborhood. 10:10.360 --> 10:12.360 Check with the family physician. That way you won't disturb him. 10:12.360 --> 10:13.360 Yeah, I figured on that. 10:13.360 --> 10:14.360 Just a minute, Lee. 10:14.360 --> 10:15.360 Yeah? 10:15.360 --> 10:16.360 Yeah, ma'am. 10:16.360 --> 10:17.360 Most is pulled up. 10:17.360 --> 10:18.360 Okay. 10:18.360 --> 10:20.360 Thad Brown's out here now. I'll check you later, Lee, huh? 10:20.360 --> 10:21.360 All right, Joe. 10:21.360 --> 10:22.360 Bye-bye. 10:22.360 --> 10:23.360 All right. 10:23.360 --> 10:27.360 Oh, here's the way, Jim. 10:27.360 --> 10:28.360 How's it going? 10:28.360 --> 10:30.360 We just checked with Lee Jones. 10:30.360 --> 10:32.360 Yeah, I know. It's human blood. What do you think? 10:32.360 --> 10:35.360 We talked with the boy's mother, Mrs. Johnstone, found a gun missing. 10:35.360 --> 10:36.360 Yeah? 10:36.360 --> 10:39.360 Calibers the same as the empty casing Levenson found. It's.22. 10:39.360 --> 10:40.360 You said the gun was missing? 10:40.360 --> 10:43.360 Yeah, the Johnstones were going to give it to the boys as a Christmas present. 10:43.360 --> 10:44.360 They had it hidden, but it's gone. 10:44.360 --> 10:45.360 Any idea who took it? 10:45.360 --> 10:48.360 Well, they left the Christmas wrapping behind. I think it was the kid. 10:48.360 --> 10:54.360 .22 rifle. Nine-year-old boy. When is he going to learn? 10:54.360 --> 10:58.360 First, it's carbide cannons on the Fourth of July. The city issued ordinance after ordinance. 10:58.360 --> 11:04.360 A few thousand kids around the country had to lose their eyes, fingers, hands before their parents had given us their full cooperation to outlaw them. 11:04.360 --> 11:05.360 I know what you mean. 11:05.360 --> 11:08.360 Sure you do. You and every other cop in the country became the heavies trying to clamp down on them. 11:08.360 --> 11:11.360 It's the same story. This time it's guns for Christmas. 11:11.360 --> 11:13.360 Well, I know what you're thinking, but we're not sure yet. 11:13.360 --> 11:16.360 Listen, Friday. There's a city ordinance against giving a gun to a kid. You know that. 11:16.360 --> 11:17.360 Yeah, I know, man. 11:17.360 --> 11:21.360 There's a missing boy and a missing gun. There's blood on the ground and an empty shell. That's enough for me. 11:21.360 --> 11:24.360 You're only going to stay with it. Something's got to break. 11:24.360 --> 11:26.360 Yeah, and I hope it's not the hearts of that kid's parents. 11:26.360 --> 11:27.360 Hi, Chief. 11:27.360 --> 11:29.360 Been looking for you, Friday. What do you got, Harry? 11:29.360 --> 11:32.360 Found the gun. New.22 rifle. I'd say it's been fired recently. 11:32.360 --> 11:33.360 Where'd you find it, Levinson? 11:33.360 --> 11:39.360 Back up there in that scrub oak behind the Johnstone house. Mr. Johnstone identified it. Luckily he took it down the crime line. 11:39.360 --> 11:41.360 Thanks, Harry. Is Ms. Johnstone okay? 11:41.360 --> 11:44.360 Pretty sick now. Dirty. Came up with something else. What's that? 11:44.360 --> 11:50.360 There's another one missing. An eight-year-old boy. 11:50.360 --> 11:55.360 Six-thirty p.m. We talked with Officer Dougherty about the other missing boy. 11:55.360 --> 11:59.360 He told us that his name was Stephen Morrheim, eight years old. 11:59.360 --> 12:06.360 His family had just moved into the neighborhood. It seemed that no one besides the Morrheim family knew that the boys played together. 12:06.360 --> 12:13.360 Mrs. Morrheim told us that Stephen told her that he was going out to play and that he'd be home by six o'clock for dinner. 