Darren Levine
Appearances
48 Hours
The Spirits of El Segundo
Back in 1957, everybody was involved, the FBI, state agencies, local agencies, the sheriff's department, and El Segundo.
48 Hours
The Spirits of El Segundo
This guy killed two on-duty police officers, and some 46 years later, he was going to be held accountable for it.
48 Hours
The Spirits of El Segundo
It's a violent world, especially in Los Angeles County for peace officers. Some of them end up dead.
48 Hours
The Spirits of El Segundo
This California Highway Patrol officer shot down on the steps of this Southland courthouse. It is dangerous out there.
48 Hours
The Spirits of El Segundo
I'm the chief instructor of an Israeli hand-to-hand combat system that comes from the Israeli army. About 300 police departments use my system officially. Now I want it fast. You explode here like a bomb.
48 Hours
The Spirits of El Segundo
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 for 45 years. He was a nice grandfather. He was a decent husband. Does that count for anything? Sure it does. We have to overcome that.
48 Hours
The Spirits of El Segundo
The last thing that officer did before he died was mark the man that killed him for life.
48 Hours
The Spirits of El Segundo
Officers that hadn't been around for 20 years came in walking on canes.
48 Hours
The Spirits of El Segundo
New police officers, rookie police officers, detectives came to see in this extraordinary case, would it have an extraordinary ending?
48 Hours
The Spirits of El Segundo
Yes, he was remorseful, but I think he was more sad and more sorry for having been caught.
48 Hours
The Spirits of El Segundo
And I'm saying that this is weak evidence. My unit is called the Crimes Against Police Officers Section. We have to have a unit like this. Because in any given week, we can have 5, 6, 7, 8, 10 police officers shot at. Back then, it wasn't like that.
48 Hours
The Spirits of El Segundo
I hope we brought them some measure of comfort knowing that we've got the guy.
48 Hours
The Spirits of El Segundo
This gunman was prepared. He had surgical tape. He had a flashlight with him. He covered their eyes with tape.
48 Hours
The Spirits of El Segundo
He came over to the passenger side of the car, and he approached this female teenager. Teenager.
48 Hours
The Spirits of El Segundo
This case was like no other case. Going back that much in time, it was like out of this world. It's like what you see in the movies. July 22, 1957.
48 Hours
The Spirits of El Segundo
Someone got away with murdering two police officers. Someone got away with raping a woman.
48 Hours
The Spirits of El Segundo
You can imagine the scrutiny and all the resources that were put forth to try and solve this case back in 1957.
48 Hours
The Spirits of El Segundo
But there was just one problem with that theory. There has been no report of that 49 Ford having been stolen. There's no report out on the airwaves of this rape and robbery that had just occurred.
48 Hours
The Spirits of El Segundo
The perpetrator of this crime turned on the officers. Officers who hadn't even had their weapons drawn shot the first officer in the back three times. and then turned his weapon on the second officer who was seated in the police car and savagely shot him three times in the torso, killing both officers. To have them killed like that, right, in cold blood, I was devastated.