Latest / Great Detectives of Old Time Radio Volume 2|Mystery Audio Dramas / Dragnet: The Big Gent, Part One (EP1640)

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Dragnet: The Big Gent, Part One (EP1640) · Great Detectives of Old Time Radio Volume 2|Mystery Audio Dramas

• 0:28
  Speaker 1: Welcome to the Great Detectives of Old Time Radio from Boiseidaho.
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: This is your host, Adam Graham. If you have a comment,
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  Speaker 1: one five for information at support dot Great Detectives dot net.
• 1:31
  Speaker 1: Also over a Great Detectives dot net. This weekend, it's
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  Speaker 1: my review of the third number one Ladies detective book,
• 1:39
  Speaker 1: Morality for Beautiful Girls, And you can have my commentaries
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• 1:47
  Speaker 1: that service out free for two weeks. Well, now it's
• 1:50
  Speaker 1: time for today's episode of Dragnet. The original air date
• 1:54
  Speaker 1: July the twentieth of nineteen fifty and it's the big
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: gent Part one.
• 2:07
  Speaker 2: The story you are about to hear is true, only
• 2:10
  Speaker 2: the names have been changed to protect the innocent.
• 2:13
  Speaker 3: Drag Net.
• 2:23
  Speaker 2: You're a detective sergeant. You're assigned to robbery detail. A
• 2:27
  Speaker 2: hold up has been committed in a neighboring city. A
• 2:30
  Speaker 2: bystander is shot to death too, others are wounded. The
• 2:34
  Speaker 2: bandits are ruthless, well armed.
• 2:37
  Speaker 4: Your job get them met.
• 2:50
  Speaker 3: The document a drama of an actual crime. For the
• 2:53
  Speaker 3: next thirty minutes, in cooperation with the Los Angeles Police Department,
• 2:56
  Speaker 3: you will travel step by step on the side of
• 2:59
  Speaker 3: the law through an actor world case from official police files,
• 3:02
  Speaker 3: from beginning to end, from crime to punishment. Dragnet is
• 3:06
  Speaker 3: the story of your police force action.
• 3:11
  Speaker 5: It was Tuesday, October sixth, was cool in Los Angeles.
• 3:14
  Speaker 5: We're working a day watch out of robbery detail. My
• 3:17
  Speaker 5: partner's Ben Romero. The boss is Captain ed Walker. My
• 3:20
  Speaker 5: name is Friday. I was on the way back from
• 3:22
  Speaker 5: Calvary Cemetery. It was eleven forty five am. When I
• 3:25
  Speaker 5: got to them. Twenty seven eight robbery detail.
• 3:28
  Speaker 6: Alright, Joe, how'd the funeral go? Pretty good turnout? Sure? Sorry,
• 3:33
  Speaker 6: I couldn't make it. One of us had to be
• 3:35
  Speaker 6: in court. Yeah. A lot of the boys out there.
• 3:38
  Speaker 6: Huh yeah, Martin had a lot of friends. Was a
• 3:41
  Speaker 6: good cop. You see his why? Yeah? My wife took
• 3:45
  Speaker 6: it hard again? Pretty hard? Yeah? Well you by ready
• 3:50
  Speaker 6: for lunch. I'm better make up the log book first.
• 3:51
  Speaker 6: Now we go behind? Yeah, all right, his too? Oh,
• 3:57
  Speaker 6: same old thing. Say what's the d R number on
• 4:02
  Speaker 6: the job we handled yesterday? Hm?
• 4:04
  Speaker 5: The grocery store thing. You know we showed those mud
• 4:07
  Speaker 5: shots as the victims. Remember the d R number?
• 4:08
  Speaker 7: Oh yeah, yeah, I got it here. Uh three seven
• 4:11
  Speaker 7: four three three two two. Thanks.
• 4:20
  Speaker 8: My name is Frank Chaney's been parole from Fulsom. Can
• 4:23
  Speaker 8: you tell me where I registered?
• 4:24
  Speaker 6: Yeah, I've got one of the men from the rhabilitation detail.
• 4:27
  Speaker 6: He'll take care of its.
• 4:29
  Speaker 8: Excuse me, Ben, Oh yeah, boss right, John, boss, right,
• 4:34
  Speaker 8: not a minute something for you.
• 4:35
  Speaker 5: I'll be right though.
• 4:37
  Speaker 6: Did you contact the witnesses in this report? Here? Let
• 4:39
  Speaker 6: me see this one. Oh yeah, yeah, once the registers
• 4:43
  Speaker 6: next time, Okay, excuse me? Yeah, oh you want to register?
• 4:48
  Speaker 8: Yeah, my name is Frank Cheney. Okay, dressed to wait
• 4:54
  Speaker 8: Team Belgrade bell Grid been Fulsom got out of Saturday?
• 5:00
  Speaker 6: Okay? What the pull for robbery? First degree? How much
• 5:04
  Speaker 6: you all serve? Eighteen years? I'm in life parole. Hey,
• 5:09
  Speaker 6: facts to run. Tell Rombo we're up for seven.
• 5:12
  Speaker 9: Wait a couple of minutes.
• 5:13
  Speaker 6: You see the guy at the desk, the one with Blatsburg. Yeah,
• 5:16
  Speaker 6: next Conway.
• 5:17
  Speaker 10: Frank Cheney nineteen thirty one, Jack Taylor and I had
• 5:20
  Speaker 10: him first big one we ever drew?
