Ladies and gentlemen, the story you are about to hear is true.
The names have been changed to protect the innocent.
Your detective sergeant, you're assigned to homicide detail.
An elderly woman in your city has disappeared.
There's no lead to where she's gone or why she left.
Your job, find her.
It was Wednesday, July 14th.
It was hot in Los Angeles.
We were working the day.
Watch out for homicide detail.
My partner is Frank Smith.
The boss is Captain Warman.
My name is Friday.
We were on our way out from the office and it was 9.47 a.m. when we got to 654 Kenmore
Avenue.
Yes?
Miss Crocker?
It's Miss Crocker, but I'm her.
Police officer.
Oh, yes, come in.
Thank you.
This is my partner, Frank Smith.
My name's Friday.
How you doing, ma'am?
Oh, just sit down there on the couch.
Move that ass in.
I was laying down when you got here.
Terrible thing.
I just know it.
Yes, ma'am.
If you tell us about it, please.
You bet I will.
First off, can I get you something?
Maybe a cup of coffee, a little piece of cinnamon toast.
No, thank you, ma'am.
Okay.
You change your mind.
You just let me know.
Yes, we will.
Now, if you just tell us about Ms. Gillespie, please.
Yes, ma'am.
Are you a friend of Mrs. Gillespie?
Her best.
That's why I know something's happened to her.
Uh-huh.
She wouldn't just take off like this without telling me.
Matter of fact, she didn't tell nobody.
Just all of a sudden she was gone.
All right.
If you'd start right at the beginning and just tell us the whole story, please.
Well, Bertha Gillespie and me have been friends for years.
I see.
Her and me have been friends for years.
I'm afraid I'll have to go.
I'll have to go.
I'll have to go.
I'm afraid I'll have to go.
I'll have to go.
I'll have to go.
I'll have to go.
I'll have to go.
I'll have to go.
I'll have to go.
Her and me have been friends for years, ever since her husband died and she opened up the
tea-coffee.
That's the little tea shop she has.
Well, nice place.
She's done real good with it.
All the ladies in the neighborhood were down there for afternoon teas, served those little
tiny cake rolls with a pot of tea.
Ladies fingers, you know?
Yes, ma'am.
Well, a couple of days ago I went down there to see Bertha.
You know what day that was?
Hmm?
I say do you know the exact date?
Oh, well now let's see.
This is Wednesday.
I guess it must have been Saturday.
Yes, that's it, Saturday.
All right, would you like to go ahead, please?
Well, I went down to the tea coasters,
and there was a sign right on the door telling how Bertha was sick
and she'd gone away for a couple of days.
Was she in poor health?
Bertha?
Yes, ma'am.
Bertha was as strong as an ox.
Nothing wrong with her.
Besides, that's our only Friday night.
She didn't say nothing to me about being sick.
Not a word.
I see.
That's what made me figure that there was something wrong.
For the past ten years, if there was anything on Bertha's mind,
she told me about it, you'd suspect she did.
Well, isn't it possible that she just used the pretended illness as an excuse?
That she just went away on a trip, maybe?
Oh, Bertha wouldn't do that.
Why do you say that?
Well, because she just wouldn't do it.
Not with Saturday coming up.
There isn't anything in the world that could make Bertha leave.
Well, what's happening Saturday?
Scrabble.
The big party?
Scrabble.
You know, the word game.
Oh, yeah. Yeah, I know what you mean.
Well, the ladies in the neighborhood have a sort of club.
We meet down at the cozy and play our tournaments.
Bertha's the champion.
Hasn't been anybody that can beat her real good.
You know, not regular.
Yes, ma'am.
That's why she wouldn't leave.
This Saturday was her first big match outside the club.
A woman from West Los Angeles was coming out here to challenge her.
Bertha's been in training all week.
She wouldn't just walk out on the match.
I'm telling you, something's wrong.
Was Mrs. Gillespie and your relatives here in Los Angeles?
No.
No, she's got some people back east.
Mississippi, I think.
