Original subtitles

[ Frida y Nam? ting] This is the ciz‘y— [as Ange/es, California,

ln 7 920, the population was 5 76, 6 73.

Today, L os Ange/es is the third largest city in the United States,

Near/y three million people live here,

From every nation, L os Ange/es dra ws its bloodline,

When some of that blood is spilled / go to work.

/ car/ya badge,

/t was Tuesday, August 7 6. /t was hot in L os Ange/es.

We were working the day watch out of Homicide Di Vision, The boss is Captain Hugh Bro wn.

My partner’s Bill Gannon.

My name is Friday

We ’d just come back fl’om a bomb in vest/gation.

/t turned out to be a hoax.

[Man Narrating] The story you are about to see is true.

The names have been changed to protect the innocent.

How‘d it go, Bill? No bomb? No bomb.

This heat keeps up, the whole town‘s gonna blow.

Yeah. I sighed us in. Good

For me? From the fifth floor.

Credit union. Pink slip on my car. Paid offyourloah, huh?

Finally. NowI gotta see Bob Fennell again. What for?

Another loan. Now I have to get it fixed. Transmission went out.

[Brown] Friday, Gannon. Yes, sir.

Close to quitting time, I know, but here‘s one to go on. I‘ll sign you out. Yes, sir.

1104 Westgarden. Dead body.

Don‘t know what I‘m gonna do with all the overtime I‘m piling up. Buy a yacht.

[Friday Narra ting] 4:23 pm. Before we lefl‘ RAB,

we made the notifications, and then we headed across town for the Westgarden address.

7 704 Westgarden was located in a quiet residential neighborhood 75 minutes fl’om the ofiice.

/t was 4:40pm. when we got there.

Friday and Gannon. Homicide. Fisher, 1 L—36.

The body‘s in the bedroom. Here‘s your D.O.A. slip. Right. Thanks, Fisher.

Who‘s she? Mrs. Sunshine Pound. She put in the call.

Right. Ask her to stand by, will you? Right, Sergeant.

Thankyou.

Joe, Bill. Hi, Blake.

What‘ve ya got? Two gunshots.

— Where? — Head and the heart area. Those two slugs weigh more than she did.

Tiny little thing Yeah. Who covered the body?

— Woman out there in the front room. — Let us know when you pull the slugs.

— Right, Gannon. —All right, Ed.

Besides the usual shots, / want two lateral, two vertical and one head do wn— and in color. Okay, Sergeant.

Can ’t weigh over 90 pounds. Beautiful girl, joe. A living doll

Not anymore.

You‘re Mrs. Sunshine Pound? Beg yourpardon?

You‘re Mrs. Sunshine Pound?

Had you tuned out. Yes, that‘s correct.

Police officers, ma‘am. This is Sergeant Friday. My name‘s Gannon.

Oh, the shame ofit all.

Lovely girl like Reiko. Who could do such a thing?

—What‘s her full name, Mrs. Pound? — Reiko Hashimoto.

Twenty—six years old S h e m a rri ed ?

She was. Her husband was killed seven months ago in Vietnam.

— He was a sergeant in the army. — What was his name? Would you know?

Frank. Frank Hashimoto. They were a lovely couple.

He was an army career man, brought Reiko over fl’om japan.

He was nisei, born and raised right here in Los Angeles.

— Did you hear any shots, any disturbance? — No. Not a sound.

— Where do you live, Mrs. Pound? —Just down the block. 1181 Westgarden.

Friday, see you a minute? Excuse me.

We‘re gonna move the body,Joe. Bill.

Be right back.

Looks like there was an exit wound.

Wanna check it? It‘ll keep.

See you,Joe. Right, Blake.

Find out anything yet?

She‘s dead, and she was pretty.

Poor Reiko. Poor little thing.

The Hashimotos have any enemies that you know of? Anyone who might do a thing like this?

Not a soul, Sergeant. They were delightful neighbors.

Kept pretty much to themselves. 0h, they were fl’iendly,

but they loved their home— always sprucing it up.

And isn‘t it lovely? Reiko was so neat and tidy.

You say she was fromJapan. She have any relatives in this country?

— Yes. One. Her mother. — Would you know her name?

— It‘s Mrs. Watanabe. — Do you know where we might find her?

Not exactly. / only met her once.

