Harold Reitman was a Hollywood multimillionaire director and friend of the Doctor's who was killed in October 1947 by Charles Wallis in part of Leonard de Sande's Selyoid plot. Robert Chate, Wallis' adopted son, was framed for his murder.
Reitman's friendship with the Doctor went back to the 1920s, when the two first met on a visit to England. In 1947, the Second Doctor arrived in Los Angeles by chance, deciding to visit his old friend, only to find his recently deceased body lying outside his house. (PROSE: Dying in the Sun)