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 a homicide detail.
On the way back to the office, you receive a call.
It's about an attempted suicide.
You're in the immediate vicinity.
Your job?
Check it out.
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 Tuesday, March 24th.
It was windy in Los Angeles.
We were working the night watch out of homicide detail.
My partner is Frank Smith.
The boss is Captain Warman.
My name's Friday.
We were answering an ambulance follow-up, attempted suicide.
It was 1152 p.m. when we got to 2296 Whitworth Drive.
It was a front door.
Places sure learn up.
Better try it again, huh?
Yeah.
You're the police?
Yes, ma'am.
Miss Frank Smith.
My name's Friday.
Come on in.
Thank you, ma'am.
He's in there to study.
Who is he?
Colonel Hamlin.
Are you Mrs. Hamlin?
Yes.
Door is locked.
Hamlin.
Come on, open the door.
He has a gun.
Sir, I'm sorry.
Come on, open the door.
He has a gun.
Said he was going to kill himself.
Yes, ma'am.
Is there another key to this door?
No.
Well, give me a hand, Frank, and try to force it.
Yeah.
All right.
Wait a minute.
Let's try this one.
Come on.
I guess it isn't going to give.
No.
There's another way into the room, ma'am.
No, this is the only door.
How about windows?
What?
Windows leading into it.
Yes, off the front porch.
Came in here drunk, across the scene.
Down this way?
Yes.
Down this way?
Yes.
Just the window here?
Yes, there's.
Can you see anything?
No, let me have your flashlight.
Yeah, here we go.
Yeah, I can see him there on the floor.
Can't you do something?
He might still be alive.
Well, screen's locked.
You got something to cut it with?
Just a minute.
Try these keys.
Yeah, that's got it.
Good.
Okay, let's see if we can get the window open.
Yeah.
I can't.
I'm going to have to break this, ma'am.
Well, I don't care as long as you get two in.
All right, I'm going to hold the light for you.
Yeah.
You better stand back, ma'am.
The glass here.
All right.
Can you reach the latch from there?
Wait a minute.
Yeah, I think so.
Yeah, I got it.
I'll give you a hand, then.
All right.
Can you see if he's still alive?
Just a minute.
We'll have to get out of the room first, ma'am.
Watch your step there, John.
Yeah.
All right, come on, I'll give you a hand.
All right.
Thanks.
As soon as the ambulance gets here, will you show the attendant how to get in?
Yes, can you tell if he's alive yet?
No, ma'am, not yet.
I'm going to get the door open.
All right.
I'm going to get the door.
I'll check the victim.
Yeah.
How about it?
You know, we better have the attendant look at him.
All right.
Take a look at that.
I wonder if we couldn't force the door.
Well, the chair was not blocked and bolted.
He must have wanted real privacy.
Looks like he's got it now.
That's the room right there.
Yes, ma'am.
Hi.
Oh, hi.
This bed.
You want to wait in there, ma'am?
I didn't think you'd really do it.
How about it?
Just a minute.
No, nothing.
He's dead.
That his wife?
Yeah.
I'm sorry to have to do this, ma'am, but there are a couple of things I've got to know.
Go ahead.
Want to give me his full name?
Carl Hamlin.
His age?
43.
Does he live here?
No.
We had a house over in Branson, 947.
Do you have to go through all this?
No, that's all, Mrs. Hamlin.
I'll get the rest of it later.
Frank, yeah.
I'm going to finish you up here.
Sure.
It's all so wrong.
God, Ned, it's so wrong.
Yes, ma'am.
Is there anything we can get for you?
No.
Do you want to go in the other room and sit down?
That's better.
Would you like to call your doctor for you?
I've already called him from my mother.
He's on the way over.
Where is she now?
In the back bedroom.
She's laying down.
This whole thing's been a shock for her.
Yes, ma'am.
I understand.
When I talked to it, he said for me to give her one of the pills he prescribed.
It's supposed to make her sleep.
You're going to have to talk to her.
Yes, we probably will.
I hope you won't have to do it tonight.
This whole thing's been a terrible shock to her.
She's not too well anyway.
Well, we'll try to avoid upsetting her any further.
I'd appreciate it more than I could tell you.
All right, Mrs. Hamlin.
A few questions we've got to ask if you feel up to answering them.
Might as well get it over with.
What do you want to know?
Do you want to tell us what happened?
Well, Carl came over tonight, dropped.
He crossed the big scene.
Your husband doesn't live here, then?