I thinkfrom what Reiko said that she has an apartment someplace down inJapanese Town— Little Tokyo.

— That‘s where Miko probably is, staying with her grandmother. — Miko?

Yes. Reiko‘s little daughter. She‘s only five.

— Mrs. Pound, did Mrs. Hashimoto have any men friends that you know of? — How do you mean that, Sergeant?

— Well, I mean, being a widow, did she go out with men? — Ifshe did, I never heard her say.

She lo ved her husband and although she was a beautiful girl,

I doubt very much ifshe ever saw another man.

— Why would her daughter be staying with her mother? — I don‘t know.

— You covered the body with that bedsheet? — Yes, I did.

I couldn‘t stand to wait here foryou people with that little thing lying in there.

— Yes, ma‘am. — I‘m deaf, you know.

— When there‘s something I don‘t want to hear, I turn off my aid. — Yes, ma‘am.

Poor little Reiko. There‘s no way I can tune that out.

[Friday Narra ting] 535 p. m. Bill cal/ed Captain Brown and filled him in.

He asked for another two teams to begin a house—to—house check of the neighborhood..

to see if an y witnesses could be turned

The captain said they would begin a search for Reiko Hashimoto ’s mother, Mrs. Watanabe.

/ talked to Sergeant Dean Bergman fl’om Latent Prints.

Doesn‘t look too promising,Joe. House is unusually clean.

The woman must have dusted and waxed the place every 1 5 minutes. Yeah.

Got a few prints, but right now I don‘t know. I‘ll work for eliminations. Thanks, Dean.

Alexander, Petrovich, Higbie and Hansen are on theirway out to give us a hand.

Good. Let‘s see ifwe can turn a photograph ofthe Hashimoto woman. What‘s been dusted?

Everything in the room except this table.

Inside ofthis chest looks like a filing cabinet.

Same here. Even/thing’s in perfect order.

Must have been quite a housekeeper.

Not a thing out of place.

Joe.

Reiko Hashimoto. Recent picture, I‘d say, wouldn‘t you?

She was pretty,Joe.

Let‘s check on that slug in the bedroom.

— /n there? — No, it doesn‘t seem to be.

Went on through. Under the house.

Wanna get the fiashlights? It‘s getting dark out. Be easier to find it in the morning.

It‘ll still be dark under the house in the morning.

[Friday Narra ting] 555 p. m. While / crawled under the house, Bill waited in the bedroom above.

He signaled to me by tapping on the floor.

When /reached the area underneath the bedroom, / returned the signal

[Gannon] Okay /’m bringing the flashlight over the hole.

All right. /t’s on.

I see it.

Ho w you comin ’? Workin‘ on it.

Got it?

Got it.

[Friday Narrating] 6: 7 0 p. m. Two teams ofdetectives arrived..

to assist Bill and me in checking the immediate neighborhood..

in the hope that we might turn up someone who might knowsomething about Reiko Hashimoto ’s murder.

We gave one of the photographs of Reiko Hashimoto to Chuck Higbie and his partner.

Bill and / kept the other one.

Fveryhouse within a two—block radius would be checked

9.35 p. m. Three hours later, we were no further ahead than we were before.

About all you can say is we took along walk on a warm summer evening.

Did you pull up anything, Chuck? Woman whose property backs up on this house thinks she heard a couple ofshots.

Thinks itwas around 11:00, 11:30. Yeah?

She also said it could have been a car backfiring. She‘s not sure,Joe.

Couldn‘t you pin her down on whether they sounded like shots or backfiring?

Yeah,Joe. I tried. Shejust wasn‘t sure.

You‘d think people would try to be a little more sure.

Anything else, Chuck?

Hansen talked to a woman by the name ofCordell.

L ur/ene Cordell She lives a couple blocks fl’om here. 908 South Wallace.

What about her? She was attacked by some guy driving a yellow Dodge pickup truck.

Said she reported it. Yeah?

Said the truck was full of housepainter‘s gear. She remembers a ladder painted red and green.

Threatened her with a gun. She didn ’t know the caliber. Anything else?

— Nope. That‘s about it. — Then what‘s the connection?

I didn‘t say there was. Just giving you what we turned.

With all that, Higbie, we ought to break it in about an hour.

