Loading...
About this Episode
Step into the world of classic crime with "The Dragnet Collection." Featuring iconic radio episodes from the golden age of detective drama, this collection brings you the methodical investigations, sharp dialogue, and thrilling cases of Sergeant Joe Friday and his team. If you love true crime, classic noir, or vintage radio, this is a must-listen!
Hosts & Guests
Transcript
You know what I can really go for right now?
Literally anything that comes in a McDonald's carton, wrapper, or bag, or a McDonald's cup.
Yes, any of those items you do it.
We've got your cravings covered.
Now, stop in for the flaky filet of fish.
The crispy snack wrap or large fries for just $2.99.
Limited time only, price and participation may vary.
Cannot be combined with any other offer.
Bottom up, papa.
Ladies and gentlemen, the story you're about to hear is true.
The names have been changed to protect the innocent.
Dragnet.
You're a detective sergeant.
You're assigned to the business office.
Past records show that you can expect 170 crimes to occur in the city during the next 24 hours.
You don't know where.
You don't know when.
Your job.
Handle them.
Dragnet.
The documented drama of an actual crime.
While 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 Saturday, July 10th. It was hot in Los Angeles.
We've been assigned to the business office morning watch.
My partner's Frank Smith, the boss's captain Gilbert. My name's Freddie.
I was on my way back to the coffee room and it was 12.10 a.m. when I got back to room 21.
The business office.
I don't know.
Who are you talking to, buddy?
Oh, hi, Joe.
Hey, try to stay around, will you?
I've been here 20 minutes. I've had 29 phone calls and written three reports.
Yeah, I brought you some coffee, babe.
Oh, thanks.
Hey, how you feeling? You better?
A little bit. I don't know what it is.
I think I'm coming down with a cold.
That's too bad. A lot of that going around.
Where's Gilbert?
He ran over the crime lab. I want to talk to Baker.
How about the pool car if you check him?
Yeah, the fucking thing's out there.
There it is right on that paper there.
Over there, there.
Oh.
Yeah, five of them out.
Check the book.
Yes, ma'am. Is someone here for you?
You were detected?
Yes, ma'am. That's right.
All right, young man, my car has been stolen.
All right.
I told one of the officers on the corner about it,
but he said it might work faster if I came up here.
Yes, ma'am. That's right.
The car is stolen. All you've got to do is go out and find it.
Just find my car.
What kind of a car is it?
Well, it was a brand new Chevrolet.
That's 1954.
That's right. Bell air with the windows that fold down.
All right.
Now, we'll need to know some more things here before we can start looking for it.
Yes, what's that?
Your name.
Avis Bowen.
That's A-V-I-S.
Well, that's right. There's no other way to spell it. Avis Bowen.
Yes, ma'am.
Do you have a middle initial?
Are.
Hope you're not going to ask me what it stands for.
No, that won't be necessary.
There isn't anybody that knows what my middle name is.
That's where all we want is the initial.
Well, that's all you're going to get.
All right, Mrs. Bowen.
It's Miss.
All right.
Well, what's the license number?
Oh, well, now, I think it's one U-44441.
All right. Wait just a moment, please.
Who are you calling now?
The M-V.
Who is that?
Department of Motor Vehicles.
Oh, my. All this going on.
It's a wonder you ever catch anybody.
Hi, Harry. This Friday over at the Business Office.
California license, one union, four-four-four-one.
That's right.
Tell them it's a bell air with the windows that fall down by themselves.
Yes, ma'am, I'll do it.
Doesn't it?
We'll hold on here.
You sure about that license number?
What do you mean?
Well, it kind of looks like you made a little mistake, Miss Bowen.
I did not the car still, look.
Yes, we understand that.
But you gave us the wrong license number.
One U-44441.
I remember it because of all the fours.
Harry, I'll call you back.
Miss Bowen, that number is registered to a 1940 studa baker.
My license number?
Well, I don't know, but the one you gave me, yes, ma'am.
1954 Chevrolet Bell Air.
Windows that fall down by themselves.