No, we're separated.
I see.
Who was here when the shooting took place?
My mother and myself.
Anybody else living here?
No, just the two of us.
All right.
What time did Mr. Hamlin get here?
I'm not sure.
I was asleep.
I beg your pardon?
I was asleep.
I don't know.
I see.
You weren't expecting him, then?
No, no.
Last time I saw him, I told him to leave me alone.
Said I'd get a court order if I had to.
Yeah.
We've been separated about a week this time.
This isn't the first time, is it?
No, there have been other times.
This was the worst.
I told him I was finished, but I didn't want anything more to do with him.
He's been calling.
Here, where I work, most of the time he was drunk.
Kept asking for a reconciliation, saying how sorry he was,
and asking me to take him back.
Yeah.
I'm not blaming it all on him.
I know some of it was my fault.
All right, you want to go on?
He called me this afternoon.
He had to see me.
Had it all worked out, then we could get back together again.
I told him I didn't want to see him.
I said for him to stay away.
I came home and told my mother about it.
Said Carl might show up, but if he did, I didn't want to see him.
All right, go on.
I kind of half expected him to show up, but he didn't.
I went to bed.
After the 1030 news, mother stayed up to read.
First I knew there was anything wrong when I heard the shot.
I got up and came right downstairs.
Mother was standing in front of the study door.
She told me that Carl was inside.
That he'd shot himself.
I tried to call him.
First I thought he was playing some kind of a joke.
No.
My mother said she'd heard Carl fall down in the room.
I called you right away.
John.
Yeah.
What do you got?
I got the O.A. slip.
I'll put on a call at the photo lab in the corner.
Okay.
I checked the gun.
It's a.38 revolver, one shot fired.
That fits with the story I just got from his wife.
I'll make the call.
I wonder if I could use your phone, Mrs. Hammer.
What?
I'd like to use your phone, please.
It's in the hall, on the table there.
Thank you.
Did your mother tell you what happened?
Yes, in a way.
How do you mean that?
She's over 70, Sergeant Friday.
A thing like this isn't easy to go through at that age.
I see.
Your mother and Carl didn't get along.
He always said that she caused the trouble between us.
He told me a couple of times that if she'd keep her nose out of our business,
we might be able to get along.
I wonder if it would be possible for us to talk to her.
You have to.
Yes, ma'am, we do.
I'll go see.
All right, thank you.
Crew's on the way, John.
There's gonna be more policemen out here?
Yes, ma'am.
We'll try to make it as brief as possible.
I'd appreciate it.
We'll do everything we can.
I'll go get my mother.
Thank you.
She gave you the story?
As much as she knew.
What do you mean?
She said she wasn't in the room at the time.
Her mother saw it happen.
Oh.
Did you turn anything in the other room?
Mm-mm.
As soon as we get a statement from her mother
and the coroner gets here, we can shove off.
Yeah.
You can sit over here, Mother.
Yes, dear.
These men want to ask you some questions.
This is my mother, Mrs. Gaylor, Sergeant Friday.
This is Officer Smith.
How are you doing, ma'am?
How are you, ma'am?
How you do?
We'll try to make this as brief as possible, Mrs. Gaylor.
Just a couple of questions we've got to ask.
You go right ahead.
If you get tired, Mother, you tell them and they'll stop.
Yes, dear.
Now, what time did your son-in-law get here tonight?
I'm not sure.
I think it was about 11.30.
Uh-huh.
No, I told him Mr. Hamlin might be coming over.
But that time of night, you'd hardly expect anybody to come calling, would you?
No, ma'am.
He did.
He always was doing something no one else did.
I think he just sat around and tried to figure things to do that was different.
Uh-huh.
Like tonight, came in drunk, yelled about how he wanted to have a showdown.
I didn't know what he was talking about.
Uh-huh.
Started to yell at me, told me how the split up was my fault.
Started to curse at me.
Uh-huh.
I'm 73, Mr. Friday.
I've seen a lot of things, met a lot of people.
Isn't anybody who can talk to me like that?
I told Mr. Hamlin, told him to get out of the house.
That's when he pulled this gun out of his pocket.
Yes, ma'am.
Had it right in his coat, outside pocket.
I see.
I told him, I said, Mr. Hamlin, you just stop this foolishness and get out of here.
That's what I said to him.
Oh, ma'am.
He just looked at me and said, yeah, you'd like that, wouldn't you?
Those are the exact words.
Then he told me how he was going to kill himself to show me.