— Something wrong,Joe? — No, Chuck. There‘s nothing wrong.

A hundred pounds ofyoung woman was shot through the head and the heart.

10—to—1 she was mauled bywhoever did it.

She is got a five—year—o/d kid and a mother floating around some where in this city They don ’t even knowshe is bought in.

We can‘t buy a piece ofanything to pick up and run with.

Some case ofarrested development can walk into a home like this,

destroya human life, waltz out and leave nothing behind but his memory.

And you can‘t run a make on that.

We‘re all tired. Let‘s grab something to eat and hit it again first thing in the morning.

You go ahead. I‘ll see you at the office tomorrow.

Wife‘s holding dinner. Seeyou in the morning,Joe. Bill.

Right. Thanks, Chuck. Come on,Joe. Nothing more we can do here tonight.

I‘ll hang a while longer. What‘s bugging you you get in that first lecture at the academy.

Yeah? What‘s that? The business of not letting yourself get personally involved in a case.

Who says I am? I do. I know it‘s a useless killing. They all are.

I know we haven‘t got eight cents to go on. We seldom do.

But don‘t let this one eat at you,Joe.

Here are the car keys. I‘ll catch a ride with Higbie.

Thanks, Bill. Smoke a cigarette and go home.

[Door Closes]

[Friday Narra ting] When a man signs on the job, a lot of things come with the badge.

The risk, the pay, the hours he works.

One thing that isn ’t regulation issue: his personal feelings.

There is no way of regu/a ting an ofiicer’s thoughts when he ’s on an investigation.

He becomes hardened to the sight of a dead human being— to the grotesque, the hideous,

to man ’s inhumanity— his almost casual ability to murder, to take another’s life.

Once in a great while, an ofiicer’s knees bend

/f the y buck/e, he’s been on the job too long

Reiko Hashimoto was dead /t was ourjob to find who made her that way

Bill was right / smoked a cigarette and went home.

Wednesday, August 77, 8: 70 a. m.

Bill and / reported to the coroner’s ofifice for the postmortem on Reiko Hashimoto.

Victim had been dead approximately five hours before discovery. Yeah?

She‘d been sexually molested. Killer didn‘t have to worry about the shot in her heart.

This is the one that did it. The other one was no vitamin pill.

[Friday Narrating] 8.35 a. m. We took the slug the coroner had reco vered fiom the victim is head..

to S /. D., Ballistics Section.

Ray Murray placed it under the comparison microscope...

along with the slug we had reco vered fiom under the Hashimoto home.

They check. They were fired from the same weapon. What‘s the caliber, Ray?

255 grains, .45—caliber revolver.

Big gun. Yeah. For such a tiny target.

[Friday Narra ting] 9:00 a. m. We met with Captain Hugh Brown in the Homicide squad room.

The two slugs match up, and that‘s it, huh? That’s it

You‘re sure about the general location on that Watanabe woman, Hashimoto girl‘s mother?

Yes, sir. Mrs. Pound says she lives somewhere down around Little Tokyo.

Ifshe does, she‘s rolled up tighter than a fortune cookie. We can‘t find her.

The story made all the papers this morning. Ifshe reads them, she‘ll know.

How about your callbacks? Last night when you made your house—to—house, everybody home?

No, sir. Three houses were dark in the Hashimoto block. Thought we‘d tag ‘em now.

Get to it. We gotta turn somebody else who can tell us how this woman lived.

Being a widow, attractive, good chance she might’ve had men in her life.

Maybe one of‘em rang her doorbell with a .45.

— My guess is no. — Let‘s find out anyway.

— Yes, sir. — And, Friday—

— Yes, sir? — Let‘s ease offon the hours you and Gannon have been putting in.

/ want to get the bum who did it just as much as you two.

I also want to see you on thejob. Get your rest.

I‘ll admit this is one that‘s liable to keep me awake nights.

They all do me.

[Friday Narra ting] 7 020 a. m. Bill and / return to Wes tgarden Street ..

to check the three houses where there was no answer the night before.

Two of the places said they didn ’t know Reiko Hashimoto and had nothing unusual to report

We tried the third and last home on the block

I heard the entire story on the news. It was his will, ofcourse.

Whose will, ma‘am? Our Heavenly Shepherd.

When he summons his flock, we must respond. Yes, ma‘am.