Yes, ma'am, I understand.
There must be several hundred cars that look like that.
You've seen them before.
We act like you've never seen a car like that.
There are lots of them around.
Mine's light blue with a gold on top.
We still need the license number.
Do you think you have it at home?
Yes, I guess so.
Fine, fine.
If you'll foam it into us, we can start looking for it.
Well, how do you expect me to get there?
Home.
How do you expect me to get there?
You'll have a car drop you off.
Well, it's about time I was getting some kind of service around here.
Yes, ma'am.
I think I'll write a letter to the papers about this.
Oh, I remember.
The whole thing, right down to that TMV or whatever it is, expose the whole net.
Oh, you're going to be mighty sorry you ever opened this can of beans.
We're doing the best we can, ma'am.
Well, that's not very much standing around here making phone calls, isn't finding my car.
Well, you said it yourself, didn't you?
What's that?
There must be several hundred cars like yours here in the city.
Yes.
Well, without the right license number, how are we going to find it?
You ought to be ashamed to yourself.
No.
You're nothing but a fake.
A paper?
You ain't no detective.
The business office, room 21.
It's open 24 hours a day, but it's after the detective division closes that it begins to work.
While patrol units in the city function normally, the men in the business office give advice on booking procedure, policy matters, and other police business.
They issue pool cars and riot guns.
And in the event of an emergency, they act as advisors and an overall plan for the dispersal of policemen.
The captain on duty is in effect the acting chief of police.
On the average weeknight, the activities are slow and routine.
But over the weekend, the men involved can expect to handle several hundred phone calls from the thousands put through the complaint board.
These calls deal with every crime in the municipal and penal code.
In addition to this, they handle the citizen traffic through the city hall.
Next door is a report room where statements are taken and forwarded to the captains of the detective divisions for appropriate action.
Frank and I had checked in at 12 midnight.
And for the following half hour, we did business as usual.
At 12.41 a.m., we got a hotshot call reporting a sound of shots in the 4200 block on Albany Street.
At 12.43, the call was changed to a shooting and ambulance follow-up.
At 12.45, the hotshot phone rang again.
That's shooting?
Yeah, it's a homicide now.
You're going to follow unit?
I'm going to have him check it in.
Same address as the shots.
A couple of houses down.
This Friday business office, we put out a call to 1K5.
Having covered the shooting and ambulance follow-up at 4289, that's 4289 Albany.
We've got it. Not pregnant.
Looks like a good one, huh?
Yeah.
Turns out we'll get Geesey out of bed.
I don't make him happy.
He'll end up in their lives.
All right, Joe.
Bob.
What do you got?
He wants to sit down in their pipe.
Who's he?
I don't know.
We found him in front of one of the burlesque houses, I mean.
The place was closed.
He was just standing out there looking at the pictures.
We got to leave one of them.
Mm-hmm.
Haven't ever get him to say anything.
Do you want to give it a try?
All right.
Do you want to tell us who you are, O'Fella?
Come on.
We want to help you, but there's not much we can do if you want to tell us your name.
Doing best.
Guys, we did.
We're pretty wobbly when we stop.
Yeah, look.
What do you want to do?
I'm going to take him over to Georgia Street.
Wait a minute.
You got a wallet?
All right, let me look at it, will you?
Maybe there's something in here that will help us.
Yeah.
And the money?
No.
A few cards here.
Nothing wrong with a name on it.
What's that one there?
Something written on the back.
It's like a phone number.
That's what it is.
Do you want to call and see if anybody is?
Yeah, I give it a try.
Yeah.
Can you just sit still right there?
Hello.
It's Officer Frank Smith, Los Angeles Police Department.
No.
There's nothing wrong.
We have a man here in the office who's carrying a card with his phone on it.
One of you can tell us who he is.
Yes, ma'am.
We looked to be in his late 70s.
We've got white hair.
That's right.
Always wearing a brown wool sweater, black pants, and a black felt hat.
That's right.
Do you want to give me that again?
No.
No, he's all right.
