Latest / Great Detectives of Old Time Radio Volume 2|Mystery Audio Dramas / Dragnet: The Roseland Roof Murders (EP1478)

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Dragnet: The Roseland Roof Murders (EP1478) · Great Detectives of Old Time Radio Volume 2|Mystery Audio Dramas

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Welcome to the Great Detectives of Old Time Radio from Boise, Idaho. This
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is your host, Adam Graham. If you have a comment, email it
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to me Box thirteen at Great Detectives dot net, follow us on Twitter at
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Radio Detectives, and become one of our friends on Facebook, Facebook dot com
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slash Radio Detectives. Well, before we go get started, I want to
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encourage you to pick out your copy of my latest ebook, All I Needed
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to Know I learned from drag Deat. In it, we examined the histories
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of seven more great detectives and police officers from radio, television and literature,
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including Poirot, Johnny Dollar, and of course Joe Friday. And you can
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pick the book up for in the Candle Store. It's also in the Nook
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store, and if it's not in your main e book store, you can
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pick it up at smash words dot com. Also over at Great Detectives dot
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net. I'll be having an article up this weekend comparing the difference between the
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nineteen seventies Colombo and the later day Revival. And you can get all of
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my articles delivered automatically to your kindle. You can try that service out free
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for two weeks. You can just do that search in the candlestore. All
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right. Well, Today's episode of Dragnet original air date December the twenty ninth
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of nineteen forty nine. The title is The roseland roof Murders, Ladies and
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Gentlemen. For a more authentic presentation, portions of the program you were about
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to hear were actually recorded on the scene. The story you were about to
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hear is true, only the names have been changed to protect the innocent.
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Drag Nett, You're a detective sergeant. You're assigned to robbery detail. A
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gang of holdup men have been running loose in your city. They've committed more
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than a dozen robberies. They're heavily armed, quick to shoot. Your job,
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stop them. Dragnet the documented drama of an actual crime. Well the
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next thirty minutes, in cooperation with the Los Angeles Police Department, you will
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travel step by step on the side of the law through an actual case,
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from official police bios, from beginning to end, from crime to punishment.
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Dragnet is the story of your police force in action. It was Saturday,
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July twenty first, was hot in Los Angeles. We were working the night
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Watch out of robbery detail. My partner's Ben Romero. The boss is Thad
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Brown chie but detectives. My name's Friday. I was on the way back
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from the record Bureau and it was six fifty five pm when I got to
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Room twenty seven eight, robbery detail. Hi, Joey, ready, let's
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go what Let jump this top coat? Yeah, it's too hot out for
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that for that. Yeah, the rest of the guys take off already.
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Yeah, we better hustle. How many men are working this thing tonight must
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be at least fifty governing every drugs during the South Centralaria. Which one do
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we draw, Naomi in South out I mean the erect pharmacist, Yeah,
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parking lot across the street. We can cover the pharmacy from there. We
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better check out a Thompson from the business office first time. It's a good
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idea. We might as well be ready they are who got the tip the
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game was moving into the South at the time. Johnny pars one of his
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informants. Okay, here we are, this is all as playing. Yeah,
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I'll take you. H Hey better, do you wanna check out the
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Thompson force? Okay, money, have you done? Yeah? Kind of
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you has a sign out books. Thank you. Hey, you might as
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well give us a shotgun while you're at at Blair. Okay, check these
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out for an hour. Sounds like a busy night for you, fellas.
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Yeh maybe Thompson's okay, so the shotgun. I wanna sign up for the
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shotgun too, Joe, Yeah, okay, one Thompson, some machine gun,
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one shotgun. You got those share numbers there, Blair? Yeah,
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uh, Thompson's six seven eight one one six seven eight one one Yeah,
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shotgun six five five two two eight uh huh two two eight Okay, signed
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Joe Brandy, serial number twenty two eighty eight. Ben Vermel, what's your
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share number, Ben, twenty six thirty three, Oh yeah, right,
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thirty three. Six shells for the shotgun, fifty shells for the Thompson.
