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[Music] this case was like no other case going back that much in time it was like out of this world it's like what
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you see in the movies July 22nd 1957 something has happened and I ask if he uh was hurt is he hurt bad and they
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said no it's worse than that it was a huge crime it hit Elsa gundo in the South Bay
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Area hard what do you remember as a child asking mom questions about what happened to our dad she would
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cry and say that um you you know he was killed the perpetrator of this crime turned on the
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[Music] officers officers who hadn't even had their weapons drawn shot the first
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officer in the back three times and then turned his weapon on the second officer who was seated in the
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police car and savagely shot him three times in the Torso killing both officers to have them killed like that
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right Cold Blood I was devastated back in 1957 everybody was involved the FBI state agencies local agencies the
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sheriff's department and Elsa gundo this case has been haunting the people of Elsa gundo and especially those in the
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police department for almost 50 years now how could a guy come out and commit all these crimes and then disappear all
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this time guy got away with murder simple as that this guy killed two on duty police officers and some 46 years
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later he was going to be held accountable for it the ghosts of el [Music] [Music]
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zundo this is Los Angeles County 10 million people 4,000 square miles and according to statistics the most
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dangerous place in the country to be a police officer almost every day of the year an
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officer is shot at while on duty it's a violent World especially in Los Angeles County for peace officers
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some of them end up dead we begin with breaking news an officer shot officer shot officer
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Ricardo lisara died today this California highway patrol officer shot down on the steps of this Southland
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Courthouse it is dangerous out there Darren LaVine knows the key to surviving in a hostile environment is having the
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right skills to work with I'm the chief instructor of an Israeli hand toand combat system that comes from the
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Israeli Army about 300 police departments use my system officially now I want it fast you
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explode here like a bomb but leine is a lot more than just train police officers
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how to survive on the streets nice Jesse my life has a certain theme to it I guess his full-time job is
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Deputy district attorney Mr do you have any questions I do with an elite unit set up to prosecute anyone who would
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dare wound or kill a law enforcement officer and I'm saying that this is weak evidence my unit is called the crimes
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against police officer section we have to have a unit like this because in any given week we can have 5 6 7 8 eight 10
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police officers shot at back then it wasn't like that back then means back in the days
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when LA County was a much safer Place back then is when this story of a coldblooded cop killing begins but what
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makes this tale all the more extraordinary is the fact that it would be almost half a century before Darren
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LaVine and other investigators could finally put this case to rest this case was like no other
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case this my senior year getting ready to go to college everything was just going great had a girlfriend here and
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there and swam on the swimming team and had dances in the gymnasium we would dance to Johnny matys
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and uh you know the Four Tops and you know all those you know great great songs in the past and when rock and roll
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was really uh Bill Haley and the comments and everything was just great do you look back fondly on those
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days oh yeah sure [Music] sure Bob Dart was just 17 back in 1957 an innocent kid living in a much
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more innocent age when just being in a car with a girl was a big deal mustel this is the 49 Ford that uh we
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drove that night uh out on lovers lane four teenagers driving home from a summer party stopped to watch planes
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land at a Lover's Lane near a local airport Bob der figured he might get lucky which meant he might get a kiss or
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two that was the first time I was ever in a car with a girl in that situation and what were you doing just talking
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talking listening to music and uh we started to kiss one another and I guess it got pretty uh involved and I rolled
