Original subtitles

the center of the ring here at the Olympic Auditorium. The crowd is aghast.

want the Annihilator to lose. Sailor Jack in the blue trunks takes a shot to

foot of the stomach from the foot of the Annihilator. The Annihilator with an

arm hold throws him against the rope. He catches him under the Adam's apple with

an elbow.

A vicious, hurting blow.

And here is a body slam by the Annihilator. Sailor Jack's in the

Annihilator drives to the pin. The count got to two and Sailor Jack kicked out

of it. Oh, that was close, ladies and gentlemen. He had a count of two and one

half. That means simply.

Another half second, he would have lost the Global Association Championship

title.

These people don't know the Annihilator. I do. His name's Vic Garrett.

Used to be one of the good guys. They called him Gobo Garrett until Sailor

hurt him one night.

Sailor Jack always fights dirty.

Sailor Jack as he makes his way to the locker room. It was quite a fight out

there tonight. The Annihilator was very, very good. Hey, Sailor Jack, how about

a word for our TV audience?

Yeah, once the champ, always the champ.

What's this I hear about you jumping ship, Sailor?

Rumor has it that you're going over to the Federal Association.

Like you said, it's only a rumor.

Hey, what's the matter with you? Figured you didn't do enough damage two years

ago? You know, you're a bad loser and a worse wrestler, you know that? Honey,

get him out of there. Hurry up. Please.

You mean to tell me you want to get right back into the ring with Sailor

Are you kidding? I'll kill him. I swear it, I'll kill him. Vic, we've got to

take care of you. Folks, in case Sailor Jack does jump associations, there

cannot be a rematch. Tommy O 'Keefe is here. He heads up the global

Any truth to this rumor?

Absolutely, positively, none. Thank you very much.

I'm going over to his place tonight and let him have it.

He didn't mean to hurt you, Vic. Yeah, take it easy, Vic. You know, sailor, he

just got carried away.

Hey, okay, people, let's close the store, huh? Let me take care of the kid.

Please, huh, gentlemen?

Right about now.

See you tomorrow, Vic.

How bad is it?

Well, it's nothing that a little hydrotherapy won't cure.

Rotate it.

Don't dwell on it, Vic.

Who am I kidding, Bobby?

I'm getting too old for this.

It's no good.

Well, you won't get an argument from me on that, pal.

You could have argued a little.

Hey, you weren't serious about going after Sailor, were you?

Yeah, I was.

Sort of.

But what's the point?

You know, Sailor and me used to be good friends.

But that was messed up somewhere.

Maybe we ought to talk it out.

Just Saylor and me.

Who is it you're here to see?

Jack Saunders.

Not so fast, pal.

Hey, give me the police.

Sailor?

Don't move! Just hold it right there!

Yeah. What are you doing?

Trying to fix my chair.

Well, can I help you? No, I'll get it.

Uh, Ben, you know how sometimes you take on a new client because the case

interests you or you think an injustice has been done and the person is

innocent?

Uh, yeah.

Well, those are all real good reasons.

I think so.

And sometimes you take on a client because somebody asks you to, don't you?

Sometimes.

If I asked you to, would you?

What are you talking about?

Well, we have a new, might be client, maybe.

I mean, Michelle's bailing him out down at the jail.

Michelle's bailing him out for what?

Murder. Who is this person?

It's Vic Garrett.

Friend of yours?

Well, not exactly.

I mean, I know him.

Well, I mean, I know who he is.

Uh, he's a professional wrestler.

Kathy, you know my opinion of these buffoons you find so entertaining.

Ben, they're finely tuned professional athletes. These wrestlers don't wrestle.

It's vaudeville. Bad vaudeville.

One pratfall after another.

They're nothing but clowns lurching around in these costumes about the size

their IQs.

They're nothing but a bunch of gorillas that look like they escaped from a

hormone farm.

Ben.

This is the Annihilator, Vic Garrett.

Well, hell, any friend of Cassidy's a friend of mine.

This is Ben Matlock, an attorney, and this is our client, Vic Garrett.

Yeah. I understand you tried to keep Mr. Garrett from going up to see Mr.

Saunders last night.

Yeah, that's right.

Saylor had phoned down earlier in the evening, and he described him to me.

He said if he showed, not to let him up.

If there was trouble, call the police.

Oh, okay.

Thanks.

Why don't you see if you can get something out of the paparazzi out

Any idea how Salo Jack knew you were coming here last night?

His manager, Connie Hammond, she must have told him.

She was in my dressing room when I was shooting my mouth off about getting

Who else was there?

