Ladies and gentlemen, the story you are about to hear is true.
The names have been changed to protect the innocent.
Dragnet.
You're a detective sergeant.
You're assigned to homicide detail.
A killer is loose in your city.
You don't know who he is or where to find him.
You don't know who his victim will be.
Your job, stop him.
It was Tuesday, May 13th.
It was warm in Los Angeles.
We were working the day watch out on homicide detail.
My partner is Frank Smith.
The boss is Captain Warman.
My name is Friday.
I was on my way back from handwriting and it was 8.26 a.m. when I got to room 42.
Homicide.
Did you get it?
Yeah.
I just finished up.
He says the handwriting matches.
Victim wrote the note.
Huh.
That's it then, huh?
Yeah.
Did you talk to his wife?
Yeah, she's pretty broken up.
Figures.
Ate too fast.
I got a heartburn.
Well, why don't you take a couple of Pepto pals or whatever it is and let's get on with
this.
There's a lot of work here.
Hey, there's an idea.
I never thought of that.
Yeah, I got some in my locker over here.
You sure have.
Last time I bought a big box of them.
There must be some left.
Find them?
Yeah.
He thinks the husband fits in, huh?
Yeah, all the way along.
What are you doing?
Huh?
I said what are you doing here?
I found the Pepto's.
Yeah, but what are you doing with them there?
Oh, putting them together.
I must have dropped them sometimes.
See, all the pills are all broken up.
Trying to put one together.
You can't be too careful.
Can't take too much.
What is this?
Oh, there.
One pill.
That's all you're supposed to take, just one.
Uh-huh.
I don't understand.
What do you mean?
How you can come in here, no sleep, upset stomach and feel so good.
Yeah.
You know something, Joe?
What's that?
Suppose I really don't.
You don't, huh?
No.
That ought to be about right, I guess.
Does that look like one pill to you?
I don't know, Frank.
I hope so.
It's too important a decision for me to help you with.
Oh, Pepto pal.
Good for what ails you.
Potent, Joe.
Real potent.
I just wondered if you were all through now.
Oh, as soon as I scrape the crumbs away.
Okay.
I'm with you.
Here's one you missed.
Thanks.
Oh, you're half gone.
Okay.
We're through.
Yeah.
Well, are you all through now?
You've had your pill and everything.
Joe, I took my pill.
I've got the Pepto pals all worked out now.
What can I do for you?
I'll get it.
For us?
Yeah, shooting at the corner of Broadway and San Julian.
Who's the victim?
Traffic officer.
We left the office and drove to the scene of the shooting.
Traffic at the intersection had come to a virtual standstill.
Eighteen feet from the northwest corner, lying in the middle of the pedestrian crosswalk,
was a uniformed traffic officer.
He was wearing the white cap of the traffic division.
There was a large blood stain on the right side of his chest,
and his service revolver was still in his holster.
By the time we got to the scene, the ambulance had arrived,
and the wounded officer was being given emergency treatment.
Other officers were trying to get the traffic moving again,
and additional men were throwing up a blockade around the immediate vicinity
in an attempt to apprehend the person who shot the policeman.
Captain Lorman and Chief Detective Stad Brown arrived and took charge of the search.
Frank and I checked through the crowd that had gathered,
and we found a witness to the shooting.
Yeah.
I saw the whole thing, Officer, right from the beginning.
I saw it. Just about the most awful thing I ever saw.
Oh, sure. Just give us your name.
It's Roy Hickok. It's H-I-C-K-O-K.
All right, Mr. Hickok. Now, if you'll tell us what happened.
I was on my way to work, walking down the street.
I got to the corner here, Broadway and San Julian.
I got to the corner, I stopped for a light.
Go ahead.
I just stood there waiting for it to be time to cross,
and all of a sudden this car came up and slid to a stop.
The light changed, and he had to stop.
He must have been going pretty fast because he went clear out into the intersection,
and the officer, the one who was shot, held up his hand.
I think that was the only reason the driver didn't run the light.
The officer held up his hand.
