Latest / Dragnet | Old Time Radio / Dragnet - "Big Cast" (Old Time Radio, 1951)

Transcript

Dragnet - "Big Cast" (Old Time Radio, 1951) · Dragnet | Old Time Radio

0:00
Speaker 1: Twelve men have vanished in Los Angeles, and Paul Davis
0:03
Speaker 1: is one of them. For roughly four months, the LAPD
0:07
Speaker 1: homicide detail has pursued the unexplained disappearances without a resolution,
0:12
Speaker 1: as Detective Sergeants Joe Friday and Ben Romero follow evidence
0:16
Speaker 1: suggesting foul play. From NBC, sponsored by Fatima Cigarettes, comes
0:22
Speaker 1: an early entry in Dragnet's run. Episode 87, Big Cast.
0:28
Speaker 1: First heard February 8th, 1951. Jack Webb and Barton Yarborough
0:34
Speaker 1: appear as Friday and Romero, with Stacey Harris also heard,
0:38
Speaker 1: as the detectives locate a principal suspect and begin a
0:41
Speaker 1: pivotal interview. Now, back to the golden age of radio.
0:46
Speaker 1: Liggett & Myers, makers of Fatima cigarettes, is proud to
0:49
Speaker 1: bring you its prize-winning radio program.
0:52
Speaker 2: Winner of the Motion Picture Herald Fame Award. The story
1:01
Speaker 2: you are about to hear is true. Only the names
1:04
Speaker 2: have been changed to protect the innocent.
1:07
Speaker 1: Fatima Cigarettes. Best of all long cigarettes. Brings you Dragnet.
1:20
Speaker 1: You're a detective, Sergeant.
1:22
Speaker 2: You're assigned the homicide detail.
1:25
Speaker 1: Twelve men drop completely from sight over a short period
1:27
Speaker 1: of time.
1:29
Speaker 2: There's evidence of foul play. Four months pass.
1:33
Speaker 1: You finally locate the leading suspect in the case. Your job,
1:37
Speaker 1: pick him up. You'll be amazed when you compare Fatima
1:44
Speaker 1: with other long cigarettes.
1:46
Speaker 2: You'll find they now cost the same. But in Fatima.
1:50
Speaker 1: The difference is quality. You see, Fatima is the quality
1:54
Speaker 1: king-size cigarette. Because it contains the finest Turkish and domestic
1:59
Speaker 1: tobaccos superbly blended. And Fatima is extra mild. With a
2:04
Speaker 1: much different, much better flavor and aroma than any other
2:08
Speaker 1: long cigarette. So compare Fatima yourself. Fatima's now cost the
2:14
Speaker 1: same as other long cigarettes.
2:16
Speaker 2: But your first puff will tell you... Ah, that's different.
2:20
Speaker 1: Yes, in Fatima, the difference is quality. Ask your dealer
2:25
Speaker 1: for Fatima, the quality king-size cigarette. Best of all long cigarettes.
2:32
Speaker 1: Start enjoying Fatima tomorrow.
2:35
Speaker 3: Dragnet, the documented drama of an actual crime. For the
2:44
Speaker 3: next 30 minutes, in cooperation with the Los Angeles Police Department,
2:48
Speaker 3: you will travel step by step on the side of
2:50
Speaker 3: the law through an actual case transcribed from official police files.
2:54
Speaker 3: From beginning to end, from crime to punishment, Dragnet is
2:58
Speaker 3: the story of your police force in action.
3:01
Speaker 4: It was Wednesday, October the 6th.
3:05
Speaker 5: It was sultry in Los Angeles. We were working the
3:08
Speaker 5: day watch out a homicide. My partner's Ben Romero.
3:10
Speaker 4: The boss is Thad Brown, chief of detectives. My name's Friday.
3:14
Speaker 5: We were on the way out from the office and
3:16
Speaker 5: it was 10.45 a.m. when we got to Ortega Street.
3:20
Speaker 5: Number 1285.
3:25
Speaker 2: Second floor?
3:26
Speaker 4: Yeah, room 14.
3:27
Speaker 6: They all smell the same, don't they?
3:35
Speaker 4: What's that?
3:35
Speaker 6: Rumenhausen. Oh, yeah.
3:39
Speaker 4: No, these are the odd numbers here.
3:41
Speaker 7: Must be down that way, huh?
3:47
Speaker 4: Yeah, here it is. Fourteen. Yeah.
3:48
Speaker 2: Just a minute.
3:59
Speaker 6: Taking his time.
4:02
Speaker 4: Try it again, huh? Yeah? Police officers. Your name Henry Ross?
4:14
Speaker 2: Get out of here. Get out of.
4:26
Speaker 8: Here. All right, come on.
4:32
Speaker 2: All right. What is this? What do you want, Ben?
4:40
Speaker 6: I got him.
4:41
Speaker 4: What is this?
4:43
Speaker 2: You guys really cops? Come on, get up. No fooling.
4:49
Speaker 2: No fooling. You really cops? I thought you were faking.
4:52
Speaker 6: We showed you our identification at the door.
4:55
Speaker 2: I thought you were faking. That's the truth. There's a
4:57
Speaker 2: couple of guys out to mess me up. I thought
5:00
Speaker 2: you were them. Your name Henry Ross? Yeah, that's right.
5:04
Speaker 2: I thought you were one of those moochers I had
5:05
Speaker 2: a fight with in the bar the other night. Said
5:07
Speaker 2: he was going to get a pal and come back
5:08
Speaker 2: in and take care of me.