My manager, Bobby Devine, Tommy O 'Keefe, head of the Global Wrestling

Association, and a pro wrestling friend of mine named Gentleman George.

Tell you one thing, if you were framed, whoever did it had to know you were

coming up here last night.

Couldn't forget about Bobby.

He'd give his life for me.

Yeah.

Like a freight train went through here.

This is the way it looked when I walked in.

Hmm.

Was anybody in the corridor out there?

I didn't see anybody.

Was the door ajar or open? I thought it was closed, but when I banged on it, it

swung open.

Then what happened?

I stood here looking around.

Then I saw the wall over here.

Came around and found Saylor.

Did you touch anything?

Just him when I was feeling for a pulse.

The police report said you had a cut on your head. Let's see.

Yeah, I did that when I was kneeling down.

They said you had red wine on your pants.

Like I said, I kneeled down. There was wine all over the floor.

Said you have these bruises all over.

I was just in a championship match.

Hey, I didn't do it.

You make it sound like I did. Oh, I'm sorry. It's just a bad habit.

Boy.

Taylor Jack must have been in great shape.

I guess so.

He did a number on me.

Look at this equivalent.

It's on him.

What are you doing here?

How dare you come back here?

I'll wait for you outside.

Okay.

I'm Ben Matlock, Vic's lawyer.

You were Sailor Jack's manager, Connie Hammond, right?

That's right.

Could I ask you a few questions?

I don't think Sailor would have approved of me talking to his murderer's lawyer.

Well, I hate to get technical, but this is a scene of the crime. We have a right

to be here.

We have to talk here or anywhere in court.

Okay, look, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to lose my temper.

But Sailor and I were very close.

What do you want to know?

Are you the one who told Saylor that Vic might come up here and confront him

that night?

I warned him, yes.

For all the good it did.

And when was that?

On our way over here, I guess.

Oh, you came up here that night, too?

Yes, I came home with him after the match.

How long did you stay?

Half hour, 45 minutes.

We discussed some business, and then I went home.

Did you talk about his possible move to the other wrestling association?

Yes, as a matter of fact, we did.

Were you for it or against it?

I was for anything that would make us more money.

Yeah, yeah.

The coroner said he was killed between 10 .30 and 11.

I was at Chez Robert's having dinner with some friends.

Roughly 30 waiters, wine stewards, and fellow diners can attest to that.

Does that answer your question?

Oh, yeah.

More than answers it.

Mr. Matlock, why are you treating me like a suspect?

Sailor Jack with my meal ticket.

Why on earth would I want to kill him?

Meet me.

Thank you for your time.

Oh.

Those paparazzi gave you some pictures?

Yeah, some of them that were outside Sailor's place the night of the murder.

They didn't want to give me anything at first, though. Yeah.

So I told them how they might be able to help convict the real killer and how

much you would appreciate it and how it would be the right thing to do.

Yeah. Then I gave them some money.

Good.

So, uh, these are the pictures of who went in and out the night of the murder.

Good morning.

Morning.

There. There's a picture of Connie Hammond going in with Saylor.

There's a picture of Connie Hammond coming out.

A couple of Japanese guys.

Pictures of other paparazzi. Other than that, I don't recognize anybody.

Tyler, how about going down to the auditorium?

No.

Say what?

Ben, the people down there are big.

I mean real big. They are too big for me. Forget it. I'm not asking you to

wrestle anybody. I just want you to go down there and talk with Tommy O 'Keefe.

He's the head of the wrestling association here.

The man is wacko.

I just want you to talk with him.

Saylor was going to leave him and fight for somebody else, see how he feels

about it. He's not in any of those pictures.

Maybe nobody took his picture. Maybe he walked in backwards.

You know what's going to happen.

Nothing's going to happen. Will you go down there and talk with him?

Ben, Julie March wants to see you.

Oh, okay.

So, Ben, what do you think of Vic's chances?

I should be back about two.

Thank you very much.

Well, Connie Hammond's alibi checks out.

Michelle, what do you think of Vic's chances?

Of being convicted?

Yeah.

Very high.

Do you think he did it?

Well, certainly all the evidence seems to point that way. However, that's not

say... You think he did it?

Yes.

But it's our job to defend him.

Yeah, right.

Ah, thanks.

Anyone see you come in? No.

Get in here.

Oh, I guess this isn't the will call office.

Mr. O 'Keefe!

He was listening in at your door.

Hey, how about a little help?

Hey, go that way.

Fan out and find him.

There he is.

