Dragnet - Mother-In-Law Murder

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1:06Ladies and gentlemen, the story you're about to hear is true. Only the names have been changed to protect the innocent. Fatima cigarettes. Best of long cigarettes brings you dragnet. You're a detective sergeant. You're assigned to homicide detail. A vicious killer has taken the life of a 62-year-old woman. Suspicion points in only one direction. A murderer was heartless, cold-blooded. Your job. Get him. If you want a long cigarette, smoke the best of long cigarettes. Smoke Fatima. It's the long cigarette that contains an essential ingredient of all the very popular cigarettes, Turkish tobacco. That's why you see the turkey symbols on the attractive golden yellow Fatima package.

2:10That's why Fatima has a much different, much better flavor and aroma than any other long cigarette. That's why Fatima doubles and re-doubles at smokers. Yes, if you want a long cigarette, smoke the best of long cigarettes. Smoke Fatima. Dragnet, the document, a drama of an actual crime. For the next 30 minutes in cooperation with the Los Angeles Police Department, you will travel step by step on the side of the law through an actual case 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, November 5th. It was foggy in Los Angeles. We were working the day watch out of homicide. My partner has been Romero. The boss has had backstrand tivity techies. My name is Friday. It was 3.35 pm when I got to room 42, homicide.

3:16Long distance. This is Friday in homicide. I'd like to place a call to Mr. Frank Renard and Murphy Idaho, number 7-6-1. Frank Renard, mercy Idaho, 7-6-1. Yeah, that's right. The call has been cleared with the business office. All right. Do you want me to call your back, Sergeant? No, I'll hang on. Okay, I'll place it for you. Long distance, Mr. Frank Renard, mercy Idaho, mercy 7-6-1. Thank you. You're welcome. You're welcome. Touch the call to Madison, 7-9-6-1. Thank you. The time in touch is in the call completed operator. Rate operator. Rate operator. Yes, mercy Idaho, rooting and personal information. Okay, and I am here.

4:18Father, sorry. Father, sorry. One, six, hello, thank you. Good morning. I'm calling now, boss. Mercy, 7-6-1. Thank you. Okay, bring in 7-6-1. They're ringing the numbers, Sergeant. Okay, thanks. Hello? Mr. Frank Renard, please, Los Angeles calling. Who do you want? Mr. Frank Renard, please, Los Angeles calling.

5:20I am Frank Renard. Go ahead, please. All right, Sergeant, go ahead. Hello. Hello. Hello, Frank Renard. Yeah, who's this? This is Sergeant Friday, Los Angeles Police Department. I've got an urgent message for you. For me? Well, what's the matter? Your wife, Dolores, asked me to call you. Something's happened to your mother. What do you mean? What's happened? I better let your wife tell you. She wants you back in Los Angeles right away. But what's this all about? I can't leave my job now. You better come. Your mother's been murdered. I'm sorry. Talk to the skipper, Joey. He's on his way in. That's good. Did you call my husband? Did you? He's flying down from Idaho tonight. Be here in the morning. You tell him about me? The trouble I'm in? I told him his mother was murdered. That's all I told him, Mrs. Renard. What am I going to say to Frank? We always sighted him with his mother. He never believed me.

6:20What can I tell him? You can give him more trouble than your husband. What are you going to tell him? Are you stupid or something? How many times do I have to say it? I didn't kill her. I didn't kill her. It's a small room, Mrs. Renard. We can hear you. Sit down, please. I won't sit down. You're not beating this on me because I didn't do it. Anybody could have killed the old hag, but I didn't. Will you sit down, please? I don't have to take this. I'm no tramp. Cheeping me and here asking me questions. I told you all I know. Look, you're in a bad spot. I hope you realize that. I didn't kill. Mrs. Renard, how long have you and your mother-in-law been living together in the house on Chavez Road? Since Frank took the job up and I don't love six months. He said it'd be better for me while he was away living with her. Your neighbors told us you didn't get along very well with your mother-in-law. That's right. I didn't. She hated me. I hated her. You used to fight with her. Is that right? You hit her. Only a couple of times. She called me dirty names. I hit her. She pulled me by the hair. And I hated her like everything. I didn't kill her. Once more, Mrs. Renard. Would you mind telling us how you spent your time