All right, sir, go ahead.
Well, the fellow stopped, but he was right in the middle of the crosswalk.
Everybody had to go around the car, you know, out into the intersection.
He was right in the middle, and we all had to go around it.
Yeah.
Well, he just sat there.
He didn't make any try to back up or nothing.
He just sat there kind of waiting for the light to change again
so he could get going.
Then the officer, the one who was shot, he started to walk over to the fellow.
I guess he wanted him to back up.
Must have been something like that, wanted him to get out of the way.
What happened then?
Well, all of a sudden this guy in the car just started shooting.
Where was the officer when the shooting started?
Well, he hadn't even got to the car yet.
He must have been about 10, 12 feet from it.
This guy pulled out the gun and started piling away.
Point blank, he did it right in the policeman's face.
Everybody on the street got panicky when they heard the shooting.
He started to run everywhere, yelling, screaming, real panic.
What did the officer do?
Nothing.
He stood there and looked surprised.
Then he tried to get his gun out of the holster, but well, before he could do it,
the fellow in the car shot a couple more times and the policeman fell down.
What did he do then?
You mean the guy in the car?
Yeah, that's right.
Well, he took off, drove right through the people and drove down San Julian.
It's a wonder he didn't kill somebody the way he drove off.
He just didn't care about anybody.
Barreled south on San Julian.
Did you talk to the other officers about this?
Well, not too much.
It seems like as soon as it happened there were so many people around,
there wasn't much time to talk to anybody.
I called down where I worked and I told them I'd be late.
I told them to expect me when I walked in.
I never did see so many policemen or cars.
Just a minute, will you?
Folks, you'll have to get back here, please.
Give us a little more room.
All right, thank you.
Can you give us a description of the car?
The one the killer drove?
Yes, sir.
Well, you bet I can. I can tell you all about it.
Why would you go ahead?
Well, it was a dark-colored sedan.
A blue, a dark blue.
What kind of car was it?
You mean the brand?
Yes, sir.
Well, I'm not real sure about that. It all happened so fast.
You know, all of a sudden it was over.
I only got a kind of a quick look at it
because I wasn't paying much attention to it.
Well, look, folks, you'll have to stay back here, please.
Probably hold them back over there, will you?
Now, what kind of a car was it?
Well, I think it was either a Plymouth or maybe a DeSoto, but I'm not sure.
But you're pretty sure about the color, are you?
Oh, yeah. It was blue, dark blue.
Well, what about the man driving the car? Did you get a good look at him?
Yeah, I guess just about everybody did, you know, sitting out there in the middle of the street like that.
Everybody that went by him had a look at him.
Could you give us a description of him?
Well, what do you want to know?
Well, how about the color of his hair?
It was light, not real blonde, but a light color.
How about his eyes?
They looked like they were blue.
About how old would you say the man was?
I don't know, maybe 24, 25, around in there. He wasn't real old.
Was he clean shaven?
Yeah.
How about the glasses? Do you remember? Was he wearing them?
No.
Was there anything about him that would make it easier for us to identify him?
I don't think I know what you mean.
Well, was there anything about him? A scar, maybe a birthmark, something like that that you might have seen?
Not that I remember. He might have had something like that, but if he did, I don't remember.
Did you have the chance to see what the man was wearing?
Well, just that he had on a white shirt and a jacket, it looked like the ones they issue in the Army, you know, kind of windbreaker type, light material.
Uh-huh. Did the man say anything?
If he did, I didn't hear it. As soon as he started shooting, it seemed like the roof came off.
All the noise, everybody yelling, trying to get out of the way of the bullets.
If he said anything, I sure didn't hear it.
I see. Now, is there anything else that you can give us on the man?
Well, there is, Sergeant, but I feel a little silly about it.
What's that, sir?
What's about the car? I told you, I didn't pay much attention to it, not at first.
Well, after the shooting started, then I got as good a look as I could.
Uh-huh.
I got a pretty good look at the back of it when the guy took off.
Just a minute, I didn't hear you.
