Speaker 1: Welcome to the Great Detectives of Old Time Radio from Boise, Idaho.
This is your host, Adam Graham. In a moment, I'm
going to bring you this week's episode of Dragnat, But
first I do want to encourage you. If you're enjoying
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Just go to Patreon dot Great Detectives dot net. But now,
from January thirty first, nineteen fifty two, here is the
big almost no show.
Speaker 2: The story you were about to hear is true. The
names have been changed to protect the innocent. You're a
detective sergeant. You're assigned a homicide detail. A woman reports
the disappearance of her thirty year old brother. He's been
missing for one two days, but the manner of his
disappearance was sudden, out of the ordinary. Your job investigate.
Speaker 3: Dragnet. The document a drama of an actual crime. For
the next thirty minutes, in cooperation with the Los Angeles
Police Department, you will travel step by step on the
side of the law through an actual case transcribed from
official police violence, from beginning to end, from crime to punishment,
Dragnet is the story of your police force in action.
Speaker 4: It was Wednesday, November fourteenth. It was overcast in Los Angeles.
We were working the day Watch out of Homicide detail.
My partner's Ed Jacob's. The boss's Captain Lorman. My name's Friday.
We were on our way out from the office and
it was eight fifty six am when we got to
the SNH Paper Company on Fourth Street.
Speaker 5: The rear entrance. Where do we find it?
Speaker 4: Joe upstairs, no main floor, So told me we'd find
her in the timekeeper's office.
Speaker 5: He said it was near the back door entrance. We
couldn't miss it. And let's give a look on the car.
Maybe one of the workers can tell us.
Speaker 4: Yeah, right, looks like some kind of an officerer.
Speaker 5: Does it just be on the time clock?
Speaker 6: H Let's see if pay master head time keep for you.
Speaker 5: That's it. The door is locked. Head. You want to
wrap on the pay window?
Speaker 6: Yeah, yes, police officers. Man, we have an appointment where
the miss Edith Table.
Speaker 7: Oh yes, officers, I'm Edith Table. Just to more please
all ring the buzzer.
Speaker 8: Just push on the door.
Speaker 5: All right, thank you, man, go ahead, all right.
Speaker 7: Are you the one I talked to on the phone,
Sergeant Friday.
Speaker 5: Yes, man, that's right. Just my partner, Sergeant Jacobs.
Speaker 4: How you do this is about your brother, Miss Tabor,
h Ralph Tabor?
Speaker 5: Is that right?
Speaker 7: Yes, that's right.
Speaker 9: I know there must be something wrong or else's been
gone since Sunday. I one's seen him, No one's heard
from him. I'm worried sick about it.
Speaker 6: Last time you saw him was on Sunday.
Speaker 9: No, I didn't actually see him. I talked to him
on the phone, made a date for dinner. Ralph and
I always have dinner together Sunday nights. It's about the
only time in the week we do get to see
each other.
Speaker 5: I see.
Speaker 4: I believe you told me on the phone. You already
checked with most of his friends. The places he'd most
likely be.
Speaker 7: Is that I called everyone I can think of No
one's seen him.
Speaker 6: Your brother's never done anything like this, perfomance, going off
without telling.
Speaker 7: Anyone, No, never, I'm very worried, Sergeant.
Speaker 6: Can you think of any reason at all why I'd
want to disappear of his own free will?
Speaker 5: I mean, no, no.
Speaker 9: Reason in the world for it. He seemed perfectly all
right when I talked to him on the phone Sunday.
Everything was fine. He made a date for the movies
Tuesday night. That was for last night picture downtown we
wanted to see. He made a special point of it.
I just know something must have happened.
Speaker 5: I gather you know most of your brother's friends. You've
kept in fairly close touch with him.
Speaker 9: Yes, we get together at least once a week. As
I say, I'm four years older than Ralph. I've looked
after him since we were kids. We've always been together,
last five or six years, especially ever since Mama died.
Speaker 6: Your brother in a pretty stable metal condition. Was he
no financial worries, nothing of.
Speaker 7: That kind, No certain nothing I know about.
Speaker 4: I had like to double check this information that you
gave me on the phone, miss Table, the name and
address and his descriptions. Yes, the full name Ralph Lawrence
Taber won four three one six al Maiden Street, male,
white American occupation interior.
