Salisbury Post, January 1, 1972
HOLLYWOOD (AP) — Peter Duel, the dark-haired Smith of the television Western series Alias Smith and Jones, has died in a shooting, which police said was a suicide. The 31-year-old actor’s body was found Friday (December 31, 1971) in the living room of his modest Hollywood Hills home, sprawled near a Christmas tree. Investigators said he had been shot in the head. A pistol was near the body.
Sgt. Dan Cooke said the police weren’t ruling out the possibility of an accident but said, “It tends to look like a suicide.”
A girlfriend who discovered Duel’s body told … Read More
Chicago Tribune, January 1, 1972
HOLLYWOOD, CA, Dec 31 (UPI) — Peter Duel, a happy-go-lucky actor as the dark-haired Hannibal Hayes in the television series Alias Smith and Jones was found shot to death with his own handgun early today. The coroner’s office said an autopsy showed the cause of death was “consistent with a self-inflicted type of wound.
The body of the square-jawed 31-year-old actor was sprawled on the floor of the living room in his Hollywood Hills home at the foot of a brightly lighted Christmas tree. His girlfriend, Dianne Ray, said she was in another room, heard a shot, … Read More
‘Alias Smith’ Star Killed With Own Gun, Police Report
by Doug Shuit, Times Staff Writer; Los Angeles Times, January 1, 1972
Actor, Peter Duel, 31, a star of the television series, Alias Smith and Jones, was found shot to death with his own gun in his Hollywood Hills home Friday, police said. Investigators said the death was a “probable suicide.” A coroner’s office spokesman said the single gunshot wound in the right temple “was consistent with a self-inflicted type of wound.”
It was reported that Duel, who spent Thursday night at home with a girlfriend watching his show and a basketball game on … Read More
New York Times, January 1, 1972
HOLLYWOOD, Dec 31 (AP) — Peter Duel, a television actor, was found fatally shot today in his Hollywood Hills home, the police said. Capt. F.L. Brittell of the Hollywood police said Mr. Duel might have committed suicide. But an associate said that the 31-year-old actor had been cheerful in a full day of performing yesterday.
“He filmed an episode and he was due on the set at 8 o’clock this morning to wrap it up,” said Allan Cahan, the unit publicist for Alias Smith and Jones, a comedy Western series in which the actor costarred.
“I spent … Read More
Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, January 1, 1972; by Tom Ryan.
Los Angeles police said last night Rochester-born actor Peter Duel’s death “looks very much like a probable suicide,” but that it could have been an accident. Duel, 31, co-star of the television series Alias Smith and Jones, was the son of Dr. and Mrs. Ellsworth S. Deuel of 1790 Penfield Road, Penfield.
Duel was found shot to death on the living room floor in his Hollywood Hills home beside a Christmas tree about 1:25 a.m. yesterday. His .38-calibre revolver was by his body, police said.
Detective Lt. John Konstanturos of the Hollywood … Read More