Dragnet - The Big September Man, S01E11 * Classic TV show

ladies and gentlemen the story you were about to see is true the names have been changed to protect the innocent this is the city from one night to the next it's never the same they make it that way counting the suburbs there's 4 million of them most of the people have something to add a few of them are out to take it away in my job they're the ones who keep you on the Move I'm a [Music] cop it was Wednesday September 28th we were working the night watch out of homicide detail my partner's Ed Jacobs the boss is Thad Brown chief of detectives my name's Friday it was 11:48 p.m. when I got back from the crime lab the call came in a few hours before an attractive blonde secretary was found beaten to death in a downtown office building a length of steel pipe wrapped in heavy paper was on the floor beside her there was no trace of the killer no apparent motive for the killing for every murder there's at least one of each we had to find him hi lope hi Jo you seen Jacob's was around the last half hour I was supposed to meet him here yeah he's come and gone still around the building now he just had a call oh what about do you know yeah was on that killing T night call came from one of the cruiser cars checking the neighborhood down where it happened mhm they find something picked up a guy about three blocks from the murder scene he was acting suspicious been in the cruiser car figured maybe you'd want to talk to him they're bringing the man in now are they yeah mhm you've been over cheing at the crime lab yeah there's not much the murder weapons all we got so far piece of pipe with heavy manella paper wrapped around it l Prince do any good they lifted a lot of fingerprints they all belong to the victim none of them are foreign have you got a toothpick Joe had cor on the C for dinner tonight yeah they sure usually some in this top drawer is it yeah there you go thanks Joe I understand it wasn't much to look at the killing I mean it was a pretty vicious thing the girl took a terrible beating who found the body one of the scrub women in the building it was an office up on the ninth floor import export company victim was a secretary there pretty girl she dead long must have happened around 7:00 tonight I figured it's just a guas what's the girl's name she been identified yet yeahhuh ad prior her boss is out of town and she was working in the office alone no one suspicious was seen entering or leaving the office around the time of the murder no one we know of anyway it's going to take a lot of checking any ideas what the motive could have been well it wasn't robbery they didn't keep any cash in the office and as far as we know the girl wasn't carrying much money we'll start making the rounds in the morning checking with her friends who we can pick up hi Joe Hi how are youed bring the guy in yet Ed mhm ly briefy about it Joe yeah Cruiser car picked up a suspicious looking guy out near the scene of the murder that about the size of it little more than that they found the man beating his head against a brick wall in a back alley about two blocks from the office building where we found the body gu had been drinking heavily when they picked him up he was pretty far gone kept mumbling something about how he didn't deserve to live how he was a murderer killer not too coherent they ask him about the dead girl ad Del prior yeah but the stuff he said didn't make much sense he sobered up a little since it picked him up might as well see what we can get out of him before we booked him in huh got him in the interrogation room now okay we'll give it a try any calls come in you know where to find us L huh right J see you later all right thanks Joe yeah you check the crime lab mhm about all we're sure of is a murder weapon no Prince no other physical evidence maybe won't matter got half an idea we might have the killer now the guy they picked up howy figure just a hunch I don't think he's drunk as he pretends well we're going to have to place him a lot closer to the murder scene and two blocks away we can't prove a thing the way it stands I was downstairs when they brought the man in talked to him while we were bringing him up to the interrogation room mhm told me he knows the dead girl all right said he was with her an hour before she died thorough investigation of the murder scene by the crime lab failed to turn up anything in the way of leads they knew they had the murder weapon and that was all the deputy Corner arrived and removed the body to the county morg for posting at 10:00 that night 3 hours after the approximate time of the prior girl's death officers in a cruiser car patrolling the area found a drunken man butting his head against a cement wall and muttering incoherently about a murder the man was picked up and taken downtown to the interrogation room where Ed and I questioned him we talked to him a full hour before he began to make sense he gave his name as Robert French age 34 an unemployed engineer while we questioned him Becker and enenas from homicide checked the hotel room where French had told Eddie was staying I don't know I guess I had three four drinks at Dusty's place and I went down the street to the blue Canary had some more drinks there I don't I don't remember what happened after that I I wouldn't feel so good you say you were drinking at Dusty's place around 7:00 p.m. that right French I suppose so I wasn't watching the clock I guess it was around 7 did you