Who are you?

Tyler Hudson.

I work for Ben Matlock. He's the lawyer that's defending Vic Garrett.

So what are you doing here?

Looking for suspects.

Like who?

Like me?

I'd rather not say.

I'll tell you one thing. I don't think Vic did it. He didn't have an item.

That Connie Hammond, that's another matter.

She was here the other day looking to invest 50 grand in another wrestler. 50

grand? Yep.

Sailor Jack.

Paid her off and kicked her out. That's where she got it.

That's why she killed him.

Because he dumped her.

Look, she says she was in another place at the time of the murder.

Where were you?

Why would I kill Sailor Jack? He's my star.

Yeah, but he was going to leave you. You would have had to replace him anyway.

Replace him?

Replace Sailor Jack?

You don't understand.

Wrestling is theater.

Every match is a morality play. The battle between good and evil and

And Jack was a hero. Every man and woman in this country, with the price of

admission, completely identified with him.

He stomped the vicious.

He wiped out the criminal. He killed the terrorists.

He wasn't a wrestler.

He was a mariner.

Play with him?

That ought to take me a couple of years at least.

Get rid of him.

How'd you know it was me?

I always know when it's you.

Besides, a good criminal lawyer never keeps a prosecutor waiting.

Oh.

How's your day? Oh, fine. Yours?

Great.

Is this new?

No, it's old. I got it at a rummage sale in Athens.

The Athens in Georgia.

Oh.

It's not comfortable, is it? Not much.

Well, it keeps unwanted visits short and sweet.

Here. Oh, yeah, thanks.

You know, this case seems pretty one -sided, so if you want to cut a deal,

listen.

I thought this meeting was about the Vic Garrett case.

It is.

Well, aren't you overplaying your hand, Lou?

Overplaying my hand?

Well, yeah, Julie, I...

I know that Vic made some threats and went over to Saylor's apartment that

and was seen leaning over the body, but all that's circumstantial.

Oh, you haven't heard?

Heard what?

Ben, I'm really sorry. The investigator was supposed to have notified you

immediately.

Notified me? They have an eyewitness.

In fact, she was just here in my office.

She saw your client kill Jack Saunders that night.

I'm really sorry. They should have notified you.

Excuse me.

I'm Ben Matlock, Vic Garrett's lawyer. I wonder if you could answer some

questions for me. My pleasure.

Oh, good.

Do you mind if I lift while we talk? Oh, of course.

Of course.

I understand the other night after the match, you heard Vic say...

He was going to go over to Sailor Jack's and have it out with him.

Look, I wanted to help Vic, not hurt him.

I know it. I know it. I understand you volunteered to get even with Sailor Jack

for him.

Well, maybe Sailor had it coming.

So did you?

Did I what?

Get even with him.

Never got the chance.

Where'd you go after the man?

What if I don't feel like saying?

Well, I'd have to assume you have something to hide.

How good are you assuming stuff with your left foot and your right ear?

You see, it seems to me you had good reason to want to hurt Sailor Jack.

How about I staple your lip to your nose?

If he jumped to your league, he'd be the champ because he'd be the good guy.

And all those Gentleman George dolls and T -shirts and comic books that fans

have been buying would disappear from the shelves. You'd lose a fortune.

How about a little heart bypass?

I'd punch out your heart and it bypasses your body.

Where were you at the time of the murder?

Me and Vladimir read a poetry reading at the Willow Springs Institute of Fine

Arts.

Willow Springs Institute of Fine Arts?

Yes, I was reading a poem.

My.

If you'll excuse me.

Hi, are you Michelle?

Donna Clifford?

Ready to take a little hike?

Yeah. How could you see what was going on in that apartment? It's on the fourth

floor. Let's take the hike.

Didn't figure I'd be seeing you again.

This'll be the last time. I just came to get my stuff.

Bye and good riddance.

Here you can see right into the sailor's living room.

Still a wreck from the fight the other night.

Are you sure it was Vic Garrett you saw?

Absolutely it was him.

I know all the big time wrestlers. And I know what he looked like without his

mask.

Who else did you see in his apartment?

Mostly that witch of a manager.

She used to come around a lot. Always looked like they were fighting.

Probably trying to run his life.

At least that's what all the magazines say.

Bye, Thaler.

Hi. I never got a chance to tell you how much I love to watch you wrestle.

Thanks.

I don't like it when they call you the bad guy.

As far as I'm concerned, you are the good guy.

Thanks again.

I know you're really worried about everything, but you have the best lawyer

there is, and everything's going to work out.