Uh-huh.
I thought it was some kind of dramatic.
Mr. Hamlin was that kind, you know, always play, acting around.
Yes, ma'am.
Not this time.
Next thing I know, he ran into study and locked the door.
After that, there was a shot and I heard him fall down.
Right then is when Nora came into the room.
Oh, Mrs. Geller, I think we have all the information we need now.
Okay, if I go to bed then?
Yes, ma'am.
Right ahead.
Good night, then.
You want to help me, dear?
Yes, mother, I'll be right with you.
I'll be waiting up for you.
Mr. Friday?
Yes, ma'am.
Anything more you want to know about Mr. Hamlin?
I'll tell you.
No, I don't think there'll be anything else, ma'am.
If there is, I'll tell you.
All right, thank you, Mrs. Geller.
I'll be in my room, Nora.
All right, mother, I'll be right there.
He's taking this a lot better than I thought she would.
Mrs. Hamlin.
Yes, sir.
Did your husband ever talk about suicide before?
Yes, several times.
Just this last week, I thought he was being dramatic again.
I didn't pay much attention to him.
It's so hard to tell if he was drunk or if he really meant something.
All he did was we were married.
I don't think he was ever really serious.
You got it wrong, haven't you?
Mm-hmm.
He was this time.
One fourteen a.m.
The photographer got to the house and took pictures of the room.
The coroner removed the body to the county morgue.
At two thirty-seven a.m., Frank and I left the house.
We went back to the office and filled out the 3.11.1 form,
listing the death of Carl Martin Hamlin as a suicide.
Frank called the coroner's office to find when we could get the results of the autopsy.
They told us we'd have the necessary information late that afternoon.
Three eighteen a.m., we signed out of the office and went home.
At ten fifteen that morning, we got a call from Ray Pinker.
He asked us to come right over to the crime lab.
We were running a routine check this morning.
Came up with a couple of things I think you'd like to know.
All right, what have you got, Ray?
Here, take a look.
This is the bullet we fired from the gun found in the victim's hand.
Yeah.
Now there. You can see it weighs a hundred and thirty grains.
Uh-huh.
Now this is the bullet that killed the man.
Take a look.
It's all out of shape.
See anything else?
No, looks all right to me.
Yeah, what are you building, Ray?
Well, I checked this one pretty carefully.
Made sure that all of it was here.
You know, that none of the lead had been sheared off of a bone tissue.
None missing. It's complete.
Yeah.
Now, take a look.
Let me put this one on the scale.
Now, check it yourself.
Ninety-five grains.
Yeah, thirty-five grains difference.
Let me show you something else here.
I figured the length of both bullets.
They don't check out either.
What's it mean, Ray?
The bullet that killed Hamlin's a.380.
It's a European calibration.
The gun he had in his hand's a.38 revolver.
Yeah.
.380 is automatic ammunition.
Yeah.
This fellow Hamlin pulled a pretty neat trick.
Well, what do you mean, Ray?
He killed himself with a bullet that couldn't possibly be fired from the gun he was holding.
Huh.
Something's sure out of place.
Yeah.
Might as well tear up the forms you filled out on this one.
No suicide.
Yeah.
You gotta find a murder gun.
You are listening to Dragnet.
The authentic story of your police force in action.
Eleven twelve a.m.
Frank and I, along with Ray Pinker, left the crime lab and we drove out to see Nora Hamlin.
From the physical evidence on hand, the way the door had been locked,
and the fact that the windows had been bolted from the inside,
it appeared unlikely that anybody could have left the room after Carl Hamlin had been shot.
Yet from the information we'd gotten from Pinker, there had to be another gun involved in the killing.
Eleven twenty-four a.m.
We got to the house on Whitmore Drive.
Good morning.
I didn't expect to see you back so soon.
You want to come in?
Yes, ma'am.
Miss Hamlin, this is Mr. Pinker from our crime lab.
Ray, Miss Hamlin.
It's nice to know you, Mr. Pinker.
How do you do?
Are there some more questions you have to ask?
Yes, ma'am, that's right.
What if we could take another look at the study?
Sure. Didn't the men who were here last night get what they needed?
Well, we'd just like to check it again with Mr. Pinker here.
Uh-huh.
Well, you know where it is.
How's your mother feeling this morning?
She had a good sleep. The doctor gave her a sedative. She's still in bed.
We'll try not to disturb her.
Well, you go ahead with what you have to do. I'm trying to get the house in order.
If there's anything you want, I'll be across the hall.
