Original subtitles

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

/t’s the largest city in the United States,

L as Ange/es has a lot of e veg/thing—

peep/e,

a Police Administration Building and 76 geographical police diwsions—

North Hollywood Di Vision,

Wi/shire Di Vision,

West Valley Di Vision,

Van Nuys Di Vision,

Hollywood Di Vision,

L os Ange/es has one of the largest artificial harbors in the world

This is San Pedro,

/t has a baseball team, This is where the y pla y— Dodger Stadium,

/t has a sports arena. This one will handle ice hockey,

a rodeo, a championship fight ora national political con vention.

/t has Hollywood and it says so on the side ofa mountain,

/t has golf courses, lots of ’em, public and pri vate,

You can trace the history ofman, his habits, his progress, right here—

the L os Ange/es County Museum,

A lot ofpeop/e are born in L os Ange/es e very day

Many of them here at the County Hospital

A lot ofpeop/e die in L os Ange/es e very day

A lot of people get married

A lot get divorced

When a marriage falls apart, and it happens here, it’s a job for la wyers,

When it doesn ’t, sometimes it’s part of m y job,

/ carrya badge,

/t was Tuesday, March 24. /t was cold in Los 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 were working late.

We heard an ambulance shooting call on the air— Code 2,

We were in the vicinity, so we drove over to check it out.

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

The names have been changed to protect the innocent

[Doorbell Rings]

Police officers. What happened here? He‘s in there.

I called for an ambulance. Who is he?

My husband. What‘s his name?

Carl Hamlin. It‘s locked.

He has a gun. He said he was gonna kill himself.

All right, come on, Ham/in, open up.

— Do you have another key to this door? — No, I don‘t.

All right, let‘s hit it.

It‘s no use. Is there another way into this room?

— No, this is the only door. — How about windows?

— What? — Is there a window in the room?

— Oh, yes, offthe porch. — You wanna show us?

He came in here drunk and caused a scene.

The shade is pulled down.

Yes, ma‘am.

Here. Here‘s a knife.

It‘s locked. I‘m gonna have to break this.

I don‘t care, as long as you get to him. [ Vehicle Approaches]

Cruiser unit. I‘ll tell ‘em to stand by. Right.

Hurry. Please hurry. Watch the glass.

[ Mrs. Ham/in ] /s he still alive?

— I can‘t tell. — [Siren Wailing]

That‘ll be the ambulance. Will you show them where this room is? Oh, yes.

He must have wanted privacy real bad.

[Siren Stops] Looks like he got it.

38 Colt.

One round fired.

He‘s in here. I‘m his wife.

Let‘s roll him over.

He‘s dead.

Mayl have his full name? Carl Hamlin.

He have a middle name? Martin.

Age. 43.

He live here? No.

We have a little house over on North Bronson, 947.

Do we have to go through all this?

That‘s all, Mrs. Hamlin.

Here‘s your D.O.A. slip. See you later, Friday. Gannon.

Yea h. [Door Closes]

All right ifI use yourtelephone, Mrs. Hamlin?

Yes. It‘s all so wrong, Carl being dead. It‘s all so wrong.

Would you like to go in there and sit down? [Sniffles]

Would you like us to call your family doctor foryou?

I‘ve already called him for my mother. He‘ll be right here.

Where is your mother now? In the bedroom.

She‘s lying down. This— This whole thing has been such a shock.

—I understand. — When I talked to our doctor,

he said for me to give her one ofthe pills he‘s prescribed.

/t’s supposed to make hers/eep. I see.

— You gonna have to talk to her? — Yes, ma‘am.

I hope you won‘t have to do it tonight. She‘s not too well.

— We‘ll try to avoid upsetting her. — I‘d appreciate it.

I released the cruiser unit. All right.

Now, Mrs. Hamlin, there are a few questions we have to askyou...

if you feel up to answering them. Yes.

— Do you wanna tell us what happened? — Well, Carl came over tonight,

drunk, and caused a big scene. Your husband doesn‘t live here then?

— No. No, we‘re separated. — I see. Anyone else here when it happened?