7:21since early this morning where you went, what you did, everything? I told you already everything. Will you tell us again, please? I got up about quarter to nine. I had a cup of coffee and then I got dressed. The old lady was on the back porch doing the washing. What did your mother-in-law do for a living? I told you. She took in washing. After I got dressed and left the house. About ten minutes after nine, I went downtown to the dentist. He filled the tooth for me. It's on here. You're kind of asking. What time did you leave the dentist's office? About quarter after ten. Maybe twenty after. You can ask him. What'd you do after that? I walked around window shopping. Did you buy anything? Talked to anybody? I told you no. What time did you get home? Up past twelve. I went in the bedroom. The old lady was on the floor. Blood all over. That felt her heart. It wasn't beating. Is that when you got the blood on your dress? Yeah. Now that's all I'm going to say.

8:22Three times I told you the same story already. And you still can't account for your time between ten to twenty this morning. The time you found the body and called the police at twelve thirty. I told you. I left the dentist. I went window shopping. Then I walked home. And during that time you didn't talk to anyone and no one saw you. Lots of people saw me. People on the street downtown. I'm not trampled. I don't talk to everybody. None of your neighbors saw you come home, Ms. Renard. Of course they didn't see me. I cut across the back lot of from San Jose Avenue. I came in the back way. The lady was next to her. She said she was in the backyard about noon time. She stayed there after one o'clock. She didn't see you come in the back way. And she's a liar. She's a dirty liar. You and your husband took out an insurance policy on your mother-in-law last year. Is that right, Ms. Renard? Sure it is. What of it? Five thousand dollars. Yeah, so what? You know a man by the name of George Martino. No. You better tell the truth, Ms. Renard. All right, so I do he's a friend of mine. You've been running around with him since your husband's been away. None of your business. I do what I want. Your mother-in-law found out about Martino. That's what you fought about most of the time. Oh, she was crazy.

9:23The friend of mine, that's all. Are you telling the truth, Ms. Renard? Martino's a boyfriend of mine. I told you that's all. Your mother-in-law found out you were running around with him. She warned you if you didn't shake Martino. She'd write your husband. You said you'd kill her if she did. That's a lie. That's what your mother-in-law told one of the neighbor, ladies. And I said it just to scare her. One night I was drinking. We had a fight. She was yapping at me all night. I said it just to scare her. But she wrote the letter anyway. And that's what she said. But I didn't kill her. You had the time, the motive, and the opportunity. It wasn't me. I didn't kill her. It's irrigation room, Friday. That's the bread and Joe. Yeah, Bill. Where are you? Santa Monica. George Martino. Ben and I drove Mrs. Renard to Lincoln Heights, jail 5th floor and had her booked on suspicion of 187 PC. When we checked back in at the office, Brennan and Wiseman. The other two men on the case with Ben and I were questioning George Martino in the interrogation room. Ben and I stood by.

10:25Martino admitted only two things. He had been running around with Mrs. Renard since her husband left town. And he had heard Mrs. Renard express a desire to do away with their mother-in-law. After the questioning of Martino, Sergeant Brennan, Ben and I met with Chief Ed Backstrand. It was 5.15 pm. You get everything but the murder weapon, huh? That Mrs. Renard's confession. She ought to come through, huh, Joe? I don't know. She's scared, but she's still got a smart mouth. What about Martino, Brennan? You think you had a hand in it? I don't think so. We spent most of the afternoon talking to him. He hasn't got the guts. We took a statement. And is he of an Alabama? Solid. What was the guns of death? Strangulation, multiple fractures of the skull. All motives are with Mrs. Renard, Chief. Pretty clear cut job. No evidence of robbery or burglary, I guess. A couple of dresser drawers in a bedroom where emptied on the floor, and clothes tossed all around. Pretty obvious plan to make it look like burglary. Maybe. We found three one-dollar bills in plain sight. They were on the floor near the body. If a burglary went through this stuff, he wouldn't have missed that money. It shouldn't be too much trouble hanging up. Shouldn't me give her. Freddie and Romero, you follow the case through.

