Dragnet: The Big Key - A Murder on Christmas Morning

It was Christmas morning in Los Angeles, and Detectives Joe Friday and Ben Romero were already at a churchyard crime scene before sunrise. The victim: a woman with no identification, lying in the rain-soaked grounds of San Andreas Cathedral. The only clues were a cheap fountain pen, a door key that fit no lock anyone could find, and a cast of boot prints from the wet earth nearby. By the time they identified the woman as Maria Camacho - a 38-year-old seamstress who had been drinking her way through Christmas Eve in the bars of East Los Angeles, the trail was already cold and getting colder.

Friday and Romero spent the next two days canvassing every bar in the neighbourhood, tracing Maria’s last movements from cantina to cantina, from the testimony of bartenders and busboys to the quiet workbench of a shoeshine man on Chicago Street. A fleck of brown boot polish on the victim’s face. A key that finally found its lock. And a man drinking alone in the back room of a mission annex, with three empty wine bottles on the table and a broken beer bottle in his hand. From a Christmas morning murder with nothing to go on, Friday and Romero built the case one meticulous step at a time.

Episode Quotes

“I know the feet when I see ‘em. I don’t know the faces.” - Angelo, the Shoeshine Ma

“He drinks to forget. Whenever Frank starts drinking, that means he’s worrying.” - Mission Director

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Transcript

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The body shows the marks of a savage attack. Your job, find the killer.

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SPEAKER_09 1:52

Dragneth, 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, Dragneth is the story of your police force in action.

SPEAKER_04 2:18

It was Sunday, December 25th. It was raining in Los Angeles. We're working a day watch out of homicide detail. My partner's Ben Romero. The boss is Boyne Steed, Captain of Homicide. My name's Friday. It was 39 minutes past 5 a.m. when I got to San Andreas Cathedral on First Street. Churchyard.

SPEAKER_16 2:40

No, it's not the way we're awesome. Hi, Dave. Hi, Joe. Body's over here. All right. Merry Christmas, huh? Yeah. Section from the church found us about an hour ago. Have a look.

SPEAKER_03 3:02

Pretty brutal.

SPEAKER_04 3:04

Yes. Okay. Who is she? No identification. The coroner checked the body in? Yep. How long has she been dead? When it started raining. About midnight, didn't? Yeah. The ground's dry under the body. Well, been dead five or six hours, I think. Ben get here yet? Yeah, he's helping Claudio check the areas.

SPEAKER_16 3:24

This park here with all a part of the church ground. I think so. I was stuck out of this rain for a minute. There's an alcove over there by the church. Yeah, look.

SPEAKER_04 3:36

How much we got to go on, Dave? Not much. Motive looks like robbery.

SPEAKER_16 3:41

Found a woman's purse near the body. It's pretty well fit, all this. Press is wet. Jim Jones dusting the contents refrige.

SPEAKER_04 3:48

Coroner's checking. Any idea of what the killer used in the woman's face? Coroner figures a sharp instrument of some kind. Nasty one. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 3:59

Fighting. You look wet. Hi, Ellie. How do you? Everything happens on Christmas. Press was soaking wet. Ordinary black handbag, huh? Raise any prints on the stuff inside? Not a one. Yeah, you can check the content. Thanks, Ellie.

SPEAKER_04 4:14

Let's see. Ball comb. Sloasted the teeth out of it. Three pennies.

SPEAKER_03 4:24

Hair pins, mirror, slipstick. That's it, Holly. A couple more things. Yeah. This fountain pen, this door key. I don't saw him. Found him in the grass a few feet from the body. Now have a look at them. Yeah, it's an ordinary ballpoint fountain pen buy them in any drugstore for 69 cent. No sign of rust on the key. Must have been dropped recently. Maybe this will explain what happened to her face. Broken beer bottle. Where'd you find this? Laughlin found it back in the bushes over there. These jagged edges here smeared with flood. Too much rain. Can't do anything about prints till it dries. Can you get enough from these smears to run a precipitate?

