Latest / The Great Detectives Present Dragnet (Old Time Radio) / Dragnet: The Big Sour (EP4854)
Transcript
- 0:28Speaker 1: Welcome to the great Detectives of Old Time Radio from Boise, Idaho.
- 0:35Speaker 1: This is your host, Adam Graham. In a moment, we
- 0:39Speaker 1: are going to bring you this week's episode of Dragnat,
- 0:43Speaker 1: But first I want to encourage you. If you're enjoying
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- 1:02Speaker 1: peelbox one five nine one three. That's peelbox one five
- 1:06Speaker 1: nine thirteen, Boise, Idaho eight three seven one five, or
- 1:12Speaker 1: become one of our ongoing Patreon supporters for as little
- 1:16Speaker 1: as two dollars per month. But now, from September twentieth,
- 1:20Speaker 1: nineteen fifty one, here is the big.
- 1:24Speaker 2: Sour ladies and gentlemen, Dragnet has a very important announcement
- 1:29Speaker 2: for all of you at the close of tonight's program.
- 1:40Speaker 3: The story you were about to hear is true. The
- 1:43Speaker 3: names have been changed to protect the innocent. You're a
- 1:55Speaker 3: detective sergeant. You're assigned a robbery detail. Two armed ben
- 2:00Speaker 3: It's invade the home of an elderly couple in your city.
- 2:03Speaker 3: The aging husband is tortured unmercifully before he reveals the
- 2:06Speaker 3: hiding place of his valuables. The two thieves make good
- 2:09Speaker 3: their escape. Your job, get them now. Dragnet the document
- 2:24Speaker 3: a drama of an actual crime. For the next thirty minutes,
- 2:27Speaker 3: in cooperation with the Los Angeles Police Department, you will
- 2:31Speaker 3: travel step by step on the side of the law
- 2:33Speaker 3: through an actual case transcribed from official police files. From
- 2:37Speaker 3: beginning to end, from crime to punishment, Dragnet is the
- 2:41Speaker 3: story of your police force in action.
- 2:48Speaker 2: Was Saturday, October three, was hot in Los Angeles. We
- 2:51Speaker 2: were working the day Watch Out of Robbery detail. My
- 2:54Speaker 2: partner's Ben Romero. The boss is Harry Didyon, Captain of robbery.
- 2:57Speaker 2: My name is Friday. Was eleven thirty eight pm when
- 3:00Speaker 2: I got to Georgia Street, Receiving Hospital Room five, Treatment room. Joe, Right,
- 3:06Speaker 2: how's it going, man?
- 3:07Speaker 4: You're not going to be able to talk to him
- 3:09Speaker 4: anymore to night? Doctor said, maybe late tomorrow morning. How's
- 3:11Speaker 4: the old man making out? It's resting a lot better.
- 3:14Speaker 4: Doctor gave him a sedative. Old fellow, sure had a
- 3:16Speaker 4: rough time. Well, how about since I've been gone to
- 3:18Speaker 4: tell you anything else? No, just kept repeating the same thing.
- 3:21Speaker 4: Two guys forced their way into his house, beat his wife,
- 3:24Speaker 4: tortured him, took all the jewelry. That's about it.
- 3:26Speaker 2: Yeah, well, I put in a call of the office.
- 3:28Speaker 2: I got a broadcast out of the information that we have.
- 3:30Speaker 2: There's not much to go on.
- 3:31Speaker 4: We should be able to pick up a little something
- 3:32Speaker 4: more tomorrow. Doc said, it's been a long time since
- 3:35Speaker 4: he's seen anything like this where they worked old man over.
- 3:38Speaker 4: What they do to the fella's hands anyway, the doctor
- 3:40Speaker 4: able to tell. He thinks they used a hatpin on him,
- 3:42Speaker 4: something like that. It's sharp and thin, at least a
- 3:45Speaker 4: dozen wounds in both hands. He's pretty badly burned. Too
- 3:50Speaker 4: hard to imagine somebody that cold blooding seventy one year
- 3:53Speaker 4: old man sols of his feet a massive burns. Wonder
- 3:56Speaker 4: his heart stood up through the beating I gave him.
- 3:57Speaker 2: Was he got a weak heart?
- 3:58Speaker 5: He's had a little trouble.
- 3:59Speaker 4: Yeah, terrific shock going through something like this, it is, eh, so.
- 4:03Speaker 2: Maybe we better check back at their house. Huh see
- 4:05Speaker 2: how the old fella's wife is doing it?
- 4:07Speaker 4: Yeah, right, how's it shape up for you?
- 4:11Speaker 2: Well, there's not an awful lot to go on. Yet
- 4:14Speaker 2: it wasn't a shot in the dark. I think we
- 4:15Speaker 2: can count on that whoever the thieves were, they had
- 4:17Speaker 2: some kind of an inside tip. The old man and
- 4:20Speaker 2: his wife. Only they don't put up much of an appearance.
- 4:22Speaker 2: You wouldn't be have to figure that they had three
- 4:24Speaker 2: or four thousand and jewelry put away at home, would you.
- 4:26Speaker 4: Maybe his wife might have some ideas joys a lovely shame. Yeah, yeah,
- 4:32Speaker 4: you might have to understand it. They just held him up.
- 4:34Speaker 4: But working them over the way they did, there was
- 4:36Speaker 4: no sense to it at all. I ring to show
- 4:38Speaker 4: off what a couple of rough bums they are. Maybe
- 4:40Speaker 4: that's it them.
- 4:40Speaker 2: Let's do them a favorite, Let's show them what it costs.
- 4:45Speaker 2: Ben and I got in the car and drove back
- 4:47Speaker 2: to the Westlake Park area to the home of the
- 4:49Speaker 2: robbery victims, seventy one year old Wendell mclung and his wife,
- 4:52Speaker 2: Katherine McClung. Was a one story wooden frame building gray
- 4:55Speaker 2: shingled a typical modest four room bungalow. The men from
- 4:59Speaker 2: UNIP thirty one, who had answered the robbery call were
- 5:01Speaker 2: still there, standing by another pair of men from robbery detail.