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the window down because it it gets kind of steamy inside when four people are inside and that's
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when the gun came through the window and said this is a robbery that's what he said yeah this is a robbery and I
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thought this was a joke I said got to be somebody pulling a prank but the gun was
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real this gunman was prepared he had surgical tape uh he had a flashlight with them he covered their eyes with
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with tape and then he stopped and he said I don't know what I'm going to do with you
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and then he asked us to take our clothes off naked bound and blind der and his buddy and their 15-year-old dates had no
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choice but to do what they were told he came over to the passenger side of the car and he approached this female
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teenager teenager he came around from the driver's side to the passenger's side opened the car and raped the
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girl what had started as a night of innocent fun had now become a horrible dream from
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which Bob der thought he and his friends might never awaken were you thinking this is it yeah we did yeah he asked us
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to get out of the car and he said I I think I'm going to kill you and I want you to March out into the
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field and so we all marched out on the field and girls were crying and I didn't know what to think I mean I couldn't
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believe this was going to happen but you thought he might kill you sh well he had
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a gun you know I figured that just takes four bullets and we're all gone we stood
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in the field and then he turned the car so the headlights shined on us then we heard the car door close and he drove
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away one girl raped three other teenagers robbed and terrorized but the gunman's night wasn't over yet as he
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made his getaway in the stolen 49 Ford he made a mistake one simple mistake that would add murder to the list of his
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crimes at the corner of saula Boulevard and Rose cray the suspect stopped for the red
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light at [Music] sepula and then for unknown reason proceeded through the red light Lieutenant Craig clear was just 18
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months old at the time of the crime but as an investigator for the elag gundo police department clear knows as much
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about what happened that night as if he had been there there was a marked black and white unit that were parked off the
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side of the road that obviously suspect didn't see in that patrol car were two young Elsa gundo policemen in their 20s
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officer Richard Phillips and rookie Milton Curtis who had been with the Department only two and a half months
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when the two decided to pull over that 49 Ford now while officers Curtis and Phillips were dealing with this
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situation another black and white Rolls by with two other Elsa gundo police officers in it correct we were
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Southbound on subul when we heard the call and turned the corner and there they were two other young patrolmen
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James Gilbert I was 28 and Charlie Porter I was about 37 I believe not knowing what had taken place earlier at
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The Lover's Lane assumed that Phillips and Curtis were making just a routine traffic stop officer Phillips appeared
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to be getting ready to start a citation and as we stopped and looked looked the situation over and he waved a
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paper at us like everything was all right so we we went ahead Porter and Gilbert would be the
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last people to ever see their fellow officers alive just seconds later A call came on
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the radio officer Phillips said on the radio that they they needed uh they'd been shot and they needed an ambulance
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they raced back to the scene but it was too late Officer Curtis was in the center of the police car and officer
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Phillips was out on the side in the dirt Phillips had been fatally wounded wounded shot three times in the back
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Curtis was already dead shot three times as well while sitting in the patrol car
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I reached in and fell of his neck and there was no pulse or anything I hate to say it but in in another circumstance it
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could have been the two of you that had pulled this guy over that's true it's very difficult to be that close to
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something like that to the fellas you know so well to have them killed like that right in Cold Blood it was pretty
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hard to take the call for help came over the radio at 1:28 a.m. and in the short time it took