SPEAKER_04 5:00

Think so. Lee, kind of man. Yeah, Ben, what is it? Oh, hi, Joe. Hi. Thought you'll find the set of footprints over by that clump of frubbery. Rain hasn't spoiled them yet. Did you cover them?

SPEAKER_03 5:10

Yeah, I think you can get a pretty good cast for them. Better get a picture of them right away. Hey, Charlie, ride with you, Lee. I'll get the stuff from the car. You mind giving me a hand there? Let's go.

SPEAKER_04 5:20

Well, this takes care of Christmas, Joe. Yeah. Did you get a chance to check the body yet? Mm-hmm. What do you think? Well, there's no sign of struggle. Could have happened after a Christmas Eve brawl, maybe. Yeah? Whoever the victim is, she was probably acquainted with the killer. The two of them came in the park and the victim got it before she knew what was happening. Might work easier if we find out who the victim is. We can check her prints through R and I when we get back to the office. What'd those footprints look like? Seems like a heavy print, maybe work shoes of some kind. Wanna see how Lee's making up? Yeah, let's go. Gonna miss Christmas dinner again this year. What friends found me fan and keys? What do we start? It's a cheap pale yourself barving. No smoke. Fine, fine.

SPEAKER_03 6:11

Close them to help convict the killer. Gotta find him, Purity.

SPEAKER_04 6:16

Hmm. Thank you. I don't know. Maybe we can work a switch. How's that? Find the lock that fits the key. 9 a.m., Christmas Day. Sergeants Dave Arroyo, Robert Claudio, Ben, and I went back to the office and took stock of what we had to work with. Wasn't much. The woman had been murdered. Who was she? Why was she killed? Who was the killer? Dave and Claudio had the dead woman's fingerprints taken and they were run through the record bureau. Ben and I checked with Lee Jones at the crime lab. The results of the precipitant test showed that the type of blood found on the broken beer bottle matched that of the victim. From the cast of the foot impressions found at the scene of the killing, Lee estimated that they were made by a person approximately five feet nine inches tall, weighing about 160 pounds. He figured the foot gear must have been of a heavy type, either a boot or a dress shoe with thick double soles, size 11. 9:40 a.m. We checked in at the basement of the Hall of Justice, the county morgue.

SPEAKER_15 7:22

How's it going? Oh later, Joe. Death caused by multiple crack through the skull, slashing in the face with a contributing taws. I sent her close to Lee Jones.

SPEAKER_04 7:30

Yeah, we know. No nun remark. Well, I got two things. Maybe they'll help, maybe they won't.

SPEAKER_07 7:35

Yeah?

SPEAKER_15 7:37

Chemist report here on the blood analysis. Shows the victim with drinking. She was definitely under the influence at the time she was murdered.

SPEAKER_04 7:45

1200% alcohol in the blood.

SPEAKER_07 7:47

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_04 7:48

How about the murder weapon, Doc? We're gonna rule out that beer bottle? I'm just coming to that.

SPEAKER_05 7:52

Step over here.

SPEAKER_04 7:55

Yeah? This mark here inside of her face, brown smudge. Well, Jones says that that shoe polish he analyzed a few of the particles. Ties in. The cause of death was brought about by severe blows in the head and face. Heavy shoe, huh? That's my guess. Probably a boot or a work shoe. It doesn't add, Joe. How do you mean? If they were heavy work shoes the killer was wearing, why would they polish? How many people polish their work shoes? Could be waterproof, you know. Jones says it was a brown paste polished. It doesn't figure. Well, unless the killer was wearing some kind of dress boot. Cycle boots, maybe. Hundreds of kids on motorcycles wearing. Yeah. That's gonna be about as helpful as a key or a cheap fountain pen. Excuse me.

SPEAKER_15 8:34

Holly Moore, Kyson Fegy. Yeah, all right, Frank. I'll tell him. Cunningham at R and I won't see you right away.

