Gerald Mason - Criminal Career

Criminal Career

Born in Columbia, South Carolina, he was arrested and did time for burglary in that state in 1956. 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 would later say 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 bound, blindfolded, and stripped four teenagers. He then raped one of the girls, who was 15 years old at the time. After leaving the scene in a stolen 1949 Ford car, Mason 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."

Despite being wounded by a bullet from Officer Phillips, Mason dumped the car before hitchiking his way to safety. This sparked one of the largest manhunts in California history.

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 gun 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 bought a chain of service stations, became wealthy, married and raised a family. He was later described by friends and neighbors as friendly and helpful.

Taking 46 years, this had become one of the oldest unsolved murder cases in California's history.