Possible she might have left to go see them.
I told you.
Not with the big match coming on.
Ain't nothing in the world that could keep Bertha from playing in that.
Nothing, and you believe it.
Yes, ma'am.
Does she have any men, friends?
Well, you mean romantic?
Yes.
Well, there's Chester.
But that's not what I'd call a real romance.
I'd go out to the movies with him once in a while.
Maybe he'd come over to the T.Cose even evening,
and they'd sit there and watch the television.
But there'd always be somebody else there, mostly me.
No, no, you couldn't say that it was any kind of a romance with Chester.
Do you have his address?
Are you going to talk to him?
Yes, we'll have to.
It won't be any good. I already did.
He don't know where Bertha is.
If you'll just give us the phone number of this Chester,
we'll check on your friend.
Yeah, you check.
You'll find out what I said is true.
Yes, ma'am.
I think somebody done Bertha in.
She wouldn't just take off like this without telling me.
Well, ma'am, did she have any enemies in the neighborhood?
Anybody that you think might want to do her harm?
No, not a soul, not a single one.
Isn't anyone who didn't like her.
Well, maybe Mrs. Ruhman didn't care much for her,
but I think that was kind of a jealous thing.
What do you mean?
Scrabble.
What was that?
Mrs. Ruhman. Helen.
She thought she could play the game.
But then when she challenged Bertha to a match,
well, it was pretty terrible.
From 457 to 214.
Helen was pretty upset.
She tried to make out like she was a good loser,
you know, kind of smiles, laughs.
I could tell.
She didn't like being skunked.
Yes, ma'am.
Can you think of any reason why anyone would want to harm
Miss Gillespie?
Not right off unless it was for money.
Last time I saw her, she was carrying a lot of cash money
around with her.
Yeah.
$1,500.
$1,500.
1033 A.M.
We put in a call to missing persons detail
and checked the name Bertha Gillespie through the file.
There had been no report filed on her,
and her name did not appear in the Gaga file.
We checked the name through RNI,
but she had no criminal record in Los Angeles.
1047 A.M.
We drove by the T. Cozy Restaurant.
On the front door, attached with cellophane tape,
was a hand-lettered note reading,
Taking a short vacation, watch for reopening.
Through the glass pane, we could see the interior of the shop.
Everything appeared to be in order.
Frank and I checked the rear of the building,
but from what we could see, there was nothing out of line.
1128 A.M.
We put in a call to the missing woman's boyfriend, Chester Avin.
He told us that he'd talked to the Gillespie woman
on the previous Friday night,
and she'd appeared in good spirits
and had said nothing about leaving.
We checked at her bank.
We found that she'd made a withdrawal from her savings account
to the amount of $2,500.
This left a balance of over $12,000 in the savings account,
$6,000 in the checking account.
The manager of the branch told us that he'd spoken with Mrs. Gillespie
when she'd taken the money,
and that she told him that she was thinking of taking a short vacation.
We got in touch with Miss Crocker and told her what we'd found.
We asked her if she wanted to file a missing persons report.
She said that she'd wait until the end of the week,
and if her friend hadn't returned by then,
that she'd come into the office.
A month passed before we heard from her again.
On the morning of Friday, August 20th,
she called to tell us that she still hadn't heard from Mrs. Gillespie
and asked that we conduct a formal investigation.
She came down to the office and filled out a form 316.
Frank and I drove out to the restaurant to check it again.
It was exactly as it had been when we'd last seen it.
We tried the doors and found that they were still locked.
1.43 p.m. We went back to the office.
Yes, sir.
Well, that's kind of high, isn't it?
Yes.
Well, did your people check into it?
I see.
Well, thank you, Mr. Jones.
If you find out anything, we'd appreciate it if you'd give us a call.
Right. That's Michigan 5211, extension 2521.
Yes, sir.
Either Officer Frank Smith or Sergeant Joe Friday.
That's right. Thanks for your help.
Yes, indeed. Thank you. Goodbye.
Well, that finishes up the utility calls.