SPEAKER_04 8:43

What's up? They made the victim's prints. During the war years, a complete file of pictures and fingerprints had been kept on all persons employed at local defense plants. Out of this file came our first major lead. The victim's fingerprints matched those of one Maria Camacho, 38 years old, formerly employed at Universal Aircraft. Her address in 1945 was listed as 9230 Sheridan Avenue. Ben and I went over the crime lamp, picked up the key and the fountain pen found near the body, and drove to the Sheridan Avenue address. The house was three blocks from the churchyard where the body was found. A young woman with a baby in her arms answered the door. She identified herself as Elena Gomez. She told us Maria Camacho was her aunt. They were expecting her for Christmas dinner late that afternoon. We told her what happened. When she recovered from the shock, we questioned her and her husband, the furniture worker.

SPEAKER_08 9:40

Why anyone can do this to Ray?

SPEAKER_04 9:42

When's the last time you saw her, Mr. Komay? She's around last night, Sarga. She brought the presents with her kids. Always brought them presents on Christmas. Did she live here? Was this her permanent address?

SPEAKER_08 9:54

No. She stayed with us during the war when Ray was over at sea. When he came back, she took a room down the street. I can give you the address.

SPEAKER_04 10:01

All right. What time did Maria leave the house last night? Oh, see. Must have been around 10 o'clock. Not much later. Don't you think, Elena? About 10 o'clock?

SPEAKER_08 10:10

Yeah, that's quite. Go see what those kids are doing, huh, Ray?

SPEAKER_04 10:13

Yeah, yeah, all right, honey. Did Maria have anything to drink here last night, Ms. Domare?

SPEAKER_08 10:18

Yes, we uh glad to sherry together, that's all.

SPEAKER_04 10:21

Could you tell if she'd been drinking before she came here?

SPEAKER_08 10:24

Christmas Eve, I guess she'd had a few why.

SPEAKER_04 10:26

Was she a pretty heavy drinker?

SPEAKER_08 10:28

Not usually, no. Maybe on the holidays, though. Maria liked to get out and have fun living alone and all that.

SPEAKER_04 10:39

Did she drink at home or was there some particular place she liked to go?

SPEAKER_08 10:43

A cantina done on Silver Street. She used to go there.

SPEAKER_04 10:47

Any others?

SPEAKER_08 10:48

A couple of bars on Brooklyn Avenue. I don't know the name.

SPEAKER_04 10:51

What did Maria do for a living, Miss Gomez?

SPEAKER_08 10:54

She took in some dressmaking with herself. She wasn't poor, wasn't rich. Her landlady could tell you about her friend.

SPEAKER_04 11:03

Kids are hungry, Lana. Dinner's getting cold. Sorry that we had to break in on you like this. Oh, that's all right, Sergeant. Just the kids.

SPEAKER_08 11:09

Ask the officers if they want some mint pie, Ray. Cupcoming.

SPEAKER_04 11:12

No, no, no. That's all right, Miss Gourmet, thank you. Just one more thing. Would you look at these, please? This pen.

SPEAKER_08 11:20

Sure, that's Maria. That's right, Maria Fan.

SPEAKER_04 11:23

Now, how about this key?

SPEAKER_08 11:26

No, I never saw that before.

SPEAKER_04 11:28

Neither die. Well, thanks very much, both of you. Sorry to hold up your dinner. Oh, that's all right. I'm not hungry. Hey, maybe I could fix you a turkey sandwich. No, thank you, Jimmy. Same, we have to be going. We'll contact you later on. Here's our card.

SPEAKER_08 11:41

All right. I can't think of a reading thirty. Why someone would kill it? Why did they kill Maria? Maria.

SPEAKER_07 11:54

Come on, Jane. Come on.

SPEAKER_04 12:00

All right, kid. Think to be having a good cricket. Too bad we had to spoil it. We drove down the street to the rooming house where Maria Camacho stayed. We talked to the landlady and the rest of the tenants, who failed to come up with a lead. They told us Maria Camacho drank a little, but she was always pleasant, easy to get along with. We checked her room. We went through stacks of Spanish-language newspapers and magazines. We went through her bills, photographs, her letters. We found nothing. There wasn't an item in the small apartment that could help us. We went through the entire rooming house, trying each door with a key that we'd found for the body. It didn't fit any of them. Not even the door to the victim's room. 5 p.m., there was a lull in the rain. We picked up Dave and Claudio and started to explore the only lead we had. The victim had been drinking a few hours before she'd been murdered, probably at a neighborhood tavern. For the next six hours, we canvassed every bar in the vicinity. 11:15 p.m., Christmas night. The four of us met in a combination bar restaurant at Brooklyn and Soto for a bite tea.