5:09
Speaker 4: Yeah? Yeah.
5:10
Speaker 8: Yeah.
5:12
Speaker 2: I ain't got no reason to fight with cops. I
5:17
Speaker 2: didn't do my room any good. Landlady's sure gonna scream.
5:21
Speaker 4: All right, come on. You want to finish up dressing?
5:22
Speaker 7: I want to talk to you downtown.
5:25
Speaker 2: What's it about, officer? A missing person.
5:27
Speaker 6: We'll brief him when we get downtown.
5:29
Speaker 2: Well, that's all right with me. Would you take these
5:32
Speaker 2: handcuffs off, please? It's kind of hard dressing with them.
5:35
Speaker 7: All you have to do is put your shoes on.
5:36
Speaker 4: You can make out.
5:37
Speaker 2: All right. I don't know why you had to slap
5:40
Speaker 2: handcuffs on me. I didn't know you were cops. You
5:43
Speaker 2: mind if we check through your things, Rolf?
5:45
Speaker 4: Huh?
5:46
Speaker 2: Why?
5:46
Speaker 6: You mind?
5:47
Speaker 2: Oh, go ahead if you want. I got a night.
5:51
Speaker 2: You know, if you'd have spoke up at the door,
5:52
Speaker 2: that wouldn't have been a fight. I thought you were
5:54
Speaker 2: that mooch in a bar and his friend. I thought
5:57
Speaker 2: you were looking for trouble.
5:58
Speaker 4: You about ready to go?
6:00
Speaker 2: Yeah, I'd like to brush my teeth off, you know, Mike.
6:05
Speaker 2: I got a real mouthful of cotton this morning.
6:07
Speaker 4: All right, what do you keep your toothbrush?
6:08
Speaker 6: It's over here.
6:09
Speaker 2: I'll get it.
6:09
Speaker 6: No, I'll get it.
6:09
Speaker 4: Never mind.
6:12
Speaker 6: Get here?
6:13
Speaker 2: Yeah, first shelf. It's in the glass. Won't you trust me?
6:17
Speaker 6: Here you go.
6:19
Speaker 4: Want some toothpaste?
6:20
Speaker 6: Yeah.
6:20
Speaker 2: All right.
6:22
Speaker 4: There you go.
6:23
Speaker 2: Turn on the water tap, huh?
6:26
Speaker 4: Okay. Nothing, Joe.
6:30
Speaker 6: It's pretty clean.
6:31
Speaker 2: Of course I'm clean. What'd you expect? Anybody could have
6:34
Speaker 2: made the mistake. I didn't know you were cops.
6:36
Speaker 6: Henry Ellsworth Ross.
6:37
Speaker 2: Is that your full name? Yeah, that's right. I hardly
6:41
Speaker 2: ever use the Ellsworth, though. That's a real lousy name, huh? Well,
6:45
Speaker 2: what's the fetch on all this, officer?
6:47
Speaker 4: We told you, missing person. Want to talk to you
6:49
Speaker 4: about it.
6:49
Speaker 2: I don't think I can help you. Nobody I know
6:52
Speaker 2: is missing.
6:53
Speaker 6: How about Paul Davis?
6:55
Speaker 4: Davis?
6:57
Speaker 2: Yeah, I know Davis. I don't know if his name
7:00
Speaker 2: is Paul, though. Been gone a long time, huh, Mr.
7:04
Speaker 4: Davis?
7:05
Speaker 6: Yeah, that's right.
7:07
Speaker 2: Something wrong, you think?
7:10
Speaker 4: We figure murder.
7:16
Speaker 5: After going over his room thoroughly, we took Henry Ellsworth
7:19
Speaker 5: Ross back to the city hall to the interrogation room.
7:22
Speaker 5: He was a slightly built man, dark hair, brown eyes,
7:25
Speaker 5: swarthy complexion. He was a longshoreman by trade. Among his
7:29
Speaker 5: friends and acquaintances, he was known as a heavy drinker
7:31
Speaker 5: and a man with a violent temper. Ben and I
7:34
Speaker 5: questioned him for a half an hour and got nowhere.
7:37
Speaker 5: He sat across the table, relaxed, scraping at a thick
7:39
Speaker 5: callus on his hand with his fingernail.
7:42
Speaker 2: I'll tell you the truth. I just don't know what
7:44
Speaker 2: you're getting at. I think I know a guy named Davis,
7:47
Speaker 2: and that's about as far as it goes.
7:49
Speaker 6: Sure that's all you've got to tell us?
7:50
Speaker 2: Of course I'm sure. Now, look, I've got a right
7:52
Speaker 2: to call a lawyer if you're going to sit there
7:54
Speaker 2: and throw a lot of charges at me.
7:55
Speaker 4: We're not throwing charges at you, Henry. We've got a
7:57
Speaker 4: missing persons case. We'd like to have you cooperate. That's
7:59
Speaker 4: about it.
8:00
Speaker 2: Well, maybe I'd like to, but I can't. Paul Davis
8:03
Speaker 2: is just a name to me. Maybe I know him.
8:05
Speaker 2: I don't know. You got that report there, Vince?
8:07
Speaker 6: Yeah, just a minute.
8:12
Speaker 2: Here you go.
8:12
Speaker 4: Thanks.
8:14
Speaker 2: Well, here's the way it goes, Henry.
8:15
Speaker 3: Yeah?
8:16
Speaker 4: According to his wife, Paul Davis left Los.