What do you got?
The phone bill for the past 30 days is just the service charge, no toll calls.
Same with the electric lights.
Did they receive payment in the last month today?
No. Telephone company says they haven't been paid in over 60 days.
Says they've sent a couple of reminders.
The only reason they haven't cut off the service is the bills have always been paid promptly in the past.
I see.
I checked with their business office.
The girl tells me the bill usually runs around 10 bucks.
Possible, isn't it? The phone hasn't been used at all, huh?
Well, it shapes up that way. Same with the lights.
The one thing doesn't match.
Yeah, what's that?
I checked with them. Normal bills, about four bucks for the place.
Yeah.
The last 60 days, it's been $79.
A lot of water in it.
Yeah. I talked to one of the engineers at the company, a fellow named Jones.
Yeah, what'd he tell you?
Well, he told me there was only one thing that could cause a water jump like that.
Yeah. A water tap.
Yeah.
Running for about a month.
The Money
2.06 p.m. We called the bank where Mrs. Gillespie had her accounts.
The head cashier told us that since the date she'd withdrawn the $2,500, there's been no deposits or withdrawals made.
We telephoned the missing woman's friend, Mrs. Winifred Crocker.
From her, we got the name and address of the owner of the building where the T. Cozy Restaurant was located.
Frank and I signed out of the office and drove out to see him.
The address we'd been given was a large house in the Silver Lake District.
We rang the bell to the front door, but we got no answer.
We walked around to the back of the property to a large garage.
Now, Joe, if we find this guy, we can find out if she gave him some indication she was gonna leave.
Yeah.
Sounds like there's somebody there.
Yeah.
In here, I guess.
Uh-huh. Yeah?
We'd like to see Virgil Medina.
I'm him. What do you want?
Police officers. Would like to check out a few things with you if we can?
What about?
Oh, it might be easier if we talked inside.
I got no truck with the cops. I got none that I want.
Now you can just ask your questions from out there.
All right, sir. That's the way you want it.
Well, that's the way it's gonna be. Now, get your questions asked and go about your business.
You own a building located at 687 Kenmore Avenue.
Why?
Look, Mr. Medina, we're trying to conduct an investigation. We'd like to have your cooperation.
If you don't want to talk here, we can go downtown.
I own the building. Why?
You have a tenant named Bertha Gillespie?
Yes. Why?
When did you see her last?
Well, about a month ago, at least that.
Do you remember the exact date?
I don't know. It's a long time ago.
What's all this about Bertha anyway? What are all these questions?
You got something you want to know about her? Go ask her yourself.
Anything I can tell you that she can't?
Go talk to her.
Leave me alone.
Where did you see her last?
Down at the restaurant.
What time of day?
Night. Night time.
Would you try to remember what date it was? It's pretty important.
Wait a minute. I'll try to figure.
See, I guess it must have been on a Saturday night.
Yes, I'd say it was Saturday, the 10th of July.
Do you have any way of being sure that that's the date?
Now, look, you come around here asking questions and I've given you an answer.
It can take you to leave it. I got no way of being sure.
That's the day I think I saw her last.
She seem in good spirits?
What do you mean by that?
Well, sir, was she happy or was there something worrying her?
Well, she seemed happy to me. I didn't pay a lot of attention.
What are you cops trying to find out?
You come right out and tell me what you want. Maybe I'll have the answer.
But I haven't got time to stand around and waste time with you.
Now, you tell me why you're asking these questions or you can leave.
Mrs. Gillespie's been reported missing. We're trying to trace it.
Well, who done that? Who says she's missing?
Well, that's not the important point here. We got the report. We've got to check it out.
Well, whoever told you that's crazy?
If Bertha's gone, there's a good reason for it.
I guess she just finally got fed up and left town.
What do you mean?
She made a mint of money from that place. Regular mint.
She used to tell me that when she had enough, she was going to just take off and see the world.
Go around the whole world on a cramped steamer.
She told me when she signed the last lease that she thought this would be the last one.