talk to anybody while you were in the bar oh no no just a bartender his name is sge I don't know his last he tell you I was there what time was it when you got to Dusty's Place Frank couldn't tell you for sure about 6:30 sge probably tell you the bartender tell you little while ago you told us you knew ad Del prior yeah I knew her I used to work for her husband Rex husband I mean they've been divorced 7 8 years now you said you saw a d PRI in her office late this afternoon French what was the reason for the visit I bought a couple of dollars something you're always pretty good that way nice kid I don't know anybody want to kill her like that how about the show you were putting on out in the street tonight French beating your head against that wall and I what was that all about drunk really drunk just look so I want to kill myself just lay down and die how's that you remorseful you felt sorry for something You' done is that it I don't know I don't think any special reason for it when I got that way I just keep thinking I want to die mhm I got the nerve for it though like my old man used to say I got the nerve to do anything right I just wasn't born one that way I guess that's it you use narcotics French no I a even got the nerve for that booze that's all that's good enough for me you think we can go out for a cup of coffee maybe I could use it we can have some brought in Ed do you want to check with lope he's usually got a pot on the stove in there huh yeah okay and see if those two men had check back in yet will you all right appreciate it Sergeant you're going to be mean when the boo wears off like ask you a little more about the prior girl french just how well did you know her not too well I guess I used to see her maybe once a month mhm up there at her office yeah that's right nice girl whenever I was broke I could always depend on her for a couple of bucks I liked it nice person did you ever go out with her oh no no never did no no romance stuff I didn't like her that way she's a good person we got a along okay want a cigarette no thanks mouth full of cotton already how about this business of Adele prior lending you money she think quite a bit of you did she well I did her couple of favors once when I was working for her husband and she was still married to him she was going out with a guy she liked on the side she was out with this guy once I saw together and she asked me not to say anything so I didn't before she got a divorce I used to cover up for her all the time she never forgot it I guess mhm how about when you saw her in her office tonight French how'd she seem to you all right then yeah same as ever I asked her if she could let me a five she did and I left was about4 after 6 I guess there anyone else in the office when you left yeah there was a guy waiting in the little reception room I don't know who he was you remember what he looked like yeah a little taller than I am I guess my age had a gray suit on black hair kind of dark complexion I didn't take a good look at him you think you'd know him if you ever saw him again I'm not sure maybe I would he had a medium build I think maybe I know him you say he was waiting in the reception room when you left huh yeah when I walked out he got up and started into the office that's the last I saw him what was that I said that's the last I saw him Joe see you a minute yeah yeah Beckner and nen us have checked in just got back from going over French's hotel room what they find white shirt pair of brown shoes pair of dark trousers what about them blood stains on all of them the stained pieces of clothing found in the suspect's hotel room were delivered to Lieutenant Lee Jones at the crime lab for detailed examination we had French check through rni he had no previous criminal record Ed and I continued to question the suspect until 4:00 a.m. he denied any knowledge or complicity in the killing of 28-year-old Adele prior he told us the Blood Stained clothing in his hotel room was the result of an accident that he'd been in 2 weeks before when he'd been drinking heavily French kept insisting that we check on the darkhaired man who'd been waiting in the reception room of the prior girl's office the night before when French left her we gave the description of the unidentified suspect along with the mo to the stats office requesting them to furnish us with any information regarding any assaults or any solved or unsolved [Music] [Applause] [Music] murdered at 4:15 a.m. we booked in Robert French at the main jail on suspicion of 187 PC murder the next morning at 10:00 a.m. the leg work began Lopez and Beckner from homicide started checking on the background and The Alibi of the suspect Robert French it didn't hold much water none of the people at either of the bars where French said he'd been drinking at the time of the murder could definitely vouch for his presence but they all volun IED the information that no matter how much he drank French was never violent toward other people only [Music] himself Lopez and Beckner continued investigating the suspect while Ed and I checked on the background of the victim Adele prior at 8:25 p.m. we got back to the office hi I've been waiting for you too L you and Beckman do any good nothing to celebrate over long day tired feet anything new at all maybe French is our man you can't prove it by me every place we checked everybody we talk to the same answer yeah he's a smart guy with a good education he's on the bottle and out of work everybody