Sound off for Chesterfield.
Chesterfield, first with premium quality and best for you.
Chesterfield brings you Dragmen.
Ladies and gentlemen, the story you are about to hear is true.
The names have been changed to protect the innocent.
You're a detective sergeant.
You're assigned a homicide detail.
A man has been shot and critically wounded.
There's no trace of the suspect.
Your job, find him.
Here is Chesterfield's record with smokers and important to you.
No adverse effects to the nose, throat and sinuses from smoking Chesterfield.
That's the report of a doctor who has been examining a group of Chesterfield smokers
for a full year and two months as a part of a program supervised by a responsible independent
research laboratory.
Don't you want to try a cigarette with a record like this?
Chesterfield, first with premium quality.
Chesterfield, first choice of young America.
And that's from a survey made in 274 colleges and universities.
Try Chesterfield's today.
Chesterfield, regular or king size.
They're much milder and best for you.
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 Sunday, April 26th, it was raining in Los Angeles.
We were working the night watch out of homicide detail.
My partner is Frank Smith.
The boss is Captain Norman.
My name is Friday.
I was on my way back to the office and it was 11 44 p.m. when they got to room 42.
Homicide.
Hi.
Anybody call?
Yeah, I'll help you call.
I want to know if you left these overshoes.
No, I didn't see them.
It's quit raining anyway.
What are you doing there?
Just a minute, Joe.
What's the scale for?
The needle's bent a little.
What are you doing?
Wearing my stuff.
Your what?
Wearing my stuff.
Oh, yeah.
I guess everybody ought to know what his stuff weighs.
Yeah.
Let's see.
Got my gun.
Better take the bullets out first.
What are you doing that for?
Keep track.
Yeah, that's right.
Now the bullets.
Handcuffs.
Frank, did anybody ever ask you about all this?
My bullet clipped.
Look, I'm a member of the club here, too.
What's this all about?
Pencils.
Pour?
Yeah, press kind of hard.
Other stuff in my wallet.
Change.
Keys.
Boy, no wonder my feet kill me.
What?
Six pounds, two and a half ounces.
That's what I carry, Joe.
Work a night's got a flashlight, too.
That's good for another pound.
You figure that's what makes your feet hurt, huh?
Sure.
Yeah.
I'm a little bit of a pain in the ass.
How much do you weigh, Frank?
Any calls?
Come on, how much?
Joe, I get that all day from Fay.
Never thought I'd get it from you.
It's a hot shot.
I'll get it.
What do you got?
Shooting on East Burindo.
11.45 p.m.
We swung out of the City Hall garage and headed south on Main Street.
The streets were still wet after the rain.
Code three.
Red light and siren.
And even with that, driving a fast car is no picnic.
You can be wrong at every corner.
Big buildings to block off the sound of your siren.
Cars to shield the red light from oncoming motorists.
It's no fun.
There had been a shooting and we had to get there.
As Frank and I swung around the last streetcar on Main Street and picked up Burindo, we heard
the police radio operator dispatching ambulance G-13 to the address we were headed for.
We didn't know what direction the ambulance would come from, so for the next few blocks
we drove with added caution, knowing that our siren would keep us from hearing theirs.
Five blocks ahead through the mist we could see the red lights of a police car parked
at the curb.
A radio car in the area had gotten a call and answered it immediately.
It was 11.52 p.m. when we pulled up in front of 1981 East Burindo.
The large house was dark.
Two neighborhood women stood in the driveway and directed us to the back of the house where
we found the officers from Unit 1A6.
We checked with them and got the information that they'd come up with.
They suggested that they canvass the immediate area for any information on the assailant.
Frank and I went in through the back door of the house.
The victim lay on the floor.
He was unconscious and bleeding profusely.
His head was held in the lap of another man.
Are you the doctor?
No, sir, we're police officers.
The ambulance is on the way here.
If I could just stop the bleeding, it's his chest.
Do you know who did this?
No.
Has he been conscious at all since you've been here?
Just for a second.
Did he say anything?
Well, I heard the shot and came right over.
He was laying here on the floor right here.
Poor guy.
Yes, sir, did he say anything?