Aye, she ain't missing. She's just gone.
Did she say anything to you about the fixtures in the place?
What do you mean?
You know, the furniture, all the fixtures, they belong to her, don't they?
Yes, I guess so.
Would she make any arrangements to dispose of them?
Not to me, she didn't.
What if you have a key to the place?
The T. Cozy?
Yes, sir.
No, I don't.
You own the building and you don't have a key to the restaurant?
Well, no, I had one, but I lost it. Never had another one made. Why?
What do you want with the key?
We want to check the premises.
Well, as far as I'm concerned, you've got no right to do that.
This belongs to Mrs. Gillespie. You've got no right to go tromping around in there.
I thought we were going to have to.
Then you're going to do it without my say-so.
All right, sir, if that's the way it's going to be.
I'm telling you, she ain't going to like it.
She ain't going to like you going in the place when she isn't there.
Well, we take that up with her.
Well, you better, because I'm not going to take any responsibility for it.
We're not asking you to, Mr. Medina.
I'll give you this, though.
Yes, sir, what's that?
You go nosing around, you'll probably come up with something that you ain't looking for.
Well, thanks for your help, Mr. Medina.
Don't mention it.
Just remember what I told you about finding trouble when you ain't looking for it.
Well, that doesn't happen often.
Huh?
We're looking for it.
314 p.m., Frank and I drove back to the T. Cozy Restaurant on Kenmore Avenue.
We checked the front door of the place.
It was locked.
While Frank covered one side of the building, I took the other side, looking for open windows.
How about it?
No, no luck.
Me neither.
What do we do now?
Well, we're going to have to try to force one of the windows in the back.
All right, come on.
I think maybe we can get in here.
You're going to break it?
Well, we're going to have to.
Wait a minute, Joe.
Huh?
You hear water running?
Sounds like it's coming from inside.
Yeah, it might be.
Now, let's get in there.
All right.
You want my gun?
No, I'll use the handcuffs to see if I can knock a hole in the top half of the window here.
Well, why don't you better use your handkerchief?
Let me borrow yours.
Here.
All right.
I'll look.
There, that does it.
I'll go on in and open the door.
Yeah, let me see you out in front.
All right.
Frank?
Yeah, I hear it.
Come on in.
See anything?
No, I haven't looked yet.
Well, this must be the living room.
Yeah.
Everything looks okay here, a little dusty.
Yeah, water's running someplace.
Wait a minute.
Yeah.
Sounds like it's coming from over there.
Yeah, better turn it off.
Yeah.
Better call a crime lab, huh?
Yeah, kind of a rough one, isn't it?
Yeah, looks like she put up quite a fight.
Blood stains all over the place.
Yeah, look here.
Huh?
I guess this is what killed her.
Yeah.
Butcher knife.
Beep.
From a picture in the description that we'd gotten from Winifred Crocker, we identified
the victim as the missing woman Bertha Gillespie.
We put in a call for the crime lab.
Lee Jones and his crew came out and went over the place.
The rest of the restaurant seemed to be in order.
There was no sign of a struggle of any kind except in the bathroom where the body had
been found.
The murder weapon, the butcher knife, was dusted for prints as was the rest of the restaurant,
but the parcels that the crime lab came up with were worthless for classification.
They would be sufficient, however, for comparison if we caught the killer.
The search of the personal effects of the dead woman revealed no further information
to Aides in apprehending her killer.
The $2,500 that she was known to have had when she was last seen was missing.
621, the men from the crime lab finished their investigation on the scene and the coroner's
office was called.
They came out and removed the body.
They also locked the door and affixed the coroner's seal.
645 p.m.
Frank and I got back to our car to go down to the office.
Now let's go, Frank.
Yeah.
Hey, wait a minute!
Hold it, Frank.
Huh?
What's the little kid?
You guys the cops?
Yeah, son, what's the matter?
A lot of excitement around here, huh?
Yeah, that's right.
Something we can do for you?
No, I figured maybe there's something I can do for you.
What do you mean?