seems to like him he gets drunk but he never bothers anybody that's about the worst anybody can say about him he drinks too much how about his being friends with the dead girl did you dig up anything there yeah but it only proves he was telling you the truth as far as we could find out there's nothing going on between the two of them everything we got it only verifies what he told you he had no interest in the girl except to borrow off her when he was broke mhm you got in touch with the girl's ex-husband did you yeah but we couldn't add anything we're all clear there by the way Lee Jones called from the crime lab just before you came in what do you have ly well he finished testing the blood stains on those clothes he found in French's hotel room none of the stains on them match the victim's blood type another dead end man it's hard to figure sure got me stopped oh this just came in report for you from the stats office you asked me to make a run for you on something last night mhm what's it look like doesn't help much looks like more leg work what's that Joe well French told us when he left the Del prior last night there was a man in the reception from waiting to see her he gave us the guy's description and the stats office made a run on it for us it's the best one they got yeah guy's name is William Tanner WMA 32 years old 5'9 160 lb dark hair dark complexion fit a description French gave us of the guy yeah the rest of it's a lot closer to home how do you mean William Tanner was a prominent suspect in The Donaldson murder last September the testimony of friends and relatives subsequently cleared him The Donaldson murder is still unsolved you know mhm what's the point well the same thing that killed donalson killed aell prior what do you mean piece of steel pipe WRA in paper to the working detective assigned to examine a criminal case the element of coincidence when it occurs generally serves to complicate any investigation toward the solution of the crime coincidence May mean a lot or it may mean nothing in any event it can't be dismissed this time we had two examples of coincidence to deal with a girl had been beaten to death in an office building within two blocks of the murder we found a man fairly well acquainted with a victim vitim who admitted to seeing the girl within an hour of her death primary investigation uncovered some facts which tend to incriminate the man some facts which tend to prove him innocent is his presence in the immediate neighborhood of the killing only coincidental or was he there at the particular time for the purpose of murder we didn't know by the same token a man by the name of William Tanner was suspected one year before of beating an elderly woman to death with an identical murder weapon a length of steel pipe wrapped in paper this same person William Tanner matched the description of a man reportedly seen entering Adele prior's office shortly before she was murdered Tanner also had a criminal record of one conviction for assault maybe it was a lead maybe it was nothing it had to be checked out we showed Tanner's mug shot to our first murder suspect Robert French but he failed to identify it when we found that William Tanner had moved from his last known address we checked with his next of kin his brother Martin Tanner he was with the city Fire Department we found him on duty at the neighborhood fire station on Norwich Avenue no I'm afraid not Sant haven't seen my brother Bill in 3 weeks now he's not at DIS apartment I couldn't tell you where to find him we tried the last reest we had on him he wasn't there 8625 Norman Road oh no I moved out of there 6 7 months ago got his new address in my locker upstairs I can give it to you before you go if you want we appreciate it yeah what's the B Sergeant I'm brother in some kind of trouble again I guess huh Mr a routine check you sound like you almost expected brother to be in trouble Tanner tell you the truth I guess I do I don't know what's happened to Bill excuse me a minute oh it's not our call how would you mean that Tanner what's happened to your brother tell you the truth I don't know Bill and I used to live together with our mother ma died about 2 years ago I don't think bill ever really got over it he was a lot closer to M than I was I see after she died he drank quite a bit for a while and he tried women lots of them after that he seemed to turn to religion at first we thought that had help and we would have too except that he's an odd guy finds a way of distorting the Bible seems to go to extremes that kind of thing you know any of your brother's close friends by any chance oh few of my guests I've been over to Bill's apartment from time to time last couple of months he's introduced me to a few people mhm you know any of his women friend yeah I do two or three of them how about the name ofele prior mean anything to you would she be kind of a pretty girl blonde hair nice clothes yeah that's right what you met her Panner yeah Bill had me meet her once seemed to like her quite a bit why was he pretty serious about her or would you know that yeah he was serious about her all right he told me that I don't think it work both ways though looked to me like she was playing the field Bill took good way too serious how do you mean d well they went together steady for a while and they broke it up she did on me mhm how' your brother take that not so good I remember the night about a month ago never saw Bill like that before real bad shap wasn't