Latest / Great Detectives of Old Time Radio Volume 2|Mystery Audio Dramas / Dragnet: The Big Smart Guy (EP1604)

Transcript

Dragnet: The Big Smart Guy (EP1604) · Great Detectives of Old Time Radio Volume 2|Mystery Audio Dramas

0:28
Welcome to the Great Detectives of Old Time Radio from Boise, Idaho. This
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free for two weeks. If your Kindle have the Kindle just search for Great
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Detectors of Old Time Radio and the Kindle Store. Well, now it's time
2:09
for today's episode of Dragnet. The original air date June the eighth of nineteen
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fifty and the Tunnel is the big smart guy. The story you're about to
2:30
hear is true, only the names have been changed to protect the innocent.
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Dragnet. You're a detective sergeant. You're assigned to homicide detail. A woman
2:49
has been shot to death. The apparent motive robbery. The killer is still
2:53
at large. Your job find him. Dragnet the documented drama of an actual
3:08
crime. For the next thirty minutes, in cooperation with the Los Angeles Police
3:13
Department, you will travel step by step on the side of the law through
3:16
an actual case transcribed from official police files, from beginning to end, from
3:22
crime to punishment, Dragnet is the story of your police force in action.
3:30
It was Friday, March sixteenth, was damp in Los Angeles. We're working
3:34
the night watch out a homicide. My partner's Ben Romero, the boss's Thad
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Brown, Cheap of Detectives. My name is Friday. It was eleven forty
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five pm when we got to where we'd parked our car second in May.
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A couple of drops on the windshiel, yeah, ohe it holds off.
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I was thinking of going up to see the Cubs and Bars play an exhibition
3:54
game tomorrow. I guess maybe now a long you might be lucky. What's
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within a man's sake to get the video? It's a slow knife. Yeah,
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might not beat him. My night March seventeenth in it oh yeah,
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sixteen through a color station all units. He was connedy of one O two
4:19
South Virgil two eleven and shooting Coude three had one All units Virgil two eleven
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and Shooting CO three Unit thirteen. Happy Saint Patrick's Day, eleven fifty eight
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pm. We arrived at one O two South Virgin the bottom of hotel four
4:41
story building. Sergeant Shimer medicine the lobby and informed us if the shooting took
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place at eleven forty pm in room four thirty two, occupied by mister and
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Missus Theodore V. Benham. Missus Benham was the victim. We went up
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to the fourth floor where Officer McCready was stationed outside the room. An he
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wasn'ness is only Benham says it was a thief. Are you talking to people
5:00
on the spot? And then I'm sorry anything? They're all in their rooms.
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Any other way out of here? A stairway in the rearly, it's
5:06
the roof. I took a look. Nothing up there. Where's benim across
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the hall line down? Coxes with him? Okay's look at the body.
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We went into the room, a dreary place with a single light hanging from
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the center of the ceiling. The carpet was faded and worn in spots.
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On the north side where a closet in the bathroom. Against the east wall
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was a dresser. Across the room was a double bed, and at the
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foot of the bed window looking out over the roofs of adjoining buildings and the
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marque of a movie house down the street. A steamer trunk was in the
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corner, and a straight backed chair was next to the door. The mirror
5:45
of the dresser was smashed, and on the dresser at Gideon Bible on the
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bed was the body of a woman's sprawled face down. There were several splotches
5:51
of blood on her coat. From the chair was a thirty two twenty Revolver,
5:56
which McReady said belonged to Benham, the husband of the murdered woman.
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We asked McCready to put in a call to the crime lab and we went
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across the hall to question Benham. This is an awful shock. I'm not
6:06
feeling well. I'm under doctor's care, hemophilia. Awful shock. Sit down,
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please, yeah, I don't know what it'll do to me. I
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should be in the sanitarium right now. Most thing you're taking care of Lincoln
6:20
Sanitarium and Eagle Rock. Could you tell us what happened tonight? What?
6:25
Yes, we my wife and I went out to the Sycamore Cafe over in
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Alvarado. What time was that, Oh about nine point thirty, had a
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couple of drinks and something to eat, and listened to a piano player.
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Then came home. I unlocked the door and Elizabeth when in first, went
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over to the dresser. I just walked over to her when a man stepped
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out of the closet in the back of us. He had a gun.