8:19
Speaker 5: Angeles by auto a little over four months ago. He
8:21
Speaker 5: was driving up to Oakdale, California to take a job
8:24
Speaker 5: with a dairy company up there.
8:26
Speaker 4: He never got there. He's been missing ever since.
8:28
Speaker 2: So, what's the pitch?
8:30
Speaker 5: All we've been able to find is Davis' car, the
8:33
Speaker 5: 36 Ford Coupe 7 Tom 792. It was sold a
8:37
Speaker 5: month ago up in Lodi, California. But Davis didn't sell it.
8:41
Speaker 5: A man by the name of Carter signed a pink
8:42
Speaker 5: slip at the time of the sale.
8:44
Speaker 4: Henry Carter. Sorry.
8:47
Speaker 2: Don't mean anything to me.
8:47
Speaker 5: Well, this Carter made it look like Paul Davis had
8:50
Speaker 5: signed the Ford over to him.
8:52
Speaker 4: We checked it out. Davis' signature was Ford's.
8:54
Speaker 2: That so? It's supposed to have something to do with me.
8:57
Speaker 6: Did you ever use the name Henry Carter?
8:59
Speaker 2: Of course not.
9:00
Speaker 7: Ross.
9:00
Speaker 2: It's the only name I go by.
9:02
Speaker 6: Never had your name changed?
9:03
Speaker 2: No.
9:04
Speaker 6: Never used an alias?
9:05
Speaker 2: I told you, no.
9:06
Speaker 4: I wonder if you'd mind taking a look at this.
9:11
Speaker 4: Here you go, this here.
9:13
Speaker 2: What's this got to do with me?
9:14
Speaker 4: The pink slip to Paul Davis' car.
9:17
Speaker 5: Yeah.
9:18
Speaker 4: See these signatures on the back here? Transfer of ownership.
9:20
Speaker 4: You recognize either one of them?
9:22
Speaker 2: Paul Davis. Henry H. Carter. Oh.
9:27
Speaker 6: Doesn't mean anything to me.
9:28
Speaker 2: Is it supposed to?
9:29
Speaker 6: It should, yeah.
9:30
Speaker 2: Why?
9:30
Speaker 6: The signatures are both in your handwriting.
9:34
Speaker 4: How about it, Henry?
9:35
Speaker 2: How about what? I don't even know what you're talking about.
9:37
Speaker 2: You're trying to give me the treatment. What's this all about?
9:39
Speaker 6: I'm trying to locate Paul Davis.
9:41
Speaker 2: I'm not even sure I know the guy.
9:42
Speaker 5: I think you'd better level, Henry. Our handwriting man checked
9:44
Speaker 5: both the signatures.
9:45
Speaker 4: It's your writing.
9:46
Speaker 2: Then maybe you'd better get a new handwriting man. I
9:48
Speaker 2: never saw that slip. I never wrote those signatures. Anybody
9:50
Speaker 2: can copy handwriting.
9:53
Speaker 5: Well, I've got something else for you, Ross. I'd like
9:56
Speaker 5: to have you check it over, see if you can
9:57
Speaker 5: identify it.
9:58
Speaker 2: What is it?
9:59
Speaker 4: It's a letter. I want to take a look here.
10:02
Speaker 4: Does that mean anything to.
10:05
Speaker 6: You?
10:05
Speaker 2: No, nothing. I hope you're not going to tell me
10:07
Speaker 2: this is my handwriting.
10:08
Speaker 6: That's what the report says.
10:10
Speaker 2: Oh, it's crazy. I never wrote like that in my life.
10:12
Speaker 6: All the writing characteristics match up. Same as the signatures
10:15
Speaker 6: on the pink slip.
10:15
Speaker 2: All right, maybe they are the same. I didn't write
10:17
Speaker 2: either one. I never wrote like that in my life. Here,
10:20
Speaker 2: let me show you how I write.
10:21
Speaker 4: No, that's all right, Henry. Ben, do you want to
10:23
Speaker 4: pull the package from R & I? Yeah, okay.
10:27
Speaker 2: I don't savvy one bit of this, Sergeant. How about
10:30
Speaker 2: laying it out for me?
10:31
Speaker 5: You can see the name at the bottom of the letter.
10:33
Speaker 5: It's signed Henry Carter, same as the pink slip.
10:35
Speaker 2: Well, that doesn't mean anything to me.
10:38
Speaker 5: Well, this letter was sent to the wife of Paul
10:40
Speaker 5: Davis about nine weeks ago, and it says here that
10:42
Speaker 5: Davis supposedly was too busy to write his wife, so
10:45
Speaker 5: he had this Henry Carter send a letter.
10:47
Speaker 4: He also writes in here that Davis sold his car
10:49
Speaker 4: to Carter.
10:50
Speaker 2: Somebody trying to cover up, huh?
10:52
Speaker 4: No, we think so. We think it's Henry Carter.
10:57
Speaker 2: This, um, this Davis guy, he's been gone about four months?
11:00
Speaker 2: That's right. You said you thought Davis was murdered. How come?
11:04
Speaker 4: Just an idea. Oh.
11:05
Speaker 5: Eight men had disappeared from around here in the last
11:07
Speaker 5: 14 months, just like Davis. Six more up in the
11:11
Speaker 5: San Joaquin Valley the same way. They took off alone
11:14
Speaker 5: on auto trips and never seen again.
11:16
Speaker 4: Not a trace.
11:18
Speaker 2: Pretty funny.
11:21
Speaker 6: Here you go, Joe.
11:22
Speaker 2: Thank you.
