The story you are about to hear is true.
The names have been changed to protect the innocent.
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You're a detective sergeant.
You're assigned a homicide detail.
You receive a complaint about the owner of an apartment building.
He signs leases for the apartments, and he threatens to kill the tenants if they move
in.
Your job, investigate.
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Dragnet, the documented drama of an actual crime.
For the next 30 minutes, in cooperation with the Los Angeles Police Department, you will
travel step-by-step on the side of the law through an actual case transcribed from official
police files.
From beginning to end, from crime to punishment, Dragnet is the story of your police force
in action.
It was Wednesday, May 9th.
It was hot in Los Angeles.
We were working the night watch out of homicide detail.
My partner's Ed Jacobs.
The boss is Captain Warman.
My name's Friday.
It was 6 47 p.m. when I got back to the Capitol Avenue Auto Court.
Cotty's number 11.
No, no reason in the world for it.
I tried to reason with him.
He wouldn't even listen.
He's the craziest thing I ever saw.
Yes, ma'am.
Well, George, you find the phone all right?
Yeah, I checked the office.
Lopey says they picked up Daniels a few minutes ago.
They're bringing him downtown now.
Oh, they got him, did they?
They're gonna put him in jail?
Well, that depends, ma'am.
It's gonna take a little more investigating first.
I don't see what else you need.
He threatened us with a gun, me and Doris Ashby.
If that isn't a crime, I don't know what is.
A few more questions we'd like to ask you, ma'am, if you don't mind.
A couple of things we'd like to clear up.
I told you just how it happened.
Doris will tell you the same thing.
He's just a crazy old man.
If you ask me, I'd be put away.
Do you ever have any trouble with Mr. Daniels before this afternoon, Miss Cameron?
Excuse me, the baby.
Yes, ma'am.
What is it now, honey?
Can't you sleep?
You try now.
Won't your daddy be home pretty soon?
That's a good boy.
You try and sleep now.
Miss Cameron?
Yes.
Oh, you be quiet now.
I don't want any trouble from you.
You heard me.
Be quiet now.
You got your hands full, ma'am.
You've been in town a week or so, is that right?
It's closer to two weeks.
Seems more like two months trying to get along in a place like this, a room and a bath, no
place to cook, rinse out diapers.
It's terrible.
I told my husband he should come down here alone, find us a place to live first, then
we could move.
No, he had to have it his way.
You say your husband made the first contact with Daniels.
He gave him a deposit on this apartment, is that right?
Yeah, that's right.
The same day he started work at the aircraft plant in the valley.
We've been living in Paso Robles since we got married.
A month ago, Pete, that's my husband, he got a lead on this aircraft.
He's got a job down here.
Him and Ralph came down and signed up for it.
Ralph, who's that, ma'am?
Ralph Ashby.
He's Doris' husband.
Doris Ashby.
She's my best girlfriend.
We were neighbors up in Paso Robles.
Oh, I see.
They're not doing much better than we are right now.
They're staying in another coat up the street.
Same thing, room and a bath.
Doris is expecting too, poor kid.
Did you hear me?
You be quiet now.
You want to wake up the baby?
About the arrangements your husband made with Daniels to lease this apartment, Miss Cameron,
when was all this?
A week ago Monday, the day after I moved down here.
My husband and Ralph Ashby saw the Randle ad in the paper and they went over and talked
to Daniels.
He said, all right.
He had an apartment for the Ashby's and one for us.
Nice places too.
I see.
Ralph and my husband signed the leases, gave him the first and last month's rent in advance.
It was all decided.
Well, how is it?
You couldn't move in right away, Miss Cameron.
Well, he said he was having the apartment house redecorated.
Daniels did, I mean.
He told Ralph and my husband the apartments would probably be ready for us on the 8th.
That was yesterday.
He said the 9th for sure and that's today.
And you tried to move in this afternoon and Daniels refused to let you in.
Is that it?
I had the movers get all our things out of storage and move them out to the apartment.
So did my girlfriend Doris.
The movers were just starting to get our furniture out of the van and move it into the apartment
when Mr. Daniels showed up.