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Can you describe him? I don't know, I don't know. Did you
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see his face? No? He had a blue bandann over his face,
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and he had a cap on a blue and white check. Did you notice
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his clothes? No, no, I didn't anything else. He seemed very
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nervous and he wasn't holding the gun still. My wife was opening a person.
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I said, well, I haven't got very much, but I'll give
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you what we had, and he fired and hit Elizabeth. I put my
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gun from my overcoat and started shooting. Are you in the habit of getting
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a gun? No? No, no, I'd noticed suspicious looking men followed
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me late least I bought one. Is this the gun here? Yes?
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And then what happened? Well, if I had all the bullets, I
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don't know how I missed the room small He kept moving around all the time,
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but I guess I did miss. Then he ran out of the room.
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How old would you say? This? Man? Oh, Sorr,
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I haven't the fast idea. I'll see you a minute, sergeant. Sure,
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we'll be back, mister Benham, this has been an awful shock to
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me. In her eyes, wife fell but creed. He told us that
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Sergeant Shimmer had found a woman in the Nevada hotel next door who might know
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something. When next door in question missus Caroline Cromwell, resident of the hotel.
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She occupied room four fifteen on the top floor. She told us that
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about twenty seconds after she heard the shots, she looked out the door of
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her room and saw a man come down the back stairs, which leads to
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the roof of the hotel, and entered room four oh two. She'd seen
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the man several times and was positive of her identification. Sergeant Shimer said the
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man was registered as Jack Morrison, who went to room four oh two.
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Right again, what's that, police officer? What do you want? I'd
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like to ask a couple of questions. I was going to bed. We'd
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like to talk to you. Won't take very long, all right? What
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do you want to know? How long you've been in your room? About
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ten minutes? W Where were you to the movie? Which one right down
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the street? Why are you asking me all these questions? You've been drinking?
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Hello? Not much? Man? If we look right a little,
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I was out all the time. I didn't know nothing about a shooting.
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And you won't mind. If we're looking around, you won't find nothing here.
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He's all the clothes you've got. Yeah, it's your coat. Yeah,
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yeah, you're wearing this tonight? Were you no, it's only coat
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in the closet. What'd you do with the coat you were wearing? Guess
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I was wearing that one. Just spill it? What the bottle of whiskey
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it broke? How I know? You got a hole here in the sleeve.
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What do you do with a broken bottle? Through the way where?
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I don't know? On the street, yo, I thought of something.
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Shirt stuck down between the wall and the back then looks like blood on it?
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Is this yours? Where's the shirt you wore tonight? Take off your
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pajama top? Why take it off? All right? But I didn't have
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nothing to do without shooting next door? What happened here? Guy shot at
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me? Who? I don't know. I bought a bottom, had a
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couple of drinks, and went to the movie for a little while away from
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the bed place. I came out of the movie because I was getting dizzy,
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and I went up on the roof here to get some There. While
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I was standing there, guy ran across the roof and shot at me.
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What looked like I don't know. He came from the roof of the hotel
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next door and ran into this place. How big was he? It was
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dark. I couldn't see. What'd you do? Well? After I was
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sure he was gone, I came down. I was gonna have my arm
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fixed in the morning. Let her get your clothes on. Why you got
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a pretty bad arm. You better have it fixed up. We'll take you
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to George Street Receiving Hospital. It's all right. I don't have to go
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there anything. Ben No, you got king shit? No ant better wear
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your pajama top. Then, oh, here's something. What'd you say?
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Your name is Jack Marts. Here's a card I found the close. It
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says Tommy Kane report for work Joe's Cafe at lock March First. Who's Tommy
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Kane? That's me? Where you're from? Elgin, Illinois? Why'd you
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leave Elgin? No work? I've been bumming around you. Ever been arrested?
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I was picked up in a vague charge. Mon here. Yeah,
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I don't know why you guys are bothering with me. When somebody gets shot,
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we bother. We took King to Georgia Street Receiving Hospital, where they
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found that a muscle in his upper right arm had been severed and the right
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side of his chest was bruised. Before taking him to ward, thirteen hundred
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General Hospital for free of the treatment. We took him back to the roof
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of the Nevada Hotel. He's still trying to rain. Yeah. Well,
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where were you standing when he got shot at? King? Right over there?