- 5:05Speaker 2: Powers and Gonzales were checking the neighborhood for possible leads
- 5:08Speaker 2: on the suspects. Inside the house, Ben and I found
- 5:12Speaker 2: Missus McClung propped up in an easy chair in the
- 5:14Speaker 2: living room. She was a small, chubby woman, gray haired,
- 5:17Speaker 2: looked to be in her fifties. We assured her husband's
- 5:20Speaker 2: condition wasn't critical. Outside of a small bruise on her
- 5:23Speaker 2: forehead in a case of nervous upset, she seemed to
- 5:26Speaker 2: be all right. In recouting the story of the hold up,
- 5:28Speaker 2: Missus mclung told us the two bandits rang the front
- 5:31Speaker 2: doorbell and forced their way into the house at gunpoint,
- 5:33Speaker 2: shortly before eight o'clock that night.
- 5:35Speaker 4: How about the color of their hair, ma'am? They're weighting hight.
- 5:38Speaker 6: No, I hardly saw a thing just that one. Look
- 5:42Speaker 6: at them when they first pushed the way in.
- 5:44Speaker 4: Why was that day blindfold you? Yes, they might just
- 5:48Speaker 4: as well.
- 5:48Speaker 5: Have you see?
- 5:49Speaker 6: When they started to hit window my husband window, knock
- 5:54Speaker 6: him down. I went after them, and one of them
- 5:56Speaker 6: slapped me right across my face and knocked my glasses off.
- 5:59Speaker 2: See.
- 6:00Speaker 6: I reached out to find them, but before I did,
- 6:02Speaker 6: I guess one of those gangsters stepped on them thirty
- 6:05Speaker 6: five dollar glasses, broke both of the lenses, just ruling frames.
- 6:09Speaker 4: Look at that.
- 6:10Speaker 6: Of course, I can't see a thing without them. That's
- 6:13Speaker 6: why I say it might as well have been blindfolded.
- 6:15Speaker 4: And you didn't have a chance to notice what kind
- 6:17Speaker 4: of clothes they had on, what they looked like at all.
- 6:20Speaker 6: They weren't shabby, I know that, pretty well dressed. If
- 6:23Speaker 6: memory serves both out them in dark suits. Well, only
- 6:27Speaker 6: they wouldn't have broken my glasses.
- 6:29Speaker 2: How about their voices? Ms McClay, anything unusual about the
- 6:31Speaker 2: way they talked, anything that they might have said.
- 6:35Speaker 6: No, I was just thinking one's name was Sam. I
- 6:39Speaker 6: remember that. The other one had sort of an accent
- 6:42Speaker 6: of some kind, maybe from the Midwest or maybe Texas,
- 6:46Speaker 6: one of those funny people.
- 6:48Speaker 4: Funny people, how do you mean, man.
- 6:50Speaker 6: Well, you know, something like a cowboy or a farmer,
- 6:54Speaker 6: that funny kind of top. I guess I really should
- 6:59Speaker 6: be inside fixing you men a cup of tea.
- 7:02Speaker 7: Maybe if you just.
- 7:03Speaker 4: Help me up, that's all right, ma'am.
- 7:04Speaker 2: You just sit there.
- 7:05Speaker 6: When my sister Dolly gets here, it shouldn't be too long.
- 7:08Speaker 6: I'll have her fix something.
- 7:09Speaker 2: There's no need to bother man. We'd like to have
- 7:11Speaker 2: you tell us this if he can. Did your husband
- 7:13Speaker 2: do anything at all to provoke the two men? I mean,
- 7:14Speaker 2: did he call out for help or try to get
- 7:16Speaker 2: to a phone, anything like that.
- 7:17Speaker 6: And it was the jewelry we had, Wendell and I
- 7:20Speaker 6: just those fute pieces. The two men seemed in all
- 7:23Speaker 6: about it, just as if they had a.
- 7:24Speaker 4: List of the thing.
- 7:26Speaker 6: Yes, when they first came in, they took my engagement
- 7:29Speaker 6: ring and old broach that belonged to my mother I
- 7:32Speaker 6: was wearing. Then they got Wendell in that chair over
- 7:35Speaker 6: there and tried to make him tell where all other
- 7:38Speaker 6: things were.
- 7:39Speaker 2: Well, now it's a pretty common knowledge around the neighborhood
- 7:41Speaker 2: here that you and your husband own expensive jewelry.
- 7:43Speaker 4: Man, No, I.
- 7:44Speaker 6: Don't think so. What the men seemed most interested in
- 7:48Speaker 6: was Wendell's ring, his diamond signet ring is a beautiful
- 7:52Speaker 6: thing for carrot N's ma'am.
- 7:53Speaker 2: We got a description on that. That was when they
- 7:55Speaker 2: tried to force your husband to tell him where it
- 7:57Speaker 2: was hidden. Is that right?
- 7:58Speaker 6: I never thought anybody'd be that cruel officer, downright cruel.
- 8:03Speaker 6: They burned his hands in his feet, kept hitting him
- 8:07Speaker 6: in the face with their fists.
- 8:09Speaker 5: It's just terrible, poor window.
- 8:13Speaker 6: They finally had to tell them they went and found
- 8:16Speaker 6: the things, and then they came back in here and
- 8:18Speaker 6: ripped out the phone, warned us not to move, and
- 8:22Speaker 6: then they left. I just broke down and cried officer
- 8:27Speaker 6: to see poor Windle there the way they abused him.
- 8:30Speaker 5: Yes, we understand, you're sure he's going to be all right.
- 8:34Speaker 4: What did the doctors?
- 8:34Speaker 2: Boy? He said, there's no danger. Man, Mister McClung's resting comfortably.
- 8:37Speaker 5: Now, well that must be my sister.
- 8:39Speaker 2: Stay right here with miss mclun ben. I'll get that.
- 8:41Speaker 2: Yeah right, Joe, Hi, Jess, you and power is doing good.