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Okay, alright, I'll sign for him. Okay. Gangs pretty well,
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I understand gun heavy, Yes, they tell us. Okay, here's the
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book, all signed. Okay. There you go. A lot of firefar
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there. Yeah. I hope you don't have to clean'em when we bring
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him back. We went down at the basement of the City Hall, picked
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up our car ADYK and drove out to Naomi and South Alameda streets. We
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located the parking lot and pulled in. There where four other cars parked in
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the lots, so we wouldn't be conspicuous. Then and I got in the
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back seat out of the light. From our battage point, we had a
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clear view of the entrance to the Rex Pharmacy across the street. We had
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the shotgun and the submachine gun on the seat beside us. We listened to
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the calls coming in the radio, and we waited here. Perchers them by.
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It's no cooler here than business office. Yeah, Hostyle Sticky huh yeah.
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Faver says it's gonna be worse tomorrow. Rolled down your window. We
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didn't get somewhere in here. Yeah huh. The pharmacy isn't doing much business,
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not more than a dozen people and there in the last hour, No
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Shoda fountain. Yeah, sure is hard. You have to talk about it.
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Oh hell, that time you got ten minutes, ten little smoke now,
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huh, Yeah, I'll get it. That gang's gonna show up here.
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We still get it over with. Pers might have got a brum dere
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and the gang hasn't missed a weekend for two months. I wonder how much
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time the average cup has been waiting. I don't know put it all together
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to make a fine vacation. All we do is sit this outh ll the
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pharmacy closes. Yeah, two A and oh it's hard. Yeah. Midnight
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came and passed the traffic on South allow me to send out only an occasional
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customer at a the pharmacy across the street. Ben kept complaining about the heat.
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We waited. Well, that's it. Joe goes the lot drug story
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still. Oh guys locking the doors where he goes. He might as well
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shove off too. Yeah, let's get in the front seat. Not much
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go for this shotgun tonight he was checking it in the same duty to morn
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and since shall the vicinity of eighteen Hill on a corner of Hill in Geneva
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Alley, the two eleven and shooting Out three hit the light. Yeah,
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Planet's rolls. On Sunday, July twenty second, two fifteen am, Ben
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and I pulled up at the Merchant Security Trust Company on the corner of South
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Hill and Geneva Valley. Two patrol cars were already on the scene and four
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uniformed officers were trying to keep back a crowd of people who were gathered at
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the top of a flight of marble stairs which led off the street down one
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flight to the bank's night depository. At the bottom of the stairs, an
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elderly man was sprawled out, face down, his right arm twisted under him.
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The man was dead. Ben hounted five bullock wounds in the victim's back.
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We interviewed the only witness, a young sailor. My name is Vasi.
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Sergeant A. Don Vacy quarter Messed the second class in my idea,
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said you saw the shooting the Vasa. I was about a half a block
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away. I just came out of the bar down the street there the top
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had yeah, had a couple of beers, and I left, and I
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started walking back to the hotel. When was that about five after two?
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Well before I got to the corner, I saw this man ahead of me.
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He across the street and headed over for the bank. Then this car
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pulled up and some guys got out and they ran over to the man,
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and it looked like they were frisking in. Yeah. All of a sudden
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I heard shots and the man ran for the stairs here, and it looked
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like he stumbled and fell. A bunch of guys jumped back in the corn
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drove away. What did you do? Then? I ran up to see
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what I could do for the old man. He was lying down there where
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he is now. Nothing I could do for him. A yo for a
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cop. Did you get a look at the men in that car? No?
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I just saw him from a distance, four maybe five? What about
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the car? Did you see the license number? The last couple of numbers,
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that's all six' ninety nine. Couldn't see the rest? What was
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it? A Cooper Sedan, Sadan, maroon color? It was a Pontiac,
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either a nineteen forty or forty one. Are you sure about that?
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I used to own one back in Delaware, nineteen forty model. I sold
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it to my brother and I went in the Navy. I'm sure all right.
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And you're sure about the number of men in the car? Oh?
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Yes, sir? Four or five? No more? I see? Thanks?
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Well, when you drive back the office with us and give us a
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full statement, sure, sergeant, anything you say, even waiting a car,
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basically, we won't be long. Sure what do you think? I
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don't know? Drug store gang said there were four guys, could be no
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description, maron car, three numbers off the license plate. Pretty then,
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yeah, it looks like a hard summer. We completed our preliminary investigation.