12:13.360 --> 12:18.360 She told us that he was an unusually prompt boy and almost never overstayed his playtime. 12:18.360 --> 12:22.360 We got a description of the Morrheim boy and put out a missing broadcast. 12:22.360 --> 12:27.360 We called the Johnstone's family doctor. He told us that Stanley's blood was type O. 12:27.360 --> 12:30.360 At seven p.m. we talked again with Mrs. John Morrheim. 12:30.360 --> 12:34.360 Are you sure Mrs. Johnstone doesn't know where the boys are? 12:34.360 --> 12:36.360 She has no idea, Mrs. Morrheim. 12:36.360 --> 12:40.360 Oh, this is terrible. Just awful. 12:40.360 --> 12:43.360 I feel there's more to this thing. Something you're not telling me. 12:43.360 --> 12:45.360 It doesn't always upset you until we know a few things for sure. 12:45.360 --> 12:47.360 Then you're holding back something. 12:47.360 --> 12:53.360 Please try not to worry, Mrs. Morrheim. There are certain things that we're going to have to ask you, routine questions, in any kind of investigation. 12:53.360 --> 12:55.360 Is there anything else you want to know? 12:55.360 --> 12:57.360 Yes, ma'am. What is your boy's blood type? 12:57.360 --> 13:01.360 It's a funny question. Do you think anything's happened to him? 13:01.360 --> 13:03.360 Have you found him and you're not telling me? 13:03.360 --> 13:06.360 No, ma'am, we haven't found him and we don't think anything's happened to him. 13:06.360 --> 13:07.360 His blood type? 13:07.360 --> 13:09.360 Yes, ma'am. 13:09.360 --> 13:14.360 I think I have it written down in Stevie's baby book. 13:14.360 --> 13:18.360 Here it is. It's type O. 13:18.360 --> 13:20.360 Thank you. I wonder if I might use your phone. 13:20.360 --> 13:22.360 Yes, of course. It's in the hall. 13:22.360 --> 13:24.360 I'll be right back then. 13:35.360 --> 13:36.360 City Hall. 13:36.360 --> 13:37.360 2667, please. 13:37.360 --> 13:40.360 2667. 13:40.360 --> 13:42.360 Grand Lab, thank you. 13:42.360 --> 13:44.360 Hello, Ray. This is Joe Fridays. Lee there? 13:44.360 --> 13:45.360 Just a minute, Joe. 13:45.360 --> 13:46.360 Take two, Lee. 13:46.360 --> 13:48.360 All right. 13:48.360 --> 13:49.360 John speaking. 13:49.360 --> 13:50.360 Checking back, Lee. 13:50.360 --> 13:52.360 Did you get the blood types on the two missing boys? 13:52.360 --> 13:53.360 Yeah, both type O. 13:53.360 --> 14:14.360 So are the stains, Joe. Type O. 14:14.360 --> 14:20.360 Eight p.m. Thursday, December 22nd. Still no sign of either of the missing boys. 14:20.360 --> 14:24.360 Chief of Detective Thad Brown went back to headquarters to direct the search from there. 14:24.360 --> 14:29.360 He dispatched another detail of 50 men to aid in the hunt for the missing youngsters. 14:29.360 --> 14:32.360 Eight thirty p.m. was getting a little colder. 14:32.360 --> 14:36.360 The citrus growers were warned to expect a freeze. 14:36.360 --> 14:39.360 We went up the block to see Mrs. Johnstone. 14:39.360 --> 14:41.360 Her husband had quit work early and returned home. 14:41.360 --> 14:43.360 We talked with him for a while. 14:43.360 --> 14:46.360 He could tell us nothing more than we already knew. 14:46.360 --> 14:51.360 We still had not informed either of the families about the blood stains and the empty cartridge casing, 14:51.360 --> 14:54.360 which had been discovered in the backyard of the Johnstone home. 14:54.360 --> 14:58.360 It was more than possible that they had a right to know about our findings, 14:58.360 --> 15:04.360 but Ben and I felt that there was no cause to add to the distress of the two families at this time. 15:04.360 --> 15:07.360 If the two missing boys were found alive and well, 15:07.360 --> 15:11.360 then the blood stains and the cartridge would be of no concern to the relieved parents. 