Speaker 1: Welcome to the Great Detectives of Old Time Radio from Boise, Idaho.
This is your host, Adam Graham. In a moment, we're
going to bring you this week's episode of Dragnet. But
first I do want to encourage you. If you are
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per month. Thanks so much for your support, Denise. But
now from October eighteenth, nineteen fifty one. Here is the
big story, man.
Speaker 2: The story you're about to hear is true. The names
have been changed to protect the innocent. You're a detective sergeant.
You're assigned a burglary detail. A dozen churches in your
city are victimized by a team of experienced safe burglars.
You at track the suspects for weeks. You finally apprehend
three men. Your job an victim.
Speaker 3: Drag Met the documented 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 buyers, from beginning to end, from crime to punishment.
Dragnet is the story of your police force and action.
Speaker 4: It was Sunday, March fifth, was cloudy in Los Angeles.
We were working the day Watch out of burglary detail.
My partner's Ben Romero. The boss is Captain Wisdom. My
name's Friday. I was on the way back from the
record Bureau and it was eleven thirty PM when I
got the room twenty five A, the interrogation room.
Speaker 5: Excuse me, Ben, Yeah, Joe got a minute.
Speaker 6: Yeah, sure, wait here, Brighton back in a minute. Yeah,
let's go out in the hall. Huh, how you doing
with Bryson? Me tell you anything now, I admit a thaying.
How about the other two men?
Speaker 4: No nothing, they're sitting tight waiting for their lawyer to
show up. Had all three of 'em check through R
and I. Bryson's a two time loser burglary GTA, his
two partners served time for robbery.
Speaker 6: We shouldn't have too much trouble putting them away. We
got a good enough collection of physical labiness, you know,
maybe heard from the prime labyat No, not yet. I'd
feel a lot better about it if we'd get Buyson
to cop out. Let's try him again.
Speaker 5: Yeah, that's well, nothing to lose.
Speaker 6: Yes, keep your safe, Bryce, And you've got a few
more questions for you. Excuse me. I thought you had
it all squared away by now. I thought you're going
to say I could leave by now.
Speaker 5: No afraid not. Bryce, And you haven't even given us
a story yet.
Speaker 6: Well, I told you I didn't have anything to do
with it. It seems pretty obvious I didn't. I thought
you'd take my word for it.
Speaker 4: Ca an, you think of any reason why we should.
You lied to us once already to know I didn't
lie to I told you the truth. I didn't break
into that church. I didn't have anything to do with it.
Speaker 6: On the way in here, we asked you if you'd
ever been arrested before, and you told us no. I
Reckon Bureau says you're a two time loser. Well I'm
sorry about that, Sergeant, I really am. When you pick
me up, I guess I got a little nervous. I
didn't mean to lie to Yeah, I was just a
little mixed up. I guess you've had a little time
to settle down. You ought to be able to tell
us your story. Now, just relax and take your time. Well,
what did the other two fellas started, Miller and Hendy.
What difference did that make to you? Well, it might
make a lot of difference. Sorry, you just tell us
your story, that's all we asked. What were you doing
at the scene of the burglary? What business did you
have there? If you went mixed up? And then you've
got nothing to hide. I haven't got anything to hide.
I just don't want to involve a lot of innocent
people that saw anything you tell us, it's going to
help you, you know that. But all right, so strictly confidential. Well,
or one of those other fellows you picked up tonight,
the darkhead fella. His name's Miller, Tony Miller. He's engaged
to marry my sister.
Speaker 5: You know, Well, what's that got to do it? Now?
Speaker 6: Please give me a chance. I'd like to lay it
all out for him. Well, ever since my sister got
engaged him and I've been worried about it. I never
liked him to begin with. Likely, I've been keeping an
eye on Miller, him and that friend of his, Henderson.
I knew they were up to something. And then I
read in the paper about that string of the church burglaries.
That guy's breaking into churches. Nothing have to safe. Well,
I had an idea, is Miller and his friend? How
do you mean, bro? That made you think he was him?
I had an idea, that's all. I couldn't prove anything.
It was just a hunt. You must have had some
reason to suspect him. Nothing definite. No, I just knew
something was wrong, that they were up to something. Well,
then earlier tonight I saw a friend of Tony Miller's,
a one of the bars in the neighborhood. I talked
to him a while and finally told me that Miller
and Henderson were out working a deal. Said they were
going to break into a church over on Eighth Street
and knock over the city not till this friend of
Miller's let you win on it. Well, I guess he
thought I was a pretty close friend, as he knew
Tony's going to marry my sister. Anyway, when I found
out about it, I got over to that church as
fast as I could. I wanted to find Miller Henderson
try and talk him out of it. I didn't want
any guy who was going to marry my sister getting
in that trouble like that. But you know, maybe going
to jail for berg if Roell.
