Gerald Mason

Gerald Fiten Mason (January 31, 1934 – January 22, 2017) was an American convicted murderer and rapist.

Leaving the teens alive as they were, Mason then drove off in their 1949 Ford sedan, ran a red light, and was pulled over by Officers Richard Phillips and Milton Curtis of the El Segundo Police Department.

Mason later recalled, "I thought, 'If I don't get them, they're gonna get me.' So when the officer turned away from me, I shot both officers, got back in the car and drove away."

Backup units and medical personnel arrived on scene to find Curtis dead in his patrol car, with Phillips lying mortally wounded on the ground.

Both had been shot three times.

Meanwhile, Mason, who had been wounded by a bullet from Officer Phillips, dumped the car and fled through numerous backyards before hitchhiking his way to safety.

The murders of Officers Phillips and Curtis touched off a homicide investigation that continued for almost half a century.

Born in Columbia, South Carolina, he was arrested and spent time in prison for burglary in that state in 1956.

A match based on the partial left thumb prints lifted from the steering wheel of the stolen car, came back about a man convicted of burglary in 1956 in Columbia.

He had served time for that case.

Besides the matching fingerprint the evidence was also based on matching handwriting, thus linking him to the murder weapon.

Police located Mason, who had returned to and was still living in his hometown of Columbia, South Carolina.

He was a wealthy retiree and a grandfather, quietly living with his family in a suburban neighborhood.

After his release in 1957, then aged 23, he hitchhiked his way to California, stopping in Shreveport, Louisiana where he purchased a revolver using an alias.

He later stated that it was purchased for protection while hitchhiking.

In Hawthorne, California, Mason came upon four teenagers at a local lover's lane.

Drawing his revolver, Mason forced the two couples to strip down to their underwear and bound and blindfolded them.

He then raped one of the girls.

The police officers then told him that they were there because of the murders of two police officers in 1957.

Horrified, Mason responded, "My god, you're here for that? That happened so long ago, I can't believe you're here bothering me with that."

Following his arrest, Mason was further identified by the bullet graze wound scar on his back, from a bullet fired by Officer Phillips in 1957.

Confronted with so much evidence, Mason admitted to detectives that he stumbled upon the teenagers while intoxicated.

Afterwards, he shot both police officers in an attempt to cover up the rape, robbery, and theft of the car.

Mason further told detectives, "I really don't have an explanation for why this happened. I wish I did."

When asked why he had raped a 15-year-old girl, Mason responded that he no longer remembered.

In 1960, the murder weapon was recovered a mile from the crime in a back yard.

The serial number was traced to a purchase at Sears in Shreveport, Louisiana, under the alias George D. Wilson.

The signature was matched to "Wilson's" signature on a YMCA receipt, located near the Sears store.

El Segundo detectives proceeded to track down every George D. Wilson in the United States.

However all were ruled out, and the investigation went cold.

For the next 45 years, Mason was a law-abiding citizen, never getting so much as a parking ticket.

He owned two service stations, had married and raised a family.

He was later described by friends and neighbors as friendly and helpful.

In a strange story on Sept. 9, 1966, 23 yr old Larry Stargel of Gainesville, GA pens a letter to police from Reidsville State Prison requesting an interview with local LE and the FBI regarding C&S Bank employee Mary Shotwell Little's disappearance in Atlanta on October 14 1965.

In 2002, with advances in computerized finger-printing technology, the FBI decided to expand the system to include prints collected during arrests in all 50 states.

Mason's 2003 arrest and prosecution for the 1957 murders of two El Segundo, California police officers made national headlines.

Then in January 2003, a large group of police officers called at his door.

Mason was completely shocked and had asked where they were from.

The police officers had said, "We are from the El Segundo Police Department, and the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department."

Mason then said, "You're homicide detectives? I think I need a lawyer."