15:11.360 --> 15:17.360 At eight forty p.m., Ben and I left the Johnstone house and went to the home of Mr. and Mrs. John Morheim. 15:17.360 --> 15:20.360 Mrs. Morheim, you said your husband worked in the market. 15:20.360 --> 15:23.360 Yes, he telephoned about fifteen minutes ago, said he's closing up right away. 15:23.360 --> 15:26.360 He'll be here any minute. 15:26.360 --> 15:29.360 It was Steve who called, come home. 15:29.360 --> 15:31.360 It's so cold out tonight. 15:31.360 --> 15:33.360 All he had on was thin cotton jacket. 15:33.360 --> 15:36.360 Well, try not to worry. We're doing everything we can. He'll be all right. 15:36.360 --> 15:40.360 Steve's father is such a sensitive man. He and the boy are so close. 15:40.360 --> 15:42.360 I know he's terribly upset. 15:42.360 --> 15:45.360 Are you sure there's no place that you might have forgotten, some place where the boy might be? 15:45.360 --> 15:48.360 No, no place. No. 15:48.360 --> 15:50.360 If anything happens to the boy, he'll just kill John. 15:50.360 --> 15:56.360 No. You sit still. I'll get him, Mrs. Morheim. 15:56.360 --> 15:57.360 Joe? 15:57.360 --> 15:58.360 Larry. 15:58.360 --> 16:00.360 The Johnstone kid, he's been found. 16:00.360 --> 16:18.360 He's home, Sergeant. He's come home. Thank God he's all right. 16:18.360 --> 16:20.360 Where's he been, did he tell you? 16:20.360 --> 16:23.360 No, no he didn't. His clothes are all dirty and he's acting strange. 16:23.360 --> 16:25.360 I've never seen him like this. 16:25.360 --> 16:26.360 How do you mean, Miss Johnstone? 16:26.360 --> 16:33.360 Well, he just came to the front door and said, hello, Mom. He sat down in chairs, there at the floor, and would talk to his father and me. 16:33.360 --> 16:35.360 Would you mind if I talk to him? 16:35.360 --> 16:39.360 No, go ahead. I asked him about the little Morheim boy, but he wouldn't tell me a thing. 16:39.360 --> 16:40.360 Where is he now? 16:40.360 --> 16:44.360 Right over there in the living room. 16:44.360 --> 16:45.360 Looks all right. 16:45.360 --> 16:56.360 Is he in there? 16:56.360 --> 17:01.360 Yes. Son, this is a police officer. He wants to talk to you. Don't be afraid, dear. He only wants to ask you some questions. 17:01.360 --> 17:05.360 Son. 17:05.360 --> 17:07.360 You see, Sergeant? 17:07.360 --> 17:14.360 Stanley, order me, son. Come on, youngster, get your head up there. That's better. 17:14.360 --> 17:17.360 You're rather pretty worried, you know that. You want to tell us where you've been? 17:17.360 --> 17:20.360 We should try to get him to eat a little something. 17:20.360 --> 17:25.360 You hear that, son? Want something to eat? 17:25.360 --> 17:33.360 Stanley, there's another little boy up the studio who hasn't come home. You know where he is? His father and mother are worried about him, too. It's like your folks were. 17:33.360 --> 17:35.360 We're going to ask you to help us find him. 17:35.360 --> 17:43.360 I killed him. I killed Steve with the 22. We were only playing, but I killed him. 17:43.360 --> 17:46.360 How do you know you killed him? Maybe he's only hurt now, isn't it? 17:46.360 --> 17:53.360 No, he's dead. I know he's dead. The gun went off. We forgot we put bullets in there. 17:53.360 --> 17:55.360 Where is he, Stanley? 