Speaker 5: Decorators at it.
Speaker 7: Yes, that's right.
Speaker 4: Height, five foot eleven hundred and fifty five pounds, dark
blonde haired, gray eyes, fair complexion, birthmark on left side
of neck.
Speaker 7: Yes, that's all correct.
Speaker 6: Your brother in the habit of carrying large sums of
money around with him, do you know?
Speaker 7: No, not that I know of. He has a good job.
He's not getting rich at it, though.
Speaker 9: I don't think I've ever seen Ralph with more than
twenty thirty dollars on him at a time.
Speaker 5: Who was the last person to see him? Miss you
any idea?
Speaker 8: Well?
Speaker 9: I talked to Ralph's land lady. She told me she
saw Ralph and this friend of his, Andy Howard, going
into Ralph's apartment. That was about six o'clock Sunday night.
Ralph was supposed to meet me at seven point thirty.
Never showed up.
Speaker 5: Well, this friend of your brother's, miss table, this Andy Howard.
Are you acquainted with him?
Speaker 9: Yes, but I don't know him too well. I only
met him two or three times. He lives in the
apartment house next door to Ralph's. So the two of
them were friends in the navy together during the war.
Speaker 8: Good friends.
Speaker 5: You try to get in touch with this Andy Hard.
Speaker 8: Yes.
Speaker 9: I called Ralph's apartment when he didn't show up for
our dinner date Sunday night. Wasn't any answer, so I
looked up Andy's number in the phone book and called him.
Speaker 5: Was he at home?
Speaker 7: Yes?
Speaker 9: Tried to talk to him, but it didn't do much good.
Stream How's that he pretended he didn't even know me.
Speaker 4: After we finished our interview with Edith Tabor, ed Jacobs
and I started out to double check with all unknown
friends and associates of her brother. We talked to his
employer and the people he worked with. None of them
had seen him subsequent to six o'clock Sunday night. None
of them could think of any good reason why he
suddenly would want to pick up and leave his job
and friends. The people he knew outside of his work
told us the same thing. Nobody could explain it. Along
the way, we inquired about Ralph Tabor's friend, Andy Howard.
Most of the people we talked to knew him as
a close friend of Tabor's. We checked at Howard's place
of employment, but they told us he hadn't shown up
for work since the previous Friday. We drove to Howard's apartment,
checked with a manager, and he said that Howard had
moved without notice. Late Sunday night, we crossed over to
the apartment house next door where Tabor lived and talked
to the landlady and missus Higby. She corroborated the story
we'd gotten from Tabor's sister that Andy Howard was last
seen entering Tabor's apartment at about six o'clock Sunday night.
Tabor was with him. Missus Higby was sure of that.
She showed us up to the third floor to Ralph
Tabor's apartment. The two rooms and the adjoining kitchenette were immaculate.
There wasn't a thing out of place.
Speaker 6: I need us a pin Joe, not a thing out order.
Speaker 4: Yeah, it's the same in the bedroom, same as Higby. Yes,
do you provide maide service with the apartments here?
Speaker 5: No, we don't.
Speaker 10: We've been thinking about it though, haven't made up our minds.
Such a task getting good competent health.
Speaker 6: These days, the tenants are responsible for the entire upkeep.
Speaker 10: Yes, everything, painting, wall, papering, things like that. Doesn't mister Taber,
keep things spotless, just spotless.
Speaker 5: Yes, ma'am, it's just one thing I want to ask
you about. It's over here by the window.
Speaker 4: Yes, this wire here apparently an aerial connection for a
television set, which like.
Speaker 10: Yes, mister Taber does have a television Why.
Speaker 4: Well, I don't notice a set anywhere in the apartment.
Would you have to recall if he sent it out
for repairs anything like that?
Speaker 8: No, not that I know of.
Speaker 10: Besides, this doesn't seem like mis to table at all.
Speaker 5: What do you mean, miss Higby? He's always so.
Speaker 10: Neat, fastidiously And that wire there looks like it was
torn off the connection, doesn't it along the window sill too,
is not terrible fastness for the wire right out of
the woodwork. That certainly doesn't seem like mister Tabor.