11:24
Speaker 5: You've got your record here, Henry, from Baton Rouge.
11:28
Speaker 4: Sent to Sheriff Clemens for it.
11:30
Speaker 1: Huh?
11:31
Speaker 2: Look, do we have to drag all that again? It's past.
11:34
Speaker 7: It's one thing we had to check, Henry.
11:39
Speaker 4: You told us that you never use an alias, is
11:40
Speaker 4: that right?
11:41
Speaker 2: All right, I have. I didn't know what you were
11:42
Speaker 2: getting at. I didn't figure there was any use dragging
11:44
Speaker 2: out dirty laundry again.
11:46
Speaker 6: I asked you if you ever used the name Henry Carter.
11:48
Speaker 2: Okay, I've used it. It's a common name. There's a
11:50
Speaker 2: lot of Henry Carters around.
11:51
Speaker 4: We only know one, if it's your description.
11:52
Speaker 2: I'm clean, you know that.
11:55
Speaker 4: Want a smoke, Henry?
11:56
Speaker 2: No.
11:57
Speaker 4: You don't? No, thanks.
11:59
Speaker 2: Well, let me have one, will you?
12:00
Speaker 6: Here you are.
12:02
Speaker 4: There you go. We got a match here.
12:07
Speaker 5: You know, we rode this thing for four months.
12:14
Speaker 6: It's all over the state.
12:15
Speaker 4: Here.
12:17
Speaker 1: Thanks.
12:22
Speaker 4: I'll tell you what we got, Henry. We'll let you
12:23
Speaker 4: make up your own mind.
12:24
Speaker 2: It's not my writing.
12:26
Speaker 5: On June 4th, Paul Davis left Los Angeles in his
12:29
Speaker 5: car headed for Oakdale. Late in the afternoon, he stopped
12:31
Speaker 5: for gas at a service station just beyond San Fernando.
12:35
Speaker 5: The attendant says a man was with Davis. You fit
12:37
Speaker 5: that man's.
12:37
Speaker 4: Description, Henry.
12:38
Speaker 2: Yeah? I've seen monks like that in court. They get
12:42
Speaker 2: on the stand, they can't even remember their own name.
12:44
Speaker 4: A couple others.
12:46
Speaker 5: You and Davis stopped for a hamburger just outside of Gorman.
12:48
Speaker 7: There's a man there. He remembers you, too.
12:51
Speaker 5: You stopped again in Bakersfield. Picked up a quart of
12:53
Speaker 5: oil for the car. You and Davis had a coke
12:56
Speaker 5: the last time he was seen alive.
12:58
Speaker 2: That makes me a killer, huh?
12:59
Speaker 5: A month after that, the pink slip to Davis' car
13:01
Speaker 5: came through DMV up in Sacramento.
13:03
Speaker 4: That was for the transfer of ownership from.
13:05
Speaker 5: Davis to Henry Carter, both in your handwriting.
13:08
Speaker 4: A couple of weeks later, Mrs. Davis got that letter.
13:10
Speaker 4: A month ago, Davis' car was sold to a dealer
13:14
Speaker 4: in Lodi.
13:14
Speaker 6: Yeah, yeah. We found the dealer, Ross, and showed him
13:17
Speaker 6: your mugshot. He says you sold him the car.
13:21
Speaker 4: At all? Just the main part.
13:23
Speaker 7: There's more.
13:24
Speaker 5: We've been on the road a lot. We followed you
13:25
Speaker 5: from here to Sacramento and back, Henry. Every stop, every
13:28
Speaker 5: detour took us a long time.
13:31
Speaker 2: Yeah, I guess it did.
13:33
Speaker 6: What do you say, Rose?
13:34
Speaker 4: Nothing. Any way you want it, Henry.
13:38
Speaker 2: You got on the smoke?
13:39
Speaker 4: Yeah.
13:40
Speaker 2: Yeah, here you are.
13:41
Speaker 6: Thanks.
13:44
Speaker 4: Here.
13:49
Speaker 2: Yep. I guess you worked hard on it, huh? All
13:53
Speaker 2: over the state. That's right. Must be pretty hot up
13:55
Speaker 2: in the valley sometimes. Dusty, huh?
13:57
Speaker 6: We made out.
13:58
Speaker 2: I've never been up in the valley in the summer.
13:59
Speaker 2: It's too hot for me.
14:00
Speaker 4: We got people who saw you there.
14:02
Speaker 2: What's it prove? Ten people and some writing samples. You
14:04
Speaker 2: can't build a case on that. You know it, don't you?
14:06
Speaker 4: We're gonna try.
14:06
Speaker 2: You think I murdered Davis? You, Sergeant?
14:12
Speaker 4: Yeah.
14:13
Speaker 2: You think I murdered those other guys, too, huh? What
14:15
Speaker 2: was it? The ten, twelve of them?
14:17
Speaker 4: We're asking about Davis.
14:18
Speaker 2: You think I killed him? Tell me the truth, do
14:21
Speaker 2: you think I murdered Davis?
14:23
Speaker 7: Yeah, I think you did.
14:26
Speaker 2: Well, then you know as well as I do, there's
14:27
Speaker 2: only one way to prove it. Yeah, find his body.
14:29
Speaker 4: 1.15 p.m.
14:35
Speaker 5: Ben and I took Henry Ross out and fed him
14:37
Speaker 5: some lunch. Then we took him back to the city
14:39
Speaker 5: hall to the interrogation room where we continued to question him.