— I wonder ifwe could have yourfull name, please. — Sister Agatha Edney. E—D—N—E—Y.

The Reverend Anointed Goodlang ofthe Flock ofOur Heavenly Shepherd Tabernacle ofthe Angels will vouch for me.

There‘s nothing to be vouched for, Miss Edney. Wejust want a little information.

About my little departed Japanese neighbor.

Yes, ma‘am. Were you home yesterday morning?

— I was. Until 9:00. — You left the house at 9:00?

Tuesday Bible class begins at 9:30. I do not drive a car.

/walk I see. What time did you return home?

Midnight. I stayed for the church social and supper.

When was the last time you saw Mrs. Hashimoto, ma‘am?

I can‘t say. I seldom saw her. She‘s not church people.

Can you tell us anything at all about Mrs. Hashimoto?

Ever see any visitors come to her house? Anything like that?

I rarely go outside of my home, and then not to spy.

— Spying is the work ofthe devil. — Yes, ma‘am.

Does anyone else live here?

— Yes. — Who would that be?

Our Heavenly Shepherd dwells in the house ofall who believe.

[Sighs]

[Friday Narrating] 7 7:05 am. We began a store—to—store check..

on all places of business in the small shopping center in the Westgarden district

/t netted us nothing

Noon. Bill and / began questioning people who passed by the Hashimoto home.

We talked to the mailman, the mi/kman, the paperbo y

We talked to anyone who ’d talk to us.

So far, the results were all negative. 3.30 p. m.

Oh, yes. A lovely woman. I used to see her once in a while doing her gardening. Yes, ma‘am.

I‘m sorryI can‘t helpyou. Poor little thing.

Well, thanks anyway. Yes.

Beginning to look hopeless. Yeah. How many does that make?

Fifty—three.

Another woman. You want to take her? Yeah.

Police officer, ma‘am. Am /underarrest?

No. Ijust want to askyou a few questions. I‘m not under arrest?

No, ma‘am. I live at 1255 Wallace Street. My husband gets home from work at 6:00.

Yes, ma‘am. You talk to him.

[Friday Narrating] Monday, August 29, 72:05 pm.

We kept at it for 72 days, watching waiting

We didn ’t know exactly what we were watching for. Maybe just a break

Anything that might shed some light on whoe ver murdered Reiko Hashimoto.

You sure you don‘t want this last hot dog?

No, thanks. You go ahead. You thinkI should?

Why not? I‘ve had four.

[ I/ehic/e Approaching]

Bill. I see it.

The ladder.

The woman Higbie talked to— What was her name? Cordell?

Lurlene Cordell. 908 South Wallace.

That‘s three minutes from here. I‘ll see ifI can make it in two.

[Friday Narra ting] We were lucky L ur/ene Cordell was at home.

Miss Cordell was positive it was the same truck and the same red and green ladder.

We waited Thirty minutes went by

I‘d never forget that face in a million years. That‘s him.

Police ofificers. Hold it right there. You ’re under arrest

What for? Forcible rape.

Get ‘em up there.

[Friday Narrating] The suspect identified himself as Ben Roy Yoder.

He was advised of his constitutional rights.

We asked that a black—and— white unit take him do wn to wn.

Bill dro ve L ur/ene Cordell back to her home.

/ went to the Fdneyhome to again talk to Agatha Edne y

Itwas his will, and his will will be done.

How long has Yoder lived here? Three years now.

Why didn‘t you tell us before he lived here? Ben Roy is my sister‘s boy.

He is fighting the devil. He is on parole.

He said he is always under suspicion by the police, so he hid to keep fighting the devil.

Kind oflooks like he lost, doesn‘t it?

[No Audible Dialogue]

[Friday Narrating] 3.30 p. m. Ben Roy Yoder was booked underSection 26 7, 3 P. C, Forcible Rape.

We still had nothing to connect Yoder with the murder of Reiko Hashimoto,

but because of the proximity of the Fdneyhome to the Hashimoto home...

and his M 0., Yoder looked like a good bet

500 p. m. A search warrant was obtained and along with Detectives Hansen, Alexander, Higbie and Retro vich,

Bill and/ drove out to the Edne y home to search for the murder weapon.

5: 7 8 p. m. We laid out plans for the search of the Edne y home.

