Adam-12 and a Boat

I guess I should start this post with “SPOILER ALERT” although the show’s about 30 years old.

Anyway, last night I was watching a few episodes of Adam-12 on DVD. One episode concerned a severe disagreement between two neighbors over a boat they’d bought together. At the end of the episode, one neighbor had killed the other.

Since the show takes all of their incidents from real life, I’m wondering how to find the actual case upon which this episode was based. Any ideas?

I would expect that would be damn near impossible. For reasons having to do with the security of the original individuals involved, the privacy of any innocents, and the very strong desire of network TV to not be sued, I’m guessing all the stories were drastically altered.

I’m not a television writer, so this is only a WAG.

FWIW, that’s always been my take on it, too. Same with “Dragnet.”