Tom Paine was the District Attorney for the city of Las Vegas, Nevada during the events depicted in The Night Stalker.
Biography[]
Tom Paine became the District Attorney of Las Vegas following his anti-crime campaign, and he built his reputation on his high conviction rate, trying to create a political career for himself. Paine attended the press conference covering Janos Skorzeny's killing spree, refusing to answer questions from reporters.
Paine began a campaign to downplay the murders, attempting to make sure his political career could survive. After Carl Kolchak stopped Skorzeny, Paine had Kolchak run out of Vegas and silencing any witnesses by either buying them off or running them out of town. When Kolchak shared the truth to Jeff Rice, who began an investigation, Paine began having any witnesses who cooperated with Rice’s investigation killed, and sent Assistant District Attorney Rupert Koster to murder Kolchak, who was able to escape. He later left the position of District Attorney, having either been fired or having gone on to a higher political position.
Appearances[]
- The Kolchak Papers
- The Night Stalker
- The novelization of The Night Strangler
Notes[]
Portrayed by Kent Smith (March 19, 1907 – April 23, 1985)