- 8:48Speaker 8: I've been checking through the neighborhood, three four blocks around,
- 8:51Speaker 8: not an awful lot. A lot of people know the McClung's,
- 8:54Speaker 8: few of them know about their having jewelry. Saw anything
- 8:57Speaker 8: unusual going on to night, but.
- 8:58Speaker 2: Thieves used the car we know that. Didn't anybody at
- 9:00Speaker 2: all spotted.
- 9:00Speaker 4: I'm not sure, but there's one possibility.
- 9:03Speaker 8: As some of the neighbors said, a young kid was
- 9:04Speaker 8: peddling magazines down this block tonight just about the same
- 9:07Speaker 8: time as a robbery.
- 9:08Speaker 2: He might have spotted it just fine. Where's the boy?
- 9:10Speaker 2: Where's he lived?
- 9:11Speaker 8: That's what we asked the neighbors. Yeah, nobody knows.
- 9:16Speaker 2: A supplementary broadcast and an APB was gotten out containing
- 9:19Speaker 2: what description we had on the two hold up men,
- 9:22Speaker 2: plus descriptions of each article of jewelry taken from mister
- 9:25Speaker 2: and missus McClung. The following morning, along with Jess Gonzalez
- 9:29Speaker 2: and Johnny Powers, we continued canvassing the immediate neighborhood of
- 9:33Speaker 2: the hold up. The only thing we got was a
- 9:35Speaker 2: fair description of the boy who had been selling magazines
- 9:38Speaker 2: the night before in the vicinity of the McClung house,
- 9:41Speaker 2: and also the names of the magazines he was peddling.
- 9:44Speaker 2: Monday morning, nine am, we got in touch with the
- 9:46Speaker 2: local distributor for the publications, got a list of five
- 9:49Speaker 2: boys who sold for them in that general area, and
- 9:52Speaker 2: started checking them out. Third on the list was a
- 9:55Speaker 2: Bill Newsom, a sophomore student at a nearby parochial high school.
- 9:59Speaker 2: He lived a half a dozen blocks from the mclonalds.
- 10:01Speaker 2: We checked at his house, but his mother told us
- 10:03Speaker 2: he wasn't at home.
- 10:05Speaker 5: I'm sure Billy, won't be long. Thank you right in here?
- 10:09Speaker 6: Go ahead, thank you, sit down, won't you?
- 10:14Speaker 2: Thank you very much?
- 10:16Speaker 9: It must be him now, Billy in here, Yama, come
- 10:20Speaker 9: in here, Bill. Two police officers to see you.
- 10:23Speaker 4: Bill.
- 10:24Speaker 6: This is Sergeant Friday and Sergeant Rome. Now my son, Bill,
- 10:27Speaker 6: would you excuse me, I'm going to have to start
- 10:29Speaker 6: fixing dinner.
- 10:29Speaker 9: You go right ahead and have your talk with Bill.
- 10:31Speaker 9: I'll be out in the.
- 10:31Speaker 4: Kitchen all right, ma'am.
- 10:32Speaker 2: Thank you very much.
- 10:33Speaker 6: You speak right up now.
- 10:34Speaker 10: Bill, try and help the officers already. Can How can
- 10:37Speaker 10: I help you?
- 10:38Speaker 5: What's it all about?
- 10:38Speaker 4: We understand you have a magazine rout the neighborhood. Billy,
- 10:41Speaker 4: your mother tells us you were up selling this last
- 10:43Speaker 4: Saturday night.
- 10:44Speaker 10: Yes, sir, that's right. Thursdays and Saturday. Is there my
- 10:46Speaker 10: regular nights. I don't really sell though, how do you mean, son? Well,
- 10:50Speaker 10: you see, I line up all my customers ahead of time.
- 10:52Speaker 10: I got a regular list of people who buy from
- 10:54Speaker 10: me every week. I don't do any door to door
- 10:56Speaker 10: selling out. Well, he's not much good.
- 10:57Speaker 2: And I see if you have a regular customer on
- 10:59Speaker 2: your list with the name of McClung. Bill it's mc
- 11:02Speaker 2: clio engine.
- 11:03Speaker 5: Yeah, mister McClung.
- 11:04Speaker 10: Once a month he takes a gardening magazine comes out
- 11:07Speaker 10: the last week and every month.
- 11:08Speaker 2: Were you over near the mclung's place Saturday night? You remember? Yeah?
- 11:11Speaker 5: I was.
- 11:12Speaker 10: I went right by it. I've got customers all along
- 11:14Speaker 10: that block there, say, this wouldn't be about that robbery.
- 11:18Speaker 4: I've tried, Bill and you heard about it.
- 11:19Speaker 10: After church Sunday. A couple of kids would go to
- 11:22Speaker 10: the same school I do. They deliver right around the McClung's.
- 11:25Speaker 10: They heard about it.
- 11:26Speaker 4: What time was it when you went by their Saturday night?
- 11:28Speaker 4: You remember? Oh, about a.
- 11:30Speaker 10: Couple of months after nine, I guess maybe a quarter after.
- 11:34Speaker 10: When I heard about the robbery on Sunday, I thought
- 11:36Speaker 10: maybe I ought to tell somebody about it. I wasn't
- 11:38Speaker 10: sure about it, you know, I didn't want to be
- 11:40Speaker 10: a test.
- 11:40Speaker 2: What do you mean, so you weren't sure about what this?
- 11:43Speaker 4: Dark?
- 11:43Speaker 10: Lucy Dan, I saw a parked on the street there,
- 11:46Speaker 10: just a couple of houses down from the mclung's place.
- 11:48Speaker 10: The reason I even noticed it was because it was
- 11:50Speaker 10: a new car, almost to bring a new car. But
- 11:53Speaker 10: it looked like the license plates on it were kind
- 11:54Speaker 10: of old.
- 11:55Speaker 2: What else?
- 11:56Speaker 10: Well, I delivered some magazines to missus Brewbaker, and I
- 12:00Speaker 10: got my money for him, and then coming down the stairs,
- 12:03Speaker 10: I saw these two men. I'm not sure they came
- 12:05Speaker 10: out of mister mccleomb's house. It's dark, you know, but
- 12:08Speaker 10: I thought that's where they came from. Anyway, they went
- 12:11Speaker 10: down the street and got in the car and took off.