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I was leaning against the bricks. And where'd the man come from?
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Out of that door in the other roof, the roof of the Bartlet Hotel.
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Yeah? Was he running when he shot at you? Yeah? Yeah,
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he was? Where'd you run? Right across here where we are?
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And then he went through this door here into the Nevada Hotel. Do you
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notice anything unusual about him? Why? His face was covered with a handkerchief
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and he wore a checked cat But you said before it was too dark.
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Well, I could see that. I mean you know, I could see
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that. I couldn't see his face. And you were standing over there with
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the fairly yeah about yeah about here? Yeah, that's it. M all
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right, let's get over the roof of the Bartle a little high. Can
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I help you over? Come? On? Ben? Have you ever been
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in this hotel before? King? No? Everything all right with grany?
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Yeah, crime labs here checking the murder room. Bet him awake? I
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think so, mister Benham. Yes, man, if we come in course,
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Now have you ever seen this man before? Let me see? Can
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you stand over there in the light? They are as I'm as good as
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they used to be. Move over there. How's that that's better? Just
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the man who shot your wife? No, that's not the man. We
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left instructions for another car to take Theodore Benham to Lincoln Sanitarium. An Eagle
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Rhoy we took Caine toward thirteen hundred General Hospital. Two forty two am we
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arrived back at the Bartlett Hotel, where police chemist Ray Pinker had finished his
14:09
examination. Three slugs thirty eight caliber and five slugs thirty two to twenty were
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found in the mattress in the walls, all on the same side of the
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room. On the floor of the room we found a piece of white cloth
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and some brown threads. Ray Pinker returned to the crime lab while Ben and
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I made in search of both hotels, the incinerators, the alley in all
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likely places for the missing thirty eight was not found. Three forty eight am.
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Ben went to the record bureau to check on any possible criminal record Kane
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might have had. I went to the crime lab to see what Ray pinker
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had found nothing on in this one that's been a clean miss, and nothing
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on these four thirty two twenties. Where'd you find those? The thirty eight
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out of the window frame thirty two twenties were in the south and east walls.
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How about the others here? Well, in these two thirty eight slugs,
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I found my minute portions of thread. They compare with the dress and
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coat. Want of the deceis? Ye bet? I checked Kane's record,
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He told the true nothing more than a bag jar. Huh. I was
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just gonna those threads on two of the thirty eight slugs and on one of
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the thirty two twenties, same time threads and the same kind of thirty two
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twenty. That's a good venom yure. Yeah, did you check the cloth
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yet? Well, right now, venom must have been shooting off a while.
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Where'd you find that thirty two twenty slug? Right the floor under the
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bed hasn't done any of the other thirty two twenties. Yeah, this piece
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of cloth matches the shirt about the coat and those threads got only a couple
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of threads that might match. Let me have a coat? Maybe right better
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have been him? Take another look at Cane. Huh yeah, I guess
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so. I could give you a cup of coffee, how about you as
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soon as we get finished. How about it? Right? You gotta make
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it? Yeah, I match now, that's it. Huh oh. One
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more thing? Yeah, fresh stains on the carpet that room? What kind
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whisky? March eighteenth, we picked up Benham at Lincoln Sanitarium and drove him
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to the General Hospital. Three times. He asked us to stop someplace so
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he could have a drink. We told him to have to wait. We
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arrived at Ward thirteen hundred and one, and Caine was brought out. Take
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a good look, mister Benham. No that isn't the man, I'm sure
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of it. Kane. Tie this handkerchief over your face. No, this
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way, that's right. I'll put on this cap Caine. I'll stand over
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there, please a little further. That's good, all right, mister ben
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You know his eyes and ford look a little familiar. But I don't know.
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All my nerves are all shot. I can't be positive. I'm a
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sick man, all right, King, I wish I could help you.
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Boys. Come along, please, you don't have to take me back to
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the sanatory, and just take me to a street car. I'll make it
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all right. Well, yeah, did I see you a minute? Sure?
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Yeah. Did you notice anything when you first brought Cane out of the
17:25
ward? No, you must have been closing the door. Yeah, I
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was that man Venom. He winked at him. You are listening to drag
17:45
Net the case history of a police investigation. We took Venom back to his
17:55
sanitarium. On the way, he asked if he could be excused from testifying
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at the ind question preliminary hearing. We told him it couldn't be done.