• 5:22
  Speaker 6: So did you ever hear of him?
• 5:23
  Speaker 10: Used to call him a gentleman?
• 5:24
  Speaker 6: Bandoned nineteen thirty one, Claude, that's eighteen years ago.
• 5:27
  Speaker 10: Chaney was the biggest of him. Came from a wealthy
• 5:29
  Speaker 10: family too. The father was a millionaire.
• 5:31
  Speaker 6: You set him up? Huh?
• 5:32
  Speaker 10: San Quentin tried to break out with a part in.
• 5:34
  Speaker 10: His partner killed the trustee. Cheney was sent to Fosseom.
• 5:37
  Speaker 6: From a millionaire family. That's a queer one. Yeah, well
• 5:40
  Speaker 6: how about that, lunch fellow.
• 5:41
  Speaker 10: Yeah, let's go. Seems like it could have been yesterday.
• 5:45
  Speaker 10: Nineteen thirty one. We grow old right along with the thieves.
• 5:49
  Speaker 7: Huh where we go federalkpay sorry with me eighteen years?
• 5:53
  Speaker 6: Yeah, sheill goes by in a hurry. I wonder if
• 5:56
  Speaker 6: Cheney thinks so.
• 5:59
  Speaker 5: As far as day to day routine goes, police work
• 6:02
  Speaker 5: is pretty much like any other job. To the rookie
• 6:05
  Speaker 5: detective just starting in, there's new things to see, new
• 6:07
  Speaker 5: things to learn. But five or six years on the
• 6:10
  Speaker 5: detail and the job gets pretty ordinary. You see a
• 6:13
  Speaker 5: lot of dirt, a lot of trouble and tragedy, And
• 6:15
  Speaker 5: after a while he began to wonder what all the
• 6:17
  Speaker 5: glamours about and the excitement that's supposed to.
• 6:19
  Speaker 6: Go along with the job.
• 6:21
  Speaker 5: The fall months went by pretty slow. On November third,
• 6:24
  Speaker 5: we closed a case against the gang and drug store
• 6:26
  Speaker 5: hold up men. In December, Ben's youngster fell off a
• 6:28
  Speaker 5: fence and sprained his wrist. My uncle George from Renton, Washington,
• 6:32
  Speaker 5: visited my mother and me.
• 6:33
  Speaker 6: In January, stayed a couple of weeks.
• 6:36
  Speaker 5: On January twenty eighth, it rained, Ben and I checked
• 6:39
  Speaker 5: into the office where we got a phone call from
• 6:41
  Speaker 5: Lieutenant Morton Gear of the San Diego Police Department. He
• 6:45
  Speaker 5: gave us additional information on the finance company hold up,
• 6:47
  Speaker 5: which had been pulled in San Diego the day before.
• 6:50
  Speaker 5: In the robbery, one bystander had been shot and killed
• 6:53
  Speaker 5: and another one wounded by the two abandons. They also
• 6:56
  Speaker 5: shot a police officer three times through the stomach when
• 6:58
  Speaker 5: he tried.
• 6:58
  Speaker 6: To stop him.
• 7:00
  Speaker 5: Next day, Sergeants Ormsby and McGuire from San Diego arrived
• 7:03
  Speaker 5: and we helped them check the suspects through the stats office.
• 7:06
  Speaker 6: A couple of bad ones, Joe, both have guns and
• 7:08
  Speaker 6: they use them. One of them got to win in
• 7:09
  Speaker 6: a car and the other one on foot, said right McGuire, Yeah,
• 7:12
  Speaker 6: big one. You used the car size owt to help some.
• 7:17
  Speaker 5: See forty five years old, height, six foot one or
• 7:20
  Speaker 5: two inches leave two hundred and seventy five.
• 7:24
  Speaker 6: Anybody get a look at the car, I blue Forward
• 7:26
  Speaker 6: Sedan nineteen forty or forty one model. That's all we got.
• 7:28
  Speaker 11: That's a rough one, after all, a shooting. I witnesses
• 7:31
  Speaker 11: didn't know what they saw all mixed up.
• 7:32
  Speaker 6: Well, how about the other one, the guy who got
• 7:34
  Speaker 6: away on foot, he's at WMA, about fifty years old,
• 7:37
  Speaker 6: five feet eight to.
• 7:38
  Speaker 12: Nine inches, one hundred forty five fifty five pounds.
• 7:40
  Speaker 6: Whereas blasts yeah, we got that on the teletime. Is
• 7:42
  Speaker 6: that all?
• 7:43
  Speaker 11: H No, we traced him the gray und bus depot
• 7:45
  Speaker 11: about six blocks in the hold up, change his clothes.
• 7:47
  Speaker 6: In the washroom. They're left behind a coat and the gun.
• 7:49
  Speaker 11: Yeah, the court was kind of give proli from state
• 7:52
  Speaker 11: pen check it through our crime.
• 7:54
  Speaker 6: Same kind of suits are issued at all x cons.
• 7:56
  Speaker 11: No, mate, at least you know one of them is
• 7:57
  Speaker 11: an x CON. I'll got that gun, you though it's
• 8:00
  Speaker 11: a murder weapon. Rballistics men went over it. No, prince
• 8:03
  Speaker 11: tried to trace the serial number, no record. See how
• 8:05
  Speaker 11: iron Sacramentos trying to run it down.