Speaker 5: Miller's been in jail before. I suppose you knew that.
Speaker 6: Yeah, I knew it, but that was before he was
engaged to my sister. You met Miller and Hennison outside
of the church, did you No? I was too late.
They had already broken into the place. So I went
around on the back of the church and I saw
one of the stained glass windows as broken while they'd
gotten in. I climbed up on the cellar, and I
could see him working inside of it, some kind of
a small back room. They were working on the safe,
both of them, Miller and Henderson.
Speaker 5: So what'd you do then?
Speaker 6: Right? I tried to talk him out of it. They
wouldn't listen.
Speaker 4: I suppose you can prove your I mean that friends
you met in the buy, the one who tipped you
off about the burgery.
Speaker 5: I guess he'd be willing to go back up his student.
Speaker 6: Well, I'm not sure, Sergint. He might lie. He might
not want to get involved. How about Miller and Henners
in their back at that point, If you weren't involved
in the deal, it wouldn't be any reason for them
to implicate you. Would We're sure there would. Tony Miller
thinks it's my fault. He's in jail. He hates me.
You can't take his word. I think probably the first
thing he'd do is lie about it in Henderson too.
And who you got to corroborate your story? Well maybe nobody,
But it's the truth. I swear to it's the truth.
I'll tell the same thing in court if I have to.
They gotta believe you're asking them, leaf Man. That's the
way it happened, So help me. Yeah, I'll tell me
the truth sod and you know I didn't have a
hand in it. If it goes to court, they couldn't
convict me, could they? Come on? What do you think?
Speaker 5: I think you're a liar?
Speaker 4: To the working detective, the one logical way to appraise
a known criminal is bias record.
Speaker 5: You estimate him the same way.
Speaker 4: You check a particular makeup, automobile, a racehorse, or a
radio set by past performance. By refusing to buy a
trumped up story, we didn't figure that we were doing
the suspect Charles Bryson, an injustice. Bryson was thirty seven
years old. He'd spent thirteen of those thirty seven years
in prison, either the county jail or the state penitentiary.
His criminal record dated back to the time he was
twenty years old. Besides serving numerous shorter terms for lesser
offenses in the county jail, Brison had spent two terms
in the state penitentiary for burglary. Despite the efforts of
the probation officers, the adult authority, and the rehabilitation officials
to help him, he seemed content to go along in
his criminal career. In this particular case, the series of
church burglaries, we had good reason to believe that Bryce
and then his two accomplices, Miller and Henderson, were the
guilty men. All three of them were booked at the
main jail on suspicion of four fifty nine PC. The
next morning, Ben and I checked in at the crime lab,
Lee Jones.
Speaker 6: You're run and here my bill. How about that they
gave the place a new code of paint. Yeah, sure
needed it, fellas hiding Lee.
Speaker 7: That set of burglary tools those thieves were using that
church last night. Just finished checking them over. Might have
two or three things for him, but he got a
look over here you find set of tools. I take
it to thieves had a lot of practice.
Speaker 6: All three of them had records. How about some of
the other physical evidence you got there?
Speaker 7: One thing at a time though. First of all, these
tools here for her small sledge, these three Jimmy Finch,
Bonn and the screw driver. I think we can tie
them in with at least six of those church burglaries.
I think we can do for certain Goodn't there for
three convictions? I think so? For jury's listening, Why you
got it?
Speaker 5: Worked out le tool markings. That's part of it.
Speaker 7: Yeah, I want you to take a look at this
pinchbar here. They did a lot of their work with this.
I guess I don't have to tell you there aren't
two identical pinch bars in the world that could leave
the same exact markings on a piece of woodwork around
a safe. You know, they're on a pair of tools
in the world that leave the same markings than anything.
Speaker 4: Yeah, we know, But can you show a jury positivity
that the thieves used this pinch bar here on six
of the jobs they pulled.
Speaker 6: That's the idea.
Speaker 7: Are compared specimen markings of every one of these tools
against the marketings made at the point of entry on
six of the churches these thieves broke into. In every case,
the markings match perfectly. These are the tools that made them,
no doubt about it. The screwdriver, the set of window jimmies,
and the pinch barner.
Speaker 6: I'm sure I won't hurt our case any get anything else.