Speaker 5: Anyone else besides him have access to this.
Speaker 10: Apartment man, No one that I know of, No one
besides myself.
Speaker 7: I mean I have duplicate keys to all the apartments.
Speaker 10: Well, I just happened to think, yes, ma'am, if a
repair man did move to set out, it's possible my
hosboy might know about it.
Speaker 8: Sam, that's my houseboy.
Speaker 5: How would he know about it.
Speaker 8: Well, it's the rule of the house.
Speaker 10: All furniture heavy things like that, they have to be
taken down in the freight elevator. Dope's right onto the
alley in the back of the building. It's very handy.
Speaker 5: Yes, ma'am.
Speaker 10: Sam's the only one who operates that elevator. That's why
I say it's possible he might know about it. Would
you like to have me ask him?
Speaker 5: I wonder if you would please, surely it.
Speaker 10: Won't take a bit a minute and I'll be.
Speaker 8: Right back, Thank you.
Speaker 5: Joe, you want to have a look over here? Yeah,
what do you got?
Speaker 11: It's all bed here. I tried to pull it down
and stuck stand right here over here. See if you
notice anything?
Speaker 5: Yeah, I do. You want to give me a hand?
See if we can't get the bed down? Yeah, push
in on your side there, Okay, that's it. Okay, it's
coming down.
Speaker 11: There, good lad. Yeah, Tabor, you think.
Speaker 5: All the description seems to fit. Beaten to death looks
like dinner.
Speaker 11: Something sticking out under the bedcover is there?
Speaker 5: Yeah? It's a clawhammer stains all over it.
Speaker 11: Vicious guess a killer one.
Speaker 5: To make sure it's all of the worst i've seen.
Speaker 12: Feel sorry for the sister. She's pretty close to him.
It's gonna be tough on her, No tougher than it.
Speaker 5: Was for him.
Speaker 4: Two point thirty eight pm, we phoned the office, told
him what we'd found, and then we put in a
call for Lieutenant Lee Jones and the crime lab grew
While we were waiting, we questioned the landlady again, missus Higbee.
She said her houseman Sam told her he knew nothing
about a television set being moved out of.
Speaker 5: Ralph Tabor's apartment.
Speaker 4: However, it was possible somebody could have taken the set
down in the main elevator late at night without being seen.
Missus Higby also told us that Tabor had a car.
We checked the apartment garage, but it was gone. All
missus Higby could tell us was that it was a
late model and the table often loanded to his friend
Andy Howard. Sergeant's Al Shambra and Joe Lamonica from Homicide
arrived and together the four of us interviewed the employees
and the tenants in the apartment building.
Speaker 5: They gave us little or nothing at all.
Speaker 4: A few minutes before three pm, the crime lab crew
showed up and started their preliminary investigation.
Speaker 5: We put in a call for the coroner.
Speaker 4: From the obvious lack of fingerprints and usual places around
the apartment, it was apparent that the murderer had taken
great precautions to cover his tracks. Three point thirty five
pm the deputy coroner arrived and after the preliminary investigation
was finished, the body was removed to the county morgue
Ed and I went back to the office, checked our
DMV and got out on all points on Tabor's car
and also on the friend he was last seen with,
Andy Howard.
Speaker 5: R and I turned up a single.
Speaker 4: Entry for Howard's criminal record, a drunk driving charge. Five
twenty pm we met with Edith Taber and broke the
news of her brother's death. When she recovered from the shock,
we interviewed her briefly.
Speaker 7: It was Andy Howard.
Speaker 8: I know it was him. It had to be.
Speaker 6: Why do you say that, miss Tavan or something about
this man? How hard You haven't.
Speaker 9: Told us he's no good search and he's no good
at all. That's what I've been afraid of. I've been
afraid of it right along.
Speaker 5: Well, just how do you mean, ma'am? He's no good.
Speaker 7: He's a tramp of bum. We'll get a job. He's
been living off my brother.
Speaker 8: He isn't normal.
Speaker 7: There's something wrong with him.
Speaker 5: Well, how is it your brother put up with him?
Speaker 9: I told you he and Ralph were friends in the navy.
He did a big favor for Ralph once. He's been
living off it ever since, taking his clothes, borrowing his car, money,
never paying it back.