He helped me.
That's all he said.
Helped me.
I didn't know what to do.
I got this towel from the sink and tried to stop the bleeding.
Fist in my handkerchief, that's all I had.
I can't do much, but I had to try, I had to keep pressing, that's all I could think of.
Keep pressing, try to stop it.
Yes, sir.
Do you feel all right, sir?
Yes, yes, I'm all right.
Got to help him.
Here, let me get in there and take care of that.
Come on, sir, we can get under.
Got it, Joe.
All right.
Come on, sir, get up.
That's all right, you'll handle this.
The excitement.
I can't seem to get my breath.
Something we can get for you?
No, I'll be all right.
I think I'll get a drink of water.
I'd rather you wouldn't touch that glass, sir.
Oh, yeah, fingerprints.
Well, I can wait.
Oh, say, I did touch that towel, hope it didn't hurt anything, didn't mean to.
No, sir, I don't think so.
What's your name?
Paul Weston.
I live right next door, right across the driveway, Greyhouse.
I wonder if you could tell us what happened.
Sure, I want to help all I can.
I live right next door and I was the first one here.
Anything I can do, I want to help.
Yes, sir.
I've known Charlie for, oh, I guess it's maybe 40 years, long time.
Charlie, that's the man's name here?
Yes, Charles Stahl.
How you doing, Frank?
That's pretty bad.
I don't know.
Would you tell us what happened here?
Well, it was right after Charlie left my place.
That's when I heard the noise.
What noise, West?
I was out of my porch, putting out the cans, getting the box ready when I heard the noise.
First off, I thought Charlie was doing the same thing, getting the cans ready.
What kind of a noise?
Like he dropped the box.
I know now that wasn't it.
Charles, just a minute, West.
Yeah, I think he's coming around.
Is he coming to?
Is he going to say anything?
Who shot him?
All right, just a minute.
What's his name again?
Stahl.
Mr. Stahl.
Maybe you talk to me.
He knows me.
We're friends.
All right, stay right there.
Mr. Stahl, we want to help you.
Can you tell us who shot you?
Hey, what are you saying?
Is he giving you the name?
All right, hold it, West.
Just a minute.
How about it, Frank?
He's dead.
Did he say anything?
Yeah, not much help.
Ask me not to shoot him again.
It was a couple of minutes before midnight when Charles Stahl died in Frank's arms.
According to the next door neighbor, Paul West, the victim was 55 years old.
He was not married and he lived in the big house on Burendo by himself.
The ambulance crew returned to Georgia Street Receiving Hospital after making out a DOA report
and the coroner's office was asked to pick up the body.
12 minutes later, coroner's deputies Maxwell and Martinez arrived.
Before the murdered man's body was removed, the crew from the crime lab photographed the
scene and Frank and I signed the property receipt for the money and the personal effects
found on the body.
We asked the crime lab to check a 32 caliber Smith & Wesson revolver found on the floor
under the kitchen stove.
There was one empty cartridge in the cylinder.
We put in a call to gun records but we found nothing on the gun.
A call to R&I on the victim of the shooting turned up nothing.
Layton fingerprints found nothing on the murder weapon.
The crime lab crew found no footprints in the ground near the house but they did find
several marks of tire tracks and one good impression left in the moist dirt in the alley
behind the house.
A plaster cast was made of the imprint and it was returned to the office to be booked
as evidence.
We checked with the officers in unit 1A6 but they said that in canvassing the neighborhood
they'd been unable to come up with any new leads.
1221 A.M. we checked back into the house and we talked to the neighbor Paul West.
What kind of a job did Stahl have?
Owned a print shop, Stahl Press over on the east side.
Was he in business by himself?
What do you mean?
Well did he have any partners?
No, Charlie owned it right out, had the pink slip you might say.
Can you give us the address?
Sure, biggest print shop on the east side.
Printed just about everything, posters, display cards, things like that.
He gave me some cards last Christmas.
Here, take a look.
That's my name, Embossed.
Yes sir.
Did it himself.
That's very nice sir.
Can I have that back please?
Oh sure, here you are.
Embossed.
Anybody in the shop with him?
Any employees?