14:43
Speaker 5: It was relaxed and he talked a great deal about
14:45
Speaker 5: everything but the disappearance of Paul Davis. He didn't seem
14:48
Speaker 5: anxious to get away, made no demands for an attorney
14:51
Speaker 5: to represent him.
14:52
Speaker 4: For a full hour, he did most of the talking.
14:56
Speaker 5: He told us about the different homicide cases he'd read
14:58
Speaker 5: up on. He asked us about the 12 men who'd
15:00
Speaker 5: disappeared in the past months in the same manner Paul
15:03
Speaker 5: Davis had. Was there any trace of them at all?
15:06
Speaker 5: Did we have any leads? How did we think we
15:08
Speaker 5: were going to find them? Well, we finally got around
15:11
Speaker 5: to asking him if he'd submit to a lie detector test.
15:13
Speaker 7: He seemed taken by the idea and agreed to it
15:15
Speaker 7: almost immediately.
15:17
Speaker 5: Ben called Sergeant Berger and made arrangements for the test.
15:20
Speaker 5: We made up a list of key questions. At 5 p.m.,
15:23
Speaker 5: we took the suspect to the third floor of the
15:25
Speaker 5: Old City Jail where Sergeant Berger gave him the polygraph test.
15:29
Speaker 5: On the way back to the office, Ross complained he
15:31
Speaker 5: was hungry. We stopped and bought him coffee and donuts.
15:34
Speaker 5: We got back to the interrogation room a little after
15:36
Speaker 5: 6 p.m. The questioning continued. Ross didn't seem to mind
15:40
Speaker 5: at all.
15:41
Speaker 4: He kept talking. We let him talk.
15:42
Speaker 5: 8 p.m., he was still going strong.
15:46
Speaker 2: You remember the Wilson case back in 34, don't you, Sergeant?
15:49
Speaker 2: Woman killed a whole family. Big case, you remember. Yeah,
15:53
Speaker 2: pretty tragic.
15:54
Speaker 4: Is that a hobby of yours, Henry, collecting murder stories?
15:58
Speaker 2: No, I just read them, remember them. I guess I
16:01
Speaker 2: can remember every big murder case in the last 15 years.
16:04
Speaker 2: That so? Yeah, just about all of them. I guess
16:07
Speaker 2: it is kind of a hobby. I get a big
16:09
Speaker 2: kick out of it. I get it, Ben.
16:11
Speaker 7: Excuse me, Henry.
16:12
Speaker 2: Oh, sure.
16:13
Speaker 4: Interrogation room, Friday. Oh, yeah, Berger. How many? Yeah. Okay,
16:24
Speaker 4: thank you.
16:26
Speaker 2: You know, there's one thing I get a real big
16:28
Speaker 2: kick out of those detective magazines. Mystery stories. The way
16:30
Speaker 2: they make out the murderer. How do you mean? You know,
16:33
Speaker 2: they always build it up into something big. Somebody's always
16:36
Speaker 2: killing somebody else for a million dollars. Maybe over some woman,
16:40
Speaker 2: some beautiful woman. Same way with the movies. That's where
16:43
Speaker 2: they get it all mixed up.
16:44
Speaker 4: I don't think I follow you, Henry.
16:45
Speaker 2: Oh, sure you do. Every time some guy writes a
16:48
Speaker 2: murder story, he's got to build up a big reason
16:49
Speaker 2: for the killing. A lot of money, beautiful woman. Revenge, maybe.
16:54
Speaker 2: Always got to be a big reason. Motive. Motive, that's
16:57
Speaker 2: what they say.
16:57
Speaker 4: Well, it generally works out that way, doesn't it?
16:59
Speaker 2: Why? I bet you there's a... A thousand murder cases
17:03
Speaker 2: in your files without any reason at all. Some people kill,
17:07
Speaker 2: that's all. I've heard about lots of them. They just
17:09
Speaker 2: want to kill and they go ahead and do it.
17:12
Speaker 2: Maybe for a few bucks, maybe for nothing. They just
17:14
Speaker 2: do it, that's all. That's all. Sure, you know that.
17:17
Speaker 2: Like this thing you've been talking about. Ten, twelve guys disappear.
17:20
Speaker 2: They got a few bucks, maybe they got nothing. Somebody
17:23
Speaker 2: plows them under and that's all. No big reason. They
17:27
Speaker 2: just do it. So twelve guys are gone. It doesn't
17:29
Speaker 2: mean anything.
17:31
Speaker 7: That's how you got it figured out, you know.
17:32
Speaker 2: Huh?
17:33
Speaker 7: The phone call a minute ago there. It was a
17:35
Speaker 7: man who gave you the lie detector test.
17:37
Speaker 2: Oh, that right? How'd it go?
17:38
Speaker 4: He just finished going over your graph. He got 16
17:41
Speaker 4: positive reactions.
17:42
Speaker 2: Yeah? What's that mean?
17:44
Speaker 4: You lied, Henry, 16 times.
17:46
Speaker 2: That right. You better tell him to get a new machine.
17:49
Speaker 2: I lied all the way through. Mind telling us why? No,
17:52
Speaker 2: I don't mind. I guess I knew you'd find out.
17:56
Speaker 2: Let's go get something to eat first, though. I'm hungry.
17:58
Speaker 4: No, we better talk a little more, Henry.
17:59
Speaker 2: Well, let's go. I'll tell you why we're eating. Bring
18:01
Speaker 2: a pencil with you. Draw your map.
18:02
Speaker 4: Map of what?
18:03
Speaker 2: The canyon where I buried him.