• 8:07
  Speaker 6: Well, we got any hunches, a few.
• 8:10
  Speaker 8: We're almost sure both of 'em are go on the
• 8:11
  Speaker 8: route before pretty cool shut down.
• 8:14
  Speaker 6: Three people didn't bet nine? How much did they take
• 8:16
  Speaker 6: in the hold of eleven thousand? Your status office make
• 8:19
  Speaker 6: a run those descriptions yet?
• 8:21
  Speaker 7: Yeah, this morning, when I's got the list of possibilities,
• 8:23
  Speaker 7: they're put in the mug shots now.
• 8:24
  Speaker 6: Don't be winning enough? Yeah, let's check, bro just might
• 8:28
  Speaker 6: tell Yeah, we'll go ahead and work. Okay, how's the wife?
• 8:35
  Speaker 9: Was he?
• 8:36
  Speaker 6: Oh? Fine, man, she's expecting again. What are you gonna do? Raise?
• 8:39
  Speaker 6: An army. Four kids, that's not so bad. McGuire's wife
• 8:43
  Speaker 6: won six. How about that man? Is there?
• 8:45
  Speaker 9: Five? Now?
• 8:46
  Speaker 6: No point in quipment when you were ahead.
• 8:50
  Speaker 5: Frank, you know Russ Ormsby and Tony McGuire. Don't you
• 8:55
  Speaker 5: have San Diego p D.
• 8:57
  Speaker 6: Alright, good, just right to call. You got those mug
• 9:01
  Speaker 6: shots together for you got him right here? Okay, there
• 9:07
  Speaker 6: we are. This is backs for suspect one. This is
• 9:10
  Speaker 6: for number two. Okay, Frank, we'll check him out with
• 9:12
  Speaker 6: the witnesses. There's one mug there on the show. Yeah.
• 9:17
  Speaker 6: This yeah, match is a description. Pretty close. Safe man,
• 9:21
  Speaker 6: but tried, but he can go anywhere.
• 9:22
  Speaker 7: Name's Weber, first name, Stanley, call him Turk, I think
• 9:26
  Speaker 7: nickname or anything about him his next.
• 9:28
  Speaker 5: Con Ormsby and maguire drove back to San Diego to
• 9:35
  Speaker 5: show the mug shots to the hold up witnesses and
• 9:37
  Speaker 5: see if they.
• 9:37
  Speaker 6: Could get an identification.
• 9:39
  Speaker 5: Late the next afternoon, they called back to tell us
• 9:41
  Speaker 5: that Stanley Turk Weber had definitely been identified from his
• 9:44
  Speaker 5: mug shot by four of the five witnesses as one.
• 9:47
  Speaker 6: Of the hold up men. His partner remained unidentified.
• 9:50
  Speaker 5: We called Turk Weber's parole officer got all the available
• 9:53
  Speaker 5: information on the suspect, including his latest address, an apartment
• 9:56
  Speaker 5: house on North Alameda.
• 9:57
  Speaker 6: Weber wasn't there. We talked to the ap armenthouse.
• 10:00
  Speaker 5: Manager and he told us that Turk hadn't been seen
• 10:02
  Speaker 5: there since the day before the San Diego robbery and murder.
• 10:06
  Speaker 5: We had a steak output on the apartment. Ben and
• 10:08
  Speaker 5: I went back to the office and had the record
• 10:09
  Speaker 5: bureau pulled Weber's package. On his MAMA sheet, Ben spotted
• 10:13
  Speaker 5: a familiar name, Henry Garson, another ex Cohn who was
• 10:16
  Speaker 5: listed as one of Turk Weber's closest friends.
• 10:19
  Speaker 6: We got a hold of Garden's parole officer.
• 10:21
  Speaker 5: He told us Garson that had his parole transferred to
• 10:23
  Speaker 5: San Diego, where he disappeared two weeks before. He was
• 10:26
  Speaker 5: wanted for violation of parole. We tried to check Weber
• 10:29
  Speaker 5: through his relatives. We couldn't find any, but Henry Garson's
• 10:33
  Speaker 5: report showed that he had a brother, Al who ran
• 10:35
  Speaker 5: a dry.
• 10:35
  Speaker 6: Cleaning shop down in Seal Beach. He had no criminal record.
• 10:38
  Speaker 5: Next morning, when he drove down to see him.
• 10:43
  Speaker 6: Yeah, Henry came around last July. It's the last time
• 10:46
  Speaker 6: I saw him. I want to bamba ca. You't got
• 10:48
  Speaker 6: any idea of where he might be now you're his brother,
• 10:51
  Speaker 6: I don't know where he is. It's a truth.
• 10:53
  Speaker 13: I don't want to know where he is.
• 10:54
  Speaker 6: Was anyone with him when he came to see a
• 10:56
  Speaker 6: last you know who? His friends are? Friends? And no?
• 11:01
  Speaker 7: Would you look at these pictures? Please see if you
• 11:03
  Speaker 7: can identifying him?
• 11:05
  Speaker 6: I just no these? Yeah, no, ye ah? How about these? Yeah?
• 11:24
  Speaker 13: Yeah ah, No, I can't. Can't you talk to me later.
• 11:29
  Speaker 13: It's not good for business having cops around a shop.
• 11:31
  Speaker 6: Who would you yell for if the shop was held up?
• 11:32
  Speaker 6: Mister Carson, got to do it. Your brother's in trouble.