Well, there's the Becker kids, Pete and Alvin.
They work in the shop, do they?
Yeah, I've been with them.
I guess it's been about a year.
How long have you been with them?
Fine, I never heard about any trouble.
I've been kind of friends with the family.
Charlie was pretty fond of them.
Did he have any personal enemies, maybe because of the business?
No, not that I know of.
How long do you say you've known Stahl?
Been about 40 years.
We grew up together.
I see.
His father and mine built these houses at the same time.
Charlie and I went to school together.
Belonged to the same club.
We were soldiers together.
Served in the 146th field artillery in the war.
But at the last war sir?
Oh no, the last war.
The last war.
But at the last war?
No, the big one.
The first world war.
Oh, I see.
Came back and we were right here side-to-side all his time.
We've been friends, Charlie and me.
Good friends.
You've got to catch a person who did this.
You've got to get them.
You said earlier that Stahl had been over to your house tonight?
Yes, that's right.
Did he have any special reason for the visit?
Well, he didn't need a reason.
Charlie was always welcome.
Yes.
We understand.
Of course, tonight's Sunday, and we had a game.
Sir?
Bridge.
Always play bridge on Sunday night.
What time did he get to your house?
Same time as always, right after supper.
What time's that, sir?
Right after 7.30.
We were just finishing supper when he came in.
Charlie sat down, had dessert and coffee with us.
Rice pudding with raisins.
Charlie had two dishes.
Then we started to play bridge.
I see. Now, who else was there?
You mean the game?
Yeah.
Oh, just Rose and Paula.
Rose, my wife, and Paula, my daughter.
Anything unusual happen tonight?
Just once.
Yeah, what was that?
Well, a bit of grand slam and spades made it.
Even with Rose, seven spades.
Well, that's not exactly what we mean, Wes.
Pretty unusual.
Yes, sir, but did anything happen with Stahl?
Sure. He almost hit the ceiling when we made it.
Got pretty mad, did he?
Sure.
Since we've been playing, most he ever did was make a little slam.
He went right home after that.
I guess that's when he went out to empty the cans.
Anyway, that's when I heard the noise.
That was the shots.
It must have been.
I didn't know it at the time, but I guess that's what it was.
What'd you do after you heard the shot?
Well, now at the time, I didn't know what it was.
I thought maybe Charlie had fallen and hurt himself.
I looked over at his place, but there wasn't any lights on.
I went out the curb with a box of cans.
Came back, and I didn't see Charlie, so I walked over.
I see.
I called him, asked if he was all right.
Didn't get no answer, so I came in.
Found him out on the floor, where he was when you came in.
You're the one who put in the call, is that right?
Yeah, I called the operator and told her to get an ambulance
right over that Charlie had been shot.
Told her to send a policeman.
Now, what time was it when Stahl left your house?
Well, it must have been about 11.15 or so.
Earlier than usual, we always play almost to midnight.
I guess Charlie got miffed about the grand slam I made,
and then Paula kidded him about the woman.
What woman is that?
Oh, it wasn't anything. I went out and looked.
Nobody there.
Sir?
A couple of times, Charlie thought he heard a woman
coughing outside the window by his house.
I went over to the window and looked out there,
but there wasn't anybody there.
Well, did you hear this coughing?
No, not really.
After Charlie started talking about it, I thought I did,
but when I went out to look, there wasn't anybody there.
His imagination, that's all.
He was mad because of the slam.
Well, did you hear anything at all when you were out there?
Huh?
Well, when you went into Stahl's house,
did you hear anybody around?
A car, maybe, something like that?
No, not a soul.
Now, Wes, could somebody have gone out the front of the house
when you came in the back?
Wouldn't seem it could be.
I'd have heard him if they did.
Well, then you'd say that whoever shot Stahl
wasn't in the house when you went in, is that it?
Pretty sure about that.
Of course, they might have left before I went in.
Sir?
Well, I'd already took about the hands out the front
after I heard the noise.
If there was anybody in the house,
they could have gotten out then.
But you didn't see anybody, did you?
No, nobody at all.
Do you know if Stahl has any relatives in Los Angeles?