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Coroner arrived and the body was taken to the County Morgue in the basement of
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the Hall of Justice. The victim was identified as Walter Conroy, the proprietor
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of the Flowerland Dance Hall on South Hill Street. Together with Officers Fremont and
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Hurst from Homicide, Ben and I spent most of Sunday tracking down employees of
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the dance hall and the interviewing them. We set a rush teletype the Department
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of Motor Vehicles and Sacramento containing the partial license number plus our scant information on
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the car which the suspects drove. Early Monday afternoon, Ben and I,
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along with Captain ed Walker of robbery Detail, met with the chief of Detective
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stad Brown. What kind of a motive are you working on? Robbery?
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Thanksaw. Manager Conroy was on his way to the bank Tonight Depository when this
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bunch caught up with him. He had the nice receipts with him from the
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Danta. I must be got Walker, uh three hundred and fifty dollars in
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Ostober one thousand. Conroy had an inside pocket, no idea. Who posed
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us to go? Could have been that drug store game? Did We haven't
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missed working a weekend night for two months. There's no sign of any other
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job that they might have pulled. Centering just a hunts chief. Nothing could
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go on. We'll have to guess our way for a while. Uh,
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Sacramento checking the description of the car. Do you numbers of a license plate?
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Yeah? Ought to have a nice in this afternoon. Any deeds on
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the drug store gang at all? Play? Not nothing good. Suspects are
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loaded down with guns. That's all we know. Excuse me round speaking,
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just a party for thanks. We'll reach over here Friday. Yeah, well
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how many? Yeah? Okay, thank your I got an answer from them
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DMV Sacramento about the hold up card, They say, Joe, Well,
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they looked up the possible combinations of nineteen forty or forty one party accidents with
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the numbers six nine nine in the license plate. Yeah, one hundred and
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twenty three possibles to check. Not much choice now, car. That description
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on the hockeys killer might be the legal owners all right in twenty three.
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Even after we check them, we still might not have the right party.
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That's right. If you've got a better lead, We work on it.
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Nope, we ride this till it falls apart. For the next thirteen days,
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Ben and I Fremont and Hurst from homicide plus a half does another man
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hacked away At the list of one hundred and twenty three car registrations, any
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one of which could have been issued to the hold up car, The color
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of the sedan didn't help us much to start with, since California vehicle registrations
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do not include the colors of the cars. After fourteen days of gradual elimination
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of possibles, the field was narrowed to six and four and then two August
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sixth Monday, five point thirty pm, Ben and I were called up Fat
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Brown's office. Down them, check out that last possible. Yet at twenty
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minutes ago it didn't pan out. What about Herston Fremont They had one left
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right here could be the answer? Yeah, nineteen twenty twenty accident license number
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four x y six nine nine, last registration San Diego. Uh good.
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We tell the type of San Diego police. They say the car has been
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sold to a woman out in Santa Monica. Anyone checked her? That's what
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I want you two for San Diego and Santa Monica. It's in the right
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area, came a forward to miss now Hope with Sir Island, it's got
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to be check it. Ben and I checked the woman in Santa Monica,
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Missus Fielding. She told us that she had sold the car six months before
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to a friend who lived in Bakersfield. We contacted her friend. He told
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us the car had been traded in by him to an auto dealer in Pasadena.
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We checked the dealer. He said the car had been sold off his
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used car lot two months before. The new buyer had given his name is
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Amo Thurston. Two names were given his reference, Lloyd Newton and John Lecombe.
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We ran a routine check through the record bureau, ran him through Fellas.
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It's the packages you get a make playing at all three? What'd you
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find on Thurston? Let's see Thurston two time losers, second time up to
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Q and five counts of armed robbery. I'm par from Quentin now how about
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the other two? Oh? The com see Preston reformatory two terms went up
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three years ago, violation of diar act. He's on parole too. What
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about Newton? Jamaican? Uh? Two terms in Oklahoma they're looking for him
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now at Jump Parole. I think that just been a frame. Sure,
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have all three of them. Take a look, Ben, each one of
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the Marmo sheets on these three guys. Yeah, right here under General m
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O. See Thurston heavily armed a time of arrest. Yeah, this one,
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Lakomb heavily arm this one on Newton, same thing, good happy,
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Yeah, come on one. At the time he purchased the car, Suspectamo
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Thurston listed his home addresses fifteen seventeen North Hoover Avenue. Previous robbery victims positively
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identified Thurston and his companions at fifteen seventeen North Hoover, the land that he
16:00
also identified Thirston and his companions as tenants. He told us they drove a
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red Sedan and if they parked the car at a Temple Street garage, an
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immediate stakeout was placed in the apartment house and we started the canvas at Temple
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Street garages from Hoover Avenue down to Rampart Boulevard. At four pm, Ben
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spotted the car and Donnelly's garage on Temple Street near Michigan Drive. The garage
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attendant told us that the owner of the car give it. His name is
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Amol Thurston. We showed him the mug shots. Yeah, used to park
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his car in here a while back then. He came in yesterday morning with
16:30
these two guys and said he wanted a paint shop. Does look like he
16:37
needs a paint job to me? They offered me twenty bucks sixter if I
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do it in a hurry. He wants to cop painted green. When's he
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gonna call for the car? About ten o'clock tonight. These jobs take time.