- 12:13Speaker 10: Seemed to be in a hurry.
- 12:14Speaker 4: Well, what did the two men look like?
- 12:15Speaker 2: Bill?
- 12:15Speaker 4: Did you have any idea?
- 12:17Speaker 10: No, I didn't see him too well, it wasn't too
- 12:19Speaker 10: close to him. I was about from all here and
- 12:23Speaker 10: across the street from him.
- 12:25Speaker 4: How about their clothes you noticed in them and doll?
- 12:27Speaker 10: Yeah, they had suits on, dark suits, I know that.
- 12:29Speaker 2: How would you describe their builts on? Medium? Tall, fat, skinny?
- 12:33Speaker 2: What would you say?
- 12:34Speaker 10: Well, I think i'd say medium, Yeah, both a medium.
- 12:37Speaker 2: Now about that car built? You said it was a
- 12:39Speaker 2: dark Bluesiday and new model and the license plates looked
- 12:42Speaker 2: kind of old. Is that right?
- 12:42Speaker 10: Yeah, that's right. That's how I first noticed it, parked
- 12:45Speaker 10: down by the restaurant. Was that about seven p fifteen
- 12:49Speaker 10: when I started my route down on South Benson. I
- 12:53Speaker 10: saw the same car parked outside the restaurant down there.
- 12:56Speaker 10: Forget the name of the place now, it just opened
- 12:58Speaker 10: about a month ago.
- 12:59Speaker 4: Sure it was the same.
- 13:00Speaker 10: Oh yeah, yeah, I'm pretty sure. That's why I noticed
- 13:03Speaker 10: it again when I shot up by mclung's place. So
- 13:05Speaker 10: it looked kind of terrible, brand new car like that,
- 13:08Speaker 10: but old license plates.
- 13:09Speaker 2: By any chance, Son, do you remember the licensed number
- 13:11Speaker 2: on those plates?
- 13:13Speaker 10: No, sir, I didn't notice it at all. I'll tell
- 13:16Speaker 10: you what, Tom, Yeah, if I see that car again,
- 13:18Speaker 10: I'll be sure and get the number for you.
- 13:25Speaker 2: Before we left the home of sixteen year old Bill Newsom,
- 13:28Speaker 2: we got a complete description of the car, which he'd
- 13:30Speaker 2: seen part near the McClung's home on the night of
- 13:32Speaker 2: the robbery. He told us it was a nineteen fifty
- 13:34Speaker 2: Hudson four door Sedan, dark blue, white sidewall tires. We
- 13:39Speaker 2: relayed the information downtown to robbery detail. After we left
- 13:43Speaker 2: the boy's house, we drove to the vicinity of the
- 13:45Speaker 2: restaurant on South Benson, where the Newsom boy had first
- 13:48Speaker 2: spotted the Hudson Sedan. After making the rounds of several
- 13:51Speaker 2: bars and coffee counters in the area. We started checking
- 13:54Speaker 2: at the restaurant. It was newly opened, just as the
- 13:57Speaker 2: boy had described it, full of glass, brick and fancy
- 13:59Speaker 2: mind in stonework. The main bar was situated just off
- 14:03Speaker 2: the lobby set apart from the main dining room. We
- 14:05Speaker 2: interviewed the head bartender and he thought he remembered serving
- 14:08Speaker 2: two customers. Answering the general description of the hold up
- 14:11Speaker 2: man on the previous Saturday night.
- 14:14Speaker 5: A bad looking pair. They're in a little early, around
- 14:17Speaker 5: seven fifteen, seven thirty. They seem to be all right.
- 14:19Speaker 4: Do you remember what they looked like at all?
- 14:21Speaker 5: No, I didn't notice them that much, Officer.
- 14:23Speaker 4: Can you give it some general idea or on the young.
- 14:26Speaker 5: Side, I guess not more than twenty eight point thirty
- 14:29Speaker 5: one of them talk like a Midwestern or any think
- 14:31Speaker 5: you know, maybe Arkansas, Texas, someplace like that, because.
- 14:34Speaker 2: You give us any idea what they were wearing, which
- 14:35Speaker 2: you remember.
- 14:36Speaker 5: That had the suits on dark suits, one had on
- 14:38Speaker 5: a gray at And that's about all I remember. The
- 14:41Speaker 5: reason I can place him at all is because Saturday
- 14:43Speaker 5: was a pretty slow night at the bar. It's a
- 14:45Speaker 5: new place here, you know. It takes a little time
- 14:46Speaker 5: to culivate the trade.
- 14:48Speaker 2: Well, did these two men stop for dinner here? Do
- 14:49Speaker 2: you remember that?
- 14:50Speaker 11: No?
- 14:50Speaker 5: No, they sat right here at the bar and had
- 14:52Speaker 5: a couple of beers and then they left. No dinner.
- 14:54Speaker 4: Did you went on them?
- 14:55Speaker 5: Yes, yes, sir, I did. I served them, bought a
- 14:57Speaker 5: bottle of beer, imported the Dutch beer.
- 15:00Speaker 2: A bit of that imported beer, do you no?
- 15:01Speaker 5: Not here? No, it's mostly cocktails for these two colors,
- 15:05Speaker 5: the only ones I remember asking for it?
- 15:06Speaker 2: Or do you remember if the two men handled the
- 15:08Speaker 2: beer bottles at all?
- 15:09Speaker 5: They handled them?
- 15:10Speaker 2: Well, I mean, did you quarter?
- 15:13Speaker 5: I filled up the glasses and set the bottle down.
- 15:15Speaker 5: I guess they did handle them. They emptied the bottle.
- 15:18Speaker 5: They almost have to, wouldn't they.
- 15:19Speaker 4: Would you still have those two bottles on the hand?
- 15:22Speaker 5: Let's see todays and yeah, I guess they would. They
- 15:25Speaker 5: don't pick up the empty store something around the middle.