17:55.360 --> 18:00.360 I hit him. I was scared. I didn't want anybody to find him. 18:00.360 --> 18:01.360 Where did you hide him, son? 18:01.360 --> 18:06.360 In a cave up on the hill. I didn't mean it. He was my pal. 18:06.360 --> 18:08.360 You want to show us where Stanley is? 18:08.360 --> 18:18.360 Yes, I'll show you. Please, don't send me to jail. 18:18.360 --> 18:28.360 Nine fifteen p.m. Thursday, December 22. Nine-year-old Stanley Johnstone led the way up the hill behind the backyard of his home. 18:28.360 --> 18:34.360 He showed us the wagon that he moved the body in. His father came along with us. 18:34.360 --> 18:39.360 Fifty feet from the crest of the hill, the boy pointed to a thicket of scrub oak. 18:39.360 --> 18:43.360 There we found a small cave holding the body of Stephen Morhaime. 18:43.360 --> 18:47.360 There was a single bullet wound in his chest just below his heart. 18:47.360 --> 18:50.360 It was dead. We covered the body. 18:50.360 --> 18:52.360 Stanley, how did it happen? 18:52.360 --> 18:58.360 I knew my folks were going to give me the gun for Christmas. I knew where it was, and I got it. 18:58.360 --> 19:00.360 There was a box of bullets with it. 19:00.360 --> 19:02.360 Were you pointing the gun at Stevenson? 19:02.360 --> 19:07.360 No, sir. No, sir, I wasn't. It was Steve's turn to play with it. 19:07.360 --> 19:12.360 I was chasing him. He tipped over that stump there and he fell. 19:12.360 --> 19:15.360 The gun hit him in the stomach and it went off. 19:15.360 --> 19:18.360 Well, why do you think you killed him if you're telling us the truth? 19:18.360 --> 19:21.360 I'm telling the truth? That's the truth. 19:21.360 --> 19:24.360 Well, I believe you, son, but why do you think you killed him? 19:24.360 --> 19:28.360 It was my gun. If Steve had still been alive, I didn't go and get it. 19:28.360 --> 19:33.360 I should have waited till Christmas. It's all my fault. 19:33.360 --> 19:35.360 Where have you been all this time? 19:35.360 --> 19:38.360 In the cave of Steve. 19:38.360 --> 19:40.360 What were you doing in there, son? 19:40.360 --> 19:45.360 I was praying. I was praying for God to make him alive again. 19:45.360 --> 19:56.360 After a thorough investigation, Ben and I were convinced that the shooting of Stephen Morhaime was accidental. 19:56.360 --> 20:02.360 Lieutenant Lee Jones' findings substantiated the John Stone Boy's story even to the smallest detail. 20:02.360 --> 20:07.360 We put in a call to the coroner's office and we acquainted him with the facts. 20:07.360 --> 20:15.360 He designated a local mortuary to handle the body, pending autopsy, and granted us permission to remove the body to the Morhaime home. 20:15.360 --> 20:20.360 Mrs. Morhaime collapsed. The family doctor was called. 20:20.360 --> 20:25.360 Ben and I sat in the living room to wait for John Morhaime, the dead boy's father. 20:25.360 --> 20:28.360 He was killed. 20:28.360 --> 20:31.360 Edith? Edith? 20:31.360 --> 20:32.360 Mr. Morhaime? 20:32.360 --> 20:33.360 Yeah, Hugh the police? 20:33.360 --> 20:34.360 Yes, sir. 20:34.360 --> 20:38.360 Where's Edith? Where's my wife? 20:38.360 --> 20:41.360 Did my boy come home? 20:41.360 --> 20:42.360 Have you found him? 20:42.360 --> 20:43.360 Yes, sir. 20:43.360 --> 20:46.360 Where is he? 20:46.360 --> 20:48.360 Steve? 20:48.360 --> 20:51.360 Steve, hey? 20:51.360 --> 20:54.360 Where's Steve? 20:54.360 --> 20:56.360 He's hurt, isn't he? 20:56.360 --> 20:58.360 Yes, sir, he is. 20:58.360 --> 21:00.360 Where is he? I want to see him. 21:00.360 --> 21:03.360 He's hurt bad, Mr. Morhaime. 21:03.360 --> 21:07.360 Where is he? I want to see him. 21:07.360 --> 21:09.360 How bad? 21:09.360 --> 21:12.360 Pretty bad. 21:12.360 --> 21:17.360 He's dead. 21:17.360 --> 21:19.360 All right, I go in. 21:19.360 --> 21:21.360 Yes, sir, if you want. 21:21.360 --> 21:23.360 Will you go with me? 21:23.360 --> 21:27.360 Don't make it any harder on yourself, Mr. Morhaime. 