Yeah.
That's right.
We'll have him brought him.
Right away.
That's my thank you.
There we got it.
His name is McKinley Dunn.
He lives out on Vincent Avenue in Highland Park, talked to his daughter.
She says I got into an argument after breakfast.
McKinley here just got out and walked out of the house.
She hasn't seen him since.
Pretty worried about him.
Figures.
Says he's always kind of independent.
A little bit of room.
Anyone else take her?
No, we can't have you out of service that long.
I'll call Highland Park and then pick him up.
You want to take him over to York Boulevard and make the transfer there?
Sure thing.
Thank you.
All right, Mr. Dunn.
Here you are.
I'll put this back in your pocket.
Come on, sir.
We'll take you home.
Thanks, Joe.
It's no trouble, Bob.
Tell a boy from Highland Park to have his daughter put a card in the wallet with all the information
on it when you make it easier next time.
Sure.
Hey, Kar's not going to do any good, Joe.
Really?
Kar's not going to help.
Daughter says she always puts one in.
As soon as the old man gets out of the house, he tears at us.
I got it.
For this office party.
Uh-huh.
I'll try to forget there.
How many?
You got the story?
Yeah, we'll bring him in.
Do what you can.
All right, we'll see you then.
That's Sam and 1K5 on the shooting.
Yeah.
They got two suspects in custody.
They're bringing them both in.
Uh-huh.
Third man left the scene.
Sam says the accidental death possibility is out now.
Yeah.
It's a clean case of murder.
Ten minutes later, the officers in unit 1K5 arrived with the two suspects.
They were identified as Fred and Harriet Purcell.
The names were run through our eye, but no record was found on either one of them.
It was obvious that the two people had been drinking heavily.
The husband was taken to the report room, while Frank and I questioned the woman.
I don't remember too good.
Everything seemed to happen so fast.
There's all of a sudden there was this kind of noise, and Norman was dead.
Norman is at the victim?
Yeah.
Norman, man, Chris.
You must know who had the gun.
I've been saying that to myself, but it doesn't do anything.
I guess I had too much to drink.
Who else was in the apartment with you?
Are you a member of your size, Fred and me?
That's right.
You're just a service, that's all.
We've got a report that was not a man present.
Well, then you're a little more than me.
All right, you want to give us the whole story?
You'll be getting one.
From the start.
Okay.
I had two of four of us in the morning.
I guess that's what caused our trouble.
How's that?
My two of us impacted.
I had four of us in a dance game.
You shot an oboca and you pulled it to a giant chair.
Right, I care.
Well, I got home and an oboca started to wear off.
Most times my face started to hurt.
Terrible.
Yeah.
Well, I told Fred about it.
I was a terrible thing.
I tried to tell him how much it hurts.
He's a quad.
Tell me you have a drink and forget it.
I wasn't long before we were having a beef.
Old Fred, he wasn't very bright at times, you know.
He decided to have a little sympathy for his wife at the time like that.
He was not old Fred.
He was a quad.
He told me a four-month-old old reggae and set up.
Was man free there at the time?
Yeah.
Having Fred had been playing pinnacle when I came home.
I guess it'd been that at all afternoon.
Norman was on my side.
He made Fred mad.
And we got to fight him pretty good.
Norman was right with me.
Yeah.
Tom and Freddy are the quiet.
I think Fred was sore about being a big pinnacle.
He thinks he's pretty good player.
On the long after that, there was a shot and Norman was dead.
Are you in the room at the time?
No.
Well, where are you?
Out in the kitchen.
I went out to get some more ice.
Who was in the room when you left?
It's Fred and Norman.
No one else.
If there was, I was a soldier.
Just a minute.
I'll get it.
It was all a Friday.
Norman.
Norman, you left a call in tomorrow.
Yes, ma'am.
That's right.
That's gone here.
You know Mrs. Regman?
No.
Mrs. Leo Regman?
Yeah, what about it?
She told the investigating officer.
There was another man in the apartment.
Said that he left right after she heard the shots.