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Seven pm, Ben and I returned to the General Hospital and took Keen into
18:06
a small room adjoining the prison ward. After three hours of interrogation, he
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stuck to his story. Cigarette came, thanks, he's all right, hurt's
18:17
little. Now when you guys going home, when we get a straight story.
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I've been telling you all. I know. Yeah, you've been telling
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it's the same story for two days. But it doesn't hold water. What
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do you mean, how do you account for the fact that parts of your
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clothing were found in that room? I told you before. You must have
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made a mistake. No, no, it's no mistake. Mister Benham's starting
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to think you recognized? Why do you wink at you? He didn't wink
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at me. We got somebody here who saw him, and he seems to
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think whoever did the shooting didn't take the gun. When we drove him back
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to Santa Charami, he asked us if we found it yet, and thinks
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we will. How long has Benham lived in LA? A long time?
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How long? Why do you want to know how long he's lived? Here?
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Is a dead woman? Really his wife? Well? Certainly she's his
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wife? What where's he been since the shooting in the sanitarium? An eagle
19:07
rock? What's the matter with him? Nemophilia? You know what that is?
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No? You sure that was his wife? Positive? She wasn't a
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stool pigeon? Stool pigeon? Where'd you get that? At you? You
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guys never saw her before? Never? You never heard of her? Kane?
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What's eating you? Did you check on her? We always do,
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don't make mistakes on anything like that. Do you look? She was a
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pretty nice woman from all we could find out, happily emerged for thirty years.
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Something's wrong? What Kane? What's wrong? Yeah? What beden him?
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Say about? We told you? He says, you look a little
19:41
bit like the man. Do you say anything else? He winked at you,
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Cane. Why she wasn't a bad looking woman, wasn't she? Kane?
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All right now, how about it? You guys swear that was his
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wife? Yeah, okay, I'll tell you where the thirty eight is.
20:00
Where a mattress on the roof of the Nevada Hotel. Ven Him cut a
20:03
hole in it that day. He told me to hide the gun there after
20:06
shooting. All right, let's have a look. I don't want anybody to
20:08
know I'm telling you of this. Why. Venam's a real smart guy.
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He's got a gang. He's in on it as much as I am.
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Yeah, he double crossed me. He tried to kill me. I'm going
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to jail. He's going with me, maybe he will. Caine told us
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that he had known Benham for about two months. During that time, Benham
20:30
helped him along by giving him a couple of dollars every once in a while.
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On March eleventh, Benham got Cain a room in the Nevada Hotel and
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gave him twenty dollars to buy a gun, which Cain did. On March
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fifteenth, he gave Kan a blue bandanna and a checkered cap. On March
20:44
sixteenth, he told Kane that he'd been sent by a gang in Chicago to
20:47
kill a woman who was a stool pigeon. He promised Kan one hundred dollars
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for his help. Early that evening, Benham told Kane how to enter their
20:53
room and where to hide when they came home. Benham stood with the door.
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Kane stepped out of the closet and after a few words, shot the
21:00
woman. As he moved toward the bed, Benham started shooting at him.
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Caine ran from the room and hid the gun and the mattress on the roof,
21:07
and then went to his room and flushed the cap and bandana down the
21:10
drain. Eleven fifteen pm, Ben and I found a gun where Cain said
21:14
it would be thirty eight Special Detective Colt Revolver two winch Berrel number three eight
21:18
one three two seven eleven fifty two PM. We checked and found no evidence
21:23
that Benham belonged to any kind of a gang. March nineteenth nine am,
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Ben and I reported into homicide and picked up Captain Steed and we went over
21:30
to doctor Wagner to learn his autopsy report. It showed that the deceased had
21:36
been shot three times. Two thirty eight slugs and one thirty two twenty were
21:40
recovered from the victim's body. They were initial for evidence. Eight pm,
21:44
Captain Steve ben and I went to the sanitarium and told Benham that there were
21:47
a few angles we wanted to clear up before the inquest. Next morning.
21:49
Benham got dressed and we drove back to the bottle of hotel was rained.
21:56
I'm still trying to remember what happened. I was very shot that night.