You know who did the murder yet?
Why do you say it was a murder, son?
I know who did it.
The working detective has learned by experience that approximately 60 percent of all homicides
are solved within 20 minutes after the arrival of the authorities.
Two things are necessary in establishing the identity of a killer.
Motive and opportunity.
In the present instance, we had the motive.
$2,500 that the dead woman had withdrawn from her account was missing.
However, a month had passed between the time the actual murder had taken place and it had
been discovered.
Ample time for the killer to cover his track.
Now before we could leave the scene, we had a witness who stated that he could name the
killer for us.
We asked the boy to get into the back seat of the police car while Frank and I questioned
him.
What's your name, son?
Gordon Eric.
Kids always call me Gordy.
Uh-huh.
How old are you?
Seven.
Now what's all this about you being able to tell us who killed Mrs. Gillespie?
I can.
Well, who was it?
Mr. Medina.
You mean the man who owns the building?
Yeah, that's who I mean.
Well, that's a pretty serious charge, Gordon.
Do you have any way to prove that?
I guess I really can't prove it, but I know it's true.
Well, how do you know?
I just know that's all.
I seen him there.
I saw him.
I saw him.
I saw him.
I saw him.
I saw him there.
I just seen him going in and out.
Well, when was this?
Three weeks ago.
Maybe a month.
But he used to go in and out all the time, argue with Mrs. Gillespie.
What do you mean by argument?
Well, Mr. Medina screamed at Mrs. Gillespie.
Will you ever hear any of these arguments, son?
Sure.
I'm mother's friend of Mrs. Gillespie.
We just live a couple of blocks away on Dewy Street.
I play over here all the time.
I heard Mr. Medina yell at her and yell at her.
What they argue about, son?
Mostly about least or something.
Seems like Mr. Medina wants Mrs. Gillespie to move out.
She hit him wrong.
Made him pretty sore.
You've got to talk to him.
He'll tell you the same thing of how he used to fight with her.
All right, son.
Your mother ever hear any of these fights?
Sure.
You ask her.
She'll tell you the same way just like I did.
Okay.
Is she home now?
Should be.
Maybe she went out to the store or something.
She should be home.
Okay, son.
Let's go.
Yeah.
Guess this is about the most exciting we've had for a long time.
Yeah?
Her old Mrs. Gillespie.
True nice old lady.
Real nice.
Wouldn't hardly eat anybody I didn't like or hardly anybody.
How about Mr. Medina?
7.04 p.m.
We drove young Gordon Eric to his home and talked with his mother.
He verified his story about the fight.
He said the fight was over.
He didn't want to talk about the fight.
He said he was going to be a good friend.
He said he wanted to talk to his mother.
He verified his story about the arguments between the victim and Medina.
She went on to say that Medina had threatened Mrs. Gillespie, saying that if she wouldn't
vacate the premises, he'd take care of her.
We had their statements taken.
And at 8.40 p.m. we went by Medina's house and asked him to accompany us downtown.
Finally agreed, although he was sullen and uncooperative.
When we got him down to the office, we checked his name to the record bureau, but we found
that he had no criminal record in Los Angeles.
His prints were rolled and sent to Holland's stall for comparison with those found on the
murder weapon.
While we waited for the results, we talked to him in the squad room.
You're going to regret this, you know that?
Yeah.
I'm telling you, you dragged me down here with all these questions.
You just wait till my lawyers get here.
You put a stop to all this foolishness.
You want to tell us what it's all about, Medina?
Tell you about what?
How one of my tenants got herself killed.
Now listen, I got property all over town, a lot of tenants.
I'm worried about each one of them.
I wouldn't have no time to do nothing else.
We understand you had some pretty big arguments with Mrs. Gillespie.
Who said that? Who told you that?
Is it true?
Why, it's a lie.
You bring the person in here who said it, and I'll tell them it's a lie right to their face.
You just bring them in here.
We can't do that, and you know it.
Yeah, of course you can.
You know why? You want me to tell you?
Go ahead, you tell me.