He acted like a crazy man.
Did he give you any reasons why he couldn't move in?
He tried to give us a lot of reasons.
None of them made any sense.
You could ask Doris.
She'll tell you.
She was there with me.
Well, what did Daniels say?
Not just for instance.
He said a lot of things.
First, he told us there was no water in the apartments.
It hadn't been turned on yet.
He said the gas wasn't turned on either.
Well, I knew that was a lie.
I was in the apartment late in the morning.
Everything was fine.
The gas was working.
So was the water.
I see.
When I caught him in that lie, he got madder than ever.
Made some more excuses.
Then he started yelling and swearing at me right there on the sidewalk.
Said the apartment just wasn't ready yet.
I told him to go climb a tree.
We signed the lease.
We paid the rent.
We were moving in anyway.
Told the movers to go ahead.
Take in the furniture.
Well, what did Daniels say then?
Nothing.
He just got real purple in the face and he put his hand in his coat pocket.
And he took out a gun.
Pointed it at me and Doris.
And I had the baby in my arms.
Imagine that.
He actually told you he'd shoot you if you tried to move in the apartment, is that right?
In so many words, yes, he did.
And threatened the moving men too.
They tried to talk to him.
He wouldn't listen.
We all tried to talk to him.
We didn't make any sense at all.
I wasn't going to take any chances with the baby in my arms.
Doris and I got in the car and drove away.
So did the movers.
They left with us.
Can't say I blame them either.
Yes, ma'am.
That Daniels must be out of his mind.
It's the only thing I can figure.
Real nut.
Well, did either you or your husband have any arguments with him at all before this afternoon?
No, everything was fine.
This afternoon was the second time I ever spoke to the man.
And he had no objections to your having children or pets in the apartment?
None at all.
That's one of the first things my husband told Daniels when he went to look at the apartment.
We had a baby in a canary.
Daniels said it was all right with him.
He didn't object at all.
I understand there's six apartments in the building, Miss Cameron, that right?
Yes, that's right.
They're all vacant as far as I know.
Daniels just bought the building a month ago.
That's what he told my husband anyway.
He had the place redecorated and the work was all done.
The apartments are just sitting there.
That's why I can't understand it.
Why won't he let us move in?
Yes, ma'am.
We paid our money, signed the lease.
If he gave us any kind of a good reason why we shouldn't move in, I could understand it.
But to keep us out for no reason at all, to stand out there on the sidewalk and threaten
to shoot us if we move in, me with a baby in my arms.
I don't know.
He must be crazy.
You say you were in the apartment this morning, Miss Cameron.
Did you notice anything unusual about the place?
Anything out of the ordinary?
No, nothing.
And you say Daniels couldn't give any reason at all why you shouldn't move in.
Just one.
It convinced me.
Yeah.
That gun.
Before we left Mrs. Cameron, we took her crime report and had her sign it.
And then we drove back downtown to the squad room where Gene Bechtel and Lloyd Bond were
waiting with the suspect, Edward Daniels.
They'd already checked him through R&I.
He had no previous criminal record.
They gave us a.22 caliber H&R revolver along with six shells which had been found on the
suspect at the time of his arrest.
The gun had been loaded.
Pawn shop records showed that the weapon had been purchased by the suspect and had been
registered in his name.
We had stenographer Eleanor Eastlack type up the crime report and Ed and I took Daniels
down the hall to the interrogation room.
He was a small thin man, blue eyes, gray hair.
I don't know what all the fuss is about.
I own the building.
I can keep people out if I want to.
We saw the leash you signed with the Camerons.
The other couple too, they paid their rent.
Why the sudden change of heart?
I don't think that's any of your business.
It's a matter between me and the tenant.
It's our business when you threaten them with a gun, Daniels.
Assault with a deadly weapon, that's a felony.
Didn't hurt the woman, just wanted to scare her, that's all.
Just a couple of farmers anyway.
Never should have given them the leash in the first place.
Why was the kid with them and that bird chirping all the time?
How'd you happen to have that gun with you this afternoon?
Didn't happen to have it.