• 11:34
  Speaker 6: We might stop him from getting him deeper?
• 11:36
  Speaker 14: What to wear?
• 11:37
  Speaker 6: Now? Hello? This is running? Good morning, now, I help you?
• 11:42
  Speaker 12: No, God should go ahead wait in the gentlemen.
• 11:44
  Speaker 6: No, that's what they're just waiting to get.
• 11:46
  Speaker 15: I help you.
• 11:47
  Speaker 12: My husband's clean and fat. Can you have back Tuesday?
• 11:51
  Speaker 6: Tuesday?
• 11:52
  Speaker 12: My fad jacket?
• 11:53
  Speaker 9: See you paid little stairs here right?
• 11:57
  Speaker 6: Yeah, yeah, we'll take care of that Tuesday all right?
• 12:01
  Speaker 15: Oh yeah, thanks for running buy him.
• 12:08
  Speaker 5: I don't like to hold you up, Garson, Just a
• 12:10
  Speaker 5: few more questions. You said, the last time your brother
• 12:13
  Speaker 5: was here, he wanted to borrow your cars.
• 12:14
  Speaker 6: That right, that's right? Did you let him have it?
• 12:17
  Speaker 6: I let him have nothing. How about the rest of
• 12:19
  Speaker 6: your friendly Oh can't you let us along? If Henry's
• 12:22
  Speaker 6: in trouble, let him take care of it. I got
• 12:23
  Speaker 6: troubles enough as all. This is important. Garson's got to
• 12:26
  Speaker 6: have your cooperation.
• 12:27
  Speaker 13: Why me O, Henry's no good, I admitted, But it's
• 12:30
  Speaker 13: still my brother. Yeah, you asked me to sendhim to.
• 12:33
  Speaker 6: Jail if he belongs there. Yell, look, I don't want
• 12:36
  Speaker 6: any trouble. Yeah, won't be in.
• 12:39
  Speaker 13: My mother lives in Santa Barbara, just moved there. I
• 12:42
  Speaker 13: got the address. Henry goes to see her every once
• 12:45
  Speaker 13: in a while. When's the last time, he said, two
• 12:47
  Speaker 13: weeks ago. I was there too, something else and said
• 12:50
  Speaker 13: Henry had a gun.
• 12:55
  Speaker 6: Eleven am Tuesday.
• 12:56
  Speaker 5: Then, and I drove back to the office and put
• 12:58
  Speaker 5: in a call to the Santa Barbara Police Department. We
• 13:00
  Speaker 5: asked him to put a stake out on the home
• 13:02
  Speaker 5: of Henry Garson's mother and to notify us the minute
• 13:05
  Speaker 5: Garson was apprehended. We contacted San Diego and told them
• 13:08
  Speaker 5: what we'd found out. After that, we doubled back on
• 13:10
  Speaker 5: Turk Weber. From one of our informants, we heard that
• 13:13
  Speaker 5: Weber and Garson had gone into some kind of a
• 13:14
  Speaker 5: business together for a bank roll. They'd succeeded in getting
• 13:17
  Speaker 5: a loan from the Second National Bank out in Glendale.
• 13:20
  Speaker 5: One PM. We drove out and checked with the manager
• 13:22
  Speaker 5: of the bank's loan department. From mister Peabody.
• 13:25
  Speaker 13: Here we are officers, Stanley T. Webber, Henry Garson. Loan
• 13:28
  Speaker 13: papers were signed over a month ago. What kind of
• 13:30
  Speaker 13: a loan was it? The business loan? Garson Webber came
• 13:33
  Speaker 13: in with another man. They talked to our manager, mister.
• 13:35
  Speaker 6: Ascott, excuse me, what business are they in? Trucking concern?
• 13:38
  Speaker 13: They wanted the money to buy equipment.
• 13:40
  Speaker 6: More trucks. How much money did they borrow? Forty five
• 13:43
  Speaker 6: hundred dollars usual terms. I guess you inquired into their background.
• 13:46
  Speaker 13: Oh, yes, their whole financial background.
• 13:48
  Speaker 5: Did you know that Garson and Webber are both ex convicts?
• 13:51
  Speaker 5: I beg your pardon, I said, did.
• 13:52
  Speaker 6: You know that both the Marex convicts? Are you sure
• 13:55
  Speaker 6: you haven't made a mistake? Henry Garson Stanley T. Webber. Yeah,
• 13:58
  Speaker 6: that's right.
• 13:59
  Speaker 13: What they offered for well, they had some of their equipment,
• 14:02
  Speaker 13: two trucks, and of course there was the coast signer.
• 14:04
  Speaker 13: What was that Name's right here on the loan papers,
• 14:08
  Speaker 13: I say, right here, co signer, Frank Cheney.
• 14:15
  Speaker 6: Two thirty PM.
• 14:16
  Speaker 5: Then and I checked back into the office and went
• 14:18
  Speaker 5: down the halled R and I we pulled a package
• 14:20
  Speaker 5: on Frank Bertram Cheney, white male American, five foot eight
• 14:23
  Speaker 5: and a half inches, one hundred and fifty two pounds,
• 14:25
  Speaker 5: brown hair, brown eyes. The record read like a dime novel.