She would.
No, I just got to know.
It wasn't long.
Oh, she's pretty certain about what she saw.
Then ask her or she saw the man.
I'll tell you who he was.
Well, it could be better if you did.
Then it ain't going to be good, because I don't know.
Did you hear anybody coming to the place when you were in the kitchen?
Help.
You're pretty sure of that, huh?
Oh, look.
I got enough trouble.
Me and my old man's in jail.
My face feels like it's coming off.
I want to get home and get some sleep.
If I knew anything I'd have told you long time ago,
I wouldn't leave me alone.
Why'd you do after you heard the shot?
When and see where it was.
Mm-hmm.
That's all.
Just open the door and look.
Norman's lying there on the floor.
Where's your husband?
Just standing there looking for Norman.
Where was the gun?
Prada.
Who's gun is it?
No.
You never saw it before?
I don't like guns.
I don't like them around.
Don't look at them when they are.
I never saw it before.
You don't feel afraid yet?
No, not yet.
No.
Well, he looks at it the same story.
Same way I told him.
You'll see.
No need to even talk to him.
Is that right?
Sure.
You already got it the way I told you.
What more do you want?
Just one thing I can think of.
Yeah?
The truth.
You are listening to Dragnet, the authentic story of your police force in action.
Frank and I attempted to talk to the husband, Fred Purcell.
He was too drunk to be coherent.
We made arrangements for some hot coffee to be brought in.
His wife was taken to the interrogation room to wait until we could fill out the reports.
At 4.20 a.m., we got another hotshot call regarding a cutting on South Fifth Street.
The investigating officers found the knifeing had resulted from a quarrel between a man and his common law wife.
The woman was in critical condition.
She was removed to the Georgia Street receiving hospital and the husband was booked in at the main jail on charges of assault with a deadly weapon.
We notified Chief of Detectives Thad Brown and Captain Norman of the shooting end of the cutting.
During the next hour, there were two armed robbery reports, several burglaries and numerous fights.
5.31 a.m., Frank went down the hall and brought back two beef and cheese sandwiches and some coffee.
At 5.46 we got a call from the men in Unit 1K5 telling us that they were on the way into the office with the government had been used in the killing of Norman Mancree.
Ten minutes later, two uniformed officers brought in a pair of possible car thieves.
One of them was held in the hall while Frank and I talked to the driver of the car, a Melville Holbert, aged 19.
Where'd you get the car?
I bought it.
Where?
Well, from a lady.
She putting out in the paper said she had this year a sharp fifty-two-fourth for sale.
You remember what paper?
Well, no, sir.
Yeah, I think it was one that morning once.
When did you buy the car?
I don't know.
Well, you must have some idea.
All right, but maybe it was in January.
Yeah, around January.
Let me check it out.
Let me check it out.
Let me check it out.
Yes, sir.
There you are.
Take it out of the wallet.
Oh, yes, sir.
Here it is.
What is your present address?
Sir, you still live here on Echo Park Boulevard?
No, sir.
I moved.
I got me placed over on an impact.
How long you lived there?
You mean on an impact, sir?
That's right.
I know.
Reckon may be a couple months.
Don't you know for sure?
Well, see, I got this year bad memory.
I think it's been a couple months.
You live with your family?
No, sir.
They don't sound.
Where is that?
New Orleans.
They know you're out here?
Yes, sir.
Why don't you come to California?
August.
Last year?
Oh, yeah, last year.
You got a job?
That craft factory out in the valley.
It's kind of long drive to work for you, no?
Yes, sir.
But I got a good deal on the place I live at, see?
I'll come in and report to the change of address
to the Department of Motor Vehicles.
Reckon, I just forgot.
I got this year bad memory, you know.
When you bought the car, did you find it?
Sir.
You buy it on time.
You pay cash for it.
Okay.
You got the pay slip then, haven't you?
The lady sold it to me signed it.
Where is it?
I don't know, sir.
Didn't she give it to you?
No, sir.
She just told me she was going to send a sack of men
or someplace.