22:00
Yeah, I suppose you were. Sometimes my memory comes back for a little
22:03
bit the red line. Yeah, I see. You know, the man
22:06
who did the shooting knew you lived in room four thirty two, and he
22:10
knew you'd be gone that night. How do you suppose he figured that out?
22:14
Well? I like been noticing that a lot of men had been following
22:17
me suspiciously from man until back to Sergeant Friday, didn't nice Argee? Yeah,
22:21
that's right, must have been one of them. You have to give
22:23
money to characters on the street so much they might follow you. That must
22:27
be it. Many times I used to do that. I'd be nice toly
22:30
try to make friends. Do you remember any of them. Yeah, yeah,
22:33
I do. There was for men Dorsey, Jolly Swanson and fun name
22:40
name Laine Kine. Yeah, then that's a king. There you are there,
22:45
you are the young manuflquency in the hospital thing. I believe that's Kine.
22:52
Are you sure? Quite sure he's the burglar? What makes you think
22:56
he was a burglar or what else would he be? He didn't rifle an
22:59
he or is he stealing anything? Did? He must have got there just
23:02
before us. Did you have anything important there? Oh? Yes, some
23:07
insurance policies and your wife. Yeah how much? Well one policy for fourth
23:12
cosm two for twenty five hundred years. Who's the beneficiary? Right? I
23:19
am. We took Ben him up the room four thirty two where he got
23:26
out the insurance policies on his wife and showed them to us. Then Captain
23:30
Steed asked him to reenact the shooting. Benham acted as the killer. I
23:34
played Benham and Ben acted as his wife. Well, the man was over
23:38
here in the closet. My wife and I came in that door, and
23:41
then my wife went over to the dress room. Oh over here, you
23:45
turned on the light, oh yeah, and then I closed the door went
23:48
over behind her like this, she was closer to the bed. Yeah,
23:53
yeah, well you standing next to her? Yeah, do you start to
23:57
take off your coach. I was just going to when this this man stepped
24:00
out of this closet here how far? Oh? Here? Yeah? Yeah
24:06
right here? None. Well he had the gun, they said, and
24:08
asked how much money we had. Elizabeth said, we didn't have much from
24:11
here. Yeah, but but but she turned around. Yeah that's it what
24:17
happened then? Well then I said, I haven't got very much, but
24:21
I'll give you what we have started shooting. Yeah, but you said before
24:23
that your wife started looking in her purse. Yeah, that's what she did.
24:26
I forgot and that made him think she was going after a gun.
24:30
How do you know, Well, I suppose that's what he thought. He
24:33
shot, and Elizabeth fell on the bed. I pulled out my gun and
24:37
started shooting, and the man right out the door. And that's all.
24:41
That's exactly what happened. Huh, just as I remember it. Will I
24:45
help you not very much? What's the matter? Well, if you were
24:49
standing where I am, there'd be bullet holes on that side of the little
24:53
there, wouldn't you. They're all on this side. See I got it.
25:00
Come with me where you're going on the roof for I want to show
25:03
you something. Yeah, it's raining. There are two umbrellas in the ties
25:07
it. I'll get them. Why do you want to go up there?
25:08
I think I know where that gun might be hidden. I bet it's there
25:14
here. You take this umbrella, we'll take this one, Captain. Let's
25:17
go. I bet it's up there. We'll find you. You got your
25:37
wife's like ben, Yeah, should be around here somewhere. What's the mattress?
25:45
My wife used to take sun baths on it? Where would it be?
25:47
But just about here? I don't see any Sure it's up here.
25:52
I bet it's on the next room. Didn't you say can't live in that
25:53
hotel? He probably won't do any flash light over there, behind an ell
25:59
of a chap there, Yeah, there, it's here. We have to
26:03
climb over this part. But to get on the other roof. Watch the
26:06
gap. It's pretty slippery. Okay, yeas slipping. Okay, mh this
26:18
mat is here. That's it. Take a look all right, No,
26:26
nothing here? Did you look all around there? Did you look in the
26:30
corners? No, that would be a good place to hide a gun.
26:33
Don't you think and let me see. It might be a hole cut in
26:37
one of them. H maybe the other corner. Now maybe this one.
26:48
Yeah, you see the matches have been cut. No, no, it's
26:56
got to be here by h Yeah. Here, I know it can I'll
27:07
find it. I'll find it. Go away, you see, I'll get
27:15
it. I know it can't. I'll fight you would, I'll get it.