SPEAKER_16 13:01

You had as much luck as we did, huh?

SPEAKER_04 13:03

Nothing, Dave. Everybody we talked to knew the woman. Nobody saw Christmas days.

SPEAKER_14 13:07

We picked up the names of a dozen friends of hers from the bartenders. Checked them out. They couldn't tell us anything.

SPEAKER_04 13:11

Well, we still got another dozen bars to cover at least. You must have been in one of them last night. Wish we'd find it. My wife's sure, man. You've got something. Those mines. All right, gentlemen. Who had the grilled ham salads?

SPEAKER_05 13:23

I did. All right. And uh three hamburgers.

SPEAKER_04 13:28

Yep. There we go. Hot fight. You got some ketchup fleet? Sure. Uh, say you wouldn't like a little egg knight to go with us.

SPEAKER_05 13:37

Good, I make the battery myself.

SPEAKER_04 13:41

There's something you can do for her. Yes, sir? Did you look at this faction? All right. See if you can identify it for me. She looked like Maria. Yeah, that's her. You know her? Was she in here last night, Dinah? Yeah, she was. What time was she in? Oh, about 11, 11:30. Why? Was she with somebody? Well, half a dozen of them at least. Maria, another woman, and four or five men. Were they drinking? Well, they were well behaved. Just had a little Christmas chair, that's all. They liked my ignorant. And what time did Maria leave? Do you remember? Well, no, not exactly, but she left before the others. They closed the place. You pull his cut? Did you leave alone? No, Tony father out. I think it must have been some time around midnight. I'm not sure. Who's Tony? Tony Perez. He's first four here. He knows Maria. Where is he now? Christmas? He's off. Slips in a hotel down the street someplace, I don't know. Crime Tit. Maybe the key there.

SPEAKER_07 14:30

Stick just to see.

SPEAKER_04 14:32

Dave and Claudio started to check the neighborhood to locate the hotel where Tony Perez stayed. Ben and I continued our canvas of bars and restaurants in the area. 1 a.m. The rain started in again. We checked in at a bar on Brooklyn Avenue near Cornwall, the Cantina Sinaloa.

SPEAKER_10 14:48

Yes, sir. Gentlemen? Police officers. Could you let the fix you fleet? See if you can identify. Wait till I dry my cans. Let's get in some of these glasses out of the way. Let's see.

SPEAKER_04 15:01

Never see her before?

SPEAKER_10 15:03

Oh, yeah, that's Maria. Too bad.

SPEAKER_04 15:06

I read in the papers about it. Can you tell us if she was in here last night?

SPEAKER_10 15:10

No, I didn't see her. I read in the papers about it, though. It's terrible. Poor Maria. Is it possible she might have been in? You didn't see her? No, I always know when Maria's here. She was always full of fun. She liked to sing. I better get these glasses, please.

SPEAKER_04 15:26

Ben, you want to call the office? Yeah, okay.

SPEAKER_10 15:30

How about a drink, Sergeant? You don't look so good.

SPEAKER_04 15:33

You got any coffee?

SPEAKER_10 15:37

Just standing there a couple of hours.

SPEAKER_04 15:39

That's all right.

SPEAKER_10 15:40

Okay.

SPEAKER_04 15:44

Here.

SPEAKER_10 15:50

Here's the sugar. Hey, thank you. Yeah, that's not very warm, huh? That's okay. What do you think, officer? The guy was crazy. I don't know. Ah, he must have been crazy. Lots of nice rain. Let's go for the farmers.

SPEAKER_05 16:12

Yeah. Sure. You ever see this key before? Let's see.