Would you get any kind of a receipt for your money?
Yes, sir.
Or where is that?
In Marwala.
That's it.
Yes, sir.
I've got to write you a someplace.
Pretty funny about this.
What's that?
Why wouldn't you steal no cars?
It's pretty funny to think I did.
All right, now how about that?
We'll see if we find it, Jen.
Yes, sir.
Now, here it is.
Who wrote this?
The lady sold me the car.
That's her name here.
Oh, yeah.
I guess so.
She wrote it.
When did you say you bought the car?
Well, Jen, you are a guest.
This year?
Yes, sir.
You sure you couldn't be wrong about the date?
Oh, no.
I don't know.
Maybe.
What did you meet the woman who wrote this receipt?
At her place?
Where's that?
Out in Westwood.
I think that's what you call it.
Apartment out there.
You remember the address?
No, sir.
Didn't got any idea at all where it is.
Well, it was up on Wilshire.
I know that.
Apartment on the second floor.
I think it was number B or something like that, I don't know.
Right.
Yeah, sir.
Now, what did you make all that big deal about when I bought the car?
I ate on the bill of sale as a year ago.
Well, somebody must have made a mistake.
Now, we knew that when you walked in, we were trying to find out who.
Well, you got anything.
Yeah, it checks out names in the book, the West Department D.
Yeah, now, that could be it.
I know it was on the second floor.
It looks right out on Wilshire Boulevard.
All right, Wil.
You go over there and sit down.
We'll be right with you.
It's going to be okay.
Now, look, I didn't steal that car, Mr.
I should have told him about how I moved.
But I did not steal the car.
All right.
You go ahead and sit down, will you?
Yes.
What do you think?
Well, it seems to check out that on the bill of sale could be a mistake.
The woman might have just written her own year.
Yeah, it's pretty close to the first because it happened.
I had to give the kid his first felony booking, don't you?
Yeah.
What do you want to do?
Yeah.
I told him over till we can check with the woman.
Yeah.
Offset?
Hmm?
Going to be all right?
We'll see.
You ain't going to send me to jail.
No, not yet.
You went down the hall with him.
Now, as long as you know, I did not steal the car.
We'll check with the woman first thing in the morning.
I won't tell you one thing though.
Yes, sir.
We're going to give you a break by not booking you right now.
Don't make a sorry about it.
Oh, no, sir.
Thank you.
All right, go on and get out of here.
Oh, where's Jimmy?
He's down the hall, the officer there.
I'll take you.
Yes, sir.
The officer?
Yeah.
A thank you again, you hear?
Yeah, you take care of that fat memory, will you?
I got it.
Headquarter, Smith.
Oh, yeah.
Yeah?
What's the admin?
No.
No, he's not here.
Just second I'll check.
Police went out in Hollywood.
He wants permission to kill a scunt.
What?
He wants to kill a scunt cut in the trap.
I guess it's all right if it's the only way they can get rid of it.
Well, he puts it at his.
Go ahead.
Yeah.
What was that?
I don't know.
You better check on the watch commander.
Yeah.
Okay, good night.
I got an injured animal report turns out to people out there.
Had trouble with scums, got a permit for the traps and caught one tonight.
Once they had it, they didn't know how to get rid of it.
I better make a report on it.
That's been pretty funny.
The officer said we could use the scunt in the department.
What was that?
The officer said we could use the scunt in the department, says he'd qualify on the target range any day.
Where you got it?
Headboard is Friday.
No, no, we got the word.
Where you been?
Check out with a lamp.
No, no, wait.
One K-5.
Yeah?
They just picked up the third person in the shooting.
Three minutes later, the officers in Unit One K-5
brought in a tired looking man in his late twenties.
His name was Harry Carnell.
He was drinking, but he seemed to be in complete control of his faculties.
He ran his name through R&I, but we found no record on him.
The officers also brought in the murder weapon, a 32 caliber automatic.
The check of gun records gave us the name of the store where it had been bought and the name of the owner.