Thank you.
Thanks.
Is that over here, Ray?
Mm-hmm.
This is where we found him.
You can see there where we had to break the window to get in.
Mm-hmm.
Right?
Yeah.
You got that sketch you made last night?
Yeah.
Yeah, here it is.
You want to take a look, Ray?
Yeah.
You can see the body was about here.
Mm-hmm.
Over here.
And the feet were about here.
That's about right, isn't it, Joe?
Yeah. It was right next to the chair there.
Mm-hmm.
That's the way I got it there.
Just about on the perfect line between the floor lamp and the chair over there.
Mm-hmm.
What about the gun?
In his right hand.
Was the gun in his hand when you found him?
Yeah, that's right.
Pictures from the photo lab will bear that out.
Sure is out in left field.
How do you mean?
I talked to Doc Newbar when he sent the bullet over.
Mm-hmm.
The way he described the wound, it's pretty tough to buy that a right-handed man could shoot himself so the slug had ended up where it did.
Exactly. How do you mean?
Well, the bullet entered just to the right of the center of his chest.
About here.
Uh-huh.
Came to rest under the right arm here.
Line of travel's way off.
Sure would have been an easier way to do it, huh?
Yeah.
What about the door when you found it?
I'll show you how it was locked.
Give me that chair, Frank.
Yeah.
Here you go.
Well, the key was turned.
The bolt was thrown.
Mm-hmm.
And then this chair was popped up under the knob like this.
Mm-hmm.
How about the key? Was it still in the lock?
Yeah.
Sure looks like he meant the door to stay shut.
Yeah, we could figure that.
Place looks pretty solid.
Plaster walls.
Not much chance of anybody getting through them.
Mm-hmm.
You check the bookcases?
What do you mean?
Any of them pull away from the wall?
Well, I looked at them last night. They all seemed solid enough.
Mm-hmm.
Well, you got any ideas, Ray?
I don't know.
The way that door looks, rest of the room.
Doesn't seem likely anybody could have shot him then gone outside and locked the door.
I think they could have come in through the window.
You had to break it?
Yeah.
The way it's set up, you shouldn't have any trouble finding the suspect.
What do you mean?
Find a butler built like an envelope.
Mighty funny.
You didn't see a shell casing around last night, did you?
Well, there wasn't any reason to look for it.
Mm-hmm.
There's no sign of one now. Looks like the room's been cleaned.
Yeah.
Well, I guess we better check with the Hamlin woman, huh?
And get this stuff away from the door.
Miss Hamlin? Miss Hamlin?
Oh, yes. Just a minute.
Something you want?
Yes, ma'am.
Has anybody been in the study since we left last night?
Well, I didn't know. I wasn't supposed to. You didn't say anything about it.
Well, did you clean the room?
Yes, I told you. I was straightening up the house. I ran the vacuum in here.
Did you see an empty shell casing?
I don't know what you mean.
Well, it looks like this, ma'am. See? The brass part on this bullet.
No, I didn't see anything like that.
Have you emptied your cleaner since you used it this morning?
No.
I wonder if we could see it.
Sure. I don't understand what this is all about, but if you want to see the vacuum, I'll get it.
You won't tell me where it is. I'll get it for you.
Oh, it's no trouble. In the closet here in the hall.
Can I give you a hand with it?
It's not heavy.
You want the attachments, too?
No, ma'am. Just the cleaner itself.
All right.
There it is.
All right. If we use a piece of this newspaper?
Sure. Go ahead. I guess you know what you're doing.
This is the way you take the dust bag out?
Yeah. Just flip that little catch on the side there.
Uh-huh.
If you'll tell me what you're looking for, I might be able to help.
I'm on it, right?
Yeah. Here it is.
380?
What's all that mean?
Do you have another gun in the house, Miss Hammer?
No.
You're pretty sure about that?
Yes. What makes you think there might be another one?
How many shots did you hear last night, Miss Hammer?
What do you mean?
Well, just that. How many shots did you hear?
One.
You're sure about that?
Yes. Why?
We've got reason to believe that there were two shots fired.
What difference does it make how many there were?
Pretty big difference.
Why is it important? My husband killed himself.
I can't be sure how many I heard. One, two, three, half a dozen.
What difference does it make?
Well, I'll try to explain it to you.
Your husband was holding a.38 caliber revolver when we found him.
But the bullet that killed him came from a.380 automatic.
I don't know what you're talking about. What are you trying to say?