drinking either that's so never saw Bill like that in my life like what off his head he could have gone out and killed a girl before we left the fire station we got William Tanner's new address from his brother martin it was the same address as that of the murdered girl Adele prior an apartment house close by the intersection of Wilshire and laa Tanner's apartment was on the third flooor just down the hall from the prior girls apartment but Tanner wasn't there the apartment house manager told us that he'd moved out the night before without leaving any forwarding address Ed put in a call to the suspect's place of business an industrial Chemical Company where Tanner was employed as assistant office manager what was reason sir oh I see uh-huh yeah well thank you very much sir we'll be checking with you later bye whatd he say Tanner left yesterday quit without giving notice told him he had a better job lined up where South America Saturday October 1st 8: a.m. we got out a broadcast and an APB on murder suspect William [Music] Tanner we checked with the local US state department office but they had no record of granting a passport recently to a William Tanner to travel in a South American country we talked to the various consulates in the city representing South American nations but none of them had issued a visa to a William Tanner recently or anyone answering his description together with Lopez and Beckner from homicide Ed and I continued the search for the missing suspect the deeper we checked into his background the more we became convinced that mentally Tanner was far from normal most of the people who knew the suspect told us the same story his brother had given us in recent months Tanner had taken strongly to religion he attended Revival meetings and similar religious exercises every night in the week he talked nothing but repentance he quoted the scriptures constantly he adopted the habit of carrying a Bible with him wherever he went reading from it aloud every chance he got he kept urging his friends to join him in being [Music] saved on Monday October 3rd we began a check of the various Revival Halls on Wednesday October 5th we found him he was attending a gospel Revival in a meeting Hall in the South End of the city he told us he had a room in a small hotel directly above the meeting Hall but he seemed reluctant to take us up there while Lopez and Beckner got a pass key from the manager and went up to check the room Ed and I questioned Tanner I was sorry to hear about Adele what happened to her it's a terrible thing isn't it yes sir we understand you knew ad Del prior fairly well Mr Tanner that correct yes that's correct I liked her quite a bit at one in time we used to see a lot of each other I was engaged to her you know how is it you never married Tanner did she break off the engagement oh no I was lucky I found out in time I broke off with her what do you mean you found out in time what' you find out I found the truth Sergeant the Everlasting word but know this and understand that no unclean person or Covetous one has any inheritance in the Kingdom of Christ and God for these have given themselves up in despair to sensuality greedily practicing every kind of uncleanness do not then become partakers with them that's the Everlasting word Sergeant the holy book yes sir but I'm not quite sure I follow you open your eyes and ears to the Everlasting word and you will know and understand all things it's very simple officer I don't want to say anything uncharitable about her Adele wasn't for me I'm glad I found out in time that's all when's the last time you saw her Tanner you remember no I don't not exactly I think I saw her a week or so before it happened before they found her dead where was it you saw her how's that I say where was it the last time you saw her on the street it was downtown somewhere I passed her on the street used to live in the same apartment house she did isn't that right right down theall from her yes I did why and for a full week you didn't happen to see the prior girl around the apartment building at all no that's right when I broke off with Adele that was it I had no reason to see her anymore it's not too clear Tanner it doesn't jive with what we've been told about you and the prior girl well they're lies of course I suppose you know that Adele was a beautiful girl very beautiful a lot of men she knew were jealous of me well now the way we understand it Tanner you never did break off with Miss prior you were going around with her and you were seen with her right up the day of her death well that's certainly a lie I can prove that as soon as I found out about Adele that was weeks before she was killed told as soon as I found out that was the end I broke off with her right away like to know what you're referring to Tanner you found out what Adele Adele she was one of those what I'm sorry she was a sinner I almost went out of my mind when I found out she knew it was wrong she must have known it's right there in the book for anybody to read do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts what are you trying to tell us it was terrible she sinned all the time she committed terrible sins come on over to this side there with me I can tell you all about i' i' just assume nobody heard this sure go ahead this will be all right here just one question before you get started yes you ever visit a Del PRI at her place of business downtown at her office no I never did why did you visit a Del