• 14:29
  Speaker 5: Almost twenty years before, Cheney had crashed into the headlines
• 14:32
  Speaker 5: of the Pacific Coast newspapers as the Gentleman Bandit. Maybe
• 14:35
  Speaker 5: some of the news stories were exaggerated, but the record
• 14:38
  Speaker 5: showed that he actually owned a yacht, three expensive cars,
• 14:41
  Speaker 5: an apartment house. In spite of all this, we'd decided
• 14:45
  Speaker 5: to settle for a career of robbery and murder. The
• 14:48
  Speaker 5: age of thirty was the most sought after man on
• 14:50
  Speaker 5: the Pacific Coast. Finally, in nineteen thirty one, after tracking
• 14:53
  Speaker 5: him for a year and a half through more than
• 14:55
  Speaker 5: a dozen armed robberies, sergeants Thaxter and Taylor of the
• 14:58
  Speaker 5: Los Angeles Police Department brought what I'm in. He served
• 15:01
  Speaker 5: eighteen years at San Quentin and full some penitentiaries, and
• 15:04
  Speaker 5: then he won his parole at the age of forty eight.
• 15:07
  Speaker 5: We checked his parole officer and he had nothing to
• 15:08
  Speaker 5: report against him. We checked back in at robbery detail
• 15:11
  Speaker 5: and that with Captain ed Walker.
• 15:13
  Speaker 6: How about Chenese friends Weber and Garson?
• 15:15
  Speaker 7: Nothing yet another thing skipper stake out still on Gardener's
• 15:18
  Speaker 7: mother's place in Santa Barbara Whereber's apartment still covering.
• 15:21
  Speaker 6: You called San Diego about this, the Cheney angle. Yeah,
• 15:23
  Speaker 6: we briefed him. They got all the mug shots down there.
• 15:26
  Speaker 5: Weber's definitely been tagged as one of the men on
• 15:28
  Speaker 5: that finance company job.
• 15:29
  Speaker 6: Pay good Garden for the second man, but none of
• 15:31
  Speaker 6: the witnesses has picked out his mug shot. You talked
• 15:33
  Speaker 6: to Chenes's parole officer, Yeah, I did.
• 15:35
  Speaker 7: He gave us Chenees's last address, same as the one
• 15:38
  Speaker 7: on his ex CONRA registration, but he's moved, didn't notify
• 15:41
  Speaker 7: the offer.
• 15:41
  Speaker 6: What does that leave you?
• 15:42
  Speaker 5: Well, I talked to the manager at the apartment. He
• 15:44
  Speaker 5: gave us a couple of addresses to run down.
• 15:47
  Speaker 6: We better start getting on it. Huh yeah, getting it.
• 15:50
  Speaker 6: Keep in touch. I'll notify if anything breaks here right
• 15:52
  Speaker 6: in just.
• 15:53
  Speaker 13: A minute robbery Walker, Well, yeah, just a minute, few joke,
• 15:59
  Speaker 13: Thank you, San Diego.
• 16:03
  Speaker 6: Friday, MacGuire, Joe, how you doing good? You got something?
• 16:06
  Speaker 5: We had the hold up witnesses back and again this
• 16:08
  Speaker 5: afternoon and showed him more mugshots.
• 16:10
  Speaker 6: Yeah. Picked out Wiver's partner in the hold of Them.
• 16:12
  Speaker 14: Yeah, name is Frank Chaney.
• 16:25
  Speaker 3: You are listening to drag nets.
• 16:34
  Speaker 5: Tuesday, January thirty, first four pm. In addition to the
• 16:38
  Speaker 5: San Diego teletype, we got out a local broadcast and
• 16:41
  Speaker 5: an APB on Frank Cheney. By four point thirty, Ben
• 16:45
  Speaker 5: and I had checked out. The first of two addresses
• 16:47
  Speaker 5: where Cheney's former landlady told us that he might be staying,
• 16:50
  Speaker 5: was a rooming house out on West Washington. The owner
• 16:53
  Speaker 5: told us that Cheney had stayed at his place for
• 16:55
  Speaker 5: a few days, but that had been more than two
• 16:57
  Speaker 5: months before. He had no idea where the suspect might be.
• 17:01
  Speaker 5: We then drove to the second address. It was an
• 17:03
  Speaker 5: apartment house on West Stanford near Slawson. Manager's name was
• 17:07
  Speaker 5: missus Pritchard.
• 17:09
  Speaker 9: Why, yes, I believe mister missus Cheney at home. They've
• 17:12
  Speaker 9: been in all day.
• 17:14
  Speaker 6: Which apartment is there in, ma'am?
• 17:15
  Speaker 9: Number seven? Straight down the hall and you're right, thank you?
• 17:19
  Speaker 9: They uh may be having dinner now are they expecting you?
• 17:22
  Speaker 6: Be all right? Ma'am? Thank you?
• 17:29
  Speaker 16: Okay, how about the door, it's open, come on.
• 17:43
  Speaker 5: The apartment was deserted. We checked the bedroom. In the
• 17:46
  Speaker 5: kitchen the robbed the signs of a fast getaway on
• 17:50
  Speaker 5: a card table. In the living room we found the
• 17:51
  Speaker 5: remains of a quick dinner. Two places were set. One
• 17:55
  Speaker 5: plate was almost cleaned, the other hardly texed. The coffee
• 17:58
  Speaker 5: on the stove was still lukewarm. We called the office
• 18:01
  Speaker 5: and arranged for a stakeout. Then we went back down
• 18:03
  Speaker 5: the hall and talked to the manager again.