Speaker 7: Then I examined the end of the pinch barer of
the microscope, checked the screw driver jimmies too. The tips
of each one of them are contaminated with particles of pink,
different kinds of paint. I've already compared these paint transfers
samples of paint taken from the exterior of those churches
that were broken into each one of them. They match
all the way. The color of the paint, the age,
degree of oxidation, the lead content compares perfectly. Now come
over here something else once you got theren These are
the shoes the two men you found inside the church
were wearing. These are the foot impressions the boys from
Layton Prince lifted off the floor in front of the
safe inside the church. Oh, we know them on that
church floor shot up. The dest impressions of the feet
pretty good. Did you make the brain the boys from
Layton Prince did. Yeah, good impressions. See here general size
of the shoe, the make heal impressions, to wear pattern
on the sole. Here the whole general characteristics of both
pair of shoes matches.
Speaker 5: Up to a team. How much is that going to
mean to a jurim Well.
Speaker 7: I mean a lot. It's the truth. It's the same
thing I've been telling you. It's the same thing I'd
like to tell every copy of the department. If you
can place an object at the scene of the crime
beyond a reasonable doubt, then don't go thrashing around looking
for an object that's an exact duplicate. Don't play hawk show.
Any microscope will tell you there are no two things
in this world exactly and identically alike. I don't care
if it's a pair of shoes, a gun, the crowbar,
or you're two front teeth. Now that's where it lines
up to me. I think you're going to have trouble.
Speaker 6: And I don't know they we shouldn't have.
Speaker 7: You got the three of them right at the seat
of the crime. Not all be enough for the court. Yeah,
I hope, So you know I's on shore.
Speaker 4: Well, Lee, there's only one time I'm sure about Thias
like Bryson. Yeah, when they check them in at San Clinton.
Two days later, Charles Bryson and his two accomplices, Henderson
and Miller were arraigned in municipal court and a date
set for their preliminary hearing. Four days later, the preliminary
hearing was held and the three of them were bound
over for arrangement in Superior Court.
Speaker 5: In the weeks that followed.
Speaker 4: Before their arrangement and superior court trial, Ben and I
worked along with the District Attorney's office preparing the case
against the three men, taking statements, running down additional evidence,
checking and rechecking, piecing together the facts which we hope
would earn a conviction for each of the criminals. We
weren't positive that it happened. The strongest part of our
case was going to come out of the crime lab,
the testimony of Lee Jones. And we knew as well
as Lee did that generally speaking, juries are not too
much in sympathy with scientific fact when it has to
do with physical evidence. Generally they don't follow technical cases
too well. We also knew that the three defendants had
a good lawyer, a clever one. Getting convictions wasn't going
to be easy. The trial opened in Superior Court June second.
Then and I testified when we were called on on
the morning of June ninth, the jury retired to deliberate.
Wait that afternoon, we got a call from the Hall
of Justice.
Speaker 6: Yes, many, Yeah, what's that? Muh I see uh huh,
that's laugh. I guess I think jury's back, Joe. They
came up with the verdict Henderson and Miller. They found
them both guilt at first degree.
Speaker 5: Burger again, what about Bryson? They let him go?
Speaker 4: Well, maybe it was no great shock to us, but
after the time and effort we put in on the case,
it was a disappointment the worst of the three criminals
had been set free. At the trial, Bryson had taken
the stand and told the court the same Cock and
Bull's story. He told Ben and I that he'd gone
to the church the scene of the burglary to plead
with Henderson.
Speaker 5: And Miller not to commit the crime.
Speaker 4: Bryson had a good personality and a fast line of talk.
Wasn't hard to see how he could convince a jury
that it was only an innocent bystander. The biggest obstacle
that stood in the way of convicting Bryson was that
the prosecution, a district attorney, according to law, could not
call to the attention of the jury Bryson's previous criminal record,
especially as two prior convictions for burglary, to them. Because
of the limitations of the law, he was presented as
a private citizen with as much integrity and as clean
of any previous guilt as you or your neighbor.
Speaker 5: Henderson and Miller were committed.
Speaker 4: To the state penitentiary to serve sentences as prescribed by law,
and Charles Bryson shortly after the trial left the city.
Two months passed Saturday, August eighth, I started on my vacation.
Two weeks later, on August twenty second, I checked back
in for work.
Speaker 5: Hi, Joe, good at seeing aid Jim. What's been doing? Oh?
Not too much. How the vacation go well? Pretty good? Thanks? Mother?
Speaker 4: And I went up north to visit some relative was something.