- 15:27Speaker 2: Of the week. We'd like to take a look at them,
- 15:28Speaker 2: if you don't mind for sure thing.
- 15:29Speaker 5: You guys just want to follow me down the bargets
- 15:31Speaker 5: in the store.
- 15:31Speaker 2: I'm just back, all right, let's go.
- 15:36Speaker 5: Right back.
- 15:37Speaker 2: You're also fine.
- 15:40Speaker 5: Let's see yeah, yeah, the right of them here there,
- 15:45Speaker 5: you go holland labeled only ones in the whole case
- 15:48Speaker 5: the same to I serve those fellows. Yeah, what do
- 15:50Speaker 5: you think fingerprints?
- 15:51Speaker 4: Maybe?
- 15:52Speaker 5: And as soon as you get the fingerprints, you can
- 15:54Speaker 5: pick them up, can't you.
- 15:55Speaker 4: Yeah? When we find the men they blow them to.
- 16:00Speaker 2: Monday six pm, we call Layton Fingerprints and they came
- 16:03Speaker 2: out to check the evidence. First, they obtained a set
- 16:06Speaker 2: of the bartender's fingerprints to serve as a basis for comparison.
- 16:09Speaker 2: Then they dust at each of the empty beer bottles carefully.
- 16:13Speaker 2: After the various sets of prints were lifted off the bottles,
- 16:15Speaker 2: the men went back to the office to run the
- 16:17Speaker 2: sets through, classify their findings, and then turn them over
- 16:20Speaker 2: to R and I for further checking. While they worked
- 16:23Speaker 2: on it, Ben and I ducked out and had a
- 16:25Speaker 2: sandwich and a bowl of soup for dinner. Seven twenty
- 16:28Speaker 2: five pm we got back to the city Hall.
- 16:33Speaker 4: I sure I am getting tired of the kind of
- 16:35Speaker 4: food that guy serves, Joe. It seems to get worse
- 16:37Speaker 4: every time of going there.
- 16:38Speaker 2: Wasn't very good, was it.
- 16:39Speaker 4: I'm willing to bet I know his formula for the
- 16:41Speaker 4: soup two gallons of hot water and one booyon cube. Well,
- 16:45Speaker 4: I've gone and done it before. I may still do
- 16:47Speaker 4: it again, but that bring my dinner from home in
- 16:49Speaker 4: a paper sack pack A thermost full of hot coffee
- 16:52Speaker 4: be a better deal than a cross the street.
- 16:53Speaker 2: I know about that. You remember the last time you
- 16:55Speaker 2: had your wife fix you up a thermist full of coffee?
- 16:57Speaker 5: Yeah?
- 16:57Speaker 2: I almost forgot.
- 16:59Speaker 4: Wasn't any betterness to to across the street? Hi?
- 17:02Speaker 7: Where are you two?
- 17:03Speaker 11: Bent?
- 17:03Speaker 12: Hi?
- 17:04Speaker 4: Jess getting sempty latent?
- 17:05Speaker 8: Prince called just a minute ago, told him I'd give
- 17:08Speaker 8: you the message.
- 17:08Speaker 2: What's that?
- 17:09Speaker 8: Well, the Prince. They lifted off those beer bottles, checked
- 17:11Speaker 8: them through the record bureau.
- 17:12Speaker 5: Yeah, found two sets.
- 17:14Speaker 12: They made both of them.
- 17:33Speaker 2: October fifth, Saturday, seven pm. The two sets of fingerprints
- 17:38Speaker 2: which had been lifted from the empty beer bottles were
- 17:40Speaker 2: checked through R and I and identified as those belonging
- 17:43Speaker 2: to two known criminals. The first was Henry Vincent Moss WMA,
- 17:47Speaker 2: twenty nine years old. He'd served two terms in the
- 17:51Speaker 2: county jail for burglary and grand theft auto and one
- 17:54Speaker 2: term in San Quentin for robbery. The second was Ernest
- 17:58Speaker 2: Robert Windsor WMA, eight eight years old. His home was
- 18:02Speaker 2: listed as Little Rock, Arkansas, where he'd twice been convicted
- 18:05Speaker 2: on charges of first degree burglary and served time at
- 18:08Speaker 2: the Arkansas State Penitentiary. We pulled the packages on both
- 18:11Speaker 2: of them. Men checked the last known addresses but failed
- 18:14Speaker 2: to locate either of them. To double check their identification,
- 18:18Speaker 2: we showed mugshots of Windsor and Moss to the robbery
- 18:21Speaker 2: and torture victims, mister and Missus McClung. They gave positive
- 18:24Speaker 2: identification of both men, so did the bartender at the
- 18:27Speaker 2: restaurant where they'd stopped for the beer. We got out
- 18:30Speaker 2: a broadcast and an all points bulletin on them. Immediately,
- 18:33Speaker 2: we began the routine leg work, checking with all the friends, relatives,
- 18:37Speaker 2: and associates who were listed on the Mama sheet and
- 18:39Speaker 2: each suspects package. As usual, it was a long, monotonous hall.
- 18:44Speaker 2: One of the persons listed as fairly close to Ernest
- 18:46Speaker 2: Windsor was an ad of his, a Missus Marie Ralph,
- 18:49Speaker 2: whom we located at her home in the Echo Park district.
- 18:53Speaker 9: No, I haven't seen Ernest in almost a year, Sergeant.
- 18:55Speaker 9: What is it you want him for?
- 18:56Speaker 4: I'd like to talk to you about a few minutes,
- 18:58Speaker 4: missus Roff, you don't mind.
- 18:59Speaker 9: I don't know how I can help you. You can
- 19:01Speaker 9: come in for a minute if you want. I've got
- 19:02Speaker 9: to go out and do some errands pretty soon though,
- 19:04Speaker 9: all right, ma'am, right in here, sit down if you want.
- 19:08Speaker 2: Thank you very early.
- 19:10Speaker 9: Let's got finished taking care of my little children here,
- 19:12Speaker 9: giving him nice, clean.
- 19:13Speaker 4: Cages, good sayings. They all canaries, ma'am.