I hope.

How's my case look?

Oh, it's coming along.

It's going to be fine, really.

Well, thanks for trying to make me feel better.

Yes.

The cause of death was a depressed skull fracture causing a subdural hematoma,

which apparently occurred when he fell forward, his head striking the corner of

a coffee table in his apartment.

Additional but non -fatal bruises were also found along the base of the neck.

Apparently the result of a blow from a blunt object believed to be a wine

bottle.

Death was instantaneous?

Yes.

And were you able to determine the time of death?

Sometime between 10 .30 and 11 p .m.

Thank you, Dr. Carlin. No further questions.

Cross -examine, Mr. Matlock.

Not at this time, Your Honor.

Next witness.

Prosecution calls Mr. Peter Lucas to the stand.

When I tried to stop him, he grabs me by the front of my jacket, lifts me up in

the air and throws me out of the way.

What happened next, Mr. Lucas?

He went in the elevator.

I called the police.

Approximately what time was that?

10 .30, 10 .40, something like that.

Go on, Mr. Lucas.

Then the police showed up.

I took him up to Mr. Saunders' apartment.

Did you find anything?

The place was in a shambles.

Mr. Saunders was dead.

And he was leaning over the body.

May the record reflect that Mr.

Lucas is referring to the defendant.

Thank you. No further questions.

So noted.

Mr. Matlock?

No questions, Your Honor.

Okay, you can step down.

Next witness.

Prosecution calls Miss Donna Clifford to the stand.

Then I saw Sailor go to the door and open it.

And all of a sudden, Vic Garrett dove into the room on top of him and started

punching him.

And suddenly it was a flat -out fight.

Chairs being knocked over, lamps breaking.

It was awful.

And the worst part was when Vic Garrett picked up a bottle of wine and smashed

it over Sailor's head.

He fell face forward.

He was just lying there.

I was waiting for him to move.

He never did.

He was dead.

Thank you, Miss Clifford.

Nothing further.

Cross -examine.

You cared a great deal for Sailor Jack, didn't you?

I loved him.

Well, I know that sounds childish and dumb, but I swear it's true.

Is that why you were up on that rooftop day in and day out? Because you were

watching over him?

That's exactly it.

I was just kind of trying to protect him.

So what did you do when you saw he was dead? Call the police?

No. Well, they were already there.

Did you go over and tell them what you'd seen?

No.

I was in shock, I guess.

I just sort of sat there for about ten minutes.

And what did you do after ten minutes?

I went home and went to bed.

Like I said, I was sort of numb.

About what time did you go up on the roof that night?

About 9 .30 or so.

And what time did you leave?

About 11.

Could you remove one of those sandals you're wearing and hold it up for the

court, please?

Looks like they've seen a lot of youth.

I wear them every day.

They made a pretty distinctive sound on the metal fire escape on the building

across from Sailor Jack's, didn't they?

I guess so.

Don't you think they were pretty loud?

So loud that I bet if we brought Mrs.

Kowalski into court, the woman who lives in the building, I bet she'd testify

she heard you the night of the murder.

Only she'd say she heard you around midnight, which is when you went up

stairs, and at seven the next morning when you came back down again.

Donna, isn't that what she'd say?

Yeah.

You didn't know Saylor was dead. You didn't find out till the next day.

You made up the whole story, didn't you?

I had to do something.

I loved him.

I just wanted the guy who killed him to pay for it.

We all want whoever did it punished, Donna. It's just terribly important we

the right person.

Now, Ben, I've got somebody I'd like you to meet.

This is Sammy and Jimmy Ito. Hello.

These are the gentlemen that were in the photos.

They were standing around outside of Sailor Jack's apartment the night he was

murdered. Oh.

What were they doing outside Sailor's apartment?

Casing the joint for Tommy O 'Keefe.

He brought them in to lean on Sailor to keep him from jumping associations.

Oh, they were going to lean on Sailor.

How were they going to do that?

What was that?

Well, it was a table.

What are they doing here?

They work for us now. I made them a better offer.

Better offer?

More money.

Uh... Did they see... Gentleman George go in Saylor's

building that night?

No. Did they see Tommy O 'Keefe?

No. They didn't?

They didn't see anybody go in?

No.

Well, we know what this means.

All of our suspects have alibis.

I guess nobody committed this murder.

That's right.

Your services will no longer be required.

No. I guess we're nowhere.

Gentlemen, George.

George's alibi checks out.

Connie Hammond? Her alibi checks out.

The Ito brothers?