Speaker 5: Why do you think he killed your brother?
Speaker 11: Miss?
Speaker 8: I just know it, that's all he did it.
Speaker 5: He ever fight with your brother? Would you have to know?
Did he ever threaten him?
Speaker 9: They had a big fight one about two weeks ago.
I think Andy kept sponging until Ralph got good and
sick of it, told Andy to go out and get
a job. That's when the fight started.
Speaker 5: You saw it, did you?
Speaker 9: Ralph told me about it. Fist fight in the alley
back of the apartment. Ralph knocked Andy down, and he
said he'd never forget it. He'd pay Ralph back. A
couple of days after that, my brother said the two
of them made up everything all right. Ralph should have
known better. He should have known better.
Speaker 6: Just a few more questions, Miss Taborn, Can you tell
us anything about Andy, Howard's background, where he's from, whose
friends are places he usually goes?
Speaker 9: No, I didn't know much about him. It's from the South,
I think Alabama. Ralph's friends can tell you more about
him than I can.
Speaker 5: Had you heard anything lately about Howard planning to move
out of his apartment?
Speaker 7: Nothing?
Speaker 8: When I heard that he didn't move when Ralph was missing,
I knew something was wrong. That's why I called you.
I only know him before, poor Ralph.
Speaker 5: If I only knew, well, I'll try to take it easy, man.
We'll arrange for a car to drive you home, all right.
Speaker 8: It's so hard to understand. Hard for anyone to kill
Ralph like that? Horrible? It was so good. It was
my brother.
Speaker 7: Yes, What do you say to a man who kills
your brother?
Speaker 8: How do you understand him? What do you tell? Well?
Speaker 5: Why even try?
Speaker 8: What?
Speaker 5: Let the jury tell him?
Speaker 4: Before we had the victim's sister, Edith Tabor, driven to
her home. We asked her about the television set in
her brother's apartment, but she was unable to explain its absence.
Burglary detail had already been notified about the case, and
the pawnshop detail alerted. An APB had been gotten out,
containing a complete description of the TV set along with
the serial numbers. A few minutes after we got back
from dinner that night, we had an answer on it.
A pawnshop operator on West Seventh Street called in with
the information that he'd taken in a television set with
identical description and serial numbers as that of Tabor's. Ed
and I drove out to the pawnshop and checked the
operator's buy book. The set had been pawned the day
after the murder. The serial numbers and description matched in
every detail. The description and signature of the man who
pawned it matched perfectly with that of Ralph Taber's friend
Andy Howard. The set was impounded, and just on a chance,
we had Dean Bergmann dusted for latent fingerprints.
Speaker 5: Dean, Oh, hi Eddy, how are you making out anyway?
Speaker 2: Not bad?
Speaker 13: Have a look here, Yeah, I picked up four sets
of Prince off at all told he's here, the dead
man's he's here. They belonged to the paunch op operator.
He's born to his son helps him in the shop. Huh,
I guess this is the one you're looking for. Too
clean index Prince to classify him, checked him against Prince
from Andrew Howard's package.
Speaker 5: You know they match.
Speaker 4: When we checked in for work the following morning, we
got the coroner's report on Ralph Tabor. Cause of death
was listed as cerebral hemorrhage and multiple fractures of the
skull caused by blows from a heavy blunt object. The
other reports from the crime lab didn't give us much help.
Speaker 5: The better part of.
Speaker 4: The next three days, ED and I, along with Al
Shambra and Joe Lamonica, held detailed interviews with the known
friends and associates of the murder victim, Ralph Tabor and
the number one suspect, Andy Howard. The information we picked
up was incorporated in a supplementary All Points bulletin and
gotten out immediately. We found out that Andy Howard had
a sailor's uniform in his possession and though authorized, he
wore it frequently. It bore the insignia of a Quartermaster
first class on the sleeve. We also found out Howard
had identical tattoos on each forearm, the picture of an
unfrilled American flag with a name Betty D below it.
We had the city covered for the suspect. Four days passed,
no trace of him. Saturday, November twenty fourth, we got
an urgent call from homicide Commander Lieutenant mort Gear in
San Diego.