—Just Mother and myself. — Anyone else living here?

just the two of us. All right. What time did Mr. Hamlin get here?

I‘m not sure. H was asleep.

— I beg your pardon? — I was asleep.

You weren‘t expecting him then? No.

Last time I saw him, I told him to leave me alone.

I—I said I‘d get a court order ifI had to.

Yes ? Well, we ’ve been separated about a week this time.

— Is that right? — There have been other times.

This was the worst. I—I told him I was finished,

thatI didn‘t want anything more to do with him.

— Would you go on, please? — Well, he‘s— he‘s been calling here...

and— and where I work, and most ofthe time he was drunk.

He kept asking for reconciliation.

Saying howsorryhe was and asking me to take him back

—Yes. — Oh, I‘m not blaming it all on him.

I—I know some ofit was my fault.

— Yes, ma‘am. — But he called this afternoon...

and said he— said he had to see me.

Had it all worked out so we could get back together again.

— Yes, m a ‘ a m . — Well, / told him /didn’t wanna see him.

/ said forhim to stayaway

[Sniffles] I came home and told Mother about it...

and said Carl might come over tonight.

—That ifhe did, I—I didn‘t wanna see him. —Yes.

I kind of half—expected him to show up, but— but he didn‘t.

And well, I went to bed after the I 0:00 news,

— and Mother stayed up to read. — Yes, ma‘am.

The first I knew there was anything wrong was when I heard the shot.

/ got up, and/ came right downstairs. Yea h.

Well, Mother was standing in front ofthe study door.

She told me that Carl had locked the door, and that he‘d shot himself.

I see. / tried to call to him.

First / thought he was playing some kind ofa— a joke. Yes, m a ‘ a m .

Well, Mother said she‘d heard Carl fall down in the room.

I—I called you right away.

—Anything else, Mrs. Hamlin? — No, that‘s all.

All right, Mrs. Hamlin. We‘d like to talk to your mother now.

A thing like this isn‘t easy to go through at that age.

— Yes, ma‘am. We understand. — Carl and my mother didn‘t get along.

[Sniffles] He‘s always said that she caused the trouble between us.

Told me a couple oftimes that ifshe‘d kept her nose out ofour business, we might be able to get along.

— I wonder ifwe could talk to her now. — Oh, do you have to?

Yes, ma‘am. We‘ll try to be as briefas possible.

— I‘ll go see. —Thankyou.

— I made the notifications. — Yeah.

Well, as soon as we get a statement from her mother...

and the coroner shows up, we can take off.

Yea h. Wanna stop by the house on the way home?

Eileen bought a bunch ofstuff for me at the delicatessen.

Is that right? Make you a real good sandwich.

Bottle ofbeer. Yea h ?

Head cheese and bologna on garlic bread, a little mayonnaise, horseradish, mustard.

How’s that sound to you, joe?

I‘ll just have a bowl ofsoup at the apartment.

Thanks anyway Just don‘t see how you can sleep nights the wayyou eat.

Mother, these men wanna askyou some questions.

My mother, Mrs. Gaynor, Sergeant Friday and, uh—

Gannon‘s my name. How do you do, ma‘am? How do you do?

Couple ofthings we have to know, Mrs. Gaynor. Now, we‘ll try to be as briefas possible.

Mother, ifyou get tired, just tell them. They‘ll stop. All right, dear.

What time did your son—in—Iaw get here tonight, ma‘am?

I‘m not sure. I think itwas about I 1:30.

—Yes, ma‘am. — Nora told me Mr. Hamlin might be coming over.

But that time ofnight, you‘d hardly expect anybody to come calling, would you?

— No, ma‘am. — He did.

He always was doing something nobody else did.

/ think he just sat around and tried to figure things to do that was difi‘erent

Yes, m a‘a m? Like tonight

He came in drunk. He yelled about how he wanted to have a showdown.

— I didn‘t know what he was talking about. — Yes, ma‘am.

He started to yell at me. Told me how their breakup was all my fault. Started to curse at me.