No.
He hasn't, huh?
Hasn't got any anyplace, none at all.
Always kind of worried him.
Why is that?
Well, he used to say he didn't have any folks
to leave his things to.
The house, print shop.
He made a will, though.
All legal, with a seal and all.
Official.
Used to talk to me about it.
I see.
You know who the beneficiary was, would you?
Not now.
What?
Well, I knew who it was, but he said he was going to change it.
Said he was going to put a new name on.
Well, did he say whose?
Nope.
Just said I'd be surprised.
We looked through the victim's desk for the will.
In one of the bottom drawers, we found a locked tin box.
In a box of paper clips, we found a key that fit.
In the top liner of the box, there was a Purple Heart ribbon
and an American Victory Medal from the First World War.
In the bottom of the box, there were several government bonds
and the will.
In it, he left the house and the rest of his possessions
to a Mrs. Margaret Becker.
The print shop and the business, he left to Mrs. Becker's sons,
Peter and Alvin.
The will was dated three years previously.
On a separate piece of paper, we found an address
for a Mrs. Margaret Becker, the Lone Star Motel
on Sepulveda Boulevard.
1240 A.M., we affixed the public administrator's seal,
which the coroner's deputy had left with us,
to the door of the victim's house.
We talked with the wife and daughter of the neighbor, Paul West.
They confirmed the story he'd given us.
On the way to talk to the Becker woman, we stopped and called the office.
They checked the name through R&I, but they came up with no identification.
We called Sergeant J. Allen at the crime lab,
and he told us that the tire marks found in the rear of the victim's house
were made by three B.F. Goodrich tires and one truck tire.
He said that the cast they'd made was of the truck tire,
as it was the only one they could lift,
and that it was made by the left front wheel.
There was a car parked in front of the manager's cottage.
The registration listed Margaret Becker as the owner.
Legal the same. We checked it.
Motor's cold?
Yeah, tires don't match.
Nice try. Yeah.
Let's go.
I get it.
Late. Yeah.
One-fifty.
Probably asleep.
What's the matter? Can't you read? Sign says no vacancy.
That means full-up. N-O, that means no. Awaken somebody at this hour.
Yes, ma'am. And don't ask me if I know some place where you can stay,
if I don't. Good night. Just a minute, Miss Becker.
How do you know my name? Police officers.
What do you want around here? I run a clean place, no trouble,
license all paid up, nothing wrong.
What about? You know a man named Charles Stahl?
What are you asking that for? We'd like to know.
And I want to know why you're asking. What's this all about?
Anything wrong with Charlie? That why you're out here?
Yes, ma'am. What's wrong?
It's pretty serious. Go ahead. You can tell me.
Well, he's dead, Miss Becker.
Come in. Thank you.
What's the matter, Margaret? Who are these fellas?
Who are you? What are you doing here? They're policemen.
Well, we don't need you. We got the whole thing cleaned up.
We took care of it ourselves. Nobody sent for you.
We took care of him. No, Daddy, they're here about Charles.
Charlie Stahl? Yes, sir, that's right.
Charlie here? Well, where is he?
He's not here, Daddy. Something's happened to him.
What? He's dead.
Dead? Charlie? Yes.
Well, how did it happen? An accident? No, sir.
Oh, poor Charlie Stahl. He's a nice boy.
Too bad I thought you was here about the fella number eight, the loud one.
What's that, sir? A man from Texas came in tonight pretty drunk.
We had to take him in. Daddy put him to bed. He was pretty drunk.
Heavy, too. That's what he thought you were out here for.
Couldn't even get out of his car. Margaret had the pocket for him.
Loud, you know, real drunk. Wore his pants inside his boots.
What was it you wanted to see me about?
A few questions we'd like to ask you. About Charles?
Yes, ma'am. When was the last time you saw him?
Must have been a couple of weeks ago.
I saw him last week, April 22nd, went fishing down at the pier.
Miss Becker, what was your relationship with Stahl?
Good friends, that's all. We knew each other almost all our lives.
I used to live next door to him. Went through school together.
I always thought they were going to get married. Charlie was a good boy.
You see much of him lately? No, not too much.