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He's not gonna like it if the car's not finished. He won't like
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it if it is. Come on, Ben, you are listening to Dragnet
17:08
authentic stories of your police force in action. Seven pm, twosday, August
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seventh, Chief of Detective stat Ground and Captain Ed Walker swung the entire robbery
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detail into action. The stake out at the apartment house on North Hoover continued.
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An additional detail of men was stationed in a vacant store on Temple Street,
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directly opposite Donald's garage. Donaldy's garage was a small family outfit, and
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the only spot from which we could cover it thoroughly without being seen was from
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a large paint locker set up against the right wall. The garage man cleared
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en up room so that Ben and I could fit into the locker in a
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half stooped position. Two small latches were rigged up so that we could pull
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the doors closed from the inside. Four ventilation holes at the top and bottom
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of the doors provided us with peep holes. At eight o'clock that night,
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night And and I took our places inside the locker. The trap was set.
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We waited. Yeah, can you see all right? Joe? Yeah,
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pop in here, steal eric tight fit. I'm getting a clamp on
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my shoulder. What time did that Dariyes? Man say he closed eleven o'clock.
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It's lousy things, ma'am stuffing They carpooling in. Can you see the
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driver? It's nothing. Somebody getting gased. Oh, pay show up.
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I wouldn't want this to go on another night. We don't count on it.
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What's going to sleep? Why don't you stand? I'll tell you guys,
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let me see you keep the light on here ten minutes to nine.
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Nice. The popular conception of the working detective rarely includes a glimpse of his
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everyday run of the mine duties, filling out forms, conducting interviews, or
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waiting long, monotonous hours parked in a car, or standing half crouched in
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a garage paint locker. It's slow, dull and tedious, and it's ninety
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five percent of the police officer's job. By ten o'clock that night, there
19:15
was still no sign of Thursday. To his friends. The cramp locker got
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more cramped with the passing minutes. The air was thick with paint cans.
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We waited. At ten fifty five, a taxipho who was stopped in front
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of the garage. Three men got out. You see him, Joe.
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Wait, they stepping into the light. There's another guy still in the camp.
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Here he come, there's the first guy. Yeah, it's just work.
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Guys getting out of the camp. It looks like new that's him.
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It's a home right behind fat guy here they come. Sure do look before
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all right? Unlight's your door, but don't open it? Quiet man,
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what's the matter? Match? Just stop? Wait a minute to get it.
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No, it's really just tap it when your gun stocke. Easy,
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There are just little good you see where they are now? Yeah? Talking
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to the garage man, I'm looking this way, Oh I just stay that
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way. Yuh Ready okay, don't tip them off to a right on top
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of him. Let them get away from that garage, man, right,
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all right, let's go. Approximately twenty five or thirty yards separated us from
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the suspects. I glanced across Temple Street at the vacant store where that round
20:34
and the other men were staked out. Twenty five yards is a long way
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to walk when you're approaching a murderer and you know that he won't hesitate to
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kill you in order to escape. Then flip the safety off the machine again.
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We were almost halfway across the garage, fifteen yards away. Thurston turned
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in sauce. They ducked behind the car, went up the stairs. Three
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o them car way, Why go up the stairs? How bus with Joe?
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Watch the get up somewhere back in the corner of there. You're fack.
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Put on your burn all right, Ben, get put on your guns.
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Hold out her team, fix them all right. I to mind down
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with your head, wind your head, cover me, Ben, I'll frisk
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him. Well you want money, and get your hands back of your head.