- 19:15Speaker 9: Oh, yes, Oskar and Ethel. That's these two here. They're
- 19:18Speaker 9: both genuine rulers. Their grand folks came from Germany. Beautiful singers,
- 19:22Speaker 9: wonderful company, Yes, sir. My others are pretty too. They're
- 19:24Speaker 9: only choppers, though, ma'am. Choppers. They're different than rulers. They
- 19:28Speaker 9: sing much louder, maybe not as nicely. But I don't
- 19:30Speaker 9: like to play favorites. I like all of them. You
- 19:33Speaker 9: have bird, Sergeant, No, ma'am you should. I think everybody
- 19:36Speaker 9: should have a canary in the house. Cheerful, you know,
- 19:39Speaker 9: wonderful company. Don't know what I do without mine.
- 19:41Speaker 2: How bout your nephew, Ernest ms Rolf. Have you any
- 19:44Speaker 2: idea at all how we could contact him?
- 19:46Speaker 9: As I say, it's been almost a year since I
- 19:47Speaker 9: last heard from him.
- 19:49Speaker 2: What would this be about, sergeant, mister routine investigation? Man,
- 19:52Speaker 2: We understand that you're quite close to your nephew, that
- 19:54Speaker 2: he lived with you for a time.
- 19:55Speaker 9: Yes, that's right, he did. When you come right down
- 19:58Speaker 9: to it, Ernie's a good boy, kept bad company. That's
- 20:00Speaker 9: what I always said, got him in trouble two three
- 20:03Speaker 9: times expo.
- 20:04Speaker 2: As you know that you live alone here in the
- 20:05Speaker 2: house to your Ms Israel, Yes that's right, sergeant, say,
- 20:08Speaker 2: I'm a widow, husband's gone a good many years now.
- 20:11Speaker 2: You don't take in borders or anyone like that.
- 20:13Speaker 9: Oh no, just me and my pet savior their company.
- 20:16Speaker 2: Enough. I wonder if you'd explain that laundry piled up
- 20:20Speaker 2: in the bed there in the next room.
- 20:21Speaker 7: Man.
- 20:21Speaker 2: Oh that the men's shirt, stockings, the underwear, they're right
- 20:24Speaker 2: there in the bed there. Well.
- 20:25Speaker 9: I usually try to keep things in better order than that.
- 20:28Speaker 9: Just some laundry I do, Sergeant, little odd jobs for
- 20:30Speaker 9: some of the bachelormen in the neighborhood. I do it
- 20:32Speaker 9: as a favor for him.
- 20:33Speaker 4: And you're sure about that, Miss Rah, Well, what do you.
- 20:38Speaker 9: Want Ernest for? Why do you have to chase after him?
- 20:40Speaker 9: All the time persecuting him.
- 20:42Speaker 4: We're not persecuting him ever.
- 20:43Speaker 9: Since he's coming from Arkansas, it's been nothing but police
- 20:45Speaker 9: chasing after him. Can't you give her any a chance?
- 20:48Speaker 9: All he wants is a chance, he told me to himself.
- 20:50Speaker 2: We checked through his record, Miss Ralph. He's had all
- 20:52Speaker 2: the chances in the world, and nobody's persecuting him.
- 20:55Speaker 9: Why are you chasing him again, hunting him down? Why
- 20:58Speaker 9: did you leave him alone for a spell? Give him
- 20:59Speaker 9: a chance to get a job, do something. Why are
- 21:02Speaker 9: you chasing him?
- 21:03Speaker 2: Well, this is a robbery charge, Mims, Ralf. He's been
- 21:05Speaker 2: positively identified. He and Henry Moss forced their way into
- 21:07Speaker 2: an old couple's home a few weeks back. They tortured
- 21:10Speaker 2: the old man and they beat him till he was unconscious.
- 21:12Speaker 2: That's what we want Ernie for.
- 21:13Speaker 9: How do you know it was Ernie?
- 21:14Speaker 4: Could have made a mistake, no mistake, ma'am. The victims
- 21:17Speaker 4: identified his picture and there wasn't a doubt in their mind.
- 21:20Speaker 9: I'm where is he sure that's the truth? You sure
- 21:23Speaker 9: it's Ernie again?
- 21:24Speaker 4: Yes, ma'am again. You can have all the proof you need.
- 21:27Speaker 9: And the last time he told me he swore on
- 21:29Speaker 9: the memory of his own mother. He swore he wouldn't
- 21:32Speaker 9: do anything wrong again. I guess I just don't know.
- 21:35Speaker 2: Ernest, where is he, ma'am? You want to tell us.
- 21:37Speaker 9: The last time? Starting, I'm sorry, Ernie's at his last time, Yes, ma'am.
- 21:42Speaker 9: He's sleeping the room over the garage. You find him there.
- 21:50Speaker 2: Ernest Windsor was apprehended and placed under arrest. His room
- 21:54Speaker 2: was searched, as well as the entire home of his aunt,
- 21:56Speaker 2: Missus Marie Ralf. We failed to find a trace of
- 21:59Speaker 2: any of the jewels restolen from mister and Missus McClung.
- 22:02Speaker 2: After we made arrangements for a stake out on the house,
- 22:04Speaker 2: Windsor was taken downtown to the interrogation room, where Jess
- 22:07Speaker 2: Gonzalez Ben and I questioned him for five hours. He
- 22:11Speaker 2: refused to tell us anything. At a special show up,
- 22:14Speaker 2: he was positively identified as one of the holdup men
- 22:16Speaker 2: by the two victims. Windsor was booked at the main
- 22:19Speaker 2: jail on suspicion of two eleven PC. The investigation went on.
- 22:24Speaker 2: Every possible lead on the other suspect, Henry Moss was
- 22:27Speaker 2: checked out. We got nowhere. It was obvious that either
- 22:30Speaker 2: Moss was in possession of all the jewelry stolen from
- 22:32Speaker 2: the mcclungs, or it had been hidden away someplace known
- 22:35Speaker 2: only to Windsor and Moss. From time to time we
- 22:38Speaker 2: had Windsor taken from his jail's cell for questioning. It
- 22:41Speaker 2: wasn't hard to tell he was bothered with the possibility
- 22:43Speaker 2: that perhaps Moss had run off with the entire loot
- 22:46Speaker 2: and was enjoying himself while Windsor spent his time in jail.