I say I got a pretty good look at the back of it when the guy took off, you know, when he went down the street?
I see.
I feel a little silly because I didn't get more.
How's that?
The license number.
Yeah.
I don't know what the number is.
The witness was able to give us the numbers, 1 Sugar, 139.
A broadcast was gotten out carrying this information and a search was started through autorecords in an attempt to come up with the owner of the vehicle.
Two men were detailed to the Department of Motor Vehicles to assist their men in the search of the files.
Meantime, Chief Brown and Captain Lawman had ordered roadblocks to be put up on San Julian and all streets leading to adjoining areas.
The one witness, Roy Hickok, was taken to the city hall and he was shown the mug books.
He was unable to come up with an identification on the suspect.
1240 p.m.
Frank put in a call to Georgia Street Receiving Hospital and found that Officer Larry Gereau was still in a critical condition and that he had not regained consciousness.
His family had been notified and the car was dispatched to bring his wife to the hospital.
All people in the immediate vicinity of the shooting were interrogated and their statements were taken, but none of them could give us a lead as to the identity of the suspect.
527 p.m.
Frank and I went back to the office.
While he checked by autorecords, I put in a call to Captain Lawman.
Yeah, Skipper.
No, no, they're still checking.
Yeah.
Well, Frank's down there now.
Uh-huh.
Yeah, he looked at him.
He wasn't able to give us anything.
No, I say he couldn't give us anything.
No, last we heard he was still unconscious.
Yeah, that's right.
Well, you left a word that we're to be called if he comes up.
Mm-hmm.
No, no, Glendale and McCready are over there.
Yeah, she's taking it pretty hard.
Joe.
Right.
Just a minute, I got Skipper on the phone.
If anything turns up, we'll call you.
Joe.
Yeah, Horton.
Hold on a minute, will you Skipper?
Yeah, what do you got?
Well, they made the car.
Yeah, it was stolen this morning.
Well, we got a pretty good piece of news.
No, Frank just came in.
They made the car.
It was stolen this morning.
We got in touch with the owner of the car and we talked to him.
He told us that he'd noticed that the car was gone from the place where he'd left it the night before
and that he'd filed a report on it immediately.
We got a full description of the vehicle and a supplementary broadcast was gotten out.
8 14 p.m., we got a call from Georgia Street Hospital telling us that Officer Gero had regained consciousness
and he could be questioned.
Frank and I left the office and drove over to see him.
By the time we got there, however, he lapsed into a coma again.
We talked to Dr. Sebastian.
He told us that he'd removed four bullets from Gero's body.
One of the shots had severed the officer's spinal cord.
In the event that he pulled out of it, he'd never walk again.
Frank and I talked with Glendale and McCready.
They'd been able to interview the wounded officer, but they hadn't been able to get any additional information from him.
As we walked down the hall, we met Mrs. Gero.
Sergeant Friday?
Yes, ma'am.
I'm Ellen Gero, Larry's wife.
Yes, ma'am.
Do they know yet?
Do they know if Larry's going to be all right?
Well, it'd be better if you talked to Dr. Sebastian, Ms. Gero.
I have. He tells me they don't know yet.
How can they say that? They don't know.
Larry's been here for almost 12 hours. They must know something. Why won't they tell me?
We're sorry, Ms. Gero.
Have you caught the man yet? The man who did this to Larry? Have you got him yet?
No, ma'am, not yet.
Then what are you doing here? Why aren't you out looking for him?
We're doing everything we can, ma'am.
But you haven't caught him. You're all running around looking, but you haven't caught him.
Well, that's doing a lot of good. It makes me feel a lot better to know that the man who shot my husband is still running free.
We're sorry.
That doesn't help, Sergeant.
I can't take it home with me and spread out your sorrow in front of my children.
They're still going to want to know where their father is.
They're still going to want to have him back.
Your good wishes aren't going to be enough.
Joe, I'll check the office.
All right. Tell the skipper we're going to tag Metro Division.
Right.
Ms. Gero, we know how you feel. We know what's going through your mind.