Yeah. /’m 62, Mr. Friday

I‘ve seen lots ofthings, met lots of people.

There isn‘t anybody who can talk to me like that.

I told Mr. Hamlin, told him to get out ofthe house.

That’s when he pulled this gun out of his pocket He pulled a gun?

Had it right in his coat, outside pocket

Yes. Would you go on, please? /to/dhim.

I said, “Mr. Hamlin, youjust stop this foolishness and get out of here.“

— That‘s what I said. — Yes, ma‘am.

He 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 gonna kill himself to just sho w me.

— Go on, please. — / thought it was some kind ofdramatics.

Mr. Ham/in was that kind you know

Always playacting around Yes, m a ‘ a m .

Not this time. Next thing I know, he ran into the study and locked the door.

After that, there was a shot, and I heard him fall down.

Right then‘s when— when Nora came into the room.

He went into the study, and you heard the shot, is that right?

Yes. Then I heard him fall on the floor.

All right, Mrs. Gaynor. I think we have everything we need.

— Okay ifI go back to bed then? — Yes, ma‘am, you go ahead.

—All right then. Mr. Friday? — Yes, ma‘am?

Anything more you want to know about Mr. Hamlin, I‘ll tell you.

Well, I don‘t think there‘ll be anything else. Thankyou, Mrs. Gaynor.

— Ifthere is, I‘ll tell you. —Yes, ma‘am.

I‘ll be in my room, Nora.

All right, Mother. I‘ll be right there.

She‘s taking it a lot better than I thought she would.

— Yes, ma‘am. Mrs. Hamlin— —Yes.

Did your husband ever mention suicide before?

Oh, yes, several times. Matter of fact, just this week.

/ thought he was being dramatic again. / didn ’t pay much attention to him.

It was so hard to tell ifhe was drunk, or ifhe really meant something.

— I see. — All the years we were married,

I don‘t think he was ever really serious.

He was this time.

[Friday Narrating] 7: 74 a. m. The police photographer arrived at the house and took pictures of the room.

The coroner remo ved the body to the countymorgue.

7:37 a. m. Bill and / lefi‘ the Gaynor house and returned to the office.

2:03 a. m. We filled out the DB report,

listing the death of Carl Martin Ham/in as suicide.

The body would be posted at 7 0:00 a. m. the next morning

Wednesday, March 25, 7 7:75 am.

We got a call fiom Ray Murray in S /. D

He wanted to see us.

Ran the normal checkout this morning. Fired a test shot from the Hamlin suicide revolver.

Checked it against 38 Colt unsolved murders.

Weapon is clean. Your case isn ’t What do you mean, Ray?

Take a look at this one.

Yeah, six left, 38 Colt. So?

Picked this one up from the coroner this morning.

— I was there when Hamlin was posted. — Yeah?

Lodged in the back muscle near the spine.

Slug‘s good and clean. No damage.

— Passed between the ribs. — What are you getting at, Ray?

Be my guest.

Yeah, I was expecting a quarter.

And I handed you a penny. A bad one.

Six rig ht. [Gannon] Automatic ammunition, isn ’t it?

—That‘s right. Nine millimeter. — What do you think, a Luger?

Either that ora Browning Both are common. Yea h.

This fella Hamlin pulled a pretty neat trick, didn‘t he?

— He sure did. — He killed himselfwith a bullet...

that couldn‘t possibly be fired from the gun he was holding.

Yea h. You two better tear up your reports on this one.

No suicide here. Yea h.

You gotta find a murder gun.

[Friday Narra ting] 7 7 32 a. m. Bill and/, along with Ray Murray,

drove out to see Nora Ham/in, the victim’s widow

From the physical evidence on hand— the way the door had been locked

and the fact that the window had been bolted fiom the inside—

it appeared unlikely that anyone could ha ve lefi‘ the room...

afi‘er Carl Ham/in had been shot

However, fiom the information we ’d go tten fiom Ray Murray,

there had to be another weapon in volved in the killing

/t was 7 7:44 am. when we got to the house on Whitmore Drive.

Oh, I didn‘t expect you back. I wonder ifwe could come in, Mrs. Hamlin.