SPEAKER_10 16:17

Okay, but I don't know.

SPEAKER_04 16:20

Like yellow. Yeah. Dave and thought you found a hotel that picked up Tony Perez. Took him in. What do you tell him? Dave says you're talking to him now. He won't say me. Did they find anything on him? He's wearing a pair of dark brown boots. Yeah. Well polished.

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SPEAKER_04 17:59

Monday, December 26th, 9 a.m. We checked Tony Perez through RI. He had a record of seven arrests but no convictions. During the past year, he'd been booked on suspicion of 211 PC, assault with intent to do great bodily harm, and second-degree burglary. In each instance, he'd been released for lack of evidence. All of his shoes and clothing were brought to the crime lab for examination. 9:25 a.m. We brought Ferez back to the interrogation room. He admitted that he had been with Maria Camacho Christmas Eve, but he denied having anything to do with her killing. He told us that after he had left Maria, he'd gone to a party at some friend's house. Dave and Claudio went out to check his story. I gave him the key found near the body and asked him to try it on the door to Ferez hotel room. Fenn and I continued to question the suspect. How well did you know Maria Camacho, Tony?

SPEAKER_05 18:47

I told you already. She was just some old crow who used to hang around the bars, that's all. I used to talk to her once in a while.

SPEAKER_04 18:55

You ever have any arguments with her?

SPEAKER_05 18:56

No.

SPEAKER_04 18:57

How many times are you gonna ask me that? It would help a lot if you could tell us exactly where you left Maria Christmas Eve and when you left her.

SPEAKER_05 19:03

I told you already. I don't remember exactly. We were drinking. We were all drinking, I don't remember. How'd you get to that boy? I walked. Place down on Malabar Street. Maria topped at a bar someplace along the way, and that's the last time I saw her.

SPEAKER_04 19:18

Did you go in with her?

SPEAKER_05 19:20

No, she went in alone. I went to the party. That's all I mean.

SPEAKER_04 19:26

Interrogation room Friday.

SPEAKER_11 19:29

Check the polish on the present of the boots. It matches that the mirror polish on the victim's face. Wax components are exactly the same.

SPEAKER_04 19:35

Good. How about the cast?

SPEAKER_11 19:37

Prince we cast out there with size eleven, big heel. Perez wears of mine, but he's small heel. Don't match at all.

SPEAKER_04 19:44

What about the other stuff?

SPEAKER_11 19:45

Went over the rest of his heels and his clothes. Nothing that ties in.

SPEAKER_04 19:48

Okay, Lee. Thank you. Do you shine your own boots, Tony? No. Why? Where do you get them shined?

SPEAKER_05 19:58

I go to Angelo's Chicago Street right there first.

SPEAKER_04 20:02

When's the last time you got to shine?

SPEAKER_05 20:04

Oh, Christmas Eve. What kind of Christmas Eve doing? When I got off work about two and a half, no. Hi.

SPEAKER_04 20:11

Hi, Dave.

SPEAKER_16 20:12

See one of you outside a minute? Yeah. Chris telling the truth about the party. He was there. We found out how long it'd take him to walk from the restaurant to the party.

SPEAKER_04 20:26

Yeah.

SPEAKER_16 20:27

Pretty close. Friends say he got to the party about 12:30. Doesn't look like he had time to kill that woman.

SPEAKER_04 20:33

Where does that leave us? You still got those boots. No, no more. They don't match the impressions at the murder scene.

SPEAKER_16 20:38

Well, that makes us even, huh?

SPEAKER_04 20:39

Here's your key bag. Didn't fit. Tony Perez was held for further investigation. Dave and Claudio took up the canvassing of Fars in the same area where we'd left off the night before. Ben and I drove down to Angelo's shine stand. It stood just outside a barber shop. Four chairs with an awning full of cigarette holes over them. He identified Maria Camacho's picture immediately. We questioned him while he polished her shoes.

SPEAKER_02 21:09

Maria, I used to tell, Sergeant. Running around like that, she has too many friends. Too many. Did you see Maria on Christmas Eve, Angelo? Christmas Eve? Let me see. No, no, last time was today before Christmas.