We're in county. It was a nice trip for she
hasn't been feeling too well, you know. Oh it's too bad,
getting fish and done a little. Yeah, it's sure. Beautiful
country up.
Speaker 5: There is better.
Speaker 8: Uh no, No, I took off today. He's been putting
in some full days while you've been going so anything
special doing?
Speaker 6: Oh?
Speaker 8: Nothing too big? String a chain story, Burger Race, south
end of town. I've been working along with Ben. Yeah,
giving you much trouble. It's been going a couple of weeks,
not getting any better, but beginning to feel the pressure
alone or how does it stand? Any leads on a
suspect Just one yeah, guy, the name of Charles Bryson.
Speaker 4: When our suspect, Charles Bryson left Los Angeles after his trial.
Some three months before, we had reports that he was
hitded east for the city of Memphis, Tennessee. In subsequent weeks,
we had word that he was also seen in Saint Louis, Missouri,
where police officers had him under surveillance as a possible
suspect and a robbery there honor. About August tenth, the
Saint Louis police lost track of Bryson. A week later,
the newest series of burglaries began throughout Los Angeles. The
thiefs mo matched that of Bryson down to the last detail.
The places burglarized were change stores supermarkets.
Speaker 5: Generally, the method of entry was the.
Speaker 4: Same, crying open a back window with a pinch bar
similar tool. The manner in which the safes were opened
in the various business places that match too, So did
five sets of foot impressions found at the scene of
five different burgaries, each of them made by a man
wearing tennis shoes. The operation corresponded exactly to the way
Bryson worked, but there was one big hitch in the investigation.
Nobody could be sure Bryson was back in town. No
one had seen him, no one had heard from him. Monday,
August twenty fourth, eight A M.
Speaker 6: Got us running in circle. So far, Joe, I can't
figure it. I bet lunch money is Bryson, but we
can't even.
Speaker 5: Start to prove.
Speaker 6: Well, how about the people in town Bryson runs with.
Speaker 5: They all been checked out.
Speaker 6: There's one we know about. Yeah, his friends Relictis are
always known hangouts. We've been over at every inch of
the way. Knows they're not saying. There's no trace of
it's a possibility. Maybe we're wrong. Go ahead, what do
you mean maybe we're wrong. Well, the only lead we've
got is the m O. Bryson isn't the only thief
who operates that way. It could be another man using
the same system. Yeah, we've thought about that. He ran
a check to the stats office. Yeah. The only known
Burglers and our records too, operate like Bryson are either
in jail, they're out of town, and they're dead. We
check it through a couple of times, keeps coming out
the same way. Bryson's the only strong lead we got.
Speaker 4: I got it Burglary Friday, Yes itir no cercage. The
taber's out right now. Is there any message well, I
guess about ten minutes. Yes, you're right, I'll tell him.
Speaker 5: Thank you. You're sure that the m O and all
these jobs matches Bryson?
Speaker 6: Huh all the way. That's what's got me stumped. If
the guy is pulling these jobs and he isn't down,
somebody should have spotted him. He's changed stores, he's hitting.
We've had steakouts on him for ten days. I've got
every informant we know watching for Bryson and not a
sound All right, tamer call came in for a minute ago.
Jim said they'd call back. All the things.
Speaker 8: Got this teletype of morning banist from Sam Quentin might
be a line on Bryson.
Speaker 6: Never see an answer on that mail watch. We asked
him for what angles this?
Speaker 5: Ben?
Speaker 6: You remember the two partners Bryson's had on the Church burglaries,
Miller and Henderson who they sent up Clint? Oh, yeah,
you asked Clinton for a male watch on both of.
Speaker 5: Them, did you?
Speaker 6: I figured there was a chance Bryson might write to him.
Looks like it got.
Speaker 5: Us a lead man. What do they got there?
Speaker 6: It's from the Wharton's office, and so it says, regarding
your request on information concerning Charles Bryson. On August twenty second,
Anthony Miller our number one seven two one six J
received letter from person signing himself George Cameron. Contents of letters.
Speaker 5: Suspicious Cameron, that mean meaning to you.
Speaker 8: Just checked Bryson's package again down R and I. Cameron
was his mother's maiden name Wesson Jesus as an alias
before quite a few times.
Speaker 6: I'm about to return address on the letter pen Los
Angeles Main Post Office General de.
Speaker 4: Levin Monday, ten am, we alerted the post office detail
and arranged for a mail watch on all incoming letters
through general delivery addressed to Charles Bryson, George Cameron or
to another of the suspects known aliases. A week passed,
no sign of Bryson, no trace of any of his
correspondents through general delivery. Another week went by two more
chainst our burglaries. Themo in each case was the same.