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It standstill all right? Next week, but clean all right, we'll
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wind up all right. Rest your back, you man, You are right
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Joe. Yeah, two more guns on him, all right, you too,
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holdy cheez Yeah, I'll get these guns together. Lacombe, He's not
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much of a fighter, not without a gun. The suspects were booked at
22:21
different divisions to keep them separated. Amo Thurston and Lloyd Newton were taken to
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Hollandbeck Park and booked on suspicion of armed robbery and murder. John Lecombe was
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booked at Highland Park Jail on the same charges. The other suspects who had
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been wounded in the escape attempt was identified as Harold Steeves, nineteen years old.
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He was treated for a leg wounded Georgia Street Receiving Hospital and then transferred
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to the prison ward at the County Hospital. During the next two days,
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each of the suspects was questioned individually. Thurston, Lacombe, Newton would admit
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nothing. The nineteen year old Steves broke down and agreed to turn state's evidence.
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We took his statement to Chief of Detectives Sad Brown. What does the
23:02
boy tell just about everything? Loss? They pulled a drug store hold ups
23:06
and they killed that dancehall on and walked Conroy, which one of them.
23:08
All the kids, says Thurston shot him. He says, Thurston's the gang
23:11
leader. Good. You finally got to count on those guns you took off
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them, Yeah, twelve of them, Each one of them was ready to
23:18
go bullet in every chamber. Did you get a complain from the DA's officer?
23:21
They were arrange prelimine Gargs sent money. Fine, you got him in
23:25
jail, I'll put him in prison. Right. The apprehension of the criminal
23:32
doesn't mean the end of a case. For a police officer, he spends
23:34
just as much time helping to convict the criminal. After he's caught. Evidence
23:38
must be gatted and authenticated and presented to the District attorney's office. If confessions
23:42
are possible, they must be obtained and put in order. The officer must
23:47
also help out in formulating the case and then testifying at the trial of the
23:49
suspect. On October thirtieth, almost three months after the Thurston gang was apprehended,
23:55
they were brought to trial in Superior Court. Was a routine affair.
24:00
Steves took the stand and told the story of the gang's activities. The victims
24:03
identified the suspects and testified to the robberies. Both Ben and I took the
24:07
stand and testified to the arrest and possession of guns by the defendants. We
24:11
received no cross examination. On the morning of March second, the case went
24:15
to the jury. Ben and I had lunch with Lieutenant Rombo from Robbery and
24:18
the City Hall cafeteria. And it was five minutes past one when we got
24:22
back to the office. All right, sure, what good soup? It
24:26
was nice lunch. Do you want to check the mail? I didn't jail,
24:30
I'll get it robbery Friday. Yeah, when right? Lacoman Thurston had
24:36
just broke jail. Within seven minutes, a dragnet for the escape criminals had
24:44
been thrown around the entire city chie the detective stat Brown directed the operation.
24:48
At fourteen minutes past one, he called us to the photo copy room.
24:52
The machines were turning out duplicate mug shots of Thurston and Lacomb for distribution at
24:56
the rate of one every four seconds. You want us to stand by gee
25:02
for the moment? Yeah, we got all the help we need on the
25:03
street. How they pulled the brake anyway, slugged the deputy when he brought
25:07
in their lunch. He used to steal a leg from one of the benches
25:10
in the prisoner's tank. Yeah, they beat the deputy right in the ground.
25:14
But the hell them and you. You didn't get away our Thurst and
25:15
Lacole never get out of the building. It's a real freak. They slugged
25:19
the elevator man and got down to the basement. Uh right, then an
25:22
ambulance crew was wheeling about it in the morgue. The attendant left the ignition
25:26
keys in the ambulace. Shouldn't be too rough to track them up there in
25:30
an ambulance. I'm suffering. You think, how the stop he's coming,
25:33
Frank, fast, we can make him cheek. You have another match for
25:37
you a minute, if you had any reports that all that boss couple moving
25:41
fast? Frank, you want to get that I can't see in this dark
25:45
room. Yeah, I'll get it. Yeah, keep in there, Yeah,
25:52
come on in, I'll walk him. What you got kill a drive
25:56
with it? Oh? Yeah, what do you got? Gas station out
26:00
on Sunset? McComb and person just held it up. We picked up our
26:08
car and the city hall garrise and drove out to the service station on the
26:11
corner of Sunset full Ofvard and Lorraine drive detective Rowers and Stormwall from robbery were
26:15
already on the scene. The two escapees had abandoned the ambulance. There robbed
26:19
the station of fifty six dollars in currency and stolen a nineteen thirty eight Gray
26:23
Packer Coop licensed number seven Robert six three three six. We left the station
26:27
and started to cruise the area with one fifty five PM Paul units. Give
26:33
it up you three eighty north sunset at two eleven, Progress sixty three eighty
26:38
north sunset as two eleven and Congress coach tree. This is a sixty one
26:42
luck, come on nixty three eighty Yes, no, maybe push it.