Speaker 6: On the highway. Uhh when was that? May I see, hey, Joe,
you've got a pencil there.
Speaker 5: Yeah, there you go.
Speaker 6: Thanks, And I was pretty sure huh huh oh, yeah,
it seems to tie in.
Speaker 11: All right, how's that? Well, I don't know for sure.
We'll check Captain Norman right now.
Speaker 5: Let you know.
Speaker 11: Yeah, thanks Mark, goodbye, good break.
Speaker 5: What do you have to say?
Speaker 6: One of their trafficmen down there felt about the name
of Jack Flad stuffed car on the highway going out
of town speeding. Yeah, that says a man, answers Andy
Howard's description perfectly, right down to the tattoo on the forearm.
No doubt about the car I was driving was Tabor's description.
License number even used Tabor's identification.
Speaker 5: When do all this happened?
Speaker 6: Day after the murder? Hell them, man, they didn't have
the information at the time.
Speaker 5: It's a bumm break. Which way was Howard going? They
tell you? Yeah?
Speaker 4: And of town?
Speaker 5: I figure you're still there someplace? What mean? Finally, car
an hour ago abandoned.
Speaker 4: Ten minutes after the phone call from San Diego. Captain
Norman checked back in at the office and Ed and
I met with him. We told him about the information
san Diego had phoned in, and he gave Ed and
I an immediate OK for the trip south. We went
down to the garage, picked up a car, and six
hours later we checked in with Sergeant Russ ormsby San
Diego Homicide.
Speaker 14: What's this another fishing tripp? Or are we doing business
this time?
Speaker 5: Great?
Speaker 6: It's all business, Russ, Andy Howard thing walk here around.
Speaker 14: No, I won't be back till later. I can brief
you on it though. McGuire and I have been working
it on this end.
Speaker 5: Well, how about Tabor's car? You still got to stake down?
Speaker 14: Yeah, no, nibble chip. What do you figure if nothing happens,
pull it in tomorrow, process it for Prince. Yeah, we've
had something warmer nuts since mort Get called it looks
pretty good. Yeah, what you got when I came up
with it a couple of hours ago. Field interrogation card
made out last night West end of town. Beat officer
by the name of Driscoll questioned a man and a
girl parked in a car out that way last night
there's a description.
Speaker 2: On the man.
Speaker 5: Thanks Roy, Yeah, Fitz Howard all the way in here.
Couldn't get much closer, huh.
Speaker 14: They checked out the car they were and belongs to
the girl.
Speaker 4: Yeah look here, and he's still using Tabor's identification.
Speaker 5: Yeah, all right, where's it go from here? Russ? You
got this? Andy Howard spotted.
Speaker 14: No beat man Driscoll. He didn't know the guy from Adam.
Speaker 5: You know where's that Leavis?
Speaker 14: The girl Howard was with, Driscoll knew her.
Speaker 5: We contacted the beat officer Driscoll.
Speaker 4: The girl who had been spotted sitting in a parked
car the night before with murder suspect Andy Howard was
identified as Helen McClung, a waitress in a downtown cocktail bar.
A stakeout was placed in her apartment and she was
brought in for interrogation.
Speaker 15: He's not a good friend of mine. I don't know
where he lives, don't know what he does.
Speaker 6: I had even knowing, Siry, You're out for a drive
with him like before.
Speaker 5: Lat's that right?
Speaker 8: Sure?
Speaker 15: I don't deny that we went out for a ride.
Speaker 16: That's all there is to it.
Speaker 14: Be sure you don't know where this man lives, Helen,
Not exactly.
Speaker 15: No, he's staying at a hotel downtown. I think we
went for a ride and I dropped him off the
bus line. That's all it was to it.
Speaker 5: You expect see him again? You have any dates with
him the next couple of days?
Speaker 7: No, tell you the truth.
Speaker 16: I thought I had a date.
Speaker 15: Didn't work out.
Speaker 7: Nothing ever works out, but on this morning called it off.
Speaker 16: Tell you why I gave some lame excuse. I found
out the real reason though?
Speaker 14: What's that?
Speaker 5: Do you mind telling us?
Speaker 7: I don't mind.
Speaker 15: He's got a date with my girlfriend instead, Claire Peterson.
Burn me up a little bit, I don't mind.