Carried it all the time.
It's my business, isn't it?
Registered down here.
Meaning you got a permit to carry this gun?
Don't need a permit.
It's registered, isn't it?
Who gave you the idea because the gun's registered you can carry it around your pocket?
A friend of mine, nothing wrong with it, is there?
Having a gun registered is nothing more than keeping a permanent record of it.
You can keep the gun in your home or in your office, but it doesn't give you the right
to carry it around with you.
Oh?
Why didn't they tell me that when I had it registered?
You were told, Mr. Daniels, you know that.
Well, I don't remember it.
Doesn't make much difference if you remember or not.
Nobody has a permit to threaten people with a gun.
Told you it wasn't gonna hurt her.
She just kept arguing with me.
I'm a sick man, you know.
I thought she was gonna hit me.
You mean while she was holding that baby in her arms?
Now come off it, Daniels.
What's this thing all about?
I told you before, I think that's my business.
You signed a year's lease with the Camerons.
You accepted the first and last month's rent.
You took their money.
You advised them they could move in this afternoon.
When they try to move in, you meet them at the front door and threaten them with a gun.
Now what's it all about?
None of this makes any sense.
Changed my mind.
I'm not ready to rent them out yet.
Well, then why'd you sign that lease with the Camerons?
How about it, Mr. Daniels?
If there's something in that building you're trying to cover up, you might as well tell
us.
A couple of men out there now are checking it.
You can go ahead and check.
I don't care.
They won't find anything.
Got nothing to hide.
How long you lived here, Daniels?
18, 20 years.
Why?
Where'd you live before you came here?
Ohio.
Cleveland, Ohio.
You ever been arrested?
Yeah.
A couple of traffic tickets.
Cop said I went through a stop signal.
I wasn't guilty though.
What's the point anyway?
What are you trying to get at?
Trying to force me to let those people in that apartment?
I'm not trying to force you into anything, Daniels.
Business is about the leases of civil matter.
That's between you and the Camerons.
Then what are you holding me here for?
We told you.
You threatened that woman with a gun.
She signed an ADW report.
What do you mean, ADW?
Assault with a deadly weapon.
That's a pretty serious charge, Daniels.
Didn't hurt the woman.
Didn't even touch her.
Pointed the gun at her, didn't you?
Yeah.
Gun was loaded, wasn't it?
Yeah.
Capable of being fired.
Yeah, but I wasn't gonna shoot her, I told you.
Just wanted to scare her off.
Get her out of there.
It's the truth.
I wasn't gonna shoot her.
What do I have to do to convince you?
You don't have to convince us.
What do you mean?
Who do I have to convince?
You got your choice.
A judge or a jury.
Ed and I took the suspect, Edward Daniels, down to the
main jail where we booked him in on suspicion of 467 PC ADW.
Before he was locked up, Daniels asked us if we would take the keys to his car and the
keys to his apartment house to an Oliver Randall, an employee of his who acted as a janitor
and general handyman at two other apartment houses Daniels owned.
We told him we would.
After we left the main jail, we checked by the office and then we drove out to the location
of the apartment house to interview the neighbors and deliver the keys to Daniels' handyman,
Oliver Randall.
Rather than telling us that they considered Mr. Daniels a little eccentric, the neighbors
were unable to give us any additional information that might help us in the prosecution.
After we finished talking to the neighbors, we went across the street to the apartment
house.
There were lights burning in the upper rear apartment.
We tried to bell, but there was no answer.
From the set of keys Daniels had given us, we found the one that fit the door and let
ourselves in.
We heard somebody moving around on the floor above us.
We went up and found a man there who identified himself as Oliver Randall.
He appeared nervous and upset.
There were papers and rags scattered over the floor of the room.
Oh, yeah, I was just cleaning up here.
Mr. Daniels told me to be sure and clean these up, papers and junk.
I see.
Well, here are some keys for you, Randall.
Daniels asked to get them to you.
Oh, yeah, apartment house keys.
Mr. Daniels was supposed to meet me here.
He said 8 o'clock.
I think that's what he said.
I wonder where he is.