SPEAKER_04 21:25

Angelo, do you know a man by the name of Tony Perez?

SPEAKER_02 21:29

Tony? Sure. Tony Perez. Sorry fella. Fig show.

SPEAKER_04 21:34

Is he one of your customers?

SPEAKER_02 21:36

Yeah, all the time he came to see me. Was he here on Christmas Eve, Angelo? Yeah, yeah, he was here. I gave him a shine. Good touching them.

SPEAKER_04 21:43

Remember what kind of shoes he had on?

SPEAKER_02 21:46

Sure. Boots. He always wears boots.

SPEAKER_04 21:48

What color were they, do you know?

SPEAKER_02 21:50

Brown. I always wear the brown boots. Well, what's the matter? Tony and through.

SPEAKER_04 21:56

What kind of polish do you use on his boots, Angelo?

SPEAKER_02 21:59

Well, I got the camera. Down here. Hydrade polish. You got boots, I can fix them up. Do you use the same polish on all the boots you shine, Angelow? No, only the brown boots. Brown polish. You fellas asked too many questions. Make me go too slow.

SPEAKER_04 22:16

There's no rush, Angelo. Can you tell me this? Besides Tony Perez, is there anybody else with brown boots who got to shine from you Christmas Eve?

SPEAKER_02 22:25

Well, I don't know. Lots of people that shine. Couldn't seem as fairly fiddless. Just the people with brown boots, Angelo. Can you remember? No. No, no, I don't think so. Tony was the only one with the brown boots. There's no other.

SPEAKER_04 22:38

How about heavy brown shoes? Huh? You remember the people with heavy brown shoes that came in for a shine?

SPEAKER_02 22:45

No, no, I don't know. I don't know. Look, Fleece, just letting me shine your shoes, huh? That can of brown polish, Angelo. You say that's the kind you use on Tony Perez's booth? Yeah, that's the kind. This can right here. Well, can you remember how many times you used that polish on Christmas Eve? Well, I opened this can that morning. You can see how much it's gone. Maybe I used it all, well, maybe half a dozen times.

SPEAKER_04 23:08

Can you remember the people whose shoes call for this kind of polish?

SPEAKER_02 23:12

Lots of them. Brown shoes. I know the feats when I see them. I don't know the face.

SPEAKER_04 23:17

Don't you remember any of them?

SPEAKER_02 23:18

If they like to shine, might be buying a bite to come back. They were a few four fellas, maybe. I see them before. I don't know their names. Okay, finished. You like it to shine?

SPEAKER_04 23:31

Oh, yeah, fine. Say, I'm gonna buy that can of polish from you, Angelo, and we're gonna check back with you later.

SPEAKER_02 23:40

Okay. Here, here is. That's fine, polish, sergeant. Best you can get.

SPEAKER_04 23:46

Yeah, but it rubs off. December 26th, 5 p.m. We drove back to the crime lab and had Lee Jones analyze the can of shoe polish. It matched exactly with the particles of shoe polish taken from the victim's body and from the boots of Tony Perez. We arranged for a stakeout at Angelo's shine stand. In case the people with heavy brown shoes returned, Angelo could point them out immediately to the men on duty. 5 30 p.m. Dave and Claudio called in. They thought they had another nibble this time from the bartender at the El Sidello Tavern, a bar on Soto Street. We drove down to South Main and Harlem Place for a meeting.

SPEAKER_16 24:30

Hi, Dave. Hi. Figured we better move on this tonight. What's the fate? Fartender on Soto tipped me that Maria Camacho was in his place Christmas Eve. Said it was a little after midnight. Huh? Said she had a drink, left the place about 10 minutes past 12 with a guy called Frank Telano. Nosed around, found as Telano works at the midnight mission. Over there.

SPEAKER_04 24:48

All right, let's go.

SPEAKER_11 24:53

Just hit there?

SPEAKER_04 24:54

Yeah. Good friend, Let's come in for a nice warm spiritual bath, coffee and soup free. I watch a stirring. Yeah.

