Dan McElderry
Appearances
48 Hours
The Spirits of El Segundo
We gave the information to the crime lab. They worked it. They cleaned up the print.
48 Hours
The Spirits of El Segundo
If you have a hit like this, it really makes you feel good. They gave us a call and said, hey, we've got really good news for you. The guy you're looking for lives in South Carolina. And that's when everything got exciting. Read the name for me.
48 Hours
The Spirits of El Segundo
This was his fingerprint card from his 1956 burglary or felony larceny arrest in Columbia, South Carolina. Were those the only fingerprints from Gerald Mason in the system? Yes.
48 Hours
The Spirits of El Segundo
We found that very unusual that a guy could come out here and commit that type of crime in 1957. And he'd only been arrested one time. We thought we were going to be looking at a guy with a serious criminal history.
48 Hours
The Spirits of El Segundo
The first thing we did is we looked through the file. We found what we had.
48 Hours
The Spirits of El Segundo
Who was G.D. Wilson? That's what they didn't know. With just the initials, they didn't have much. So what'd they do? They started canvassing the areas around the Sears. This is the YMCA. This is where they tracked George D. Wilson, too.
48 Hours
The Spirits of El Segundo
They were able to locate the register from an actual piece of paper where he signed in to the YMCA as George D. Wilson.
48 Hours
The Spirits of El Segundo
What did you say to him? Mr. Mason, we're detectives from Los Angeles, and we're here to talk to you about something that happened back in 1957. Two police officers were murdered.
48 Hours
The Spirits of El Segundo
He was just shocked, completely shocked. And he just kept saying, I don't understand. I don't understand why you're here. You've come here for me? Yes, sir.
48 Hours
The Spirits of El Segundo
It wasn't too easy. No, it was a lot of work. It was draining physically, emotionally, and now it's over.
48 Hours
The Spirits of El Segundo
They presented these to us, these pocket watches. It says, thank you. Seems so small. We carry these with us everywhere we go. And it's just a reminder of these great families that we feel such a part of now.