My partner there was just shot not too long ago, and I've been right here in this same place waiting for a report, too, just like you.
I know what it is to see the doctor come out of a treatment room and not say anything.
I know there isn't much I can say to make it easier.
But we can tell you this. There are 4,000 policemen in this city.
Every one of them is looking for the man who shot your husband.
Joe?
Yeah.
The suspect?
Yeah.
They found him.
The tip had come in from a man who had phoned the complaint board and said that he knew where the suspect was hiding.
The man wouldn't give his name.
Immediately, two cars were dispatched to the address.
It was a cheap rooming house on East 4th Street.
The manager of the place said that there was a tenant who matched the description of the suspect in a room on the 5th floor.
He'd given the name James Krell.
When the investigating officers had approached the room, they were met with gunfire.
They returned the fire.
The building was evacuated, and the streets in front of the building were roped off.
Several more cars arrived from Metro Division, and the building was completely surrounded.
Frank and I stopped by the office and picked up tear gas equipment.
From what we were told, the suspect had barricaded the door leading into the room with furniture.
The only way we had to get him out alive was with gas.
Frank and I talked with Captain Lorman and with Chief Brown.
We decided to use a flight right shelf and blast through the door.
Frank took the gun, and we went up to the 5th floor.
The halls were empty.
You all set?
Let's give him another chance.
All right, Krell. We'll give you one more chance to come out of there.
Come on, Krell. Open the door and throw the gun out.
He's not coming out.
All right, this is the last time around, Krell.
Get out of here, Pop. Get out of here and leave me alone.
You try to come through that door and I'll kill you.
I swear I will. I'll kill you where you stand.
All right, Frank. Let's put the mask on.
All right.
You all set?
Yeah.
All right, let it go.
You should be coming out.
Yeah.
He's moving that furniture.
I'll cover this side.
All right, watch it.
I'm coming out. I give up. I quit.
Throw the gun out here. Throw the gun out first and then you follow it.
Okay. Okay. I'm doing what you say.
Here's the gun. I quit. Here's the gun.
I got it.
All right, Krell. Come on out with your hands behind your head.
Come on, move.
All right. Don't shoot. Don't shoot.
I'm coming out.
Come on, move. Come on, move.
All right. Don't shoot. Don't shoot.
I'm doing like you say. I'm coming.
All right. Come on, move.
Down here.
Come on, move, Krell.
All right. This will do. Now stand still.
Hands up against the wall.
Come on, Krell. Do what he says.
I can't breathe. I'll do whatever you say, but I can't breathe.
I can't breathe that gas.
You better get used to it, Krell.
What?
The suspect was taken to Georgia Street Receiving Hospital for treatment.
When the investigating officers had approached the room that he was hiding in,
Krell had shot at them through the door.
They'd returned the fire, and one of the bullets had shattered his left wrist.
We got his full name when we ran him through R&I.
We found that he had a minor record in California,
and was at the time a deserter from the Army.
His wrist was taken care of, and then Frank and I talked to him in the treatment room.
Lousy deal all the way around.
Is that right?
Sure. You guys had no right to come up there and shoot off that gas.
We didn't call it. Lousy deal.
Why'd you shoot that officer?
I thought he was going to shoot me. It was self-defense.
When they picked him up, his gun was still in his holster.
Then somebody put it back.
Why'd he want to shoot you?
Who knows? Who could figure any cop? You're all sadists.
Why'd you do it?
Look, I'll tell you nice and plain.
I drove up to the signal. I stopped.
This wise cop came over and started rousing me about being in the intersection.
I told him to shut up. I don't have to take that kind of talk from nobody.
He pulled the gun. It was self-defense. We got a couple of people who saw the whole thing.
They tell a little different.
They're either psyched or else you're paying them off.
How long you been AWOL?
Who says I am?
The Army.
I could square that beef with them.
What about that car you were driving this morning?
What about it?
Where'd you get it?
It belongs to a friend of mine, a burden.
Oh, no, reporter. It's stolen.