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for Gilbert and Porter to respond the killer had simply disappeared where'd he go he went about
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four or five blocks ditched the car parked it on the opposite side of the street and fled the from the car
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hundreds of police officers from Elsa gundo and the neighboring communities scoured the area all night they found
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the stolen 49 Ford but there was no sign of the suspect someone got away with murdering two police officers someone
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got away with raping a woman the killer might have disappeared but he left something behind something that would
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trigger one of the longest manhunts in California [Music] history how W St like a
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Drifter we were high school sweethearts the first time I saw him I thought he was beautiful and I said to
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myself I'd like to marry that [Music] guy for Jean Curtis it's the memory of her husband Milton Curtis that will
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always be closest to her heart he was my first love and I never got over the first love I don't think anybody does
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really they were just teenagers when they were married in 1952 the next 5 years the couple had two
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children Keith and Tony and Milton had a new career as a police officer a career
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that would end almost as soon as it [Music] began this is the plaque that they gave
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me with his original badge on it that's all I have [Music] left tell me what do you remember about
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sending him off to work that night we had had a little argument and I've always felt bad about
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that we didn't get to say goodbye just a few hours later Jean Curtis would find out she was no longer
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a 23-year-old wife she was now a 20 3-year-old Widow they woke me up around 4 in the
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morning and they told me that he and his partner had been shot and killed and I thought
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oh the world since I went to sleep the world's gone mad the morning of July 22nd 1957 was a
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rude awakening for all the residents of elag gundo when they suddenly found themselves at the Center of one of the
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largest manhunts in California history it was the number one story in Southern California for that time it was rare
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back then it was a crime that would become one of the oldest unsolved murder cases in LA county a crime that would
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haunt Deputy da Darren LaVine 46 years later you can imagine the scrutiny and all the resources that were put forth to
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try and solve this case back in 1957 and everybody was asking the same question why why did a man who had
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simply run a red light have to murder two police officers in Cold Blood perhaps he figured the cops were looking
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for the man who had earlier terrorized those teenagers and stolen their car and once they'd run a check on him it would
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all be over but there was just one problem with that theory there has been no report of that 49 Ford having been
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stolen there's no report out on the airwaves of this rape and robbery that had just occurred in fact at the time of
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the murders the teenagers naked and terrified had just been found wandering the streets looking for hell when their
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story was finally reported investigators were already arriving at the scene of this crime the only thing that was going
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through my mind was that I had to be sure and do everything right uh Howard speaks was one of the first to
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arrive as a young crime- scene investigator with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department the first thing
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that you do any homicide investigation is photograph the area I took some pictures of the back of the car Bullet
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Hole in the trunk two in the rear windshield that shattered the windshield so we know that the car was hit three
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times Lieutenant Craig clear and all the members of the elag gundo police department are amazed at how those
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bullet holes got there officer Phillips happened to be one of the top marksmen on the department at the time after
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being shot and actually in the process of dying was able to get off six shots at the flame suspect vehicle hitting the
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vehicle three times Phillips may have marked his killer for Life two rounds were
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recovered from the interior of the vehicle one was not and that told the investigators what the suspect might be
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carrying a bullet from officer Phillips's handgun that's pretty remarkable it [Music]