27:25
I'll get it. He's getting wet, Jill. We got the thirty
27:33
eighteen. Told us about it. You're ready to talk. Yeah, insurance
27:38
that why you did it? Yeah, I'm a sick man. Let's go
27:45
about him on your peak. All right. They played that ball game the
27:56
other day. Yeah, who won? Fired? Sure do dag? Baseball
28:03
must be a real nice business. Yeah. Fans only yell, but they
28:07
never do it. Let's that kill the empire. The story you have just
28:18
heard was true, only the names were changed to protect the innocence. On
28:22
July, second trial was held in Superior Court, Department eighty nine, City
28:26
and County of Los Angeles, State of California. In a moment the results
28:30
of that trial, Thomas Kane was convicted of second degree murder and received a
28:41
term as prescribed by law. Theodore V. Benham was convicted of first degree
28:45
murder and assault with a deadly weapon. He received a life sentence and died
28:48
in prison one year later. You have just heard Dragnet, a series of
28:53
authentic cases from official files. Technical advice for Dragnet comes from the Office of
28:59
Chief of Police Way Wharton, Los Angeles Police Department. This is NBC,
29:03
the National Broadcasting Company. This is Andrew Ryans with OTR Westerns dot com,
29:19
where we stream live old time radio Westerns twenty four hours a day, seven
29:23
days a week with a special twist. You select the tracks that get to
29:27
be played. We've got a thousand different episodes from shows like Gunsmoke, Tales
29:32
of the Texas Rangers, Escape, Genautry, and many more. Come check
29:37
us out at Otrwesterns dot com slash live again. That's OTR Westerns dot Com
29:41
slash Live. You're listening to the great detectives of Old time Radio with Adam
29:45
Graham and now let's get back into the show. Welcome back. Well,
29:53
this was an interesting tank on the idea of the perfect murder. If you
30:00
were reading a book or watching a movie, you'd see the perfect murder committed
30:07
by a swave rich, wealthy man to get even more wealthy off the death
30:12
of his wife. Here we see a guy planning and watching a nine thousand
30:19
dollars plan and proves in the process that he's not quite as smart. And
30:26
many programs would say things like you can't outsmart the FBI, you just can't
30:33
defeat the police. Here, though, they opt to instead just show somebody
30:38
try, and they get the message across just as effectively, if not more
30:42
so. Now, what oddity about this episode for listeners who were born in
30:48
the last sixty years ago? Is this idea of going to see the Pirates
30:55
and the Cobs play in an excavation game in Los Angeles. Important thing to
31:00
remember was that at this point, the LA did not have its own major
31:07
league team. In fact, in nineteen fifty if you wanted to see Major
31:12
League baseball and you were west of Saint Louis, you were pretty much out
31:18
of lock. Major League Baseball wouldn't come to Los Angeles until nineteen fifty eight.
31:25
Los Angeles played host to at least one and occasionally two minor league teams.
31:30
There was the Los Angeles Angels, and another minor league team that played
31:34
there was the Hallleywood Stars. The Angels played at Wrigley Field, and yes,
31:42
there was a Wrigley Field in Los Angeles, and it had more parking
31:47
available than the Wrigley Field in Chicago. In fact, it's still it has
31:52
more parking than the current Wrigley Field situation. And it was not only the
32:00
home for minor league baseball, it was where Hollywood went to film baseball movies.
32:05
They filmed the Pride of the Yankees there, along with the original Angels
32:09
in the Outfield movie from nineteen fifty two, and of course the Home Run
32:15
Derby series from the early sixties. There was also an episode of The Twilight
32:20
Zone that was filmed there, as well as an episode of The Monsters.
32:24
I know I'm getting a little off topic, but it came up in my
32:29
research, and Wrigley Field in Los Angeles is on the list now of places
32:34
I would love to go and visit if I got a time machine. But
32:37
yeah, teams could definitely come through and play exhibition games on the West Coast,
32:44
just as they play exhibition games in Florida and Arizona as part of spring
32:50
training. But Major League Baseball was still about eight years away from coming west.