• 18:06
  Speaker 9: They moved in about a month ago, So I did
• 18:08
  Speaker 9: they looked like any other newly married couple.
• 18:10
  Speaker 7: Did you notice if they had any visitors, missus Pudget, Well.
• 18:13
  Speaker 9: They might have, but I didn't notice.
• 18:15
  Speaker 6: Did you notice anything odd about him at all?
• 18:18
  Speaker 9: Only that one thing? Yes, ma'am, mister Cheney always seemed
• 18:21
  Speaker 9: to have plenty of money put down two months or
• 18:23
  Speaker 9: at in advance, but it didn't seem to have a job. Yes,
• 18:28
  Speaker 9: every morning he'd sleep late, but his wife was up
• 18:30
  Speaker 9: at eight o'clock to go to work.
• 18:32
  Speaker 6: Where'd she work? You know?
• 18:33
  Speaker 9: Own company called Thompson and some other name. Officers are
• 18:36
  Speaker 9: down on South Hope builders. I think homes and my phone.
• 18:41
  Speaker 9: Would you excuse me?
• 18:42
  Speaker 6: Yes, ma'am, go right ahead? Hello?
• 18:47
  Speaker 9: Oh oh, yes, what Yes? Two police officers talk to
• 18:53
  Speaker 9: h Hello Cheney. Yes, he hung up.
• 18:58
  Speaker 5: An alert for Cheney and his wife was broadcast with
• 19:04
  Speaker 5: special attention for the south end of the city. The
• 19:07
  Speaker 5: wife's name and description was added to the APV. The
• 19:10
  Speaker 5: next morning, Ben and I located her place of employment,
• 19:13
  Speaker 5: Thompson Kill Kenny, a big construction company. The office manager
• 19:17
  Speaker 5: told us that three days before, missus Cheney had resigned
• 19:19
  Speaker 5: her job by letter. She asked that her final paycheck
• 19:22
  Speaker 5: be sent to her mother, who lived in Marysville, California.
• 19:26
  Speaker 5: We contacted the Marysville Police Department immediately, and the home
• 19:30
  Speaker 5: of Cheney's mother in law was placed under twenty four
• 19:32
  Speaker 5: hour surveillance. We now had more than a half a
• 19:35
  Speaker 5: dozen stakeouts going. A week passed nothing. Cheney and his
• 19:40
  Speaker 5: wife seemed to have dropped completely from sight. Wednesday, February ninth,
• 19:44
  Speaker 5: we got a tip from the Satah Barber Police that
• 19:46
  Speaker 5: Cheney's friend Henry Garson was in Los Angeles working in
• 19:49
  Speaker 5: an auction house in Wilscha Boulevard.
• 19:50
  Speaker 6: We ran it down. It looks like a high last play.
• 19:54
  Speaker 6: I got a nice crowd, haven't we here? No thanks?
• 19:59
  Speaker 6: You'd like to see to manager? Please?
• 20:01
  Speaker 5: All right?
• 20:02
  Speaker 9: What we see? Oh? Yes, over there by the claiming
• 20:05
  Speaker 9: gust the man in the dark suit.
• 20:07
  Speaker 6: Mister will thank you, thank you? All right? No, uh
• 20:16
  Speaker 6: mister Willie. Yeah.
• 20:18
  Speaker 5: Police officers, sir, we'd like to check on a man
• 20:20
  Speaker 5: who was supposed to be one of your employees.
• 20:21
  Speaker 6: Sir, h that's so. What's his name?
• 20:23
  Speaker 7: Here's his picture? Can you identify woy? Yes, it's Johnson,
• 20:29
  Speaker 7: the new Clark. You wanna talk to yes, sir, alright
• 20:32
  Speaker 7: right this way. He's back in the store room. Some
• 20:36
  Speaker 7: kind of trouble. Would like to go car, yes, all right? See,
• 20:41
  Speaker 7: Oh yes, there is uh Johnson, Oh Johnson.
• 20:45
  Speaker 6: Would you come on, Ben, you're running for Johnson? Come
• 20:48
  Speaker 6: back there he goes, he's heading up the street.
• 20:52
  Speaker 2: Come on, he got on that bus, right, come on?
• 20:56
  Speaker 6: A double back the car.
• 20:58
  Speaker 14: Hurry, yelp, h.
• 21:06
  Speaker 6: You see the bus, Yeah, come on moving, Yeah, all right,
• 21:13
  Speaker 6: hit the siren.
• 21:22
  Speaker 2: All right, that did it.
• 21:23
  Speaker 6: The driver is pulling over, pull up behind the bus.
• 21:26
  Speaker 6: H come on, let's go. You're covering the back door
• 21:34
  Speaker 6: with you. Open your door. Police officers want to check
• 21:42
  Speaker 6: your passengers.
• 21:42
  Speaker 14: Open that rear door right away.
• 21:45
  Speaker 6: All right, guys, and get off. I'm getting off, getting off,
• 21:50
  Speaker 6: and make a hold. He's got a gun, I said,
• 21:52
  Speaker 6: I'm getting on.
• 21:53
  Speaker 7: Let's good, Joe, okay, yeah, let's get him off.
• 22:01
  Speaker 6: He here, what's it all about? He do something wrong? Yeah,
• 22:03
  Speaker 6: he didn't get off when we asked him.