21:27.360 --> 21:34.360 I want to see my boy. 21:34.360 --> 21:44.360 Mr. Morhaime? 21:44.360 --> 21:47.360 It wasn't to be, sir. 21:47.360 --> 21:52.360 We got you a lot of nice things for Christmas. 21:52.360 --> 21:55.360 Everything you wanted. 21:55.360 --> 21:59.360 I got you the three new cars for the train. 21:59.360 --> 22:05.360 That one with the searchlight on it really works, son. 22:05.360 --> 22:08.360 I got you that new switch you wanted. 22:08.360 --> 22:11.360 A lot more drink. 22:11.360 --> 22:15.360 Oh, now you can have a big lay out. 22:15.360 --> 22:20.360 And you know that new baseball mitt we saw? 22:20.360 --> 22:23.360 I got it for you. 22:23.360 --> 22:29.360 The cowboy outfit you wanted. 22:29.360 --> 22:31.360 Mr. Morhaime. 22:31.360 --> 22:34.360 Come on, Joe. 22:34.360 --> 22:36.360 What happened? 22:36.360 --> 22:38.360 It was an accident. 22:38.360 --> 22:40.360 He was playing with a Johnstone boy up the street. 22:40.360 --> 22:42.360 Playing with a gun. 22:42.360 --> 22:45.360 It went off. 22:45.360 --> 22:47.360 What was the other boy's name? 22:47.360 --> 22:49.360 Stanley Johnstone. 22:49.360 --> 22:52.360 Mr. Morhaime, where are you going? 22:52.360 --> 22:56.360 I want to see that boy. 22:56.360 --> 23:00.360 We had no idea what the dead boy's father had in mind. 23:00.360 --> 23:03.360 We didn't feel that we should try to restrain him. 23:03.360 --> 23:11.360 Ben and I went along with him up the street to the Johnstone home. 23:11.360 --> 23:14.360 I'm Stevie's father. 23:14.360 --> 23:16.360 Where's your boy? 23:16.360 --> 23:18.360 I'm sorry. 23:18.360 --> 23:20.360 We bought the rifle. 23:20.360 --> 23:23.360 We were going to have time not to use it unless his father was with him. 23:23.360 --> 23:25.360 Until he learned how to treat firearms. 23:25.360 --> 23:27.360 Where's your boy? 23:27.360 --> 23:29.360 Right here. 23:29.360 --> 23:31.360 Would you come in? 23:31.360 --> 23:38.360 It's all right with Johnstone. 23:38.360 --> 23:40.360 You're the boy that was with Stevie? 23:40.360 --> 23:42.360 Yes, sir. 23:42.360 --> 23:43.360 What's your name? 23:43.360 --> 23:45.360 Stanley. 23:45.360 --> 23:49.360 I know it wasn't your fault, Stanley. 23:49.360 --> 23:51.360 I wonder if you'd do something for me. 23:51.360 --> 23:53.360 Yes, sir. 23:53.360 --> 23:57.360 We've got a lot of nice presents for Stevie. 23:57.360 --> 24:00.360 I know he'd want you to have them. 24:00.360 --> 24:03.360 I want to give them to you Christmas Eve. 24:03.360 --> 24:05.360 Mom? 24:05.360 --> 24:08.360 I think that would be a fine idea, son. 24:08.360 --> 24:19.360 Come on, Ben. 24:19.360 --> 24:33.360 Well, once it all proved, you know, you don't give a kid a gun for Christmas. 24:33.360 --> 24:35.360 The story you have just heard was true. 24:35.360 --> 24:38.360 The names were changed to protect the innocent. 24:38.360 --> 24:42.360 On December 24, 1948, a coroner's inquest was held in the county morgue, 24:42.360 --> 24:45.360 city and county of Los Angeles, state of California. 24:45.360 --> 24:55.360 In a moment, the results of that inquest. 24:55.360 --> 24:58.360 At the coroner's inquest, it was officially recorded that Stephen 24:58.360 --> 25:01.360 Morheim's death was the result of an accident. 25:01.360 --> 25:15.360 Stanley Johnstone was absolved of any legal responsibility for his friend's death. 25:15.360 --> 25:19.360 You have just heard Dragnet, a series of authentic cases from official files. 25:19.360 --> 25:31.360 Technical advice comes from the Office of Chief of Police, W.H. Parker, Los Angeles Police Department.