32:55
And then we do have a comment here from Hia, who says,
33:01
Hi, it's Hia Simpkin. My boyfriend and I both love dragnetting your Dragonnet
33:07
shows. I have a couple questions about the mission scene. What is the
33:10
song played when everyone goes marching off to launch. The answer is that it
33:19
was Onward Christian Soldiers, and it was a song where the words were written
33:24
by the Anglican priest Sobbing bearing Gold in eighteen sixty five, and the music
33:35
was written by Arthur Sullivan of Gilbert and Sullivan in eighteen seventy one. It's
33:44
commonly associated with the Salvation Army as their professional hymn, and having it played
33:50
there at the end of a service does kind of evoke the Salvation Army.
33:54
But in a more practical sense, the song had the virtue under the then
34:00
copyright laws. In effect, a song would only be in copyright for a
34:07
total of fifty six years, so that one came into the public domain in
34:12
nineteen twenty seven, so the music could be used without paying any sort of
34:16
royalty. The second question is this next one may be a dumb question,
34:23
since I don't know much about Christianity. Why does the preacher call everyone brother?
34:28
And sister. I know Catholics call monks and nuns that, but whether
34:31
the mission is Catholic or not, this can't be the case since Friday and
34:35
Romero aren't monks at all. Thank you for your show. It's a great
34:38
way to start the week. Well, hi, it's been quite a while
34:43
since they mentioned their outfits now, Seriously, that is a good question.
34:52
There are various different approaches to how people are addressed in various Christian denominations.
35:00
Some will use a phrase brother or sister to relate to all Christians, or
35:07
they'll use it to relate to all people as brothers and sisters. There is
35:14
an important thing to say about Dragnet in the nineteen fifties and when it comes
35:21
to the way that it rites and portrays Protestant missions and ministers. And certainly
35:28
there was definitely no sort of ill will intended, but there really wasn't any
35:34
apparent research, and so the way that they're written is just very court kind
35:40
of cheesy and in a way that's really clunky. It wasn't actually all that
35:47
bad last week, but it is something that you will hear throughout the series,
35:52
where for whatever reason it was just not as well researched, and it
35:59
may have been because because there were assumptions about the audience of the time that
36:02
you were dealing with a nation where perhaps majority Protestant, and so they would
36:07
actually know how an actual Protestant minister would sound. So I wasn't really thought
36:13
of as a big deal. And of course it wasn't just Dragnet. You'll
36:16
find in a lot of shows and movies that there are kind of very basic,
36:22
stereotypical pictures that are painted and I think that did become a bit of
36:28
an issue for the Salvation Army, and in nineteen fifty eight they launched their
36:32
own radio series, Heartbeat Theater. The series highlighted the Salvation Army's role as
36:42
a provider of community relief and social services and there are efforts to help people
36:47
throughout the community to highlight the sort of work they did, and it was
36:52
a very good series that actually continue to run into the nineteen eighties. But
36:57
in short, with Dragnet, you'll get a lot of grain looks at how
37:00
things were in the nineteen fifties and so many areas, but I would say
37:07
that that one area where you probably don't really get a feel for how people
37:14
are like or were like as when the show goes into portraying rescue missions and
37:20
Protestant ministries as they just tend to go for the more hoky and like I
37:24
said, last week wasn't the biggest example of that, but there are others,
37:30
so consider your self advice. All right. Another listener comment, Michelle
37:35
comments, I love the details you give us in the commentary before and at
37:39
the end of each show. Thank you for all your research and enthusiasm.
37:45
And then Douglas says, your followers may be interested to know they can download
37:52
almost every radio show ever produced for free at archive dot org. Thanks Douglas,
38:00
and you can certainly download most of those who are that are available at
38:08
archive dot org, though a few of the more obscure series you'll have to
38:14
search elsewhere for all right, Well, that will do it for today.
38:17
We will be back tomorrow with our sixteen hundredth episode special It's Edmund O'Brien you
38:25
won't want to miss it, and then join us on Monday for the Saint.
38:29
Next Saturday, we'll be back with another episode of drag Net. In
38:32
the meantime, sendra comments to Box thirteen at Great Detectives dot net. Follow
38:38
us on Twitter at Radio Detectives and become one of our friends on Facebook,
38:43
Facebook dot com Slash Radio Detectives and from Boise, Idaho, this is your
38:47
host, Adam Grahamson and all