Do you know where he is?
Yeah, he's in jail.
Oh, what's he doing in jail?
Did he do something wrong?
He's had a complaint filed against him, assault with a deadly weapon.
What happened?
He got mad at somebody?
Mr. Daniels got an awful bad temper.
When he gets mad at somebody, he doesn't forget it.
I know, I worked for him.
How long have you worked for him, Randall?
I don't know, a long time, maybe five years, I forget.
When you say Daniels has a bad temper, have you ever known him to be violent, Randall?
How's that?
Well, have you ever known him to be violent?
I mean, have you ever known him to hurt anyone?
I don't know.
I don't remember.
A lot of times he says he's going to do things.
I worked for him, you know.
A lot of times he gets mad at me.
He says I don't work fast enough or I don't do the right things.
He always carries his gun, you know.
Once he said he was going to shoot me, I was pretty scared.
You live with Mr. Daniels, do you?
No, I have a room downstairs in another apartment house he owns, a place over on South Hoover.
It's a nice room.
It's got a window in it.
You're on a regular salary, is that the way you work?
Yeah, $15 a week.
I get the room free, too.
It's not bad.
You ever been arrested, Randall?
Me?
No, I've never been arrested.
You ever been in a state hospital, any kind of an institution?
No, I was up at Camarillo for a couple of years.
I didn't like it too much.
I came down here to live with my sister.
She's dead now.
She died about four years ago.
She's the one that got me this job, you know.
Oh, yeah.
This isn't a bad job at all.
Jobs are pretty hard to get now.
That's what Mr. Daniels says.
Real tough to get a good job now.
That's why I do what I'm told.
I better get on fixing up this place.
How'd all these rags and papers get here, Randall?
The painters leaving behind?
I don't know.
I guess so.
I guess somebody left them here.
We understood the apartments were already cleaned up.
They were ready to move into.
What's that?
I say we understood the apartments were all fixed up, but they were ready for the tenants
to move right into.
Oh, I don't know.
I don't know about that Mr. Daniels takes care of renting the places.
I just help him.
I do what he tells me.
Joe?
Yeah?
You notice that smell?
Seems to be stronger out in the hall.
Yeah, I think I do.
How long has it been since the painters were working here, Randall?
Do you know that?
Painters?
I don't know.
Couple days, I guess.
What's the matter?
That's a pretty strong smell.
Might be paint thinner, something like that.
Don't you notice it?
Oh, yeah.
I've been wondering about that.
I noticed it when I came in.
It might be from upstairs, the attic.
Painters were working up there too, I think.
Don't you think you ought to check it, see what it is?
Mr. Daniels didn't tell me to.
I guess I better, though.
Smells pretty strong.
I guess I better see what it is.
Well, how do you get to the attic from here?
Down the end of the hall, there's a stairway there.
It goes right up into the attic.
I'll show you.
All right, fine.
Yeah, smells like gasoline or something.
All the apartments are vacant, that, right?
No one living in the building at all?
Yeah, that's right.
We go up the stairs here.
Mr. Daniels had the whole place worked over.
Nobody here at all right now.
I guess they'll be moving in pretty soon.
There's gonna be a lot of work.
Got the other two apartment houses to take care of.
And there's gonna be this place.
There's gonna be a lot of work.
Daniels hire anyone else beside yourself to help out with the work, I mean?
No, I don't think so.
Just me.
I keep pretty busy.
Here's the attic.
Yeah, this must be where it's coming from.
Yeah, it's strong enough to knock you over, isn't it?
Right switches over here, it's a mess.
Sure mess.
Papers, boxes, pile of old rags.
That five gallon can there on the floor.
Kerosene, huh?
Yeah, it's just about empty too.
It's all spilled all over the floor.
Mr. Daniels ain't gonna like that.
He's gonna get mad.
You usually keep this stuff up here, do you, Randall?
I don't know.
I guess it was with the painter's stuff.
Those cans and things on the table there, I guess it got knocked off and spilled.
Spilled all over the place, didn't it?
Well, how come a painting crew didn't take their stuff with them when they left all this
equipment here?