Well, yes, of course.

Mrs. Hamlin, this is Ray Murray from our Scientific Investigation Division.

Mr. Murray. How do you do?

We‘d like to take another look at the study.

Oh, why? We‘d like to check it again.

Well, all right. Ifyou need me, I‘ll be in the living room.

Thankyou.

Right in here is where we found him, Ray. Mm—hmm.

You can see where we had to break this window to get in.

Yeah, I see. Body was lying along here.

Head down there. Feet about here.

About on line with the sofa, huh? Right.

What about the gun? Itwas near his right hand.

Was the gun in his hand when you found it? No, no, near his right hand.

The pictures from the photo lab will bear that out.

Even ifit wasn‘t for the variance in the slugs,

none ofit adds for two cents. Well, how‘s that?

I talked to the doc when I picked up the death slug. Yeah.

It entered the right center ofhis chest, about here, and traveled straight.

Yeah. Came to rest in his right back muscle.

Line oftravel‘s all off. No right—handed man‘s likely to shoot himselfthat way.

Nope.

What about the doors when you found him?

Well, we‘ll show you the way they were when we got in.

This bolt was thrown. This key was turned.

And this chairwas propped up under these knobs like so.

What about the key? Was it still in the lock? Yeah.

Yeah, the place looks solid enough. [Taps Wall ]

Plaster walls.

[Tapping Floor] Not much chance anyone getting through ‘em.

Did you check those bookcases? Any ofthem move in any way?

No, they appear to be solid.

Well, what do you think, Ray? Well, I don‘t know.

The way that door was barricaded, the rest ofthe room,

nobody could have shot him and gotten outside.

And they couldn‘t have come through that window. That‘s for sure.

No, you had to break it. Right.

Well, the way it‘s set up, you shouldn‘t have too much trouble finding a suspect.

How‘s that? Find a butler built like an envelope.

Hey, uh, you didn‘t see anything ofan empty shell casing last night, did you?

No. There was no reason to look for one.

There‘s sure no sign ofany now. Let‘s see ifwe can turn it.

Yeah, it looks to me like the rug‘s been vacuumed since last night.

Let‘s talk to the Hamlin woman.

Mrs. Hamlin? Yes. Something you want?

Has anyone been in the study since last night?

I didn‘t know I wasn‘t supposed to.

You didn ’t say anything about it Did you clean the room?

Well, yes, I told you. I was straightening up the house.

— Did you see an empty shell casing? — I don‘t know what you mean.

Like this. The brass part. See?

No, I didn‘t see anything like that.

— Did you use the vacuum cleaner this morning? —Yes, I did.

[Murray] Have you emptied it since you used it? No.

— Wonder ifwe could see it. — I don‘t know what this is all about,

but ifyou want the vacuum, I‘ll get it.

I‘ll give you a hand with it. It‘s not heavy.

Do you want the attachments too?

No, ma‘am, just the vacuum itself, please. And a piece of newspaper.

All right.

Here itis. Thankyou.

Iwish I knew what this is all about.

There it is. [Friday] What’s the caliber, Ra y?

Nine millimeter.

Mrs. Hamlin, doyou have another gun in the house?

— No. — You sure about that, are you?

Yes. What makes you think there might be another one?

— How many shots did you hear last night, Mrs. Hamlin? —One.

— You sure about that? — Yes. Why?

We have reason to believe there were two shots fired.

— What difference does it make how many there were? — It might make a lot ofdifference.

Why? My husband killed himself.

I can‘t be sure how many times he might have fired the gun.

Once, twice, three times. What difference does it make?

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 was fired from a nine—millimeter automatic.

I don‘t know what you‘re talking about. What are you trying to say?

Mrs. Hamlin, we don‘t believe your husband killed himself.

— You‘re not serious. — I‘m afraid we are.

— This whole thing‘s ridiculous. — Not according to the evidence.

Well, who‘d want to kill him? Who‘d have a reason?

— That‘s what we‘re trying to find out. — Would you get your mother, please?