It Matt's closely to Bryson's known working habits, but despite
our precautions in the close check we maintained on his
friends and his known hangouts, the suspects still remained unseen
and unheard from. On September ninth, an informent of Ben's
called us at the office and told us he thought
he'd seen Bryson the night before. Yeah, Maddie, where was that?
Yeah right, we'll check it, Thank you.
Speaker 6: Bye.
Speaker 5: Bryson's supposed to have.
Speaker 6: Been seen there for a month and every boulevard last
night drinking in a bar up there. It's pretty sure
it was Bryson, he thinks. So yeah, that's the name
of the place here. We can check with the bartender.
See if you can identify Bryson's mugshot.
Speaker 5: Right, I'll get my top CODO.
Speaker 6: I get it, Burgery Friday, Yes, sir, when was that?
Speaker 5: Yeah? Go ahead, all right, I got it, yes sir,
right away.
Speaker 6: Post office detail Bryson called.
Speaker 4: For mail at the general delivery half an hour ago.
Where is he there? Following to eighty Glenmore, Apartment six,
he is.
Speaker 3: Then you are listening to Dragnet authentic stories of your
police force and action.
Speaker 4: September ninth, Tuesday, eleven thirty am, the burglary suspect Charles
Bryson was placed under surveillance at the apartment where he'd
gone immediately after calling for his mail at the general
delivery window in the main post office three teams of
men were assigned the job of following Bryson alternately twenty
four hours a day. We waited for a chance to
get into his apartment and search it while it was empty,
but it never occurred. Somebody was always there, either Bryson
or a tall.
Speaker 5: Dark haired woman, his common law White.
Speaker 4: During the week that followed, the suspect was watched everywhere
he went. He attempted no burglaries. On the eighth day,
the stakeout was removed. Three nights later, two burglaries were committed.
Both jobs bore the marks of the suspects m but
we could improve a thing against him. We knew the
setup we had was going nowhere. If we wanted to
get Bryson red handed, if we wanted a case against
him that did stand up in any court, we had
to find a new approach.
Speaker 7: Lee Jones came up with an idea. There's a job
of stuff right here. The technical name for its antheese.
Because you heard of it.
Speaker 6: I think I've heard you mention the name. Ly, it's
about luminous powder. Isn't it blows in the dark? O?
Speaker 7: No, not exactly. Yeah, take a look at them. You
see colorless odorless, no smell at.
Speaker 5: All of it.
Speaker 7: It's a cold top product. We call it crystalline hydrocobon.
Now here's the point of the thing. When you take
this anthra sine powder and rub it into the surface
of an object, it's completely invisible to naked eye. You
never know it's there. Hey, let me show you.
Speaker 5: How about my coach sleeves.
Speaker 7: That'll do. That's the powder all over it. Some on
your hand too, numb it in like so h Now
can you see or feel any of the powder where
I put it on?
Speaker 2: No?
Speaker 5: Nothing there.
Speaker 7: Now, let me switch on this lamp here. This is
an ultra violet flight. Now watch when I turn it
on your arm where we rub down the potter.
Speaker 6: Look at your hands, Joe like it's lighting the.
Speaker 5: Oh the coach sleeves too, it's glowing.
Speaker 6: How about it?
Speaker 5: Whill this stuff rub off?
Speaker 7: We try it?
Speaker 6: You're spreading it all over yourself everything you touch anything
harmful in it?
Speaker 7: Ly No, Now, watch when I turn the lamp fork
you see gone, never even know you had it on.
Only time it shows up is under ultra violet light.
Speaker 5: Well does it stay on you in? Definitely?
Speaker 7: Oh?
Speaker 6: No.
Speaker 7: The maximum is generally about uh, say, twenty four. You
guarantee the work well all physics, Joe, under the proper conditions.
It's got to It's just when I tell my classes
up at the Academy Crook some chorus skills of one
thing in common, they show up better when you put
them under the right kind of lights.
Speaker 4: When we left Lee Jones at the crime lab, we
figured we had the potential solution in our hands, but
there was still a lot to be done before we
could go into any court of law with a case
that we were positive was strong enough to convict Charles Bryson.
Number one, we had to get into his apartment when
it was unoccupied, find the set of burglary tools he
was using, and doubt them thoroughly with Anthra scene.
Speaker 5: The same for the clothes he worked in. Number two.
We had to get Bryson into custody within twenty.
