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How did Paul Hanlon got in and out of the stadium?

I watched this episode a number of times and I still can't understand how Paul Hanlon got in and out of the stadium without being detected even if they didn't recognise him?
All Columbo has to do is ask the stadium's security, did you see anyone come in and out of the stadium during the game, once his suspicions about Hanlon had been aroused.


For a start, there was a security guard, we see him when Paul Hanlon goes to his box and Columbo shows his ID to him.
So how did Hanlon get pass him? And if there is another entrance/exit to the boxes, what use is of any security, if you can get in another way without detection?

How did he get out of the stadium? You surely can't drive in and out without going through a gate? He must gone through a gate and there must have been security on the gate.

All Columbo had to do was ask the gate guard, did anyone come in and out during the game once he knows that the ice cream truck was in the area of the crime scene when it should have not been.

Re: How did Paul Hanlon got in and out of the stadium?

If memory serves me well, I recall that there was a Ding-A-Ling ice cream truck parked at the end of the tunnel/entrance. Hanlon simply walked to the end of the tunnel, got in the truck and drove away. No security guards posted. He was in an ice cream guy uniform in any case.

Of more troubling concern - to me - was HOW the Hanlon manage to get dressed, leave the press box (all the way at the top of the LA Memorial Coliseum), walk down ALL those stadium steps and get out during the singing of the National Anthem. And this wasn't a ridiculously long Alicia Keys version (2 min; 36 sec). And it wasn't Rosanna Wells singing "Volare" for 9 minutes, either. According to this site the average length at the Super Bowl has been 1 min; 43 sec. https://sports.nbcsports.com/2023/02/12/super-bowl-national-anthem-2023-how-long-does-it-take/

So, let's be generous and give Hanlon 2 minutes to traverse the entire stadium. Fully-dressed and carrying the cumbersome popcorn stand around his neck, Hanlon has to walk down the hallway from his press box, climb down the tight stairway of the press box and then traverse all those steps (by one account - 124 of them) https://keepitupdavid.wordpress.com/2016/12/19/coliseum/ and get to the truck.

Re: How did Paul Hanlon got in and out of the stadium?

I am a diehard football fan and I have to give you credit with your knowledge of that classic venue, the LA Colliseum. You must be from the west coast!

Re: How did Paul Hanlon got in and out of the stadium?

LOL - no, but thanks, APK. I do coach footbal (here on the East Coast)l and I'm a huge UCLA fan, so I've seen the LA Coliseum on TV many times. Alas, I have not yet seen this historic place in person. This episode was always one of my favorites because it took place in the Coliseum. That being said, other than having run the bleachers quite a few times at a college stadium, which allows me to attest to the time required to traverse the steps, I have no first hand knowledge of such regarding the Coliseum. For the details, I included the links where I gained the exact details (number of steps, average length of the National Anthem).

Cheers!

Re: How did Paul Hanlon got in and out of the stadium?

It's the same issue in Double Exposure. It would be difficult for Kepple to walk into the theater to murder White without being seen.

Re: How did Paul Hanlon got in and out of the stadium?

Yes! Unless he had a key to a back entrance or snuck in with a group or something, he would have to buy a ticket in order to enter the theater. The Magnolia was showing "High Plains Drifter" - a very popular movie that year. It's highly likely someone would have seen him entering the theater and it's likely he would have been seen sneaking into the projector's room.

Re: How did Paul Hanlon got in and out of the stadium?

Robert Culp characters on the show have a few things in common.
Even though one of them does it accidentally, two of them are blackmailers who kill their blackmail victims - "killing the golden goose" (as Jerry Parks would say).