Higbie, you and Alexander take the garage and the truck, okay? Right.

Hansen, you take the bedrooms. Don, how about the kitchen foryou?

You want to check the bathroom? I‘ll work the living room. Right.

This is not a den ofthieves to be searched. We‘ll try not to upset things any more than we have to, Miss Edney.

I shall pray, Officer. Yes, ma‘am.

Not foryou. For Ben Roy.

[Friday Narra ting] 7.32 p. m. We searched the entire premises three times.

Each time around we ’d s witch search areas.

Each ofi7cer would take a difi‘erent room than he had the time before.

Ten pounds ofair,Joe. All right. Again.

This time I‘ll take the kitchen. Each man alternate with his partner again.

I‘ll work the bathroom again. I‘ll take Yoder‘s bedroom.

You men are the devil’s disciples.

Yes, ma‘am. You men know no bounds.

You would search a heavenly temple, wouldn‘t you? Yes, ma‘am.

Ifwe thought there was a murder gun in it.

[ Gannon ] /oe. /n here.

Missed it before. False bottom in the drawer.

Found it underneath in this torn paper bag.

.45—caliber revolver.

Been fired recently.

You know, ifyou could cook, I‘d marryya.

[Friday Narra ting] Tuesday, August 30, 6:00 p. m.

Death bullets came from this weapon. Striations match perfectly.

This is the gun that killed the IittIeJapanese girl.

Looked like it was wiped clean. How do we tie it to Yoder?

I did that foryou too. Ran the paper sack through the anhydrine process.

Lifted several good prints. They belong to Yoder.

Thanks, Ray. Joe.

It‘s been a real pleasure doing business with you on this one.

[Friday Narra ting] 6' 7 0 p. m. Bill and / went downstairs to Homicide to check out for the day

Friday, Gannon. Yeah, Skipper.

Just got a call 10 minutes ago. Should interest you. Yes, sir.

She‘s out at the Hashimoto house, asked ifyou‘d drop by for a minute. Who‘s that?

Hashimoto woman‘s mother, Mrs. Watanabe.

[Friday Narra ting] 635 p. m. Bill and/ drove out to 7 7 04 Westgarden Street

Mrs. Watanabe showed us into the garden in back of the Hashimoto house.

I am so happyyou could come.

/t is for Miko. Yes, ma‘am.

I have prepared green tea and rice crackers.

Miko— [SpeakingJapanese]

[ Bell jing/ing ]

[ Watanabe ] This is Reiko’s daughter, Miko.

[SpeakingJapanese]

Tha n k you. Angato, Miko.

Mrs. Watanabe? No, thankyou.

The reason I did not call you before is I did not know of my daughter‘s dying.

Miko and me, we were staying with fiiends on a farm in /mperia/ Valley

/fina/lyread Rafu Shim po, /apanese paper,

and I learned of my sadness.

Yes, ma‘am. Mrs. Watanabe, we‘d like you to know...

we believe we‘ve caught the man that killed your daughter.

Oh. So quick. You have man in prison.

Why would he want my daughter‘s life?

We don‘t know, Mrs. Watanabe. Some menjust kill.

Oh, yes.

InJapan we have same, but not so many.

—Yes, ma‘am. — Miko, she has gift foryou.

She kno w you work hard to find the man who took her mother’s life.

Miko— [Japanese]

[Japanese]

[BellJingling]

— Very nice tea, Mrs. Watanabe. — I‘m so happyyou like it. It is fromJapan.

[Japanese]

She say it is her most favorite doll.

Her name is Princess Michiko.

She wishes foryou to have it.

Mrs. Watanabe, you don‘t have to give us anything. We‘re not allowed to accept gifts.

Oh, the child will be disappointed if you do not take it

Please tell her thankyou. Tell herjust the thought is enough.

Is it not a good enough doll?

— You tell her,just like her mistress— — [Watanabe] Yes?

Princess Michiko is a living doll.

[Narrator] The story you ha ve just seen is true.

The names were changed to protect the innocent

On No vember 20, trial was held..

in Department 785,

Superior Court of the State of California,

for the County of L os Ange/es.

/n a moment, the results of that trial

The suspect was found guilty of murder in the first degree.

Murder in the first degree is punishable by death...

or confinement in the state prison for life.