The Ghosts Of El Segundo

Cold-Blooded Crime Haunts Investigators For Half A Century

(CBS)  This story originally aired on July 5, 2005. It was updated on Jan. 31, 2008.

According to statistics, Los Angeles County is the most dangerous place in the U.S. to be a police officer. There, almost every day of the year, a police officer is shot on duty.

"It’s a violent world, especially in Los Angeles County, for peace officers," says Deputy District Attorney Darren Levine, who is also the chief instructor of an Israeli Army hand-to-hand combat system that is used by approximately 300 police departments.

Levine is part of the "Crimes Against Police Officers" unit, set up to prosecute anyone who wounds or kills a law enforcement officer. "We have to have a unit like this because in any given week, we could have five, six, seven, eight, 10 police officers shot at," says Levine. "Back then, it wasn’t like that."

Los Angeles County used to be a much safer place. But as Bill Lagattuta reports, a cold-blooded cop killing in 1957 would haunt the police force in El Segundo for nearly half a century

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Bob Dewar was just 17 in 1957. Dewar was one of four teenagers coming home from a summer party one night, when he and his friends decided to make a stop at Lover's Lane.

"I rolled the window down. … And that's when the gun came through the window,” recalls Dewar. "'This is a robbery.' I said, gotta be somebody pulling a prank. But the gun was real."

Officer Levine said the gunman came prepared with surgical tape and a flashlight. The gunman covered the teenagers' eyes with tape and ordered them to take their clothes off. Naked, bound and blind, Dewar, his buddy, and their 15-year-old dates had no choice but to do what they were told.

"He came around from the driver's side to the passenger side, opened the car and raped the girl," says Dewar.

What had started as a night of innocent fun had now become a horrible dream from which Dewar thought he and his friends might never escape.

"He asked us to get out of the car. He said, 'I think I'm gonna kill you. I want you to march out into the field,'" says Dewar. "The girls were crying, and I didn't know what to think. I mean, I couldn't believe this was gonna happen."

"I figured that it just takes four bullets and we're all gone," Dewar continues. "And then we heard the car door close and he drove away."

One girl was raped, and three other teenagers, including Dewar, were robbed and terrorized. But the gunman's night wasn't over yet. While making his getaway in the stolen '49 Ford, he made one simple mistake that would add murder to his list of crimes.

"At the corner of Sepulveda Boulevard and Rosecrantz, the suspect stopped for the red light. And then, for an unknown reason, proceeded through the red light," recalls Lt. Craig Cleary, who was just 18 months old at the time of the crime.

Formerly an investigator for the El Segundo Police Department, Cleary knows as much about what happened that night as if he had been there. "There was a marked black-and-white unit parked off the side of the road that obviously the suspect didn't see," says Cleary.

In that patrol car were two young El Segundo policemen, Officer Richard Phillips and rookie Officer Milton Curtis, who decided to pull over the '49 Ford. Soon after, a second police car with Officers James Gilbert and Charlie Porter drove by.

Not knowing what had taken place minutes earlier at Lover's Lane, these officers assumed that it was just another routine traffic stop. "Officer Philips appeared to be getting ready to start a citation, and as we stopped and looked the situation over," recalls Gilbert, "he waved a paper at us, like everything was all right. So, we went ahead."

Officers Porter and Gilbert would be the last people to ever see their fellow officers alive. Just seconds later, there was a call on the radio. "Officer Philips said on the radio that they'd been shot, and needed an ambulance," recalls Porter, who raced back to the scene.

It was too late. Phillips had been fatally wounded, shot three times in the back. Curtis was already dead. He was shot three times as well, while still sitting in his patrol car.

"To have them killed like that, right in cold blood," says Gilbert. "It was pretty hard to take."

The call for help came over the radio at 1:28 a.m., and in the short time it took for Gilbert and Porter to respond, the killer had simply disappeared.

Hundreds of police officers from El Segundo and the neighboring communities scoured the area all night. They found the stolen '49 Ford, but there was no sign of the suspect.

"We never gave up," says Porter. "We've always kept looking and looking and looking. The case was never closed."