The Ito brothers swear that Tommy O 'Keefe didn't go in Saylor's apartment

building that night.

Well, to quote a great legal mind, what we need is a bright idea.

Or else maybe it was the Annihilator. No. No, Vic wouldn't do it. He couldn't.

know it.

Cassie, there is no one else.

You know what our problem's been?

We didn't listen.

Somebody's been talking to us, telling us the same thing over and over again,

but we refuse to listen.

Take a look at these.

Take a good look.

All right.

Ben?

I'm in the sauna.

I got it.

I have, too.

Dr.

Carlin, I'd like you to clarify something for me. You testified earlier

Sailor Jack Saunders died.

That night, sometime between 10 .30 and 11.

That's right.

Would you please tell the court how you arrived at that particular time?

One of the principal determinants for time of death is body temperature.

98 .6 is the norm, of course.

And there's a fairly reliable scale by which it falls after death.

Were you at all influenced by the physical details?

The fact that the police found Vic Garrett leaning over the body at

approximately 10 .45.

Of course.

But such factors serve mainly to confirm what the physiological evidence had

already led me to believe.

Well, what about this?

Well, what if just prior to death, Sailor Jack's body temperature had been

artificially raised?

Maybe he had been exercising or he was in a hot room or a sauna.

Would your computations still hold true?

Well, no, they'd be completely off.

It would have taken much longer for the body temperature to fall.

So under those circumstances, your time of death could be off by an hour.

Or more.

Thank you, Doctor.

I have no questions, Your Honor.

You can step down.

Next witness, Mr. Matlock.

Miss Connie Hammond?

Did you attend a wrestling match between Jack Saunders and Vic Garrett on the

evening of the 18th? Of course. I was present for all Jack's matches. I was

manager.

Well, did you go back to Vic Garrett's dressing room after the match?

Yes. Things got a little rough in the ring. I wanted to make sure Vic was

Did you hear Vic Garrett threaten to go over to your client's apartment later

that night and kill him?

Yes. What did you do?

I warned Jack, and he in turn alerted the security guard in his apartment

building.

Did you go to his apartment that night?

Yes. What did you do?

We talked.

What time did you leave?

Around 9, 9 .15.

Actually, I knew that.

Because that's approximately when this photograph was taken.

Actually, there are two photographs.

This is a photograph of you entering the building with Sailor Jack. Let's call

that defendant's exhibit E.

And this is a photograph of you leaving the building alone.

Let's call that defendant's exhibit F.

Now, these are...

photographs of you entering and leaving the building the night of the murder.

Are there not?

I suppose. There were a lot of photographers around that night.

That's right, there were.

That's right.

Now, tell me this.

Why was your hair curly in this picture like it is now?

And straighten this one.

Jack and I took a sauna.

My hair always goes straight like that after a sauna.

Oh. We're both adults. It's hardly a big deal.

That's okay.

That's okay.

But the medical examiner has just told us

that if Jack Saunders took a sauna just before he died,

it would have elevated his body temperature.

He could have been killed long before we previously believed.

You just destroyed your own alibi.

I don't know what you're talking about.

I believe that's true.

I believe you didn't know that he's taken a sauna would elevate his body

temperature and almost work in your favor. I think it was simpler than that.

I think...

During an argument, you hit him in the head with that bottle of wine and killed

him, and then decided to make it look like a huge brawl had taken place,

and since Dick Garrett had already threatened him, everybody would just

naturally assume that he had killed him. These are ridiculous accusations.

And pure speculation, I object.

Your Honor...

I have two more items I'd like to enter into evidence.

Proceed, Mr. Matlock.

The first is a still photograph

made from videotape. Let's call this one Defendant's Exhibit G.

Do you recognize yourself standing next to Jack Saunders when he was being

interviewed after the match the night of the murder?

Yes.

This is the same dress that you were wearing when you entered the building

when you left, is it not?

Yes.

It's a pretty dress. It looks expensive.

It's very expensive. It's an original.

I imagine that's why you

took it to Barrington Cleaners instead of throwing it out.

Let's call this defendant's exhibit eight.

This is the dress, isn't it, Connie?

I suppose.

I suppose that's why you took it back after they didn't get it cleaned the

time. Care to tell us how it got soiled?

When you hit Jack Saunders with that bottle, red wine...

Splattered everywhere.

And red wine.

Once it's set, they can't get it out.

Your Honor, move for dismissal.

Ms. March?

They concur.

Case dismissed.

Well, it's his last bite and everything.

I think Vic really appreciates it. Wow.