• 22:05
  Speaker 5: To him nine pm Wednesday, we drove Garson to Georgia
• 22:14
  Speaker 5: Street Receiving Hospital, where he was treated for minor cuts
• 22:17
  Speaker 5: and bruises. Then we took him back to the office
• 22:20
  Speaker 5: of the interrogation room. We called San Diego and notified
• 22:23
  Speaker 5: them of the arrest. From ten o'clock that night until
• 22:27
  Speaker 5: ten the next morning, Captain Walker, Ben and I questioned Garson.
• 22:31
  Speaker 6: He refused to.
• 22:31
  Speaker 5: Admit that he even knew Frank Cheney or Kurk Webber.
• 22:35
  Speaker 5: By noon, he was pretty tired, so were we. At
• 22:38
  Speaker 5: twelve oh five of a call came through from San
• 22:40
  Speaker 5: Diego on Friday. This is russ Orbsbey, Yeah, Ruh, Brice Leedo.
• 22:44
  Speaker 6: Turk Webber. He's got a sister living in San Clemetty. Yeah,
• 22:47
  Speaker 6: and we've got our house staked out, haven't tip he's
• 22:49
  Speaker 6: got a pair a visit? When's that?
• 22:51
  Speaker 1: This afternoon.
• 22:56
  Speaker 5: Three point fifteen pm, we got the San Clemente turn
• 22:59
  Speaker 5: off and a few minutes later Ormsby and.
• 23:01
  Speaker 6: McGuire arrived from San Diego.
• 23:03
  Speaker 5: We drove to the home of Weber's sister on South
• 23:05
  Speaker 5: Orange Street and identified ourselves. So he told us that
• 23:08
  Speaker 5: Turk had been there that morning, but that he'd gone
• 23:10
  Speaker 5: to the races at del Mar for the afternoon.
• 23:13
  Speaker 6: Did your brother say he was coming back, that.
• 23:15
  Speaker 12: He might be bag? He wasn't sure.
• 23:17
  Speaker 6: Did he go on the race track alone? Yeah? Was
• 23:20
  Speaker 6: he gonna meet anyone there?
• 23:22
  Speaker 12: I don't think so.
• 23:23
  Speaker 6: He didn't mention it driving a car.
• 23:26
  Speaker 12: No, he took the bus to the track.
• 23:28
  Speaker 6: I see, where would he most likely go if he
• 23:31
  Speaker 6: doesn't come back here?
• 23:32
  Speaker 12: I don't know, maybe back Dla. A name is San Diego.
• 23:35
  Speaker 12: I don't know.
• 23:36
  Speaker 6: Do you know if your brother Turk is gonna meet
• 23:37
  Speaker 6: Frank Cheney.
• 23:39
  Speaker 12: How could he? Turk says, Cheney's up north someplace with
• 23:42
  Speaker 12: his wife.
• 23:43
  Speaker 6: Told me that this morning where up north?
• 23:46
  Speaker 12: He didn't know.
• 23:48
  Speaker 6: You and McGuire want to stake out here ormsby Ben
• 23:51
  Speaker 6: and I will hit the track.
• 23:52
  Speaker 12: Yeah, okay, Look, I can't have cops here. If Turk
• 23:54
  Speaker 12: comes back, I think I framed it.
• 23:56
  Speaker 6: He didn't get over it.
• 23:57
  Speaker 12: You don't know Turk when he gets so sorry, goes
• 23:59
  Speaker 12: out of his shir You'll kill me.
• 24:00
  Speaker 6: Why worry, miss Huh, You'll have to kill us first.
• 24:09
  Speaker 5: Three forty five pm, Ben and I left Weber's sister's
• 24:12
  Speaker 5: house and drove down to the racetrack at del Mar.
• 24:15
  Speaker 5: We got there just at the start of the seventh race.
• 24:18
  Speaker 5: We had no idea whether the suspect was still there
• 24:20
  Speaker 5: or not. We alerted the security police, gave them mugshots
• 24:23
  Speaker 5: of Weber, and we went to the public address booth
• 24:26
  Speaker 5: in the clubhouse and talked to the man in charge.
• 24:28
  Speaker 5: A few minutes later, the trap for Weber was set.
• 24:33
  Speaker 6: Mister Stanley T.
• 24:34
  Speaker 15: Webber, please come to the public Brescibal with a leg
• 24:36
  Speaker 15: you call call mister Stanley T.
• 24:39
  Speaker 6: Webber, Please come to the public ADDRESSIP. We waited.
• 24:44
  Speaker 5: Ben stationed at the vantage point on one side of
• 24:46
  Speaker 5: the booth, me on the other. Minutes passed, Weber didn't show.
• 24:54
  Speaker 5: Ben caught my eye, shrugged his shoulders.
• 24:57
  Speaker 15: Mister Stanley T. Webber, please, he's coming with the public
• 25:00
  Speaker 15: address BOOL. Emergency telephone call. Mister Stanley T. Webber, please
• 25:06
  Speaker 15: come in.
• 25:06
  Speaker 6: The public dress boom. You know so.
• 25:09
  Speaker 5: It was barely finished when I saw Ben motioning. I
• 25:12
  Speaker 5: looked and saw a large man heading up the cement ramp.
• 25:14
  Speaker 5: When he got to the top, he turned to his
• 25:15
  Speaker 5: right and headed straight for the public address boot. It
• 25:17
  Speaker 5: was Turk Weber.
• 25:22
  Speaker 2: Hold it right, then, we police officers.