Speaker 4: Four hours after he moved on a burglary job, or
the anthwer scene wouldn't work. Number three, we had to
find the loot taken in the burglary in his possession.
Ten days passed before we got a chance to make good.
In the first step, I'll get it, Joe, right. Burglary
and Meryl. You got Jim Mo. Good finally I'll be
right out. Good break Joe and Bryson.
Speaker 5: What's it?
Speaker 6: They holed him in on a traffic war and speed him.
Looking him in at the main jail right now, Good
chance to go through his apartment. What about his wife?
She's still up there and she's only way to put
up bail for him. Yeah, apartment's empty.
Speaker 4: By the time Bryson was bailed out, Ben and I,
along with Jim Tabor and Lee Jones, had combed through
Bryson's apartment and finally uncovered a set of burglary tools
and work clothes carefully hidden beneath the floorboards under a
kitchen cabinet directly below the sink. Lee Jones contaminated each
of the tools with the invisible anthracine powder, and also
the work clothes. We checked the apartment for any possible
loot taken in the burglaries, but we found nothing. We
put everything back exactly the way we found it, and
then we left and went back to the office. We
stood buy until four am, waiting for a call that
had indicate that Bryson might be out on another burglary job.
Speaker 5: Nothing happened.
Speaker 4: The next night up until ten o'clock, it was the
same routine. At a few minutes past ten, we got
a four to fifty nine call on a chain drug
store out on Alvarado Street.
Speaker 5: Lee Jilles had.
Speaker 4: His portable ultraviolet light all ready to go. Ben and
I picked him up at the crime lab and the
three of us drove to the scene.
Speaker 5: Of the burgery.
Speaker 6: Straight back here, Lie, can I help you with the lights?
Speaker 7: I can handle it.
Speaker 6: Things as the window they figure he got in safe
stand in the corner.
Speaker 5: Yeah, there's not too much of it left. You all set?
Speaker 7: Lee, you got the extension cart for the life from arrow.
Speaker 6: Yeah, right here, I'm just plugging it in. Yeah okay,
all said, all right, switch it out with it right? Well, yeah,
seems like it where he got in the winter there, Joe.
Speaker 7: Look at that Anth the scene tracks all over, putt
impressions there, tool marks on the safe, left prints on
the floor, on the wall, No question, he left plenty
of trail.
Speaker 5: All right, let's get him.
Speaker 4: Lee Jones put in a call to the crime lab
in ordered the photographer out to take pictures at the
scene of the burgery. Lee and the photographer had stay
at the scene to gather physical evidence and take pictures
of the answer scene, prints and markings for presentation in court.
Speaker 5: Ten fIF Jones.
Speaker 4: Packed up the ultra violet lamp and Ben and I
took it along with us. We drove directly to Bryson's apartment.
Nobody was there.
Speaker 6: No nobody in the bedroom either. How about that?
Speaker 2: I don't know.
Speaker 5: I don't get it.
Speaker 6: Bryson's had plenty of time to get back here, over
an hour. And what about his wife. The only time
we know she left was when she had to go
bail him out of that traffic. One doesn't look like
they pulled out, does it.
Speaker 4: There's a closet full of clothes in there, a lot
of their personal things around.
Speaker 6: Yeah, she looks like they were expecting to come back.
We might check with the apartment house manager. He could
tell us if they gave notice to move. If let's
see here.
Speaker 5: What he got.
Speaker 6: No, if you're on the desk, she says, Charlie, I'm sorry,
but I told you it just doesn't work out with us.
When you read this, I'll be on my way east.
I don't want to be mean with you. I just
think it'll work better if we forget each other. That's
thanks for everything, so long, signed Ruth. If she doesn't
like him much either, Wait a minute, what are you doing?
Police officers? Bryson like talk to you for a minute?
Oh I know, yeah, I remember. What do you want?
Speaker 5: Man? Do you want to plug in that light?
Speaker 6: Yeah?
Speaker 5: Outlet over here?
Speaker 6: What is all listen? You said you wanted to talk
to me. What's it all about? You all?
Speaker 5: Set? Ben?
Speaker 6: Just a minute? All right, okay, turn it on? What
are you doing? What are you trying to do to me?
You've done it all to yourself, mister. Let up like
a Christmas tree, Joe, it's all over him? Here, I
close your hands. What is there's? There's light going all
over them? What are you doing?
Speaker 5: It's a chemical, Bryson. I'm the same stuff you left
all over the drug store.
Speaker 6: And I pack up?
Speaker 5: Ben.