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is investigators knew the stolen 49 Ford might have one more story to tell did the killer leave something behind
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something that would leave lead them in the right direction today samples of DNA
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can point the way to a killer but back in 1957 they would have to rely on the best tool they had at the time this is
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my fingerprint kit Howard speaks search the car from bumper to bumper for something anything that might lead them
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to a suspect you've got this car you know that the suspect was in it and driving it are you hopeful that you're
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going to get some prints off this I was very hopeful knowing that uh that he must have been uh highly nervous
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and perspiring that he had to leave fingerprints on the steering wheel so tell me exactly what you did I just put
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the powder on the steering wheel and moved it around and found The Ridges that were showing I found two latent
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lifts of the left thumb print two partial prints by themselves not much to go on but when a lab
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technician decid decided to put them together it was the break investigators were counting on they felt pretty
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confident they had the suspect's fingerprints now you have to find the person investigators needed to put a
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face on their suspect and luckily there were several witnesses who would never forget the man they had seen that night
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were you able to provide them with a description of the man well I did the best I could Bob derer and his friends
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were held at gunpoint by the suspect for almost an hour they tell you don't look
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at the gun look at the man well I think I looked at the man this is a picture developed as a result of the accounts
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that we had of the robbery I got a very good look at the suspect Ela gundo patrolman Charlie Porter and his partner
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saw the man for less than a minute but that was enough he was about 6 tall 200 lb short hair and peculiar way he held
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his head either he was arrogant or frightened it looked a little bit of [Music] both the face of a killer a clear clue
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to his identity police now felt it would be only a matter of time until he was brought to justice but no one could ever
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imagine just how much [Music] time meanwhile the residents of elig gundo frightened and saddened gathered
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together as a family to late arrest two of their own what this is is a news cast
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from 1957 city of elund the Douglas Mortuary was the sheriff of LA County at the time Keith Curtis was just five at
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the time his father was shot his sister Tony only two that's my mother Jane she was very protective of both
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myself and my sister she realized that times are going to change now and she did everything for us my son kept asking
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me why doesn't Daddy come home home and uh I would tell him he he can't come home you know he can't he's
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sleeping with the God and the angels in heaven and he still couldn't understand why he couldn't come home to sleep you
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feel cheated I feel cheated I feel cheated that we never really got to know my [Music]
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father it would take authorities nearly half a century to find the man who disappeared in the dark that night over
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the next 46 years important new Clues would be discovered we were digging up the weeds when I found the gun promising
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New Leads would be investigated could this be the diamond in the rof we were looking for and thousands of suspects
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would be checked out all dead ends until a new piece of technology came along that would finally catch up
00:19:51
with this old mystery when the killer of two policemen disappeared down those dark alleys that
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night in 1957 the Kurtis family wondered if and when they would ever catch him when they
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said that they had no leads they meant they had no leads I think my mom put it the best way over a period of time you
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had to have people born to figure out the science and technology to put this thing together we had to
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wait she was right for although time is usually the enemy of a murder investigation this time the passage of
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time 46 years would be necessary it would be a different world from the ' 50s in which this case could finally be
00:20:53
solved two modern-day policemen LA Sheriff's detectives Kevin low we were were the lead investigators and Dan
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meler it was a fascinating case have inherited the coldest case on the books ice cold ice cold it was colder than
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cold yeah these cards represent over 3,000 individuals that were looked at as possible suspects and they were all