They're all finished with the job, aren't they?
I guess so.
You'd have to ask Mr. Daniels about that.
They're all finished on the inside.
I know that.
They had the outside to do, though.
Maybe that's why they left their stuff.
Well, it's not a very safe way to leave it.
Rags, papers, look here, kerosene spilled all over.
You better get this place cleaned up first, don't you think, Randall?
Well, I don't know.
I sure wish Mr. Daniels was here.
You won't let him know, will you?
What do you mean, let him know what?
I'm telling him I let you see the attic, huh?
9.35 p.m.
Ed and I left the handyman, Oliver Randall, at his apartment house, went outside and got
in the car.
Neither one of us could find any explanation for it, but we both had a hunch there was something
wrong with the setup.
We drove to a neighborhood service station, called the office and told them that we were
going to stake the apartment house.
We drove back and found a place to park where we could keep the building under surveillance
without being seen.
We waited.
10 p.m.
We arrived at 10.30, 11 o'clock.
At a few minutes past 11, we saw Randall come out of the front door of the apartment, get
in a blue sedan and drive off.
We followed him to an apartment building on West Peaco and saw him enter a rear door.
We waited.
At 12.15 a.m., Ed got to a phone, called Captain Bernard at the business office and notified
him of our location.
At 12.45 a.m., two men arrived to relieve us and we briefed them on the facts.
We drove back to the office, made out of 15.7 to Captain Lorman and signed out.
At four o'clock the next afternoon, we reported back in for work.
We checked the book and found a message that the suspect Edward Daniels had been released
from jail that morning on a writ bailed $2,500.
The writ was returnable Thursday, May 10th.
There was also a message in the book for us to contact Daniels' attorney, Richard Tiernan.
Ed put in the call.
Yes, sir.
Uh-huh.
I see.
What's that?
Yeah, yeah, I know.
All right, Mr. Tiernan.
Yeah, thank you.
Goodbye.
You were right, Joe.
What do you mean?
Daniels' lawyer wanted to know how serious the charges are.
He says Daniels is pretty upset.
It seems he had some trouble lately.
Is it an insurance company?
What's the matter?
Did you have an accident?
Insurance company doesn't seem to think it was an accident.
Happened two months ago at an apartment house over on South Union.
Yeah.
Burned down.
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Thursday, May 10th, 4.30 p.m.
We contacted the fire department's arson squad to find out if the fire at Daniel's apartment
house on South Union Avenue two months before was under investigation.
After checking back, they told us investigators from the arson squad had found a large amount
of kerosene to be present in some of the burned timbers found in the debris after the fire
was put out.
They said that Mr. Daniels had admitted after the fire that the apartment building had been
recently redecorated and that kerosene paint and other inflammables had been stored in the
attic of the building.
Ed and I contacted the insurance adjuster handling the case, a Snyder Peebles, and he
told us there wasn't any doubt in his mind that the fire at Daniel's apartment house
two months before was of incendiary origin.
But he said so far the investigators weren't able to prove it.
The one thing that seemed to puzzle him was if Daniels planned on burning down the building,
why did he go to the trouble and expense of redecorating first?
Well, as soon as it was dark, Ed and I drove out, relieved the men on stakeout at the apartment
house on West Peaco, where the handyman, Oliver Randall, had his room.
They reported no unusual activity during the day.
Seven thirty-two p.m. Randall came out of the apartment house, got in a car and drove
off.
We followed him.
If we got this Randall made right, it shouldn't be too long before we find out.
Daniels is using them to work something out.
Pretty sure we can count on that.
Yeah, maybe.
Watch it, Ed.
Yeah.
He's pulling up ahead.
Don't crowd him.
There's a good spot here.
He shouldn't be able to see us.
All right, pull up in here.
All right.
That's fine.
He's getting out of the car.
He's going over to the house.
Down the driveway.
He's going around back.
He's out of sight now.
All right, let's go.
There's still no lights in the place.
Oh, yeah, there they go.
In the basement.
All right, easy.
Let's take it easy.
All right.
Yeah, I think I can see the back.