[kentong33]

What a waste of our money to put a man that is 71 years old in prison. He has obviously know he did the wrong thing and had 46 years to think about it. what good is it going to do to put him in jail? The people that are part of this that say he shoudl burn and wont forgive him are the ones that are going to suffer in the end by not forgiving him. forgive and forget is what GOD says.

[bcsterps]

I noticed at the end of the show they show that Keith Curtis (son of one of the officers that was killed) had passed away. I wonder if anyone knows how he died.

[kabutler2]

Question: How much time and money would have been spent on this case if Mr. Mason had not killed cops?
Answer: None

[demika1]

Thank God he was caught & prosecuted for his horrible crimes that he committed no matter his age. He should be forgiven, but not forgotten just like the innocent victims. He''s lived a good life & never paid for his crimes in the eyes of the law & victims family, but now he will.

Also, I''m interested to know what happened to Keith Curtis. I feel sorry for his mother.

[demika1]

Thank God he was caught & prosecuted for his horrible crimes that he committed no matter his age. He should be forgiven, but not forgotten just like the innocent victims. He''s lived a good life & never paid for his crimes in the eyes of the law & victims family, but now he will.

Also, I''m interested to know what happened to Keith Curtis. I feel sorry for his mother.

[promise100]

I don''t think it is a waste of money to jail this man at all. The two men he killed never had the chance to enjoy their lives with their families, have a nice life and a comfortable retirement. Why should he get away with murder (not to mention rape) for longer than he did because he is old and has gotten away with it this long. Where is spends eternity is between him and God but I''m glad he is going to pay some sort of price here.
I also saw that about Keith Curtis. I was wondering what happened to him also???

[salimahrd]

Very sad story. Does anybody know what happened to Keith Curtis? I was shocked to see he just passed away. Life is so fragile...so much loss and pain in this world.

[dm1946]

Yes I would also know what happened to Keith Curtis.

The families of this terrible crime needed to see this man pay for what he did. Just because he is 71 and it had been 46 years has no bearing on his having to pay for killing their fathers and husbands.I''m just sorry he didn''t have additional time for the rape. If you watch no other real live show other than 48 hours, you will still see that all cases cost many thousands of dollars and man hours to solve having nothing to do with the crime being against a police officer. Unfortunately everyone is greedy these days in the name of "justice". I have no special attachment to law enforcement but I do to doing the right thing. He will still pay the highest cost when he dies. After all he did have a good life and would still be living that nice life had someone not spent the time to catch him. How many killers are still out there running free?

[rbr1947]

That just goes to show you that you can''t escape the long arm of the law. Justice served.

[rbr1947]

That just goes to show you that you can''t escape the long arm of the law. Justice served.

[xpassages]

I worked with Curtis some years back in Hawthorne and am sad to hear of his passing. He was a very nice guy.

[thisandthat1]

You know, even though the families are relieved and gave the Investigators watches, etc ... no offense intended, but these Investigators didn''t solve this crime! They had worked it for 45 years and came up with nothing. The person who actually solved the crime, or at least made it possible to solve it, was the woman who stepped up and called and said her Uncle had been bragging about killing two police officers. So, the killer was dropped in their lap .. then they did some leg work to prove it. It''s great that it was solved, but let''s be honest ... the police didn''t solve anything.

[loribeth8]

It is all tragic because he seemingly went on to live what we know as a crime free life. But he RAPED a 15 year old girl and murdered 2 innocent men. There is not mention of the girl as a victim of this man who had to live with the torment of this attack for the rest of her life. I am wondering what happened to this young girl and if she is aware that her attacker was caught? Can you imagine...if she is alive, it was over 40 years before she knew her attacker was brought to justice. He may have lived a good life; good people can commit a bad crime. But they are still accountable for these choices.

[maaags]

I was also curious about this near the end of the broadcast......"I''m not his victim anymore. My son is not his victim anymore," says Curtis'' wife, Jean. "I''m so grateful, and I had to wait this long. It''s worth the wait."

There is no mention of the daughter. Was there possibly an earlier tragedy.

I also noticed there were no interviews with the other widow. Mrs. Richard Phillips.