- 22:50Speaker 2: We worked hard on that particular angle while we questioned him,
- 22:53Speaker 2: but Windsor still refused to break to give us any
- 22:55Speaker 2: kind of a lead on Moss. A month passed Wednesday,
- 22:58Speaker 2: November eighth.
- 23:01Speaker 4: Sure working out into a dull routine. A full month
- 23:03Speaker 4: we got exactly what we started with.
- 23:05Speaker 2: Yeah, we're gonna only get Windsor to break it. It'd
- 23:07Speaker 2: sure do a lot toward wrapping this thing up, wouldn't it.
- 23:09Speaker 4: I don't know what he figures he's gonna game, but
- 23:10Speaker 4: keep him quiet.
- 23:11Speaker 2: Yeah.
- 23:12Speaker 4: Gonzalez and Johnny Power said they were checking out a
- 23:14Speaker 4: tip from some informant this morning. We're supposed to know
- 23:16Speaker 4: where Henry Moss is.
- 23:17Speaker 2: I wonder if they found any luck. They ought to
- 23:19Speaker 2: be back by now.
- 23:20Speaker 4: Yeah, go ahead, Hey, Jess, oh hi, how about it?
- 23:24Speaker 2: Did you do any good this morning?
- 23:25Speaker 12: Oh?
- 23:25Speaker 11: Not a bit.
- 23:26Speaker 8: Informant didn't even show up. Johnny's going to meet him
- 23:29Speaker 8: this afternoon. Doesn't look to be very much. How about you, fellas.
- 23:32Speaker 4: The same, Jess. We're going as slow as you or
- 23:34Speaker 4: I'll get it.
- 23:36Speaker 2: Robbery Friday, Yeah, George h Third and Maine. You sure right, yeah,
- 23:43Speaker 2: right away? Well maybe we got a break. What is
- 23:45Speaker 2: Henry Moss? He tried to hock a ring at a
- 23:47Speaker 2: pawn shop third and Maine about twenty minutes ago. You
- 23:49Speaker 2: make it? Well? The pawnbroker's stalled him. He didn't know
- 23:51Speaker 2: for sure that the guy was hot.
- 23:53Speaker 4: How's his stan?
- 23:53Speaker 2: Moss said he'd come back to close the deal. When
- 23:55Speaker 2: half an hour eleven fifty five am, a special detail
- 24:02Speaker 2: of men, including Gonzales and Powers, Ben and myself were
- 24:05Speaker 2: sent to cover the pawn shop near Third in Maine.
- 24:07Speaker 2: Gonzalesen Power staked out in stores adjoining the place. Ben
- 24:11Speaker 2: and I were stationed inside the pawnshop. Another team of
- 24:14Speaker 2: men covered the rear exit. We waited the suspect Henry
- 24:18Speaker 2: Moss failed to show at the appointed time. We kept
- 24:20Speaker 2: waiting one pm, one thirty no sign of him. At
- 24:24Speaker 2: one forty five pm, a young looking, dark haired man
- 24:27Speaker 2: and a neat gray suit entered the shop and approached
- 24:29Speaker 2: the manager at the rear counter. There wasn't any mistaking
- 24:32Speaker 2: him Henry Moss. He surrendered himself without even protesting. We
- 24:36Speaker 2: took him to the City Hall to the interrogation room,
- 24:38Speaker 2: where we started to question him. Meantime, Gonzalesen Powers located
- 24:42Speaker 2: the apartment where the suspect had been staying. His rooms
- 24:45Speaker 2: and personal belongings were searched and every piece of the
- 24:47Speaker 2: missing jewelry recovered. Surprisingly enough, in contrast to his partner
- 24:52Speaker 2: Ernie Windsor, Moss was cooperative, even obliging. We had a
- 24:56Speaker 2: stenographer take his full statement, and then we got ready
- 24:58Speaker 2: to move him over to the main g for booking.
- 25:01Speaker 4: Just a couple of questions before we leave, Moss, Sure,
- 25:03Speaker 4: so I didn't go ahead? We've had you in here before.
- 25:05Speaker 4: How come all the cooperation this time?
- 25:07Speaker 2: Why not?
- 25:08Speaker 13: I had it figured before time? If you got me,
- 25:10Speaker 13: you'd have everything you need on You wouldn't do much
- 25:12Speaker 13: good putting in a beef with it.
- 25:13Speaker 2: Whose idea was it to start with Moss the hold
- 25:15Speaker 2: up deal yours? Or was it Windsors both of us?
- 25:18Speaker 13: I guess I didn't want to get rough with the
- 25:20Speaker 13: old man. I mean the way Ernie did that part
- 25:22Speaker 13: I didn't like. All I wanted was a loot and
- 25:25Speaker 13: he just lost his head too bad?
- 25:27Speaker 2: All right?
- 25:27Speaker 5: You ready to go anytime?
- 25:29Speaker 2: Sergeant?
- 25:30Speaker 13: Hey, I wonder if I could ask a favorite, what's that? Well,
- 25:33Speaker 13: it's gonna get a little tough, and they're in a jail.
- 25:36Speaker 13: I wonder if we couldn't stop for a good steak
- 25:38Speaker 13: in some French fries first, huh, maybe some good restaurant
- 25:41Speaker 13: around here.
- 25:41Speaker 5: Now, it won't work, Moss, you know I wouldn't try anything.
- 25:44Speaker 4: You put your order in a long time ago, Masstin.
- 25:46Speaker 4: What do you mean when you worked over that old couple. Yeah,
- 25:49Speaker 4: that's when you ordered jail food.
- 25:58Speaker 3: The star you have just heard was rule. The names
- 26:01Speaker 3: were changed to protect the innocent.