According to the registration that belonged to Fred Purcell,
the crime lab reported that there were no fingerprints on the weapon.
We tried once more to talk to Purcell, but again, we were unable to.
We asked Harry Carnell, the latest suspect, to tell us the story of the shooting.
I went up to the place to collect some money, Mancree, for me.
What happened when he got to the apartment?
Dr. In the door and Purcell let me in.
Who was in the room?
Just him and Mancree.
That's all.
Yeah.
Well, I got it.
Well, I came in and said I had to have the loot, and Mancree told me he was stony.
He said to check him tomorrow.
Purcell got on his back, said he was always welching in the face starting.
You mean between there, Louis?
Yeah, they were both pretty gas when I got there.
You have any drinks with them?
No, no.
I had a date, sir.
That's what I needed the money for.
I got a girl with a pretty big appetite.
I was broke, and I figured I'd tap Mancree for what he owed me.
Further?
Anyway, these two got in a big beef.
Purcell told Mancree to get out.
He wouldn't go.
So Purcell ran over to a desk there in the room and hauled out this big gunstar to blaze away.
How many shots do you fire?
Well, one's all I remember.
It might have been more, but I didn't spend a lot of time counting.
Just wonder.
Yeah.
No, guys, that's a clay pigeon on your head. You ain't gonna stand there.
What happened then?
Purcell pointed the gun at me, said I should get out, too.
I didn't feel like telling him he was wrong.
During the time you were there, did you see anybody else at all?
No.
My wife was around someplace, I guess.
Why do you say that?
Well, they started yelling at each other.
I heard Mancree say they'd bother Harriet.
That's Fred's wife, Harriet.
Uh-huh.
I took off like a big bird.
Where'd you go?
My place.
I had a couple of belts and then walked by the apartment and see what was going on.
No broad there started yelling about how I was the guy who ran out of the place after the shooting.
Next thing I know, I got the collar on.
Here I am.
Purcell told me when you last saw him.
I was standing over Mancree's hole in the gun, looking like a cover on a pub magazine.
You willing to sign a statement of what you just told us?
Sure.
Quite in this action.
Just went to collect a bet at the wrong time, that's all.
Pretty lousy night.
Missed my date, didn't collect the money enough in the can.
It's pretty lousy.
But I'm not the only one, though.
Oh, Purcell always thought he was such a great card player.
It's a real fish.
You lost six bucks tonight.
None of your part, right?
Huh?
He lost more than that, didn't he?
Harry Carnell was taken to the report room where he made a full statement.
At 7.03 a.m., Lieutenant Ray Geesey from homicide division came in and took over the investigation.
Fred Purcell was questioned and he made a voluntary statement that he'd shot and killed Norman Mancree.
He couldn't remember why he'd done it.
He was removed to the main jail and booked in on a charge of violation of Section 192PC, manslaughter.
His wife and Carnell were released in custody.
They made out reports to all divisions for the follow-ups on crimes committed during the night.
At 8.02 a.m., the men on the day watch came in and relieved us.
Tell me a nice day.
Yeah.
Two clouds up there.
Might keep the heat down.
Yeah, let's go.
You want to stop her breakfast?
Well, I guess we might as well, yeah.
What do you think, Joe?
Mm-hmm.
You like to drive the business office for a permanent duty?
No, sir, not me.
I guess OK once in a while.
I don't think I'd like it steady, though.
Huh?
Not busy enough.
The story you have just heard is true.
The names were changed to protect the innocent.
On November 18, trial was held in Department 98's superior court of the state of California
in and for the county of Los Angeles.
In a moment, the results of that trial.
Further investigation proved that the purchase of the automobile by Melville Holbert was legal
and no further charges were made.
Frederick Neal Purcell was tried and found guilty of manslaughter and received punishment as prescribed by law.
Manslaughter is punishable by imprisonment in the state penitentiary for a period not to exceed ten years.
You have just heard dragnet, a series of authentic cases from official files.
Technical advice comes from the Office of Chief of Police, W.H. Parker, Los Angeles Police Department.