I've been busy here with Daddy, and Charlie's had other things to do.
Move next door to him on December 14th.
Exactly 42 years ago, come with him.
You know if he had any enemies, ma'am?
No, can't think of anyone who didn't like Charlie.
Didn't catch anything at the pier. Bad bait.
You've been home all evening, have you?
Yeah. Why'd you ask that?
It's just routine.
You think I had something to do with it, that it?
No, ma'am, we don't.
Pinheads, that's what you need.
I beg your pardon, sir?
Pinhead anchovies, that's what you need for pier fishing.
You say it's routine, but I don't like you coming in here,
waking us up with all these questions.
We've had a bad night, that drunk coming in here.
We've been on the go ever since then.
A few years ago, it used to be we'd get a lot of pinheads.
Not anymore.
You want to make any accusations, you talk to Paul West.
You just talk to him. Try your routine questions there.
Paul West?
Yeah, Charlie's neighbor.
He's never liked Charlie, never.
Anyone hurt Charlie? It was Paul.
Why do you say that, Mrs. Becker?
Years ago, Charlie was sweet on Paul's sister.
On the way back from the beach one night, there was an accident,
and Paul's sister was killed.
Never forgave Charlie.
Always held him to blame.
Well, why was that, Mrs. Becker?
Charlie was driving.
Paul hated Charles for it.
Now the thing with a daughter.
Paul didn't like that either.
Somebody did something to Charlie, you routine the man next door.
You talk to Paul West.
Now get out of here. I want to get some sleep.
If you've got any more questions, you come back in the morning,
and I'll talk to you then.
You get out of here now.
Yes, ma'am.
But what did you mean by the thing with her, West's daughter?
All right.
I'll tell you that, then you've got to get out of here.
Yes, ma'am.
A couple of months ago, Paula came home,
divorced her husband, and moved home.
Right away, Charlie got sweet on her.
Paul didn't like it.
Didn't like it at all.
Did he ever say anything to stall about it?
You bet he did.
They had a lot of arguments, a lot of them.
You talk to Paul West.
He's the one you've got to talk to.
Now good night.
We'll be back in the morning, ma'am.
I'll be here. Don't worry. I'll talk to you then.
I'm going fishing tomorrow.
Are they getting pinheads now?
Where's the new one, huh?
West's daughter.
Yeah.
Better check it out.
Hold it a minute.
Huh?
Let's take a look back at the carport here.
There it is.
Texas license plate.
Yeah.
I'll check the motor.
How about it?
Radiator's warm.
How about the wheels?
Three Goodrich tires and a truck tire.
You are listening to Dragnet,
the authentic story of your police force in action.
Years ahead of them all.
Chesterfield is years ahead of all cigarettes.
Chesterfield quality is the best in the world.
Chesterfield quality is highest.
Here's the proof.
Recent chemical analysis give an index of good quality
for the country's six leading cigarette brands.
The index of good quality table,
which is a ratio of high sugar to low nicotine,
shows Chesterfield quality highest.
Chesterfield quality highest.
15% higher than its nearest competitor.
Chesterfield quality highest.
31% higher than the average of the five other leading brands.
Don't you want to try a cigarette with a record like this?
Chesterfield.
First with premium quality and best for you.
Try Chesterfield today.
Regular or king size.
The information we'd gotten from the crime lab
gave us the make of the tires that had left the imprints
in back of the victim's house.
Three of the tires had been identified
as being of good rich make.
The fourth was a truck tire.
The car we'd found in the carport of cabin number eight
had tires that matched the description.
1.26 a.m. we went back to talk to Margaret Becker.
I'd like to know just what this is all about.
Why you're snooping around asking questions.
Now why don't you come right on out with it?
Come on, you think I had something to do
with Charlie being dead, isn't that it?
No ma'am, we told you before,
this is just a routine investigation.
We're trying to get the facts here.
You still haven't told us about Charlie.
Was he killed?
Yes ma'am.
You think I did it?
You didn't say that.
Not in so many words you didn't,
but that's what you meant.
You found the will.
That's what made you think it was me, isn't that it?
You knew about the will, didn't you?