• 25:24
  Speaker 6: Get your hands up? What is this you, Lisie Cott?
• 25:26
  Speaker 2: I'll have you fusted for.
• 25:27
  Speaker 6: That, David to ever get your hands up? Oh tips,
• 25:29
  Speaker 6: what difference does it make? Stense Still, you'll never get him.
• 25:32
  Speaker 13: You'll never get him in twenty years, never get who
• 25:34
  Speaker 13: you know who Cheney.
• 25:35
  Speaker 6: He's too smart for you. You'll never get him, not
• 25:37
  Speaker 6: in twenty All right, we got you Webber shaking Ben.
• 25:40
  Speaker 6: I'll shake you, cop, what like I'll kill you.
• 25:44
  Speaker 7: I'll kill you, all right, I'd see sure A big
• 25:52
  Speaker 7: peggy Yeah, what's that over there? They'd fall out of
• 25:55
  Speaker 7: his pocket. It's like a tip sheet. Yeah yeah, Blue
• 26:02
  Speaker 7: Boys peerless selection for Thursday price one dollar.
• 26:07
  Speaker 6: Who worked best picks? You can't lose. This is your
• 26:13
  Speaker 6: lucky day. What's improved? You gotta get his dollar back.
• 26:24
  Speaker 2: The story you have just heard was true, only the
• 26:28
  Speaker 2: names were changed to protect the innocent.
• 26:30
  Speaker 3: On June nineteenth, trial was held in Superior Court, City
• 26:34
  Speaker 3: and County of San Diego, State of California. In a
• 26:37
  Speaker 3: moment the results of that trial, after identifying Frank Cheney
• 26:51
  Speaker 3: as the man who did the shooting in the San
• 26:53
  Speaker 3: Diego hold up and murder, Stanley T. Webber was tried
• 26:56
  Speaker 3: and convicted of participation in the robbery and received a
• 27:00
  Speaker 3: sentence of life imprisonment. Henry Garson was cleared of any
• 27:03
  Speaker 3: complicity in the hold up killing, but he was returned
• 27:06
  Speaker 3: to prison for violation of parole and for several burglaries
• 27:10
  Speaker 3: in San Diego and Los Angeles. Both men are now
• 27:13
  Speaker 3: serving their terms in the state penitentiary next week.
• 27:17
  Speaker 2: Frank Cheney The Gentleman Bandit Part two.
• 27:35
  Speaker 3: You have just heard Dragnet a series of authentic cases
• 27:38
  Speaker 3: from official files. Technical advice for Dragnet comes from the
• 27:42
  Speaker 3: Office of Chief of Police W. W. Wharton, Los Angeles.
• 27:50
  Speaker 2: Next, Sarah's Private Caper with comedian Sarah Berner on NBC.
• 28:09
  Speaker 14: This is Andrew J.
• 28:11
  Speaker 3: Graham, author of the web surface series Oh and a
• 28:13
  Speaker 3: Man of His Wife. You're listening to the Great Detectives
• 28:16
  Speaker 3: of Old Time Radio.
• 28:24
  Speaker 1: Welcome back. Well a decent episode. This is probably my
• 28:29
  Speaker 1: least favorite of the two part stories. It still has
• 28:32
  Speaker 1: some good moments. I particularly like the monologue about the job,
• 28:38
  Speaker 1: how the job became routine, and just how in general
• 28:43
  Speaker 1: it's viewed by the experienced officer who understands that it's
• 28:47
  Speaker 1: a lot of routine work in all right. Well, now
• 28:50
  Speaker 1: we turn to listener comments and feedback, and we start
• 28:54
  Speaker 1: out with Sherry, who actually sent a note on a
• 28:59
  Speaker 1: really quol well cloud shaped piece of paper. Enjoy your
• 29:05
  Speaker 1: podcast so much, wish to support you. Thank you, Shering, Well,
• 29:11
  Speaker 1: thanks so much. Do appreciate your support. And then we
• 29:14
  Speaker 1: have a comment from you I do, who said, just
• 29:17
  Speaker 1: found this page. I love old time radio, especially the
• 29:20
  Speaker 1: crime dramas. My favorite is Jack Webb and Dragnet. I
• 29:23
  Speaker 1: download the MP three's and that becomes my entertainment for
• 29:27
  Speaker 1: the evening after work. I look forward to a great
• 29:30
  Speaker 1: post and discussion here. Thank you and good night. Well,
• 29:34
  Speaker 1: thanks so much for your comments, and then we do
• 29:38
  Speaker 1: have a couple more races or excuse me. Jan says,
• 29:47
  Speaker 1: most enjoyable times to listen, for some reason are rainy afternoons. Well,
• 29:52
  Speaker 1: I hope you have enough rainy afternoons to listen to
• 29:55
  Speaker 1: them all. Thanks so much for your great comments and
• 29:58
  Speaker 1: for your support. That will actually do it for today.
• 30:03
  Speaker 1: We will be back on Monday with the Saint and
• 30:07
  Speaker 1: join us again next Saturday for another episode of Dragnet.
• 30:11
  Speaker 1: In the meantime, send your comments to Box thirteen at
• 30:14
  Speaker 1: Great Detectives dot net, follow us on Twitter at Radio Detectives,
• 30:18
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• 30:22
  Speaker 1: Slash Radiodetectives From Boise, Idaho, this is your host, Adam
• 30:26
  Speaker 1: Grahamson and off