Speaker 6: Come on, let's go, Bryson. I don't understand what's this
whole thing all about?
Speaker 9: You'll understand it. Here's a note for you. Oh I'm sure,
oh's said Jill.
Speaker 2: Let's go, mister. I just I didn't know, mister tramp.
I guess I should have been smart about it.
Speaker 6: Yeah, yes, sir, come on, how could I know? She said,
she was in love with me. I believe it. What
am I going to say when they asked me? All
our friends are all going to ask me, They'll say
what happened to rule? I'd say what happened this time?
Am I going to say? Happen this time? What are
you going to say to the jury?
Speaker 5: This time?
Speaker 2: The story you have just heard was true. The names
were changed to protect the innocent.
Speaker 3: On December tenth, trial was held in Superior Court, Department
eighty sixth, City and County of Los Angeles, State of California.
In a moment the results of that trial, Charles Lang
Bryson was tried and convicted on three counts first degree burglary.
This is punishable by imprisonment in the state penitentiary for
not less than five years. However, due to his previous
convictions on this and other felon accounts, Bryson was judged
an habitual criminal. He was sentenced to spend the rest
of his natural life in the state penitentiary. 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.
Speaker 2: Fatima Cigarettes best of all, Kingsize Cigarettes has brought your
Dragnet transcribe from Los Angeles.
Speaker 1: Welcome back. If you're a longtime listener of the podcast.
The story may sound somewhat familiar. There are quite a
few points of similarity. There's a burglar who is caught
but found not guilty despite physical evidence. You have Lee
Jones coming up with a plan where light can be
used to reveal particles that the burglar collected. But on
the other hand, there are lots of things that are different.
In this episode. The burglar had accomplices that were convicted.
The burglar told a story sorry that got him off
the hook. The burglar in the Big Lamp was married.
Burglar in this story had a common law wife who
left him. As the concluding note to the episode, so
what's the nail? Are we getting the same story told twice?
Probably not. This is probably a case of the fact
that a lot of criminals are caught in very similar
manners in real life. And that's one of the big
challenges with Dragnet and part of what led to Web
getting burned out on the series. In the nineteen fifth
he actually wanted to call it quits after Dragnet had
released its one hundred TV episode. He felt, and I
think with some justification, that having done three hundred radio
episodes and having brought one hundred douds Dragnet TV episodes
to television, that he had covered every kind of case
that the police commonly handled. NBC took the principled philosophical
position that Dragnet should continue to run as long as
viewer continued to watch it, and Dragnet should only be
canceled at the point where it had become so tired
and worn out that people became tired of it, which
it took until nineteen fifty nine, and more than two
hundred and fifty odd episodes have been produced, plus the
three hundred over radio. And in some ways it may
make more difference to the creative person who is doing
it than it would the casual viewer or listener. In
the nineteen fifties, in this world without reruns, where everything
just went out once and that was considered to be
the end of it, Hardly anybody was a lot going
over and saying, hey, didn't they do a case like
that about two years ago. But if you're the person
who's the creative mind behind the series, the director, star,
and showrunner, like Jack Web, was that you somehow shifted
from creating one of the most innovative programs where you
were constantly experimenting and finding new ways to do things,
to doing shows that really feel like you've done them
a hundred times before. But audiences continued to enjoy Dragnet
for the most part until the final season, where creative
exhaustion just kind of became apparent in the series, at
which point it really did need to go away for
a few years until coming back in the sixties with
some fresh issues to a draft and some fresh things
to say. Well, now we turn to listener comments and feedback,
and we start with de Niece, who writes over on Patreon, Adam,
I joined in March and I appreciate your work so
much that I just increased my levels of support. Happy
holidays to you and your family. Well, thank you very much.
And Carolyn and Caral sent a lovely card along with
their donation. This one was of a Bobcat Yellowstone National Park.
I've got to get over to Yellowstone one of these days,
but a beautiful card, and they write, thank you so
much for what you do with old time radio. It
brings back such memories. I remember my mother listening to
soap operas on the radio. We wish you and your
family the very best of the holiday season. Merry Christmas. Well,
thank you so much. Appreciate that nice card. When do
we have some comments regarding the Big Shop left and
we start with Mechanics sixty six rights, you'd think was
such a successful show like this, they could afford other
actresses instead of having Virginia Gregg play every female role.