26:52
Hey, that's coot pulling out up ahead. There a great coupe. Wait
26:53
a minute, seven, Robert. That's them. Life's changing their game,
26:56
Megan. They're going through They're kidding the lamp pull slug it off. I
27:03
come on right, right, let's go. Look if they live through this
27:11
one, yeah, I come on, help me with this door, Yeah
27:14
all right, I can't take them, Yeah, I'll get Macomb. Look
27:21
okay, yea gets thirsting out of here, right, just come on here,
27:25
come all right, look, Homb, come on you oh sure you
27:32
will, come on all right, don't try to walk. I'll thirsty event,
27:34
Sam Joe, Okay, a couple of strikes. All right, get
27:38
out over there, the guard. It's funny at know, look great too.
27:44
They can't slay their part. They haven't got their guns. The story
27:53
you I've just heard was true, only the names were changed protect the innocent.
28:00
On March third, nineteen forty seven, trial was held in Superior Court
28:04
Department ninety one, City and County of Los Angeles, State of California.
28:08
In a moment the results of that trial, Amo Thurston, John Lecombe,
28:23
and Lloyd Newton were convicted of first degree murder and robbery and sentenced to life
28:30
terms for turning state's evidence. Nineteen year old Harold Steves received special consideration as
28:37
a result of the jail break. Thurston and Lacombe were convicted of assault and
28:42
escape. They are now serving life terms in the state penitentiary. You have
28:52
just heard Dragnet a new series of authentic cases from official files. Technical advice
28:59
for Dragnet. It comes from the Office of Acting Chief of Police W.
29:02
A. Wharton, Los Angeles Police Department. Dragnet honors the City of Pasadena,
29:08
State of California, and the men who make up the Pasadena Police Force,
29:14
another of America's great law enforcement agencies. One of these men, Chief
29:19
of Police, Clarence H. Morris, traffic specialist and veteran police administrator,
29:26
dedicates his life to making yours more secure you. Dragnet Forson transcribed from Los
29:37
Angeles. Be sure to hear songs by Martin dani Tonight on NBC Welcome Back.
30:03
Well. This is probably one of Jack Webb's experiments that had a mixed
30:08
success at mess the scenes with the location recording. You could tell from the
30:18
garage and the acoustics were off. When we played this the first time.
30:26
We were using a recording that had a twenty four kbps sampling rate and you
30:34
couldn't hardly make out the words. So this would not be something that they
30:41
would pursue throughout the radio history. Here we can hear it a bit more
30:45
clearly, though it's muffled when it comes to location work. It does remind
30:52
me that in his later days, Web was definitely not a fan of going
30:57
out on location. There were so many sets and set ups for various areas
31:07
that could be used right on the studio lots. He just did not like
31:11
going out. When he got into his late forties and the episode Mister,
31:23
which featured a burglar Annuel Loomis who was very insistent on being called mister Daniel
31:33
Loomis, and Jack Webb actually called up Bert Purlotsky, who wrote the scrip,
31:41
and wanted to change the end where they captured him at a bowling alley,
31:48
and changed it instead so that instead of liking bowling, he liked butterflies
31:56
because they could do something with butterflies on the on the set. Perlotsky wasn't
32:04
happy about that and actually said, you know, if I have to that,
32:08
it would mean rewriting the whole script, which at least as it was
32:14
shot, doesn't appear to have been the case. But he told Web,
32:17
you know, here's how you can do the bowling alley without actually having to
32:22
leave the studio yourself, and so that was approved. But yeah, when
32:29
he got into the into the late nineteen sixties, Webb didn't go on location
32:37
if he could avoid it for filming purposes. All right, Well, that
32:43
will do it for today. We will be back on Monday with the Saint
32:47
and then join us again next Saturday for another episode of Dragnet. In the
32:52
meantime, sendra comments to Box thirteen at Great Detectives dot net, follow us
32:59
on We are at Radio Detectors, and become one of our friends on Facebook,
33:02
Facebook dot com. Slash Radio Detectors from Boise, Idaho. This is
33:07
your host, Adam Grahamson. It Off