Speaker 5: Where's your girlfriend live, Helen?
Speaker 15: You mean Claire an on Rose Avenue fifteen hundred block.
I'm not sure though.
Speaker 5: Is he going to pick her up there?
Speaker 8: I guess?
Speaker 5: So?
Speaker 8: Who I?
Speaker 5: When's the date? Fort? You know?
Speaker 7: Yeah?
Speaker 3: Nine, you are listening to dragnet authentic stories of your
police force in action.
Speaker 4: Monday November twenty sixth ten am. After checking her name
through San Diego R and I, we finally located the
address of the girl, Claire Peterson, who was supposed to
have a date with our murders suspect Andy Howard that night.
She lived in a small apartment house in the southeast
end of town. The manager told us that she'd already
left for work. We ran it down.
Speaker 5: The Peterson girl was employed.
Speaker 4: As a cutter and a shirt factory down in the
industrial district.
Speaker 5: We questioned her at her work. A tall, attractive.
Speaker 4: Girl, blonde, blue eyes, a small scar in her chin.
She kept working while we talked to her.
Speaker 16: Yeah, I have a date with Ralph tabored night. Something
the matter great.
Speaker 5: Saw Miss Peterson the first place. His name isn't Ralph.
Speaker 17: Table No, I'm sorry, you must be wrong, Officer. I
was out him just last Monday. I know it's his
names on everything. He has, his cars, wallet.
Speaker 16: All his business papers. She must have made a mistake.
Speaker 5: No, it's no mistake, man. We checked it out pretty thoroughly.
We'd like to talking about it if we could.
Speaker 14: Please.
Speaker 17: Well, there's not too much to tell. I just met
him Monday night. It was with my girlfriend, Helen, who
wanted to go out with me, so I made a date.
I don't think there's anything wrong.
Speaker 5: He said he's to meet you at your apartment.
Speaker 6: Miss Peterson, did you give any specific time when.
Speaker 16: He'd be there eight or eight thirty. He said, hey,
what's wrong? You know there's something wrong with him?
Speaker 5: Man, I know.
Speaker 16: Don't you think we want him?
Speaker 5: For questioning? Ma'am? You any idea where he lives?
Speaker 17: No, No, I happened one of the hotels downtown. I
think Fifth Street or sixth Street. I wouldn't know for sure.
Speaker 16: What do you want him? Can't you tell me?
Speaker 8: Please?
Speaker 6: We believe he's committed a murder, Miss Peterson, a matter
of fact, we're sure of it.
Speaker 7: What do you want me to do?
Speaker 1: He calls up.
Speaker 6: Before your date tonight, don't do anything to discourage him.
Speaker 5: Tell him to meet you.
Speaker 6: If he wants to postpone the date, try and make
him come tonight.
Speaker 5: You can't do that. Try and find out where he's staying.
Don't let him know we talked to you.
Speaker 16: Well, all right, I can't try. You'll be there when
he comes to my apartment.
Speaker 5: I mean, best man who will be there. He'll be
protected all the way. Well, what do you do, ma'am?
Speaker 18: What do you do?
Speaker 16: You say he's a murder, He must be desperate. What
do you do? How you arrest him?
Speaker 5: This choice? Ma'am?
Speaker 4: Anyway he wants it. As soon as we left the
plan with him, Peterson Girl worked. We called Sergeant Tony
McGuire at San Diego Homicide Detail and he made arrangements
for an immediate stakeout at the girl's apartment. At seven pm,
Ed and I, along with Russ Armsby and Tony McGuire,
drove out to supplement the men on steak out at
the girl's apartment eight o'clock nine nine thirty ten PM,
still no sign of the suspect. At midnight, our relief
team showed up and we headed back for the office.
When we got there, there was a bulletin from the
Highway Patrol reporting that earlier that night, a man partially
identified as Andy Howard had been seen heading north from
San Diego on US Highway one oh one toward Los Angeles.
Speaker 5: We got Captain Lorman.
Speaker 4: On a phone, briefed him on the latest developments, and
told him that photographs of the suspect had been distributed
to all officers. The next ten hours failed to turn
up anything new. San Diego officers continued to cover their end.