SPEAKER_14 25:14

And yet, brothers, if we be not born again, a bad light of the book says, we'll be damned, brothers. Amen. While Sister Myrtle Ferguson plays one of the stirring marches, let's join arms, brother to brother, and march into the lunchroom where, through the kind graces of one of our benefactors, Pete Boduris of the Acropolis Cafe, each one of you will be entitled to a bowl of turkey soup, and my sister Wilson's homemade bread and a cut of mint thigh. Uh, Sister Ferguson, number.

SPEAKER_04 25:50

Yeah, let's go. Sure, Fatamino. That soup smells real good. Excuse me, sir. Uh young brother? What is it? Police officers. Do you have a Frank Delano working here? Well, what the trouble? Does he work here? Well, he has.

SPEAKER_14 26:05

He's a very good man, Frank. Anything wrong? Is he here now? No, he'll. Where can we find him? Well, I'd like to know what the trouble is. We'd like to start to, mister, that's all. Well, he has a room at the good friend's Mission Annex. That's over on San Pedro Street. Is that his permanent residence for Mission Annex? Yeah, Frank, very helpful. He works for a small salary and we give him room and boards. Is he over at the Annex now? Yep. Maybe you'd better not see him now, officer. Where? Well, Frank's not a been drinking again. That's for sure a sign. How do you mean? Well, whenever Frank starts drinking, that means that he's worried. He's one of those. He drinks to forget. Yeah. You've been drinking for three days. You must have a lot to forget. Come on.

SPEAKER_04 26:49

6:30 p.m. We drove over to the good friend's Mission Annex on San Pedro Street. The man in charge told us that Tolano had a small room to himself at the rear of the second floor. Dave and Claudio went around to cover the mission annex from the back. Ben and I went up a narrow flight of wooden stairs. Plain white plaster walls were chipped and cracked and scrawled with pencil markings. We walked down to the end of a wide hallway to a brown paneled door with a transa above it. There was a man in soiled work clothes sitting on the bed. On the table next to him, there were three quart wine bottles. Two of them were empty. Get out of here. You, Frank Delano? What about it? Police officers like to talk to you. Get out of here. You're not taking me. I'd cut you to pieces. Drop the bottle, Telano. Get out of here. Drop the bottle. I'll cut you to pieces. Like you cut Maria. I'll kill you. Put it down, Telano. Drop it. Get the cup something. Yeah. Let's go. Just a minute. Yeah, it fits.

SPEAKER_15 28:15

The story you have just heard was true. Only the names were changed to protect the innocent.

SPEAKER_09 28:22

On March 7th, trial was held in Superior Court, Department 94, City and County of Los Angeles, State of California. In a moment, the results of that trial.

SPEAKER_13 28:30

It's amazing how many long cigarette smokers are changing to extra mild Fatima. Here is the actual report.

SPEAKER_15 28:37

From coast to coast, extra mild Fatima has more than doubled its smokers.

SPEAKER_09 28:42

Yes, more and more smokers every day are discovering that Fatima is the king-size cigarette that is extra mild.

SPEAKER_13 28:50

Extra mild because it contains the finest Turkish and domestic tobaccos superbly blended to make it extra mild, to give it a much different, much better flavor and aroma.

SPEAKER_09 29:01

Enjoy extra mild fatima yourself. Best of all long cigarette.

SPEAKER_13 29:06

It's wise to smoke extra mild Fatima.

SPEAKER_01 29:09

It's wise to smoke extra mild fatima.

SPEAKER_09 29:22

Frank's Dominic Telano was tried and convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life imprisonment. He is now serving his term in the state penitentiary. You have just heard Dragnet, a series of authentic cases from official files. Technical advice board Dragnet comes from the office of Chief of Police W.A. Warkey, Los Angeles Police Department.

SPEAKER_13 29:45

Fatima Cigarette, the best of all, long cigarettes, has brought you Dragnet, transcribed from Los Angeles. Patty Page visits Jack Birch tomorrow morning on NBC.

SPEAKER_00 29:58

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