He must have forgotten. He told me to take it.
What's a friend's name?
I forget.
He'd pay you to remember.
I have a very bad memory.
Why'd you shoot the officer?
Because he was going to shoot me.
He just walked up and said he was going to shoot you. Is that it?
Yeah, guys, I said it. It's all you cops are. Put that uniform on, you all think you can boss anybody around. Well, you made a mistake with this one. Isn't anybody bosses me around?
How long you been in town?
Why?
Answer the question.
Couple of weeks.
You been AWOL for over six months, and where you been?
Around.
Where?
I like to travel.
Manager of that rooming house says you just checked in this morning. Is that right?
You talked to her. I didn't.
All right. Where you been staying?
There goes the memory again.
Look, you're in trouble, Krell. Talk like that won't do you any good.
One of those things, I wish I could help you fellas, but there's nothing I can do.
Where'd you get the car?
From a friend.
What's his name?
The guy who took it.
Yeah?
Then why'd he report it stolen?
Ask him.
We did. He says he doesn't know you.
Where'd you get the gun?
Picked it up.
Where?
Bought it.
Don't know the name of the store.
It's being checked now. You might as well save time and tell us.
You're getting paid.
What'd the officer say before you shot him?
Didn't say anything. Just pulled his gun. That was fast. A self-defense.
Now, you might think this is a game, Krell. You maybe think you're a big man sitting here, but I want to set you straight. You're in trouble. More trouble than you've ever been in before.
We've got at least 20 people who saw you deliberately gunning that cop. They're willing to swear to it in court.
There was this kind of purple flash and all of a sudden this cop was laying there. Maybe it wasn't self-defense. Maybe it was temporary insanity.
Hey, how's that sound?
Temporary insanity.
He die?
No, not yet.
Cops in catch, you can't kill him.
You made a pretty good try. All right, mister, on your feet.
What for?
Come on, let's go.
We going to jail?
Get up, Krell.
Come on.
Maybe you're going to take me to the gas chamber right now, huh? Do without a trial or nothing. Just lock me up and drop the eggs.
You're awful close to it, mister.
You got to get me there first.
You stand in front of it right now.
I'll tell you what, I'll give you a 10 to 1. I don't make it.
Come on.
Come on, I bet you guys would just love to have me make a break, huh?
Now, you listen, Krell, with that arm, we can't put handcuffs on you, but you're still in custody. Don't try anything.
Well, how about it? You'd like that, wouldn't you?
Get your pictures and all the papers.
Heroic cops killed criminal.
All right, in here.
Yeah, you guys would really like that.
I'm going to give you something for free, Krell.
Well, yeah, what's that?
You talk a lot, but you don't say anything.
Always happens. Put a guy in the uniform right away, he's a big man.
A bum on the outside, but just give him a badge and a suit right away, he's big.
Yeah, sure.
Come on.
Hey, how's about a cigarette?
Here.
Thanks.
Got a match?
Come on, move.
The car's back this way.
Hey, wait a minute.
What do you want?
A cigarette.
Not doing me much good without a match.
All right, here.
Grab him, Joe.
Hold it up, Krell.
All right, Krell, hold it up.
Hold it up or I'll shoot.
Down, come on.
How about it, Joe?
Well, I guess he was right.
Huh?
That bet about the gas chamber.
Yeah.
He won't make it.
The doctor was called down from the hospital and the suspect, James Krell, was pronounced
dead.
The body was removed to the county hospital and the body was taken to the hospital.
Krell was pronounced dead.
The body was removed to the county morgue.
And going over the dead man's effects, we found a receipt from one of the downtown hotels.
There were two names listed on it and a notation to the effect that the rent on room 517 had
been paid for a week.
The other name on the slip was Sidney Larson.
We checked it through RNI and we found that Larson had a long felony record in California
and had been paroled two months previously.
The report came back on the gun that Krell had used.
It was a pair of revolvers that had been stolen from a hardware store in Tulare on May 6th.
The other six guns were still missing.
We checked with Dr. Sebastian on Officer Gereau's condition.