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cleared but Lo and meler weren't simply curious about some old files what got them involved was a phone call to the
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elag gundo police department in September 2002 El the police I may help you it was from a woman who said she had
00:21:29
some tantalizing new information on the murders her uncle had been bragged about
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being responsible for murder murdering two El police officers were you excited to the possibility of cracking this case
00:21:41
after all these years absolutely no absolutely their first order of business was simple see if the 1957 fingerprint
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matched up with their new suspect we gave the uh information to the crime lab they worked it they cleaned up the print
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the prince were sent here the Los Angeles sheriff's department crime lab easily the busiest in the country
00:22:04
handling over 70,000 cases a year this is the actual lat and lift that Howard speaks lifted in 1957 Dale FAL and Don K
00:22:14
top fingerprint specialist took one look and knew right away their new suspect was no match to the old print just
00:22:21
another dead end those prints uh ultimately did not belong to that individual and homicide was quickly
00:22:28
notified once it was verified but now that this old unsolved murder was suddenly on top of the pile again they
00:22:35
thought why not give it one more try and and would you say describe that as kind
00:22:40
of fragile after all these years it it has literally Fallen apart this time with the advantage of modern science how
00:22:48
do you work with something like this well we we literally can't work with that we work with a photograph that
00:22:53
fortunately was taken of this using everyday computer technology that wasn't even dreamt of in 1957 the experts were
00:23:01
able to digitally reprocess the original photograph this in effect is a is a really paired down version of this that
00:23:08
is correct so the computer can read it that is correct but even with a new digital image of this original
00:23:13
fingerprint you still have to have some place to search for a match and that's what's really new following the events
00:23:21
of 9/11 the FBI finally created a nationwide computer database in it a copy of every single criminal
00:23:29
fingerprint from every state in the entire country how big a deal is this it's fantastic they loaded a digital
00:23:37
copy of the Killer's prints into the system and just like that a man that had eluded capture for nearly half a century
00:23:44
was found in a matter of minutes a hit like this it really makes you feel good they
00:23:51
gave us a call and said hey we got really good news for you the guy you're looking for lives in South Carolina and
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uh that's when everything got exciting read the name for me it comes back to a Mason Gerald F
00:24:04
Mason Gerald F Mason after years of searching the face of a killer this was his fingerprint card
00:24:14
from his 1956 burglary or felony larsy arrest in Columbia South Carolina were those the only fingerprints from Gerald
00:24:21
Mason in the system yes he was only arrested that one time so if he had not been arrested done jail time in 1956 for
00:24:30
that crime we we wouldn't be here today some quick police work easily located Mason remarkably still living in his
00:24:36
hometown of Columbia South Carolina and not a career criminal but a retiree living comfortably with his family we
00:24:44
found that very unusual that a guy could come out here and commit that type of crime in
00:24:49
1957 and he' only been arrested one time we thought we were going to be looking at a guy with a a serious criminal
00:24:55
history so why not just going get Mason the answer is lo and meler would need a lot more than just a decades old
00:25:03
fingerprint match to prove to a jury that Mason was indeed a cop killer how do you try to prove that Mason is the
00:25:11
killer the first thing we did is we we looked through the file we found what we had what they had was the single largest
00:25:20
file in the very crowded Sheriff's record Library there were boxes and boxes boxes and boxes of evidence and
00:25:26
leads collect over the years which now had to be reexamined to see if any other Clues could be connected to Gerald
00:25:34
Mason in 1960 the actual murder weapon was recovered by a man that was doing some yard work we were digging up the
00:25:41
weeds when I found the gun Doug Tuli has lived in this house since 1956 less than
00:25:47
a mile from the scene of the murders in the same neighborhood police believe the
00:25:51
killer used to make his escape this portion we found first the frame the frame without the cylinder without the
00:25:59
cylinder and then we found the cylinder and The Spence shells and the live shells this was a year later this was a
00:26:06
year later that's when we called the police and said what do we do with it that gun the finding of that gun was
00:26:12
huge to this case also the serial number was traced by investigators back then to
00:26:16
shreport [Music] Louisiana L and meler followed the trail of evidence to shreport 1600 M and 46
00:26:26
years from El Segundo California the gun was sold here in 1957 they tracked down
00:26:33
the salesman at the Sears that sold that gun A Man by the name of Billy Jean Clark I pointed out that this was the
00:26:39
least expensive one at $29.95 then that's when he decided that's what he wanted Billy Jean Clark was just an
00:26:46
18-year-old kid in 1957 working his first real job behind the Sporting Goods counter at this local Sears because you
00:26:54
sold a lot of guns I assume yes back then we were by far the largest gun dealer in this
00:26:59
area what exactly is this document that we're looking at this is a record of firearm sold this is GD Wilson is the
00:27:06
name he gave me this is your handwriting that's correct who was GD Wilson that's
00:27:12