Certainly I knew about it.
Charles told me when he had it drawn up.
Said he didn't have anybody else who wanted to see
that me and the boys were taken care of.
Too bad about Charlie, Stoll.
He's a good boy.
He's gonna take care of Margaret.
He ever say anything to you about changing the will?
Yes.
He told me about it the last time I saw him.
Had lunch together and he told me then.
Tell you what changes he was gonna make?
No, not right now.
He's been acting lately.
I knew I could tell.
The way he's been acting lately, I could tell.
So could I.
What do you mean the way he's been acting?
Was there anything wrong?
Well, this thing with Paula.
Told you about that.
Charlie's been acting like a fool.
Falling all over, gushing sweet talk.
Silly.
Well, she had him in a trance.
Her just 25 and him 55.
Talk about spring and winter.
Well, that was them.
How'd Paula feel about this?
How'd you expect her to feel?
She thought that Charlie would leave her the money,
house, everything.
She went right along with it.
She was real brazen.
Sir?
Yeah?
You said earlier that you thought your daughter
and Mr. Stahl might get married.
Is that right?
They better did.
They always been in love.
Daddy, that's not true.
Which is true.
I'm your father.
Now you show a little respect.
After that no good Becker walked out on Maggie,
she and Charlie started to see each other again.
Went real nice.
Then Paula come into town,
Charlie Stahl took up with her.
Charlie Stahl made out his will
so that everything went to Margaret and the kids.
Then he decided he'd change it.
You knew about the will too?
Sure, I was a friend of Charlie's.
We used to go fishing all the time.
Talk about things.
I told him that he was wrong
to even think of changing his will.
I told him that he was wrong.
What time did you say that car from Texas got in, ma'am?
I told you, about 10.15.
Ma'am, is it possible that somebody could have taken the car out
without you knowing about it?
Hey, wait a minute, Margaret.
That ain't right.
What?
It wasn't that late.
It was only about eight when he come in.
I remember, because I was in bed at 8.30.
I put him to bed and then come back
and went to bed myself.
I wanted to get some sleep,
going fishing in the morning.
You're pretty sure about the time, are you?
Well, you bet.
I remember, because I got in bed and turned on the radio.
Listened to that radio program about the detective.
Fell asleep before the end.
Never did find out who stole the jewels and did the murder.
What was your daughter doing when you came back?
Just sitting there.
She went out to put the car away and I went to bed.
How long was she outside?
I don't know, a few minutes, I guess.
Can you tell us a little closer than that?
Not very well.
I told you I wanted to sleep.
I didn't hear her come in.
Miss Becker, I wonder if you'd get dressed, please.
We'd like to talk to you downtown.
What for?
We have a report from our crime lab.
They found some tire tracks in back of Stahl's house tonight.
They were fresh tracks.
They'd been made since it stopped raining.
Those tracks match the car you got parked back there.
And you think I drove the car over to Charlie's?
Well, we'd like to talk about it.
Why?
Why'd I do a thing like that?
Why'd I want to kill Charlie?
Maybe because he was going to catch you out of his will.
Looks like a pretty good motive.
You two are out of your minds.
All right, ma'am.
We'll lay it out for you.
You better do that.
Making accusations you can't back up.
The way the evidence looks, we got a pretty good case here.
The way it looks, you took the car and you drove it over to Stahl's.
He was next door playing cards,
so you waited in the kitchen for him to come back.
A couple of times you coughed while you were waiting.
He heard you.
He came over to the window to see who it was.
Because it was dark, he couldn't see you.
I haven't heard a story like that since I stopped reading fairy tales.
You came home and you killed him.
Then you heard Mr. West next door.
He came over to see what it was.
You went out the back way to the car that you'd parked in the alley.
And you drove it back here.
That's the way it looks to you, is it?
Yes, ma'am. That's the way it looks.
You figure she killed Charlie Stahl?
Yes, sir.
You're going to arrest Margaret?
I want to talk to her about it.
Oh, going to take her down to jail, huh?
Yes, sir.
Mm-hmm.
Well, I'll go and put my clothes on.
That isn't necessary for you to go with her, sir.
Well, she's not going.