prior at her office the day she was killed the Lord is my witness Sergeant I have nothing to fear why should you ask me that question we have a report you were seeing going into the office less than an hour before the prior girl was murdered i' like to have you clarify that for us if you would well certainly it's a lie you sure you weren't in that office with her just before she died let me tell you about her sins there was never anything as evil as this Sergeant is that right yes it was a terrible shock I liked Adele I think I loved her we've been going out for 2 months sometimes I'd take her here so she could learn about the Everlasting words so she could know about the terrible sins some people commit drinking and parties and carrying on things that no one should do especially girls like Adele beautiful girl how can you be sure she was doing anything wrong Tanner do you have any real proof of it everything Sergeant just knowing she was sinning against the Lord did you know of any of the other men she went out with they were sinful I knew that they only liked Adele because she was beautiful did you know any of the man did you know for a fact there was anything wrong I knew everything Sergeant she was a beautiful girl and I thought she was a woman of the Lord and I wanted it for my wife but she gave in to sin I guess that's her business Tanner how she lived we're trying to find out how she died well just let me tell you about it I'd lie there in the dark in my room upstairs and wait to hear a come in down the hall was always late 2 and 3:00 in the morning I'd hear a come in well you still haven't told us Tanner what about the men she went out with the prior girl slaves of the devil every one of them all right you want to tell us Mister how about it is that what made you do it wait a minute you don't wait to listen you say made me do it made me do what I think you know what I mean Tanner you want to tell us now it's a terrible thing all this sin around us it's a grave thing the whole world there's not one just man there is none who understands there's none who seeks after God there's none who does good no not even one their throat is an open separer and with their tongues they have dealt deceitfully the Venom of asps is beneath their lips their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness destruction and misery are in their ways and the path of peace they have not known there is no fear of God Before Their Eyes no fear of God well yes sir we'd still like an answer to our question maybe we could talk it out a little better down time the wisdom and the knowledge is here and now I knew Adele and the terrible sins they had to be paid for Adele had to pay for every one of them you want to get to the point Mister now what is it what are you trying to tell us the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the charity of God and The Fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all amen she sinned and she died yeah in the name of God in the name of our Lord amen I killed her William Harold Tanner was brought downtown immediately where he volunteered a complete statement admitting full guilt for the murder of Adele prior Blood Stained clothing found in his room corroborated his story he gave us the details of how he murdered Adele prior because she spurned his attentions we began questioning him about the Donaldson murder which had taken place more than a year before and which was still unsolved the victim 64-year-old Louise Donaldson had met death in the same manner as Adele prior no I didn't know the old lady but she had money I'd been told that I was broke and I needed the money so I thought it would be a good thing this was in September a year ago that you murdered her yes September all right she was all alone she didn't have anybody she was sick I probably did her a favor now your package says you figured in the investigation on the plot to blow up the rexmore hotel about 3 years ago homemade bomb planted in the basement of the hotel yeah that was mine 3 years ago September you never could have traced it it's too bad the bomb didn't go off I hated those Hotel people that right what was the matter well I worked at that hotel once you know I worked hard too one Saturday they held up my paycheck I didn't get it until the next Tuesday I never forgot that September September well what would that have to do with it I don't know really September's always been the time that's all I always seem to work into some kind of trouble every September I don't know what it is it just seems to be the best time September it's always September mhm I really didn't want to kill Adele there wasn't anything else I could do she was a sinner drinking and running around she committed sins all the time the worst kinds of sins terrible yeah well maybe you better check the book Tanner you're way ahead of her what do you mean what kind of sins worse than [Music] murder on January 10th trial was held in Superior Court department 87 City and County of Los Angeles State of California in a moment the results of that trial the suspect was examined by three psychiatrists appointed by the state and found to be sane at the time of the murders he was tried and convicted of first-degree murder two [Music] counts la [Music] la

Channel: Classic PD TV Shows

Views: 128,364

Keywords: 1950s, dragnet, the big september man, los angeles, police drama, classic tv

Id: 6agzGMDHJ84

Length: 26min 8sec (1568 seconds)

Published: Sat Mar 11 2017