We were told that the policeman was still unconscious, but that he had passed the critical
stage.
Mrs. Gereau collapsed when she heard the news that her husband would never walk again and
she was placed under sedative.
Ten forty eight p.m.
Frank and I left the office and drove over to the hotel named on the receipt that we
found.
It was a run down place with a potted rubber plant in the lobby.
We rang the bell on the counter and waited.
Yeah?
You the manager here?
Right now I am, yeah, why?
Police officers want some information.
About what?
Take a look at this.
Is that one of your receipts?
Let me take a look.
Now wait a minute, let me get the lights on so I can see.
Yeah, there's the name right on the top.
Sure looks like it's one of ours, don't it?
Recognize the two names on it?
Oh, wait a minute.
Yeah, yeah, I do.
Yeah, I recognize them good.
That fellow Larson's the in now?
I don't know, we don't keep a very close tab on the people who stay here.
Service isn't too good, but we don't ask questions.
Change the sheets once a week, we don't ask questions.
Is he in?
He might be, I'd have to check it.
There's a police investigation, mister.
Is Larson in?
I'll check the box.
Well, Key's gone, must be upstairs.
He alone?
Can't say, might be.
I didn't hear nobody go up, but then I don't listen too good.
Show us the room.
You mean I gotta go up with you?
Come on mister, let's go.
Look, we got a nice quiet hotel, we don't cause no trouble.
There's no reason for you cops to come snooping around.
You got the passkey.
Yeah, let's go.
Have to take the elevator up, I can't go up the stairs.
All right.
Go ahead.
Mm-hmm.
Let's go.
Fifth floor.
Mm-hmm, that's what they're paid for.
How long the two of them been here?
Huh?
Larson and Krell, how long they been here?
I'll have to check the books for that.
Can't carry those things around in my head.
If I did, there wouldn't be no room for the important things.
About when?
Why?
About when did they come in?
Oh, I don't know, maybe two, three weeks around in there.
They got any friends?
Almost everybody's got a few friends.
Any of them come around here?
No, not that I'm saying.
We're not snoopy like some.
I'll get the door.
All right, which way?
What?
Which way is 517?
To the left.
I don't want no trouble here now, huh?
We're not gonna make any.
Look, this is a quiet hotel.
We don't want any of the tenants to get sore.
You guys are gonna walk out.
I gotta live here.
I don't want no trouble.
Here it is.
All right, give me the key.
Yeah.
Take that side, Frank.
Yeah.
Look, you stand back out of the way and keep still.
No trouble now, huh?
Please.
Keep your voice down, will you?
No trouble.
All set.
Yeah.
Looks like he's asleep.
All right, you take the right side.
He's got a gun.
Get out of here!
Come on!
Watch your break!
Yeah.
All right, now come on.
Get on your feet.
Get up.
What are you doing in here?
You've got no right to come in like this.
I'll check the room, Joe.
What are you looking for?
I'm registered.
You check my parole officer.
He'll tell you I'm clean.
What about the gun?
All right, so I got a gun.
You're an ex-con, aren't you?
Big deal.
All right, let's go.
Where?
You've been there before.
Take a look, Joe.
Five of them.
All right, where'd you get these?
You find out, cop.
You're getting nothing from me.
All right, come on.
Take your these.
Let's go.
What about Krell?
You get him, too?
That's right.
You got him in jail?
He's dead.
Krell?
That's right.
He tried to make a break and it didn't work.
Poor kid.
Didn't know what it was all about.
Wanted to be a tough guy.
Yeah, you were going to show him how, weren't you?
Nice kid.
He wanted to be a big man.
We had it all planned.
Hit the big time.
Got the guns.
He went out to get a car this morning.
That's probably why he killed the cop.
Krell got scared.
He didn't know he wanted to be big.
He wanted people to talk about him.
Don't worry about it, mister.
They will.
The coroner's jury returned a verdict that the death of James Edward Krell was justifiable
homicide.
The court ruled that the death of James Edward Krell was justifiable homicide.