18:15
Speaker 1: You are listening to Dragnet for the step-by-step solution to
18:19
Speaker 1: tonight's authentic case history. Here's step-by-step... are the actual reasons
18:25
Speaker 1: why Fatima is the quality king-size cigarette. Why in Fatima
18:31
Speaker 1: the difference is quality. Quality of tobaccos. The finest domestic
18:36
Speaker 1: and Turkish varieties. Extra mild and superbly blended to give
18:41
Speaker 1: you a much different, much better flavor and aroma. Quality
18:46
Speaker 1: of manufacture. Smooth, round, perfect cigarettes. Rolled in the finest
18:51
Speaker 1: paper money can buy. manufactured in the newest and most
18:55
Speaker 1: modern of all cigarette factories. Quality even to the appearance
18:59
Speaker 1: of the bright, clean, golden yellow package. Carefully wrapped and
19:04
Speaker 1: sealed to bring you Fatima's rich, fresh, extra mild flavor.
19:09
Speaker 1: Compare Fatima yourself. Fatima's now cost the same as other
19:13
Speaker 1: long cigarettes, but your first puff will tell you.
19:18
Speaker 2: Ah, that's different. Yes, in Fatima... The difference is quality.
19:24
Speaker 2: Insist on Fatima.
19:26
Speaker 1: Start enjoying the quality king-size cigarette.
19:30
Speaker 2: Fatima. Best of all long cigarettes.
19:41
Speaker 7: Wednesday, 9.55 p.m.
19:43
Speaker 5: Ben and I took Henry Ross across the street, bought
19:45
Speaker 5: him a Coke at Mac's place, and we took him
19:47
Speaker 5: next door to the Melbourne cafeteria.
19:48
Speaker 4: It was almost closed. time.
19:50
Speaker 5: Ross got himself a cottage cheese and pineapple salad, bacon
19:53
Speaker 5: and liver with onions, rye bread, banana pie, and coffee.
19:57
Speaker 5: Ben had a hot beef sandwich, mashed potatoes, and coffee.
20:00
Speaker 4: I had the same.
20:01
Speaker 5: At the back of the cafeteria, one of the busboys
20:03
Speaker 5: was mopping the tile floor. There was a strong smell
20:06
Speaker 5: of disinfectant.
20:11
Speaker 2: How about that table over there, Sergeant? Is that all
20:13
Speaker 2: right with you? Yeah, it's okay. It doesn't make any difference.
20:17
Speaker 8: That's fine.
20:28
Speaker 2: Yeah. Want some water?
20:29
Speaker 3: Yeah.
20:30
Speaker 2: Yeah, please. All right, I'll get some. Oh, boy, living onions.
20:37
Speaker 2: That sure smells great, huh?
20:39
Speaker 8: Yeah.
20:39
Speaker 2: Yeah. I can't take those onions so well. They repeat
20:42
Speaker 2: on me. Not me. I can eat anything. Salt and pepper? Yeah, thanks. Boy,
20:47
Speaker 2: I'm sure hungry. I haven't eaten much today. Did you
20:50
Speaker 2: get a sandwich made with rye bread? Uh-uh. Graham bread. Oh,
20:53
Speaker 2: you should have gotten the rye. Real German rye bread, eh?
20:56
Speaker 2: Smell that. Real nice and fresh. Here you go, Ben. No, thanks. Oh,
21:00
Speaker 2: thank you. You know, all that talk really sharpened up
21:06
Speaker 2: my appetite. Boy, this food tastes good.
21:11
Speaker 6: Mm-hmm.
21:12
Speaker 2: Jelly gel? Uh, yeah, thanks. We brought a pencil along, Henry.
21:21
Speaker 2: You want us to start taking notes? As good a
21:23
Speaker 2: time as any, I guess. You know, the whole thing
21:26
Speaker 2: just comes right back to what I was trying to
21:27
Speaker 2: tell you there in the office. Yeah, what's that? Well,
21:31
Speaker 2: you know. All about those phony mystery stories.
21:34
Speaker 4: Oh, yeah.
21:34
Speaker 2: Every time there's trouble, there's a big reason behind it.
21:37
Speaker 2: It's phony, that's all.
21:39
Speaker 4: Yeah? Sure, it is.
21:41
Speaker 2: It's Paul Davis, for instance. I guess I knew you'd
21:44
Speaker 2: find me out. I knew this morning when you picked
21:46
Speaker 2: me up, you had it figured. Must have been a
21:49
Speaker 2: big job, huh? Finding me? Pretty big, I mean, you know.
21:54
Speaker 4: A lot of mileage. How'd it happen?
21:57
Speaker 2: Well, there again, just like I was saying, there's no
22:00
Speaker 2: big reason behind it. I needed a few bucks and Mr.
22:03
Speaker 2: Davis came along. I guess he was it. All right,
22:07
Speaker 2: pass me a ketchup, will you? Oh, yeah. Here you are.
22:10
Speaker 2: Get the lid off there. There you go.
22:12
Speaker 4: Thanks. Where'd you meet Davis, Henry?
22:20
Speaker 2: Oh, I was hitchhiking out in Ventura. I'm not a
22:24
Speaker 2: dime in my jeans. I was going up to Maricopa.
22:26
Speaker 2: I thought I had a job up there, and this
22:28
Speaker 2: Davis come along. Picked me up. You ever know him
22:30
Speaker 2: before that? No, no. Stranger. He says he's going to
22:35
Speaker 2: Oakdale with a guy to give me a ride.
22:40
Speaker 4: Go ahead.