what they didn't know uh with just the initials they didn't they didn't have much so what' they do they started
00:27:17
canvasing the areas around the [Music] sear it's the YMCA this is where they tracked uh
00:27:28
George D Wilson too this is the man who bought the gun you know he stayed here yes investigators had checked out nearly
00:27:36
every George Wilson in the country this the room that uh Gerald Mason stayed in and none matched the 1957 fingerprint
00:27:44
this window you can see the back of the sear obviously the GD Wilson who stayed here had used an alias but it was an
00:27:52
alias written in the Killer's own hand they were able to locate the uh register from actual piece of paper where he
00:28:00
signed in to the YMCA as George D Wilson the handw running jumped off the page at me and it was something that I'm
00:28:09
going you know I gotta Paul edol formerly of the Beverly Hills Police Department and one of the country's
00:28:16
leading forensic experts on handwriting was enlisted to examine the evidence this was written out by the person who
00:28:23
checked into the YMC in the name of George D Wilson and this was an eye examination from the state of South
00:28:30
Carolina in the name of Gerald F Mason this is the Gerald Mason G this is the George Wilson G if you put one over the
00:28:40
other here I mean it's almost identical I indicated that I was uh 99.9% sure that this was done by the
00:28:51
same person when you told them that you were 99.9% sure what was their reaction they were ready to go out and get a war
00:28:57
War for his arrest at that point and so confident their case against Mason was solid detectives made the trip to South
00:29:04
Carolina to finally get their man but it wasn't over yet Gerald Mason's comfortable retirement was about to come
00:29:12
to an end and no one knew how he'd react there was a lot of anxiety cuz we didn't know what was going to happen
00:29:21
what did you say to him Mr Mason uh we're detectives from Los Angeles and uh we're here to talk to you about
00:29:27
something happened back in 1957 two police officers were murdered my God you here for that reason yes
00:29:35
[Music] sir you say Canon will be used against a court a law you understand that
00:30:00
yes when Gerald Mason answered a knock on his front door early on the morning of January 29th 2003 it's clear from
00:30:08
these police audio tapes that he never expected it would be his past finally catching up with him we're investigating
00:30:16
a crime that occurred back in 1957 two police officers were murdered my God you here for that reason
00:30:23
sir when my partner explained to him that we were homicide investigators M County his chin just dropped detectives
00:30:30
Kevin low and Dan meler weren't sure who was more surprised when they finally met
00:30:35
Mason face to face he was just shocked completely shocked and he just kept saying I don't understand I don't
00:30:41
understand why you're here you've come here for me yes sir that's what the arrest Wars for he never denied it he
00:30:49
never reacted he just stared off and just shook his head El Segundo police Lieutenant Craig clear had the privilege
00:30:56
of taking me Mason into custody step over here you think that he thought after all
00:31:05
these years he'd gotten away with it absolutely even though Mason was almost 70 years old police still considered him
00:31:14
potentially dangerous in fact a search of his house turned up a collection of loaded Firearms but in the end Mason
00:31:21
gave up not with a bang but with a whimper I don't know honey I don't know what this is all about what are you
00:31:28
going to do with them going put me in jail they going put me in jail 46 years of searching had turned up
00:31:37
a fugitive very different than anyone had expected for example there's no record that Gerald Mason ever committed
00:31:44
another Crime After the 1957 police killings he got married raised a family and started his own business to everyone
00:31:53
who knew him he was nothing more than an ordinary law-abiding citizen for over 40
00:31:59
years Jerry has been a loving husband father grandfather and a friend of this community this has to be a case of
00:32:09
mistaken identity when it happened I I said there was no way I said he just didn't do it
00:32:15
Betty Wiggins has lived next door to the Masons for the past 10 years and like many people in this neighborhood could
00:32:21
always count on Gerald Mason when help was needed he put these flood lights up here for me he put the grill together
00:32:28
for me he would light the pilot light on my jacuzzi when I couldn't get it on the
00:32:33
heater how was he thought of here in the neighborhood everyone really did like Jerry I never heard anyone say anything
00:32:39
bad about him like many of the older residents of Colombia Mason could often be found at
00:32:45
the local bowling alley or at a nearby golf course enjoying his retirement with friends it was an individual who would
00:32:53
give you a shirt off his back if you need it Dell Trimble who counts Gerald Mason as one of his best friends played
00:32:59
golf with him the day before his arrest he wasn't a Harden criminal I mean he made a mistake he was a kid that went
00:33:06
out and and made a couple mistakes but at the same token he changed his life was this retired family man really the
00:33:15
coldblooded killer California police had been searching for all these years prosecutor Darren Levine would have to
00:33:21
prove that he was I've had my own friends say to me but he's been so good for 45 years he's lived such a good life
00:33:31
for 45 years he was a nice grandfather he was a decent husband does that count for anything sure it does we have to
00:33:37
overcome that the case against Mason was strong matching fingerprints handwriting
00:33:43
but there was one piece of evidence investigators always wondered about one that could eliminate any doubt Forever
00:33:50
Three impacts only two projectiles recovered where's the Third projectile question
00:33:58
mark did you check Mason to see if he'd been shot or had a scar we did he had a mark it looked like a big Pock mark on
00:34:05
his right shoulder blade he was in fact hit by a gunfire when Phillips shot him the last thing that officer did