11:25Yes. Hello, Mr. Menon. Hello. Backstrand. Yeah? What? All right, I'll send him over. Lee Jones. Just finished checking the evidence of the crime lab. Yeah. He thinks Mrs. Renard's innocent. There they are, fellas. Backstrand online. But she had every reason in the world to kill all that. In my book, she couldn't have killed it. All right, let's have it, Lee. How does the evidence add up? Just it, Joe. It doesn't. Take a look. The dress, Mrs. Renard, is wearing when she found the body. That's it. Blood smears near the hem. Two smears, that's all. Now, if she murdered her mother-in-law, there should be more blood on this dress. It shouldn't be smeared. How do you mean? First of all, the men in which the old lady was killed. Head was better than. Must have blood profusely. No question about that. All right, go ahead. Whoever murdered the old lady must have stains all over their clothes. Here's the important part. Because of the nature of the wound that would have stained in drops, not smears. How can you tell her difference?

12:25Maybe these are drop stains on her desk. I checked them with the microscope. Only the higher ribs of the cloth stained. The smears, nothing else. But the drop forms its own definite drop pattern and permeates the cloth. Soaks in. No signs of that underdress. I don't want them. Now, here's the silk scarf, the old lady was strangling it. Here's what I found in the knot tied in the scarf. A blonde hair, wavy. Old lady had dark hair. So does Mrs. Renard. So does your boyfriend. That's what I mean. This blonde hair is one of two things that didn't belong at that murder seat. What else you got? Small piece of plastic. We're gunned by that, I'd say. Yeah. Fish cross-surface and a little smooth area. Yeah. The killer could have hit the old lady with the butt of a gun. And the piece of the stock could have chipped off like this. Mrs. Renard doesn't own a gun. Did your mother know? Where does that leave us? I don't know, Joe. There's a stuff. You can't disregard it. Maybe you can explain it. Yeah. How? Well, first prove this dress isn't the one Mrs. Renard was wearing this morning. Then find the dress she did wear. And we know she wore this when the dentist identified it. And so did she do it in the neighborhood. That's what I mean.

13:25The dress is too clean, doesn't belong. Yeah. And this blonde hair, this piece of gun butt, they don't belong either. When you think she's innocent. You're looking at the evidence. What do you think? 6 p.m. Saturday, November 5th. Ben and I went back to the office and met with Brennan Wiseman and Ed Backstrand. The open and shut case against Mrs. Renard was up in the air. But we still weren't sure that she was innocent of the murder of her mother-in-law. Ben and I drove to the Lincoln Heights jail and interviewed the suspect again. She agreed to submit to a light detector test. We drove back to the office, contacted Sergeant Berger, the department's polygraph man, and set up a special test for the following day. The next morning we met with Berger, and formulated a list of key questions. And then we picked up Mrs. Renard and brought her to the third floor of the old city jail building, the polygraph room. At 10.33 a.m. the test gun underway. As usual, Sergeant Berger conducted the interview alone. Backstrand, Ben and I waited outside. How about Mrs. Renard's husband getting down yet? He's doing around noon, scabber.

14:25Man, you got a smoke? Yeah. Here you are, Ed. Thanks. Time's it now. 11.25. Yes, Berger, now. That's it, Ed. And what'd you get? I can study the chart a little more. The results are pretty well defined, though. How's it look? No reaction to the key questions. What's your opinion? I don't think you did it. I'll come back up. At Amika Insurance, we know you'll always find ways to look out for the people you love. And with Amika Life Insurance, we'll help build a plan to make sure you always can. We're here to help protect the life you've built. Really? No, no. Amika, empathy is our best policy. Visit Amika.com and get a quote today.