You can't show the person who said that because there ain't no such person.
Is there anybody in the world who says, I'll get with Bertha?
Uh-huh.
You try to get her to break her leaf with you?
That's none of your business.
I told you before, I'm not about to answer a lot of questions that aren't none of your concern.
Couple things we better set you straight on, mister.
You're a suspect in a murder.
Now, if you're smart, you're gonna realize that and give us some straight answers.
You just wait till my lawyer gets here.
He'll take care of all this, and he's gonna fix you for taking my fingerprints.
I still don't think he had any right to do that. No right at all.
Oh, yeah.
Commicide, Spidey.
Yeah, Harlow.
I'm in.
All right. Thank you.
You want to tell us why you killed her, Medina?
What are you talking about?
That was our fingerprint, ma'am.
They checked your prints against the ones we found on the murder night.
They matched perfectly.
Hmm. You sure, Harvey?
Yeah, sure.
All right.
I didn't mean to do it.
I really didn't mean to, Arthur.
Just all of a sudden, I got so mad.
I was standing there smiling.
You should have known this.
You had a way of smiling at you, and you knew that you were gonna get killed.
You had a way of smiling at you, and you knew that there wasn't anything that you could do.
You just stand there smiling.
I didn't mean to kill her, though.
You've got to believe that I didn't mean to kill her.
Want to tell us how it happened?
Have you got a cigarette?
Yeah.
Here you go.
Thanks.
Here's the match.
I had a chance to lease the place to some other people.
More money. I tried to get her out.
Go ahead.
I tried to talk to her. I tried to get her to retire.
She had enough money. She didn't ever have to worry.
All I wanted her to do was to get out.
But she wouldn't.
He said I'd signed a lease with her, and he was gonna keep it.
How much difference was there between what she was paying and what the new people were gonna give you?
Fifty dollars a month.
Who killed her for that?
Oh, yeah, you don't understand. You've got to try.
This is important. If you knew better, you'd know why I did it.
You see, I went to her. I told her that I'd give her a lease on another piece of property.
I'd give it to her at less money.
I was trying to be fair. You can see that.
I wanted to be fair.
Well, that Saturday night, I decided to have it out with her.
I went over to talk. I tried to convince her.
But she wouldn't listen.
She just wouldn't listen. I tried everything to make her listen, but she wouldn't.
She just stood there and told me that she had the lease and that she was gonna keep it.
She just stood there with that superior smile of hers, like she knew it all.
Makes you want to kid her as hard as you could.
If you knew her, you'd see what I mean.
You'd see, you'd see.
You'd take the money?
Yes.
I don't know why I did that.
Just all of a sudden, I got so mad at her, I picked up the knife and I killed her.
I didn't mean to be honest. I didn't.
As soon as I saw her, I was sorry. I was real sorry.
Yeah. Did you turn that water on?
Well, I guess so. I don't remember too good.
I washed my hands after I killed her. I remember that.
I guess I did leave the water on. I guess I did, yeah.
All right. Do you want to get the stenographer, Frank?
Sure.
You'd seen the way she thought she was so much better than anybody else, you'd know.
Is that right?
Sure. All those old hands clucking around all the time, building her up, making her feel superior, real superior.
If she'd just moved out, if she'd just let me have the place, it all would have been all right.
If she'd just done that. That's a lot of money, you know.
Fifty dollars a month. That's what I stood to make on the deal.
Yeah.
It was worth it, don't you think? Fifty dollars a month without turning a hand?
Everybody'd see you that way, wouldn't they?
Well, everybody'd think so.
Now, when you get where you're going, you're going to ask them.
The story you have just heard is true. The names were changed to protect the innocent.
On November 10th, trial was held in Department 97, Superior Court of the State of California, in and for the County of Los Angeles.
The story you have just heard is true.
Virgil Amal Medina was tried and convicted of murder in the second degree and received sentence as prescribed by law.
Murder in the second degree is punishable by imprisonment in the state penitentiary for a period of from five years to life.