I think I can see the back.
Yeah, I think I can see the back door from here.
Come on, easy now.
What is it?
All right, easy with this door.
Don't let it bang.
Why not?
Sounds like somebody upstairs, doesn't it?
All right, come on, watch your step.
Come on, next floor up.
Yeah.
Yeah, it's up in the attic.
Come on.
All right, come on.
Through this door.
Back in the corner, Ed.
I see him.
All right, hold it, you.
What's the matter?
There's a fire right over in the corner.
I'll get it.
Hold on to him.
All right.
Well, don't put it out.
You need any help, Joe?
You getting it all right?
I'm getting it all right.
Just a minute.
Here, I got it.
OK.
You want to get the lights?
I got them.
All right, Randall, what's the story?
He told me to do it.
He told me to come back tonight and burn the whole place down.
Who told you?
He said, Olly, you go back to the place, to the attic, light a match.
That's all.
Then get out.
Mr. Daniels, that's just what he said.
Daniels told you to do this?
He told me just light a fire and nobody'd know.
He said there wasn't going to be any trouble.
No trouble at all.
Well, it gives you the edge, doesn't it?
No trouble, he said.
Yeah, well, next time you see him, you can call him a liar.
8.50 p.m.
After making sure that the place was secure and that there was no danger of fire from
the recent arson attempt, Ed and I took the suspect, Oliver Randall, outside and put him
in the car where we questioned him.
He made no attempt to disguise the fact that he had been directed by his regular employer,
Edward Daniels, to commit arson by setting fire to the attic of the apartment house.
In addition, he told us that Daniels had threatened him with bodily harm if he refused to obey
the order and set fire to the building.
He had this gun, you know, Mr. Daniels did.
He always had it with him.
I was scared of it, I don't mind telling you.
Uh-huh.
He threatened to kill you if you didn't do what he wanted, that is.
Yeah, I guess so.
He used to get mad a lot of the time and he had this gun, he always had the gun.
He'd get mad at me and tell me he was gonna shoot me.
I'm afraid of guns.
How about the fire at the other apartment house, Ollie, the one over on South Union Avenue?
Yeah, that was a big fire.
Did you start that one?
Daniels told me there was nobody living there.
He said nobody'd get hurt.
Nobody did get hurt, did they?
Did you start the fire?
Yeah, I guess so.
I guess I did.
Mr. Daniels told you to do it?
He said it was his building.
He owned it.
He didn't do anything with it, he wanted to.
I didn't want to do it.
He told me I'd have to.
He said he'd hurt me with that gun.
He said he'd fire me too.
I didn't want to lose my job.
You knew you were doing wrong, didn't you, Ollie?
Well, I guess I did, yeah.
What could I do, though?
I didn't want to lose my job.
Good jobs aren't too easy to get nowadays, you know that.
Where's Mr. Daniels now, do you know?
You're not gonna tell him what I told you, are you?
He said not to say anything about it.
He said nobody believed me anyway.
Nobody.
Said he'd tell everybody I was a liar.
Said they'd believe him before they'd believe me.
But where's Daniels now?
If I tell you, you won't let him hurt me, will you?
No, we won't let him hurt you.
You're gonna have to help us out, though.
What do you want me to do?
I'd like to find out where Daniels is first.
He's in a movie over on Pico by his house.
He's waiting for me.
You mean he's waiting for you in the show?
See, in the center section, 10 rows from the back.
He's waiting for me now.
Well, how's it you're supposed to meet him there?
I don't know.
He said if anybody wanted to know where we were tonight,
this would prove we didn't start the fire.
We were at the show.
I was supposed to start the fire
and then go to the show and meet him.
10 rows from the back.
The center section.
You wanna show us where this movie is, Ollie?
Yeah, okay.
Mr. Daniels won't tell you anything.
No, he's gonna be mad.
He won't tell you anything.
Well, that's where we need your help, Ollie.
What do you mean?
We'll let him tell you.
9.44 p.m.
Ed and I, along with a suspect, Oliver Randall,
drove to the movie house on West Pico.