15:50For a decade, so claim your free welcome bonus now and live the tumble life. Visit tumblecicino.com. No purchase necessary VGW group void for prohibited by law, 21-plus terms and conditions apply. You are listening to Dragnet, authentic stories of your police force in action. And in leading magazines this week, you'll see this authentic story. Headline. Fatima's sensational growth sets a record for long cigarettes. Then you'll read the actual reasons smokers give for changing to Fatima. Fatima is different. It's mild and has a wonderful flavor. Fatima's best. These are the words of Miss Pamela Bookman of New York, where Fatima has increased its smokers 132%. Fatima tastes much better than any other long cigarette. It's the best. Says Mr. James S. Winterhalter of Detroit, where Fatima smokers have increased 348%. I like the flavor and Fatima's mild.

16:51It's the best long cigarette. That's the statement of Mrs. Mary C. Wordiman of Los Angeles, where Fatima has increased its smokers 545%. Yes, more and more long cigarette smokers every day agree. A change to Fatima is a change to the best. Enjoy Fatima yourself. Best of long cigarettes. 8 a.m. Monday, November 7th. Mrs. Renard was released from custody. We questioned her husband, Frank Renard briefly. They could tell us nothing more than we already knew. Brennan and Wiseman were called back on the case and together the four of us started over again from the beginning. We had a dead body. Two pieces of physical evidence to work with. No idea how to fit them together and no suspects. We went back to the Shabbos Road neighborhood where the murdered woman lived and started pushing doorbells. We canvassed the neighborhood for three days and we uncovered one slim lead. She was selling magazines officer, went door to door right up the street here.

17:54You can fell out. Could you describe them in force please? Nothing to talk about. Pasty face, pimply complexion, blonde hair. 5.30 p.m. Wednesday, November the 9th. Brennan, I met with Brennan and Wiseman and had backstrands office to compare notes. Together we had more than a dozen reports of the magazine salesman's presence in the neighborhood just prior to the murder of Mrs. Renard's mother-in-law. The various descriptions of the man which we obtained from the people in the neighborhood tallied closely. About six feet, 170 pounds, pimply complexion, blonde hair fast-talking. About 25 years old. As far as we know, Skierbury was the only stranger in the neighborhood that I've started him on. Only one in the people remembering. How close did you trace him to the Renard house? You got your list there Brennan. Yeah. There you are. Thanks. Let's see. We picked up his tracks down on Flores de Street, sold a couple of descriptions there. Then he headed up Landers Avenue under Shabbos Road. Yeah. The Renards live at 2280 Shabbos Road. My salesman talked to the woman at 2274 Shabbos. That's three doors away from the Renards. Hmm. What has he seen there? Oh, let me see. Who is that Brennan?

18:54On the 1577 sheet show didn't have enough room on the report. Oh. Yeah. Here it is. Mrs. John Rico, 2274 Shabbos. The guy was there about 1145 Saturday morning. And they put him in the running. First time he ever showed in that neighborhood. First time Skierbury. First kid. Not a very good salesman. Here's the name of the company he's working for. The Harrison News Distributes. Did you check with him? Well, they're closed for the night. We'll call him a first thing tomorrow. Good. He's something else for you. And a call from Frank Renard this afternoon. What do you have to say? Seems in the excitement just after the murder. Mrs. Renard overlooked a couple of things. What's that? They're missing a yellow table model radio radio. It was in the bedroom where the old lady was killed. Well, that ties in with the robbery motive. They're missing a ring too. Belong to Mrs. Renard. Topaz Ring. It's supposed to be worth a little money. But she didn't notice it was gone until the day. That's right. You got the serial number on the radio? Yeah, right here. Yeah, let's see. Yeah, I've done it. Here we go. The Emerson Model 511. 180,000, 277609. Not a small radio in town. There's only one with that serial number on it. Track it down.

19:58A complete description of the Topaz Ring and the serial numbers and description of the yellow table model radio were sent to the pawn shop detail. The information was then placed on the stolen property list and relayed to every pawn shop operator in the city. The next morning, Ben and I interviewed the manager of the Harrison News distributing company. There, the suspect had given his name as Sam Bricker. We checked out his home address. Turned out to be a gas station in North Hollywood. We took the suspect's job application blank with a specimen of his handwriting and then we drove back to the office. Sam Bricker. We were unable to get a make on the name from the record bureau. We checked the cards and every known criminal that was cataloged in the oddity file as having a pimply complexion. None of them matched. That night we got out on APB in a radio gram. The suspect's trail led from one salesman's job to the next. On his last job, he gave his name as Albert Berry. His address is 1430 Palo Alto Drive. It was in the Echo Lake District. Ben and I drove out to check it. 1428. 1430. Here it is, Jill. Yeah. It's not a gas station, huh? Come on.