Eleven fifteen pm the next day, we drove back to
Los Angeles and reported in a homicide there was a
note in the book from Lormon asking us to check
in early the following morning.
Speaker 5: So Ed and I signed out and went home to
get some sleep.
Speaker 4: The next morning, one am.
Speaker 5: Hello Friday talking, Sorry to wake you up, Friday. This
is Hawkins down the business office. Oh yeah, Hawkins, what
do you got?
Speaker 6: Beat officer on.
Speaker 17: In Wheelshair called in two or three minutes ago.
Speaker 14: He figures he has your murder suspect for you, Andy Howard.
Speaker 5: Bring him in now, Well, what about identification? He checked
that over.
Speaker 11: Oh, no identification. He's wearing a sailor's you have.
Speaker 5: For what about insignia?
Speaker 14: His ratings first class.
Speaker 4: After I hung up, I phoned Ed, got him out
of bed, and the two of us drove down to
the office where we picked up the suspect and took
him to the interrogation room. During the interrogation we found
a wallet concealed on his person. It contained a driver's license,
credit card, and half a dozen other means of identification,
All of them were made out to Ralph Tabor. After
an hour of questioning, he'd still admit nothing. He sat
hunched over in his chair, tearing an old envelope in
the small pieces and dropping them on the floor in
front of him.
Speaker 19: I'll make the tenth time I told you I don't
know what happened to Ralph. I didn't take his car
or his television set. I didn't leave the city. I
wasn't in San Diego last week. Now, if you don't
believe me, you'll prove I'm lying.
Speaker 5: We didn't put in on them. Guess Andy, we'll prove it.
Speaker 11: Do you mind telling me how we.
Speaker 5: Got three people on their way in here right now?
Speaker 4: Ralph Tabor's sister is Landlady, a man with a name
of Sims, pawn shop dealer.
Speaker 5: Mean anything to you?
Speaker 6: My word against there three to one, mister, I got
the odds in their favoring. Look, why don't we straighten
this out once and for all. You think I killed
my friend Ralph? Why explain it to me? Why should
I kill him?
Speaker 4: Look, I wouldn't know, Andy. Maybe you'd like to tell us.
His sister says he was pretty good to you, She
was good to me. I guess she didn't tell you
what I did for him overseas when we were in
the Navy together.
Speaker 5: No, she didn't tell us.
Speaker 19: She wouldn't. Stupid women. I haven't found one of them
worth anything. Frustrated she needs a husband, that's her trouble.
Speaker 4: She claims her brother was paying the bills for you, Andy,
He gave you clothes, money, his car.
Speaker 5: She says, you were living off them.
Speaker 19: I say, and that's all the thanks I get. After
all I did for Ralph. I brought a few dollars. Yeah,
that's all. Kept throwing it up to me, him and
his sister. After all I did for him.
Speaker 5: What are you trying to say? Andy? Could have been
different Ralph than me?
Speaker 19: What do you want me to say?
Speaker 5: Did you kill him? Did you kill him?
Speaker 11: Andy?
Speaker 19: You can't explain it that way. It's not as simple
as that. Didn't No, it's all mixed up together. It's complicated,
not simple at all. I mean with your best friend, especially,
it's more of a mistake. I mean, Marley, I didn't
mean to kill him.
Speaker 5: I just did. It's a mistake, terrible mistake.
Speaker 12: You want to give us a statement? Hard Smaga, pril
take it down? Oh yeah, all right, in a minute.
I just want to make sure you understand I mean
about Ralph and all I did for him. Yeah, no gratitude,
gratitude at all.
Speaker 5: You blame me.
Speaker 11: I mean after all I did for him.
Speaker 4: You blame me, Well, you should have remembered Andy about gratitude. Yeah,
doesn't mean much when you have to ask for it.
Speaker 2: The story you have just heard was true. The names
were changed to protect the innocent.
Speaker 3: On February fourth, trial was held in Superior Court Department
eighty nine, City and County of Los Angeles, State of California.
In a moment the results of that trial, Andrew Thomas
Howard was tried and convicted of murder in the second degree.
He is now serving his term in the State Penitentiary
San Quentin, California. Second degree murder is punishable by imprisonment
from five years to life.