22:41
Speaker 2: Well, we stopped for gas at San Fernando and I
22:44
Speaker 2: saw he had a few bucks in his wallet. I
22:45
Speaker 2: guess that's when I got the idea. About what? Killing him. Now,
22:50
Speaker 2: maybe that gives you an idea of what I was
22:51
Speaker 2: talking about. You don't need any big reason to kill somebody.
22:54
Speaker 2: They ever said 18 bucks. Now, suppose I told that
22:58
Speaker 2: to a writer. Somebody killing a guy for 18 bucks.
23:00
Speaker 2: That wouldn't make much sense, huh? He'd tell you he'd
23:03
Speaker 2: never sell. You need a million dollars, beautiful woman. Good motive. Yeah.
23:08
Speaker 7: Where'd you kill him, Henry?
23:09
Speaker 2: Just outside of Bakersfield. Little canyon there. I got Davis
23:14
Speaker 2: to buy a fifth of sherry in Bakersfield. He drank
23:17
Speaker 2: some on the way. Hey, pass the salt, huh? Yeah.
23:20
Speaker 2: Here you go.
23:21
Speaker 4: Thanks.
23:23
Speaker 2: The liver's no good without plenty of salt.
23:26
Speaker 4: How'd you kill Davis, Henry?
23:28
Speaker 2: That's a funny thing. He drank some of the wine
23:31
Speaker 2: and got a little sleepy. I was just outside of Bakersfield.
23:34
Speaker 2: It was dark by that time. I spotted this little canyon.
23:38
Speaker 2: I figured it was as good a place as any.
23:39
Speaker 2: So I gets him, pulled off to a side road
23:42
Speaker 2: and had a few more drinks. I spotted this little
23:43
Speaker 2: shack out there in the middle of nowhere.
23:45
Speaker 4: Exactly where was this, Henry?
23:46
Speaker 2: Right in Surya's, maybe two miles north of Bakersfield. We
23:50
Speaker 2: got to the shack, finished the wine, went to sleep.
23:52
Speaker 2: Both of you? Mm-hmm. And that's where the funny part
23:55
Speaker 2: comes in. I guess I killed Davis, all right. But
23:59
Speaker 2: I didn't mean it. Oh, brother, get a whiff of that, huh?
24:06
Speaker 2: Why do these monks have to mop up while people
24:08
Speaker 2: are eating?
24:10
Speaker 4: They'll be through in a minute, Henry. Fine.
24:13
Speaker 6: How'd you mean, Henry, you didn't mean to kill him?
24:16
Speaker 2: You already told us you had the idea. Well, sure
24:18
Speaker 2: I had the idea. Let me explain, huh? We both
24:21
Speaker 2: went to sleep in this shack, Davis and me. Guess
24:23
Speaker 2: it must have been, oh, about nine o'clock at night.
24:25
Speaker 2: I don't know what it was. Maybe the wine, I guess,
24:27
Speaker 2: but I started having nightmares. Yeah, now maybe this part
24:30
Speaker 2: sounds like a story, but it's the truth. I had
24:33
Speaker 2: all these dreams. I woke up, but they're still there.
24:37
Speaker 4: What was that?
24:37
Speaker 2: Faces. Faces. That's all I could see. It was full
24:40
Speaker 2: of faces. I guess I was really still asleep.
24:43
Speaker 4: Yeah, go ahead.
24:44
Speaker 2: Oh, I picked up a two-by-four and started swinging at them.
24:47
Speaker 2: They're faces. Funny thing, too. I knew every one of
24:50
Speaker 2: these faces. How do you mean? People I killed. There
24:54
Speaker 2: were only a dozen of them, really, but it seemed
24:55
Speaker 2: like there were a hundred of them all around in
24:56
Speaker 2: the air. Well, I grabbed that two-by-four, and I started swinging.
24:59
Speaker 2: I was cold and sweating all at the same time,
25:01
Speaker 2: and I kept on swinging. And I saw Davis's face,
25:05
Speaker 2: and I swung hard and kept swinging. Didn't he make
25:08
Speaker 2: a sound? His eyes closed. Kept on swinging at his head. Well,
25:12
Speaker 2: when I come to, there he was, lying on the floor.
25:16
Speaker 2: Seemed to take those other faces away. They didn't bother
25:17
Speaker 2: me after I killed Davis.
25:18
Speaker 4: What'd you do with him, Henry?
25:20
Speaker 2: Oh, pulled him outside the shack, dug a hole, and
25:21
Speaker 2: buried him. Burned his clothes, took his car and money
25:24
Speaker 2: and drove off. I'll show you if you like where
25:25
Speaker 2: I buried him, I mean. How about these other men, Ross?
25:28
Speaker 2: These faces you saw.
25:29
Speaker 4: Hmm?
25:30
Speaker 2: Oh. Hey, uh, when do I get a little more coffee?
25:33
Speaker 6: Huh?
25:34
Speaker 2: It's all gone. I'll get it. You don't?
25:35
Speaker 4: No, no thanks.
25:38
Speaker 5: What about it, Ross?
25:38
Speaker 2: The other men? Well, I don't recall them too well.
25:40
Speaker 2: It's what you said in the office. Ten or twelve
25:42
Speaker 2: of them.
25:42
Speaker 1: A couple in Sacramento, the others down through the valley.
25:44
Speaker 1: Like I say, there was no big reason for killing them.
25:46
Speaker 2: It just happened that way. What'd you do with them,
25:48
Speaker 2: you remember? Generally, yeah. There's one of them that stands out.