On the way, we explained to Randall
what he was supposed to do.
9.55 p.m.
We parked our car half a block from the movie house,
bought three tickets and went inside.
The feature picture was still on.
There wasn't much of a crowd.
We sent Randall down the aisle ahead of us
and watched him move into the 10th row
and sit down next to somebody.
Ed and I followed him down and found seats
in the row directly behind him.
We recognized the man sitting next to Randall
as Edward Daniels.
Hello, Mr. Daniels.
I did it just the way you told me,
up in the attic.
It was okay.
Nobody saw you?
You didn't have any trouble at all?
No, it was okay.
I don't feel so good about it, though.
What do you mean?
What are you talking about?
I don't know.
Somebody might find out.
Don't you think we'd get in trouble if they found out?
You just keep your mouth shut, I'll attend to that.
Nobody's gonna find out.
All right, Daniels, you mind coming outside?
We'd like to talk to you.
What?
What are you doing here?
Come on, we'll talk outside.
What's this all about?
We'll let you tell us.
All right, what do you want?
You're arresting me?
That's right, mister.
Why?
What's it supposed to be this time?
Think you know?
Arson, conspiracy.
Caught Randall here, caught him right in the act.
He told us the whole story.
What?
Olly, what story?
What is this?
I told you I didn't wanna do it, Mr. Daniels.
I told you we'd get in trouble.
Fool, stupid fool.
Shoulda known better.
Yeah, you should've.
Just two questions for you, Daniels.
Why'd you burn down your own property?
Why'd you redecorate the buildings first?
I never forgot it.
Told them when it happened,
I wouldn't forget it as long as I lived.
What do you mean, forget what?
24 years ago, I was just starting out.
Small store back in Ohio, burned down.
Real fire.
Lousy insurance company that wouldn't believe me.
Had to sue, lost the whole thing.
Had to start all over again.
Told them I'd never forget it.
Told them I'd make them pay.
You've been nursing this grudge for 24 years?
Why not?
Why shouldn't I?
I lost everything, everything I had.
Why'd you redecorate the apartment houses
if you planned to burn them down?
Simple, gave me a good excuse.
Could have all those things stored in the buildings.
Paint, kerosene.
Besides, you'd think I'd burned down the building
right after I got done redecorating.
Found a bad idea.
Worked pretty good, didn't it?
Yeah, you're going to jail, you figure.
The story you have just heard was true.
The names were changed to protect the innocent.
On August 18th, trial was held in Superior Court,
Department 86, City and County of Los Angeles,
State of California.
In a moment, the results of that trial.
And now, here is our star, Jack Webb.
Thank you, George Fenomen.
Friends, comparisons are often very helpful
in modern police work.
Now, for instance, a suspect may be identified
as a suspect in a crime.
And that's a very important part of modern police work.
Now, for instance, a suspect may be identified
by comparing his MO, or method of operation,
with the known facts of a case.
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["The Star-Spangled Banner"]
Edward John Daniels was tried and convicted
of two counts of conspiracy and one count of arson,
and received the sentence as prescribed by law.
Conspiracy is punishable by imprisonment
in the state penitentiary for not more than two years.
Arson is punishable by a prison term
of not less than one, nor more than five years.
Daniels' accomplice, Oliver Randall,
was examined by three psychiatrists
appointed by the court,
and was found to be mentally incompetent.
He was placed in a state hospital
for the mentally deficient.
The charge of assault with a deadly weapon
against Edward Daniels was dismissed.
["The Star-Spangled Banner"]
You have just heard Dragnet,
a series of authentic cases from official files.
Technical advice comes from the Office of Chief of Police,
W.H. Parker, Los Angeles Police Department.
Technical advisors, Captain Jack Donahoe,
Sergeant Marty Wynn, Sergeant Vance Brasher.
Heard tonight were Barney Phillips and Vic Perrin.
Script by Jim Moser.
Music by Walter Schuman.
Hal Gibney speaking.
["The Star-Spangled Banner"]
Fatima cigarettes.
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["The Star-Spangled Banner"]
Now, it's Counter-Spy on NBC.
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