— What do you want to talk to her about? — Would you get her, please?

She‘s not well. She‘s had enough trouble.

There is no reason for you to make any more for her.

[ Mrs. Gaynor] Don ’t you worry about it, Nora.

Mother, you shouldn‘t be up.

I heard you talkin‘. I‘ve been Iistenin‘.

Haven‘t seen you before. Murray‘s my name.

How do you do? Jessie Gaynor, Nora‘s mother. How are you?

Now, what‘s all this about Mr. Hamlin not killing himself.

—That‘s right, Mrs. Gaynor. — What makes you think it is?

— Several things. Do you have a gun in the house? —You mean a pistol?

— An automatic. — Might. Why?

—Where is it? — In the table drawer in the living room.

— We‘d like to take a look at it. —All right.

In there.

German Luger.

Does that gun belong to you, Mrs. Gaynor?

Yes, My husband had it. It‘s mine now.

Mrs. Gaynor, it‘s our duty to advise you ofyour constitutional rights.

You have the right to remain silent An ystatement you make may be used against you in a court of law

You have the right to the presence of an attorney

/f you desire and cannot afi‘ord an attorney, one will be appointed before any questioning

Yes, I understand, but what sense does it make to tell me all that legal mumbojumbo?

All this talk about Mr. Ham/in not killing himself

— Ifhe didn‘t do it, who did? — That‘s what we‘re trying to find out here.

Uh—huh. But you‘ve got somebody you‘re looking at, haven‘t you? Somebodyyou figure did it.

— That gun belongs to you, doesn‘t it? — Uh, yeah.

You‘re the only one who witnessed the shooting, isn‘t that right?

— That‘s right. — Well, now why don‘t you tell us about it?

Because ifI did, you‘d never believe it.

—Try us. —All right.

Mr. Hamlin came here last night, likeI said.

He was drunk Came in and started yelling

/ was sitting right here, reading

He started to curse at me, using foul language.

Yea h ? / didn ’t pay him no mind

Told him to go away, that— that Nora was through with him.

He wou/dn ’t go. [Friday] Yes, ma ’am.

All ofa sudden, he pulled out a gun and started waving it around.

Said ifI didn‘t get Nora, he‘d kill himself.

Well, /thought it was just some more of his playacting

—Yes, ma‘am? — I didn‘t pay any attention to him.

Figured when he was through, he‘d go away.

I went back to readin‘ the book.

Made him madder than ever.

— Go on, Mrs. Gaynor. — He grabbed the book out of my hand...

and shot it, shot right at it.

Then he threwit into the fireplace.

He shot your book, and then he threw it into the fireplace? Now, did he shoot at you?

No, no, at my book, not at me.

Just all ofa sudden,

something happened to me.

I don‘t think I‘ve ever been so mad.

I took the gun out ofthe table there and shot him.

He got real scared and ran into the study

— Closed the doorbehind him. — Yes, m a‘a m ?

/heard him lock the door and start moving the furniture around

— Then what happened? — Well, right after that, I heard him fall down.

And then— then Nora came into the room.

Mother, why didn‘t you tell me?

There wasn‘t any reason to. I had to think about it,

— what I had done and what I had to do. — Yes, ma‘am.

I was gonna call you men this morning and tell you the truth. I really was.

Yes, ma‘am. /rea//y was.

Just all ofa sudden last night when he shot my book,

I—I‘ve never been so mad.

I reallywanted to kill him.

You remember it all pretty well, don‘t you?

Yes. Yes, I do.

All right, you wanna get a coat, Mrs. Gaynor? We‘ll have to take you downtown.

Yes, sir. I‘ll get my coat.

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.

Ray. Yeah.

There‘s the book.

There‘s the slug. What‘s left ofit.

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

The names were changed to protect the innocent

On ju/y 74, trial was held in Department 786,

Superior Court of the State of California,

for the County of L os Ange/es.

/n a moment, the results of that trial

The defendant p/ed not guilty and not guilty by reason of insanity

The jury found the defendant guilty

However, she was found to have been insane...

at the time of the commission of the ofi‘ense.