00:34:15
before he died was Mark the man that killed him for life he tried to defend himself the best he could you know try
00:34:24
to defend him himself and his partner in another sense the Philips children Carolyn dick and Pat were also scarred
00:34:32
for life we lived our lives without dad he wasn't there but gee his murderer was able to
00:34:39
have everything that my father wasn't allowed to have it's um it's hard it's hard to live with you
00:34:48
know being sent to prison for the rest of his life is not good enough he needs to hear from from the families to see
00:34:57
and feel what he has done to us all right now the Phillips and Curtis families would have their chance to do
00:35:03
just that after a Judicial Hearing in South Carolina Mason agreed to return to Los Angeles for a trial long overdue
00:35:11
officers that hadn't been around for 20 years came in Walking on canes I thought
00:35:17
this St would never come officers like Howard speaks who lifted the fingerprint that solved the case I've been waiting
00:35:25
for this St a long time but the weight was well worth it new police officers rookie police officers detectives came
00:35:31
to see in this extraordinary case would it have an extraordinary ending and to the surprise of everyone
00:35:40
it did my understanding is that you want to enter a ple today is that correct that's correct Gerald Mason could have
00:35:47
fought the charges yet for some reason this time he did the right thing he pleaded guilty and Darren LaVine was
00:35:55
more than happy to accept his ple on July 22nd 1957 do you acknowledge that you murdered officer Phillips and Officer
00:36:04
Curtis willfully deliberately and with premedication yes and finally Mason would have to face up to what he had
00:36:14
done and face those whose lives he' shattered carted individual left a total of five children
00:36:22
fatherless and four teenagers devastated for many years to come your cowardly act shattered our lives
00:36:29
forever for all of this we cannot and will not forgive you but that didn't stop Mason from trying to make some kind
00:36:39
of amends is it impossible to express to so many people how sorry I am I do not understand why I did this it does not
00:36:49
fit in my life it is not the person I know I detest these crimes did you believe what he said in court no
00:37:01
no as far as I'm concerned his that apology speech went out for himself and to his family we might say he's sorry
00:37:07
now but we didn't even look at that because I don't believe it yes he was remorseful but I think he was more sad
00:37:15
and more sorry for having been caught is the Judgment of this court that You' be sentenced to life in
00:37:23
prison Gerald Mason will now spend what's left of the rest of his life in prison but one question Still Remains
00:37:31
after all these years [Music] why it wasn't too easy no it was a lot of work it was draining physically emot
00:37:56
emotionally and now it's [Applause] over detectives Kevin low and Dan meler got what they wanted from Gerald Mason a
00:38:07
confession but what they also wanted now were answers after the proceedings he was willing to sit down and talk with us
00:38:13
and answer some more questions that we we had for him nagging questions like why did Mason after just getting out of
00:38:20
prison for burglary end up in California with a gun I didn't have a family life I
00:38:26
didn't have any place to go and things were not going well for me and so I took off California I bought the gun at
00:38:34
streetport with the intention of using it simply as a deterrent in so far as I was hitchhiking when asked why he
00:38:42
attacked the teenagers and raped that 15-year-old girl amazingly Mason said he didn't really remember but as far as why
00:38:51
he killed two cops in Cold Blood Mason's answer was shockingly simple I thought if I don't get them they going to get me
00:38:59
so when the officer turned away from me I shocked both officers got back in the car and drove away a simple answer for
00:39:10
an incredibly senseless crime an answer that brought little Comfort to his victims I hope he burns in
00:39:17
hell it made me really feel angry sick uh to the point where I wish I could reach out and smack him up on the
00:39:25
side of the head he's a murderer he's a thief and he's a rapist that's what he is he just got old but there was great
00:39:34
comfort in knowing that after 46 years the victims were never forgotten to know that they didn't give up there were
00:39:41
people out there of the department that still wanted to solve this case but then
00:39:45
to be able to do it it was phenomenal how is solving this case helped you peace of
00:39:55
mine that's it peace of mind they presented these to us these pocket watches it says thank you seem so
00:40:04
small we carry these with us everywhere we go and uh it's just a reminder of these great families that we feel such a
00:40:10
part of now my man how are you good in the end maybe what it took to solve this case wasn't
00:40:19
one clue or one break but one family generations of police officers determined to protect their own
00:40:27
there's probably a hundred people that was in on this investigation and I love each and every one of them you can't
00:40:36
even begin to thank them a lot of people put their hearts and soul into it there's not much more satisfying
00:40:43
thing I've ever done in law enforcement it's heartwarming that we were able to do a small part in that I didn't think
00:40:50
I'd ever live to see it it'll live with me the rest of my days this is the culmination of my career law enforcement
00:40:57
just the thanks and the praise we got from the families is more than any recognition we could get from our
00:41:02
department I hope we brought them some measure of comfort knowing that we've got the
00:41:08
guy the town of elig gundo hasn't changed much since that fateful night so long ago but one thing has changed the
00:41:16
wounds that were suffered almost 50 years ago have finally begun to heal I'm not his victim
00:41:24
anymore my son is not his victim anymore I am so grateful I had to wait this long is worth a
00:41:37
[Music] [Music] wait [Music]