Speaker 2: Ladies and gentlemen, right now, inflation is America's number one
menace on the home front. It's the one enemy that
can lick America. We can help prevent this by working harder,
working better. The fight against inflation will succeed only if
all of us get behind it.
Speaker 3: You have just heard Dragnet a series of authentic cases
from official files. Technical advice comes from the Office of
Chief of Police W. H. Parker, Los Angeles Police Department.
Heard tonight were Barney Phillips, Joyce McCluskey and Virginia Gregg.
Script by Jim Moser, music by Walter Schumann, hell Given speaking.
Speaker 2: Next, it's David Harding and Pounder Spy on NBC.
Speaker 1: Welcome back. Well, a solid missing person's case. This is
why where the title raises questions to me, because like
the Big LIGHTE Scrap, this feels like a title that's
based on some production circumstances and the idea that you
would almost not end up recordings Ragnet, particularly when they
were doing so much of the series by transcription, seems
very odd. I mean, in nineteen fifty two, it was
one of the network's premiere programs. It was a show
that had a sponsor, so them missing an episode would
be kind of a big deal. So I don't know
why they almost missed it, or if somebody was, I
don't know, maybe just a little bit anxious and exaggerating
and picking that title. It is also one of those
titles that can make it challenging when it comes to
matching radio programs to the TV episodes they were adapted from.
There were a handful of TV episodes from the seventh
season of Dragnet that started to circulate online, and I
watched one, and I thought that episode was an original
to TV program, but it wasn't. It was this story
adapted to television. Now, I haven't watched it in a while,
and I didn't know if it would be particularly useful
to go through it like seen by Seeing to see
where it differs. But I think it actually tracked pretty close.
It was during the point that Frank Smith was Friday's
partner and they were both actually up for promotion, which
they'd end up getting, and so there's a little bit
of that in the plot, but other than that, it's
very much the same story for me. It was noteworthy
because the actor who played the San Diego police officer
was William Boyett, and if you know your Jack Web television,
he played Sergeant MacDonald on Adam twelve, so that was
a bit of a treat. Now, the episode was not
titled The Big Almost No Show. On YouTube, you can
find it as The Big Bit. Well, now it's time
to thank our Patreon supporter of the day. Thank you
to RB Patreon supporter since September twenty twenty one, currently
supporting the podcast at the Master Detective level of fifteen
dollars or more per month. Again, Thanks so much for
your support, RB, and that will do it for today.
If you're enjoying the podcast, please follow us using your
favorite on cast software, and be sure to rate and
review the podcast wherever you download it from. We will
be back next Thursday with another episode of Dragonnet. But
join us back here tomorrow for yours truly, Johnny and
all our where Sure.
Speaker 2: I remember Jimmy cutter, yester.
Speaker 18: That's why I'm spending my own money to make this
long distance telephone call from the telephone boot. You're in
the drug store, cuzy up, you're right away. I can
help you solve the murder.
Speaker 14: Who's Jimmy?
Speaker 18: I know who is? Well, that's why I think you're
gonna come up here right away.
Speaker 2: Yeah, Jimmy.
Speaker 18: Everybody around here and even his own insurance coming to
They all thought he just had an accident. His name
was mister Andrew Parkinson.
Speaker 2: Parkinson. I see you're talking.
Speaker 18: Kind of fast, because I used to all my money
in this telephone.
Speaker 4: Mister.
Speaker 18: I saw this other man from off that bridge.
Speaker 2: Did he know you? Saim Oh?
Speaker 18: I don't see how he could help with He didn't
do anything about it, so maybe he didn't see me
after all.
Speaker 2: All right, what's the name of this other man?
Speaker 14: Let Quillet?
Speaker 10: But you us three minutes are up.
Speaker 18: What are all the money?
Speaker 4: I hear?
Speaker 2: I'm sorry, operator up the name Jimmy, the name of
the killer?
Speaker 14: No, reverse the charges, Jimmy, operator, Operator.
Speaker 1: I hope you'll be with us then. In the meantime,
send your comments to Box thirteen at Great Detectives dot net,
follow us on Twitter at Radio Detectives, and check us
out on Instagram, Instagram, dot com slash Great Detectives from Boise, Idaho.
This is your host, Adam Graham. Sign and off.