25:52
Speaker 2: Grabbed by the name of Slattery, some kind of salesman.
25:53
Speaker 2: A real crybaby.
25:54
Speaker 4: Where'd this happen?
25:55
Speaker 2: Oh, he picked me up in his car outside of Chowchilla.
25:58
Speaker 2: It was nighttime. He must have been feeling pretty good.
26:02
Speaker 2: I made him stop on a side road. I hit
26:03
Speaker 2: him with a piece of angle iron. He cried like
26:04
Speaker 2: a baby. Buried him in a field, I guess. One
26:08
Speaker 2: of the faces that I saw. That's funny, huh? It
26:10
Speaker 2: shows you how psychology works, huh?
26:12
Speaker 4: Yeah, what'd you do with his car, Slattery's, I mean?
26:14
Speaker 2: Drove it down to Mexico and sold it there. I
26:17
Speaker 2: guess that's what I should have done with Davis' gun.
26:19
Speaker 6: Oh, here you go.
26:19
Speaker 2: Oh, thanks. Thanks.
26:21
Speaker 4: These killings of yours, you got any more you want
26:23
Speaker 4: to tell us about?
26:24
Speaker 2: I told you already. Ten or twelve of them. Pretty
26:28
Speaker 2: much the same. When was the first one? Oh, maybe
26:30
Speaker 2: 18 months, two years ago. The first one wasn't any
26:35
Speaker 2: harder than the last. It's just like I was telling
26:36
Speaker 2: you before. Yeah. Everybody builds up murder. It's supposed to
26:39
Speaker 2: be a big thing, hard to do, all those phony stories.
26:42
Speaker 2: I'd just hit a guy a couple of times or something.
26:44
Speaker 2: That'd be it, a real small thing. Didn't change me any.
26:46
Speaker 2: That's why I say it's all built up.
26:48
Speaker 6: You ever been treated for any mental sickness, Ralph?
26:52
Speaker 1: No, why?
26:53
Speaker 4: You ever been examined by a psychiatrist?
26:54
Speaker 2: No.
26:55
Speaker 4: After you killed these men, did it bother you at all?
26:58
Speaker 2: No, just that one dream. Time was with Davis. Thanks, buddy.
27:08
Speaker 2: Sure good meal, Sergeant.
27:09
Speaker 4: Thanks.
27:09
Speaker 2: Yeah, okay. You ready, Ben? Let's go. We go back upstairs, huh? Yeah.
27:16
Speaker 4: You want to give us a statement?
27:18
Speaker 2: All right. I had an idea you'd find me. I
27:22
Speaker 2: guess I always knew that you'd find me. Well, let's go, Henry.
27:28
Speaker 2: Guess I proved my point anyway, huh? It's all build-up. Huh? Murder.
27:32
Speaker 2: Killing somebody. Those phony stories. It's all build-up. It's cheap.
27:36
Speaker 4: No, you got it wrong, Henry. Huh?
27:38
Speaker 2: Wait till they read you the bill. The story you
27:44
Speaker 2: have just heard was true. Only the names were changed
27:50
Speaker 2: to protect the innocent.
27:52
Speaker 1: On January 7th, trial was held in Superior Court, Department 86,
27:56
Speaker 1: City and County of Los Angeles, State of California.
27:58
Speaker 2: In a moment, the results of that trial. Now, here
28:01
Speaker 2: is our star, Jack Webb.
28:03
Speaker 4: Thank you.
28:04
Speaker 5: Friends, the makers of Fatima have done everything possible to
28:06
Speaker 5: produce the kind of cigarette you want, just as we
28:09
Speaker 5: on Dragnet try to bring you the kind of entertainment
28:11
Speaker 5: you want. In my honest opinion, Fatima is the best
28:15
Speaker 5: of all long cigarettes. But frankly, my opinion doesn't count because.
28:19
Speaker 4: Fatimas must please you. That's why I suggest you buy
28:23
Speaker 4: a pack of Fatimas tomorrow, so.
28:24
Speaker 5: You can prove to yourself that Fatimas are extra mild,
28:28
Speaker 5: with a rich, better flavor and aroma. You'll find Fatima
28:31
Speaker 5: now costs the same as.
28:33
Speaker 7: Other long cigarettes.
28:34
Speaker 5: And I'm convinced that you'll discover what I did. In Fatima,
28:37
Speaker 5: the difference is quality.
28:47
Speaker 1: Henry Ellsworth Ross was tried and found guilty on two
28:50
Speaker 1: counts of murder in the first degree and received.
28:52
Speaker 2: The death sentence.
28:54
Speaker 1: While he indicated that he had murdered the other ten men,
28:56
Speaker 1: he refused to give any further information regarding the killings
28:59
Speaker 1: or what he had done with the bodies. Ross was
29:02
Speaker 1: executed in the lethal gas chamber at the State Penitentiary,
29:04
Speaker 1: San Quentin, California. You have just heard Dragnet, a series
29:13
Speaker 1: of authentic cases from official files. Technical advice comes from
29:17
Speaker 1: the Office of Chief of Police, W.H. Parker, Los Angeles
29:20
Speaker 1: Police Department. Fatima cigarettes, best of all long cigarettes, has
29:27
Speaker 1: brought your Dragnet portions transcribed from Los Angeles.
29:32
Speaker 4: Now more excitement with Counterspy on NBC.
29:41
Speaker 1: This concludes our visit with Dragnet, episode 87, Big Cast.
29:45
Speaker 1: Follow Dragnet for more classic broadcasts.