Well, I think you understand this. Your husband didn't kill himself.
You're not serious?
Afraid we are, ma'am.
This whole thing is ridiculous.
The evidence makes it true.
Who'd kill him? Who'd have a reason?
We'd like to know that too.
What'd you get your mother for you?
What do you want to talk to her about?
What if you get her for you?
I'm not going to have her dragged into anything. She's had enough trouble.
There's no reason for you to make any more.
Don't worry about it, Nora.
My dear, you shouldn't be out of bed.
I heard the talking. I've been listening.
Haven't seen you before. You a policeman too?
No, ma'am. I'm Ray Pinker.
How do you do? Jessie Gaylor. Nora's mother.
How are you?
Now what's all this about, Mr. Hamler not killing himself?
That's right, Mrs. Gaylor.
What makes you think it is?
A lot of things. Do you have a gun in the house?
You mean a pistol?
That's right.
A knife? Why?
Where is it?
In the table there. Left-hand drawer.
I'll get it.
How about 380?
That gun belonged to you, Mrs. Gaylor?
Yes. My husband had it.
All this talk about Mr. Hamlin, if he didn't kill himself, who do you think did?
Well, that's what we're trying to find out.
Uh-huh. But you got somebody you're looking at, haven't you?
Somebody you figured did it?
This is your gun.
Uh-huh.
You're the only person who witnessed the shooting.
That's right.
Well, why don't you tell us about it?
Because if I did, you'd never believe it.
Well, give us a try, huh?
All right.
Mr. Hamlin came here last night, like I said.
He was drunk.
Came in and started yelling.
I was sitting in that chair reading.
He started to curse at me.
Yeah.
I didn't pay him no mind.
I told him to go away, but Nora was through with him.
He wouldn't go.
Yes, ma'am.
All of a sudden he pulled out a gun and started waving it around.
He said if I didn't get Nora, he'd kill himself.
I thought it was just some part of his play act.
Yes, ma'am.
I didn't pay any attention to him.
Figured when he was through, he'd go away.
I went back to the book.
Made him madder never.
He grabbed the book out of my hand and shot.
Shot right at it.
Then he threw it into the fireplace.
He threw your book into the fireplace, is that right?
That's right.
Just all of a sudden something happened to me.
Don't think I've ever been so mad.
I took the gun out of the table and shot him.
Got real scared and ran into the study.
Closed the door behind him.
I heard him lock the door and move something up to the door.
Must have been the chair.
Yeah.
I guess it was.
Right after that I heard him fall down.
Right after that Nora came into the room.
Why didn't you tell me, Mother?
There wasn't any reason to.
I had to think about it.
But I'd done what I had to do.
I was going to call you men this morning and tell you the truth.
I really was.
You believe that?
Well, I guess so.
I really was.
Just all of a sudden last night when he shot my book,
I've never been so mad.
I really wanted to kill him.
You remember it all pretty well, don't you?
Yes, I do. All of it.
You want to get a coat and a gaoler?
I'll take you downtown.
Yes, sir.
I'll do it right away.
Let me go with the friend.
Yeah.
Is it going to be all right?
We don't decide that, ma'am.
But she told the truth. Isn't that going to make a difference?
We'll put it down that way.
You want to get that book, Ray? We're going to need it.
Yeah.
She didn't say a word about it.
Yeah, I know.
The story's still pretty hard to believe, isn't it?
Here we are.
Here's the book Hamlin shot.
Slug's still in it. Looks like a.38.
Mm-hmm.
Might have made her mad enough to kill him.
What is it, Mr. Friday?
Holy Bible.
The story you have just heard is true.
The names were changed to protect the innocent.
On July 14th, trial was held in Department 96,
Superior Court of the State of California,
in and for the County of Los Angeles.
Jesse Margaret Gayler was examined by three psychiatrists
appointed by the court and found to be insane
during the commission of the crime.
A sanity hearing was held, and she was made a ward of the state.
She was placed in the state hospital at Mendocino for treatment.
This week, a group of men are meeting in New Orleans
for the 61st annual conference of the International Association
of Chiefs of Police.
Dragnet is pleased to extend its best wishes
to our top law enforcement officers
and to thank them for the protection they give our homes and families.
May their convention be an outstanding success.
Dragnet, the story of your police force in action
is a presentation of the United States Armed Forces Radio Service.
The United States Armed Forces Radio Service
is a proud sponsor of the United States Armed Forces Radio Service.
The United States Armed Forces Radio Service