- 26:03Speaker 11: On March's second trial was held in Superior Court, Department
- 26:06Speaker 11: eighty eight, City and County of Los Angeles, State of California.
- 26:09Speaker 11: In a moment the results of that trial, Ernest Windsor
- 26:21Speaker 11: and Henry Moss were tried and convicted on one count
- 26:23Speaker 11: of first degree robbery and one count of assault with
- 26:26Speaker 11: intent to do great bodily harm. Both men are now
- 26:29Speaker 11: serving their terms in the state penitentiary. First degree robbery
- 26:32Speaker 11: is punishable by imprisonment for no less than one nor
- 26:35Speaker 11: more than ten years.
- 26:38Speaker 3: Ladies and gentlemen, the lives of millions of ragged and
- 26:41Speaker 3: helpless Koreans depend on the unneeded clothes in your closet.
- 26:46Speaker 3: Help these men, women and children live through the winter.
- 26:49Speaker 3: Send your clean, unneeded clothing and shoes, prepaid directly to
- 26:53Speaker 3: the Ark Maspeth, New York, or the Ark Oakland, California.
- 27:07Speaker 11: You have just heard Dragnet, a series of authentic cases
- 27:10Speaker 11: from official files. Technical advice comes from the Office of
- 27:13Speaker 11: Chief of Police W. H. Parker, Los Angeles Police Department.
- 27:34Speaker 5: Stay tuned for Counterspy next over NBC.
- 27:47Speaker 1: Welcome back. You definitely have to appreciate their angers at
- 27:52Speaker 1: the actions of the robbers. They were very cruel and cowardly,
- 27:57Speaker 1: and you can understand why they would not grant this request.
- 28:03Speaker 1: Although I do have to remember the Big cast where
- 28:05Speaker 1: they took a serial killer to a health food restaurant
- 28:09Speaker 1: and he was able to order a really nice meal.
- 28:12Speaker 1: Of course, he hadn't given his confession. So the moral
- 28:16Speaker 1: of the story might be, if you're a criminal wanting
- 28:18Speaker 1: one last nice meal before years of prison food, make
- 28:22Speaker 1: the request before you've given the police everything they want,
- 28:26Speaker 1: particularly when you've done a violent crime with which they
- 28:29Speaker 1: are going to have no sympathy whatsoever. All right, well,
- 28:33Speaker 1: now it's time to thank our Patreon supporter of the day,
- 28:37Speaker 1: and I want to thank Robert, Patreon supporter since March,
- 28:40Speaker 1: currently supporting the podcast at the Detective Sergeant level of
- 28:44Speaker 1: seven dollars and fourteen cents or more per month. Thanks
- 28:47Speaker 1: so much for your support, Robert, and that will do
- 28:50Speaker 1: it for today. If you're enjoying the podcast, please follow
- 28:53Speaker 1: us using your favorite podcast software and be sure to
- 28:58Speaker 1: rate and review the podcast wherever you do download it from.
- 29:01Speaker 1: We'll be back next Thursday with another episode of Dragnet.
- 29:05Speaker 1: But join us back here tomorrow for yours truly. Johnny
- 29:08Speaker 1: ad doll are ware.
- 29:09Speaker 7: Here, sir.
- 29:10Speaker 2: There's a picture of him in this.
- 29:13Speaker 7: Group photograph taken on the occasion are one hundred aniversary.
- 29:18Speaker 3: I feel like ore a hell beaver.
- 29:19Speaker 11: I'm afraid his.
- 29:20Speaker 7: Mighty shock of hair and magnificent Beard just led me
- 29:24Speaker 7: back in nineteen forty one when I hired him.
- 29:26Speaker 11: Yes, and I suppose I.
- 29:28Speaker 7: Should have known when he gave up pause in Surrey
- 29:30Speaker 7: to drive one of those newfangled motor cars.
- 29:33Speaker 5: Sure have known.
- 29:34Speaker 7: What excuse me, but he was no longer a man
- 29:36Speaker 7: suited to our fine establishment. Is he the one who
- 29:40Speaker 7: took off with your fifty eight thousand dollars fifty eight thousand,
- 29:44Speaker 7: four hundred and thirty three dollars and forty one cents?
- 29:47Speaker 5: Are you sure?
- 29:48Speaker 3: I mean sure it was he beyond the shap of
- 29:51Speaker 3: a doubt, sir.
- 29:52Speaker 7: He was the only one beside myself who had a
- 29:54Speaker 7: key to the vault in which we kept our building fund.
- 29:56Speaker 7: And when he suddenly left us three years, five months
- 29:59Speaker 7: and six teen days ago, Yes, yes I should have known.
- 30:03Speaker 7: But you didn't discover the loss until recently. It was
- 30:06Speaker 7: June twenty first, but four minutes after ten that I
- 30:08Speaker 7: went down to the vault for the first time in
- 30:10Speaker 7: four years. We have something extor to put aside, and
- 30:13Speaker 7: you discovered the money was missing. The vault was empty
- 30:17Speaker 7: except for this note. Goodbye, Suckers. Holid word signed Tuller.
- 30:27Speaker 11: So you see mister Dollar.
- 30:28Speaker 3: Yeah, yes, I know.
- 30:29Speaker 7: It looks like he's our man, no question about it.
- 30:33Speaker 7: And you have no idea where he might have gone,
- 30:35Speaker 7: none whatsoever. Well, surely there must be some clue, none whatsoever,
- 30:40Speaker 7: but you must find him. But that was three and
- 30:43Speaker 7: a half years ago, exactly three years five yeteen So
- 30:48Speaker 7: where do I start? Unless your company decides simply to
- 30:51Speaker 7: reimburses for our loss, that mister Dollar is up to.
- 30:54Speaker 1: You in the meantime. Send your comments to Box thirteen
- 30:58Speaker 1: at Great Detectives dot net, follow us on Twitter at
- 31:02Speaker 1: Radio Detectives, and check us out on Instagram, Instagram, dot com,
- 31:07Speaker 1: slash Great Detectives from Boise, Idaho. This is your host,
- 31:12Speaker 1: Adam Graham signing off.