21:06Tarsam, huh? Yeah, I could stand a change. Yes, what is it? We're looking for an Albert Berry, ma'am. Does he live here? Mr. Berry, I'm sorry. He and his wife moved four days ago. We identified ourselves as police officers and the hand of the land lady and Mrs. Catherine Hoffman who show us the apartment which Berry and his wife had occupied. It was still vacant. In one of the closets in the apartment, we found a cheap overnight bag. The lock on it was broken and one of the seams had ripped. I forgot about that old bag and Mr. Berry told me I could throw it away. Take a look, I'm in. How long has Berry been married? Do you know Mrs. Hoffman? No, I don't. But the way they acted, lovey-dovey all the time, I don't think they've been together long. Hey, Jill. Look, some kind of an identification tag. Yeah, let me see. It's up here. It's a tool disc. It looks like that. Jamison Larabee, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. You're not after Mr. Berry. Are you off the seat? Yes, ma'am. We are. Did he leave a forwarding address? Yes, she did. I'm holding three letters for Mrs. Berry

22:07in my apartment right now. May we see them, please? Certainly. Would you step this way, please? My apartment is just across the hall. Yes, ma'am. Would you like a bottle of beer or something? No, ma'am. Thanks. Let's see. I thought I... Yes, here they are. Three albums, Sergeant. From her folks, I think. Mrs. Berry's from Fresno. Oh, that's great. I want to copy down this. We're trying to dress up in. Okay. Okay. That's C.K. Ulrich. U.L.R.I.C.K. 525 North Lomona, Fresno. Yeah, good. Very arm is often. By the way, did the Berry say they'd call for their mail? Mrs. Berry did. That's why I'm holding on to it. All right. Just one more question. Do you remember if Mrs. Berry had a radio? Yes, they did. A small one. Do you remember what brand it was? No, I don't. It had a yellow case. That's all I remember. Before we left, we called Ed Backstrand, and he had an immediate stakeout placed at the apartment house in case the Berry's returned to pick up their mail.

23:10Ben and I went back to the office and placed a call to the Pittsburgh Police Department. We gave them the description and the number of the tool disk which we'd found in Berry's old suitcase. They said they'd check with a Jameson Larvey company in the morning, and then they'd call us back. That night, Ben and I drove to Fresno and checked in at the police station up there. Two officers were assigned to stake out the Ulrich home. We interviewed Mr. Ulrich who identified himself as Albert Berry's father-in-law. He told us his daughter had married the murder suspect eight months before and he gave us pictures of Berry taken at the wedding. Ulrich told us that he'd catch a Santa Fe train out of Fresno the next morning. He wanted to be in Los Angeles to take his daughter home and Berry was apprehended. It was almost 2 a.m. when Ben and I left Fresno and started back for Los Angeles. We checked in at the office at 10 minutes past 8 the next morning. At 8 35, the call came through from the Pittsburgh Police Department. What did I say, Joe? It was a tool disk, all right? Jameson Larvey company issued 18 months ago to one of their workers. A given name? Albert Berry. 11 a.m. Monday, December the 5th.

24:10One month to the day since the 62-year-old woman had been beaten to death. The pictures of Berry and his wife, which had been taken at their wedding, were printed up and wholesale lots and distributed to all points. Mr. Ulrich, Berry's father-in-law arrived in town and got himself a hotel room. We waited. There was no report from the stake out at the apartment house. We checked back in at the office at 5 minutes to 1. I got it. I'm aside, Friday. This is Mr. Ulrich, Sergeant. I just got a call from my wife in Fresno. I thought you'd want to know. What's that? The wife got a letter from Norma. They're living in South Pasadena in the apartment. You got the address there? Yes, sir. That's what the wife called about. It's 134 Norway Terrace. When was the letter mailed, you know? The wife said it was post-Mark December 3rd, day before yesterday. It's your code on Ulrich, we'll be right over. Then and I picked up Mr. Ulrich at his hotel and drove to the South Pasadena address. Berry and his wife had the apartment on the top floor, neither of them were at home.