What?
I killed Charlie Stahl.
Daddy.
You killed him?
Yep.
Got tired of how he was treating Margaret.
Got good and tired of him talking about how he was going to change the will.
I couldn't let him do that.
I just killed him and drove the car over and did it.
What time was all this?
Huh?
What time did you go over to Stahl's?
Right after the fellow from Texas. I guess it was about nine.
What time did you kill him?
Oh, it must have been 10.30 or so.
I had to wait for him to get through playing cards.
I had to wait for him to come home.
Why are you doing this, Daddy?
Why am I doing it?
I said somebody's got to take care of the kids.
Somebody's got to take care of you.
I'm an old man.
I ain't much use to anybody.
All right. Come on, Miss Becker.
You want to get dressed now?
She ain't the one. I did it.
I killed Charlie Stahl. I already confessed.
Why don't you believe me?
Why don't you ask me now? I did it.
I'm afraid not.
You got the times a little mixed up.
Stahl wasn't killed at 10.30.
No, he's just trying to help me, but he doesn't have to.
Him and me were both here all night.
Neither one of us left.
I was in bed and asleep at midnight.
Why do you say that?
What?
Why do you think Stahl was killed around midnight?
I didn't say that.
He said that you were home and in bed by midnight, didn't he?
Just a figure of speech.
I think I've talked enough to you.
I don't have to say anything more.
I'm going to see a lawyer about it.
You got no right.
I'm the one that did it. I'm the one.
Why did you kill him, Mrs. Becker?
You want to tell us?
You know, nobody believes you.
How about it, Miss Becker?
I'll get dressed.
You did kill him then, huh?
Yes, I did it.
It wasn't because of the money, though.
You got to believe that.
It wasn't because of the money.
Yeah.
I loved him.
Deep in my heart, I loved him.
I always did, even when we were kids.
I thought he was going to marry me.
Then he met Paula.
You shouldn't have done it, Margaret.
I loved him and he didn't want me.
He wanted Paula.
You know what that's like?
What's that?
Love somebody and them not want you.
Begins to eat at you.
Pretty soon you can't stand it anymore.
That's why I did it.
Not for the money, you understand?
I just wanted him.
Yeah.
Just him. That's all I wanted.
Not his money. You believe that?
I never wanted his money.
I just wanted him.
You believe that?
Well, it really doesn't make any difference, does it?
How do you mean?
You didn't get either one.
The story you have just heard is true.
The names were changed to protect the innocent.
On August 6th, trial was held in Department 89,
Superior Court of the State of California,
in and for the County of Los Angeles.
In a moment, the results of that trial.
Now, here is our star, Jack Webb.
Thank you, George Fenomen.
Friends, all of us on Dragnet, are proud to be associated with Chesterfield,
because believe me, Chesterfield is years ahead of all cigarettes.
You just can't beat a cigarette that was good to begin with
and keeps getting better all the time.
But of course, you can't find out how much you'll like them till you try them.
So that's what we'd like you to do.
Get a carton of Chesterfields, regular or king size.
That's all it takes.
I know you'll agree that Chesterfield is best for you.
Margaret Alice Becker was tried and convicted of murder in the first degree.
She was sentenced to life imprisonment
on the California Institute for Women, Corona, California.
Further investigation proved that the suspect's father,
John Samuel Woodbridge, was not implicated in the murder.
He was not held.
John Robinson, music by Walter Schuman, Hell Gibney speaking.
For a million laughs, tune in Chesterfield's Martin & Lewis show,
Tuesday on this same NBC station, and sound off for Chesterfields.
Either regular or king size, you'll find premium quality Chesterfields much milder.
Chesterfield is best for you.
Chesterfield has brought you Dragnet transcribed from Los Angeles.
Have you tried new cork-tipped Fatima?
It's the smooth smoke.
Here's why.
New Fatima tips of perfect cork,
king size for longer filtering,
and Fatima quality for a much better flavor and aroma.
Remember, Fatima has the tip for your lips.
Try new Fatima.
See how smooth it is.
Fatima is made by the makers of Chesterfield.
Liggett & Myers, one of tobacco's most respected names.