Not saying she wasn't up to it, but it was
obvious it was her. Well, I appreciate the comment. I
don't think that the decision to have Virginia Gregg play
so many parts was a matter of budget anymore than
the decision to keep having her Butterfield and Stacy Harris
back all the time was a matter of budget. There's
a little bit of an artistic choice that's involved in
this when you decide to do something that's got a
bit of a rep company feel, and certainly over radio,
Dragnet does have that feel. You don't have many modern
programs that do that quite a bit. The main one
that comes to mind, and at this point it's twenty
five years old, is a Nero Wolf mystery. They had
their main recurring cast for Neural Wolf, Archie Goodwin, Inspector Kramer,
Fritz Saal Panzer, and a few other characters, and then
they'd have about a dozen or so actors who would
rotate in and play different parts murderers, suspects, victims, supporting characters, etc.
Who were there for just a story situation. I was
very common in the golden age of radio, particularly on
the West Coast, where performers like Virginia Greg Peggy Weber,
Stacy Harris, Wally Mayer, her Viagrant, Kathy Lewis, and performers
like them filled the airwaves, often playing thousands of different parts.
I don't think you hear quite that same level from
New York, although there's certainly a lot of parts for
Ralph Bell and Larry Haynes and Jan Minor. But they
were the backbone of the radio industry and they got
used a lot because they were consistently good at what
they did. And it's and probably part of what made
the radio industry work like that was that it was,
particularly at the beginning, live and if you were going
to have good live drama, you needed solid performers who
could be trusted to get it right every time, so
it's not a budget issue. And I would say in
addition to that, Webb also just had people he liked
to work with and who he could trust and rely upon,
and those were the top of people that he chose
to have involved in his production time after time. Harrison wrote,
I would have loved to have seen this as a
TV episode where Greg just showed up in every scene
as every female character, kind of like a detective version
of a rich little special. Harrison also right stragnat starring
Virginia Greg and featuring Jack Webb as Joe Friday. She
had to have had even more lunch to read than
even barton Your Ball. I was thrown off by the
in line too, but I suppose if you wanted to
be generous, Friday could have meant that her husband would
be by her side once he discovered the pain she
was going through and give her the attention she needed.
And I would certainly say that the line was not
meant to come off the way that it did, which
was why it was changed when it came to television.
Over on YouTube, James writes, I like how this one
kept the mystery alive until nearly the end. I couldn't
help but wonder if the original suspect was using the
disguise to unburden herself of the stolen merchandise after being
questioned by Friday and Romero. As always, thank you for
providing these and for your knowledgeable commentary. Thanks so much, James.
And then Frankie just writes, good story. Well, thanks so much.
Appreciate you taking the time to comment over there on YouTube.
Well now it's time to thank our Patreon supporter of
the day, and I want to thank James, Patreon supporter
since April twenty sixteen, currently supporting the podcast at the
Shawmas level of four dollars more per month. Thanks so
much for your support, James, and that will do it
for today. If you're enjoying the podcast, please follow us
using your favorite podcast software and be sure to rate
and review the podcast wherever you download it from. We'll
be back next Thursday with another episode of Dragnet. But
join us back here tomorrow for yours truly Johnny Dollar, where.
Speaker 10: You know it's going to take a lot of money
to defend him, and with him and the Clink, she's
the logic going to raise.
Speaker 7: It with the diamonds, the real.
Speaker 6: Diamond Huh, that's my guess. Very well, then I'll go
over to the police headquarters right away, charge it with fraud,
you know, because of the diamonds themselves, and.
Speaker 11: See that she is held until she tells us where
we can recover them. And you better get evidence of
fraud first, the fact that she's substituted paced for the
real diamonds and that duelry. Well, a lot of people
do that, never wear the real stuff in public unless
they have a lot of guards around.
Speaker 6: Well, even so, no, Henley, you've got.
Speaker 10: To prove that she's actually got rid of the real
ones or tries to. You see, I don't think she's
had a chance to yet.
Speaker 6: Why not?
Speaker 10: No, No, listen, I'm running up a nice fat item
for on my expense account.
Speaker 7: What kind of an item?
Speaker 10: Well, so far it only amounts to one hundred and
one hundred and fifty dollars what for fee to a
private detective agency somebody at the Taylor twenty four hours
a day.
Speaker 6: In the hope of finding out what she's doing with
the genuine stones.
Speaker 10: More important, to find out how she'll try to dispose
of them.
Speaker 1: I hope you'll be with us then. In the meantime,
send your comments to Box thirteen at Greatdetectives dot net,
follow us on Twitter at Radio Detectives, and check us
out on Instagram, Instagram, dot com slash Great Detectives from
Boise Atahol, This is your host, Adam graham Son and
all