25:12The landlord let us in with a pass key. In the bedroom, we found a small yellow radio. We checked the serial numbers. They maxed. It was the same radio stolen from the Renard house. In the bedroom closet, we found two suitcases. We checked through them. Nothing in this one, Joe. Here we are. Look at these. What are they, Sergeant? Paraptic gun bites. That's a deal. One of them has been chipsing. Sergeant, somebody coming up the stairs? All right. Let's get in the living room. Be quiet. What are you doing here? Who are these men? Police Norma. They want Albert. He killed a woman. It's all right, Norma. It'll be all right. Did you know your husband killed a woman and was buried? He just told me last Saturday. We've been running away for a month now. Moving all the time. I wanted to know why.

26:13We told him. He said I was innocent as much as he was. And I'm tired of running. Why did he kill her? Did he tell you that? I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. Did he kill her? Did he tell you that? He said it broke in the house. He didn't know anyone was home. All the women was in the bedroom. Started to cry out. Had a gun. Had it with it. Where's your husband now? I don't know. Said it. Come home for dinner. About five. About the groceries. What time you got been? Um, half past three. Um, that ring you were in, Miss Barry. Could you help me give you that? Yes, why? What kind of a stone is that? To a pest. What gave it to me? Why?

27:13Nothing. We'll wait. Five o'clock came and went. Barry failed to show. Five thirty. All the rigs started to get nervous. Six o'clock. Six thirty. No sign of Barry. I went to the window and kept an eye on the street below. At six forty-five, a light green nash to the handful to a stop in front of the apartment house. A man got out and went into the main floor entrance. Bird. I'll let him in. All right. How long have you had the new car? A couple of days. Bird got it. Credit. What do you want me to do now? Does he have a key to the apartment here? He lost it. Okay, when he rings, let him in. Just act natural. Ben. You cover me. I'll get the cuffs on him. Right. Hi, Bird. Look out, Joe. All right, stop it, Barry.

28:16Okay, Ben. Yeah. He's fast with a gun. That's looking isn't he, Fat? You never think he'd kill anybody? Come on, let's take him in. I love him. I still love him. What's your cop, you wouldn't understand. That's right, I wouldn't understand. I'm a cop. The story you have just heard was true. Only the names were changed to protect the innocent. On February 16, 1947, trial was held in Superior Court Department 82 City and County of Los Angeles State of California. In a moment, the results of that trial. Earlier tonight, you heard the reports of amazing increases in Fatima smokers from New York to Los Angeles. Yes, all over the country, Fatima is doubling and redoubling its sales. And here's reason one. Fatima is the long cigarette that contains an essential ingredient

29:18of all the very popular cigarettes, Turkish tobacco. Reason two. Fatima has a much different, much better flavor and aroma than any other long cigarette. Reason three. Two millions of smokers. The name Fatima has always stood for the best in cigarette quality. Smoke Fatima, the best of all long cigarettes. Albert Ralph Berry was tried and convicted of murder in the first degree. His wife, Norma Berry, was found innocent of the charge that she harbored a criminal. She was returned home with her father. Berry was executed in the lethal gas chamber at the state penitentiary. You have just heard Dragnet, a new series of authentic cases from official files. Technical advice for Dragnet comes from the Office of Acting Chief of Police, W.A. Warton, Los Angeles Police Department.

30:20Tonight's program is dedicated to private qubert W.S.D.'s of the District of Columbia Metropolitan Police Department, who on the night of May 16, 1947 gave his life so that yours might be more secure. For Fatima's cigarettes, best of long cigarettes has brought you Dragnet, portion transcribed from Los Angeles. Be sure to hear songs by Martin Dunney tonight on NBC. At Amica Insurance, your time and peace of mind matter. Bundle your auto and home coverage with us and enjoy savings that make life a little easier. As a mutual insurance company, we're built for our customers. We prioritize your needs and are here for you when you need us.

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