Variety, January 3, 1972 Coroner's investigation continued today into the death of actor Peter Duel, 31, who police believe shot himself in the head in his Hollywood Hills home early Friday morning. The nude body of the television star, who appeared opposite Ben Murphy in Universal's Alias Smith and Jones series on ABC-TV, was found beneath the Christmas tree by Dianne Ray, who was visiting him. Following memorial services at the Self-Realization Fellowship Lake Shrine here yesterday, the body was flown to Penfield, N.Y. for burial. Police are calling the death a probable suicide, following questioning of Miss Ray, who said she had ... Read More

Australian Associate Press; January 2 or 3, 1972; Hollywood, Sunday The death of actor Pete Duel, found sprawled naked under his Christmas tree soon after he had watched his own television Weston show, probably was suicide, police said yesterday. The 31-year-old star of the Western series Alias Smith and Jones was found by his girlfriend Dianne Ray on Friday soon after they had watched the show together. His 38-calibre revolver was near his feet, his fingerprints on the gun and there was a bullet wound in his head, police said. The Los Angeles County Coroner (Mr. Noguchi), who performed an autopsy, said, ... Read More

DUEL DEATH CLASSED AS SUICIDE San Francisco Sunday Examiner & Chronicle, January 2, 1972 HOLLYWOOD (UPI) — The death of Pete Duel, a happy-go-lucky television star found shot to death with his own handgun, was listed yesterday by the coroner's office as "consistent with a self-inflicted type of wound." Services for Duel, who starred in the television series Alias Smith and Jones, were to be held here today with interment later at his hometown of Penfield, N.Y. Duel's body was found early Friday after Dianne Ray, a secretary, called police. She told police she and the 31-year-old bachelor had watched television, then she retired ... Read More

by Harry Edgington; The Sun, January 1, 1972 My friend Pete Duel — Hannibal Hayes in the BBC series Alias Smith and Jones — died under his Christmas tree yesterday, a bullet in his head. The tragedy happened in Pete's Hollywood home... and I'll always wonder if I could have saved him. Because as he died, I slept in my home just twenty yards away. Pete was 31, successful and bitter. He hated working on the Smith and Jones series, but it gave him his big break. He was on the brink of international stardom when a bullet, apparently fired by himself, ... Read More

by Harry Edgington in Hollywood, Daily Mail, January 1, 1972 Actor Peter Duel, star of BBC 2's Western series, Alias Smith and Jones was found shot dead beside the Christmas tree in the lounge of his Hollywood home yesterday. Police, called to the house by his girl friend, Dianne Ray, 29, though at first it might be murder. Two shots had been fired from a 38 revolver. The first hit the wall. The second hit the 31-year-old actor in the head. But after questioning Miss Ray for six hours and checking the room police said it was either suicide or an accident. ... Read More

OBITUARY The Times (London), January 1, 1972 Pete Duel, star of the television cowboy series Alias Smith and Jones, was found shot dead at his Hollywood home yesterday. The police say that he apparently killed himself after watching the latest episode of the serial with a woman friend. The serial is shown in Britain on BBC2. Mr. Duel had played in other television serials, including The Fugitive. Obituary Pete Duel, the actor, one of the stars of the Alias Smith and Jones television Western series, was found shot dead in his Hollywood home yesterday. He was 31. Duel, a doctor's son, who gave up ... Read More

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