Speaker 1: Welcome to the Great Detectives of Old Time Radio from
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dot Great Detectives dot net. Well now. From July twelfth,
nineteen fifty one, here is the big setup.
Speaker 2: The story you were about to hear is true, only
the names have been changed to protect the innocent. You're
a detective sergeant.
Speaker 3: You're assigned to burglary detail.
Speaker 4: A gang of.
Speaker 2: Clever thieves are at work in your city. In three months,
they've looted fashionable homes of one hundred thousand dollars.
Speaker 5: In furs and jewels.
Speaker 4: There's no clue to their identity.
Speaker 6: Your job get them.
Speaker 7: Dragnet the documented drama of an actual crime. For the
next thirty minutes, in cooperation of the Los Angeles Police Department,
you will travel, step by a step on the side
of the law through an actual case transcribed from official
police by us, from beginning to end, from crime to punishment.
Dragnet is the story of your police force in action.
Speaker 8: Was Wednesday, January tenth, was cold in Los Angeles. We're
working the day watch out of burgery detail. My partner's
Ben Romero. The boss is Captain Wisdom. My name's Friday.
It was eleven fifteen am when we got back to
the city Hall Captain Wisdom's office.
Speaker 5: Hi, Skipper, Hi, how'd you make eye?
Speaker 3: Not too good? Same old story.
Speaker 5: Anybody in the house and the thieves broke in?
Speaker 8: Yeah. The children's nurse was there. She said the burgery
took place about midnight. She was asleep in bed at
the time. The nurse said she woke up when she
heard the thieves forcing their way in through a side door.
She jumped out of bed, ran for the telephone in
the hallway, and they grabbed her before she could reach it.
Do her any harm, well a little? Yeah, They tied
her up, locked her in a closet.
Speaker 3: Same memo as the other job, skipper. Three men each
have the more gloves and a mask. They took all
the furs and jewelry. They could find nothing.
Speaker 5: Now, nurse, give you the same general description on the
three of them.
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's not going to help them. I'd said. Two
of the men were tall, medium bill and one was short,
heavy Bill. She was so rattled she couldn't even remember
the clothes.
Speaker 9: Then, or twelve jobs are the same gang in three months?
We don't even have a good description of them. Hows local?
Speaker 3: We move doing everything we can give her.
Speaker 9: Excuse me for burgary wisdom. Uh huh, not until two o'clock. No,
that's all right, two o'clock sharp, right bye, Just had
an appointment, cancelot. How about a cup of coffee downstairs?
I didn't even have a chance for breakfast this morning?
Speaker 8: Final with me?
Speaker 3: I mean, grab my hat, I'll get it here you go. Thanks.
Speaker 9: I guess you talked to the owners of the house
on the place was broken into last night.
Speaker 8: Yeah, we did mister and Ms Peterson. They got home
a couple hours after the burglary, took a quick inventory
where they find missing furs and jewels, same as the
other jobs, almost twelve thousand dollars worth. It's the biggest
fall yet.
Speaker 5: I don't have to spell it out for you. We
need a break on this thing.
Speaker 3: We need a bad more pressure from the front office.
Speaker 9: Well coming from all sides. The victims are insurance companies, newspapers.
They got a right to cry. Those thieves have.
Speaker 5: Been grabbing furs and jewels for three months.
Speaker 3: We're doing everything about it we can. New is Gibber planning, steakhouts,
working our informants, running down every lead we can get
our hands on, covered every angle. I thank god.
Speaker 5: They don't worry about the angles we cover. They want results.
They want their property back and go ahead, Gibber. Yeah. Now,
how about the stuff they took on the job last night?
You get it on the stolen property list?
Speaker 8: Yeah, it's all listed. That's one thing that really gets me.
What are the thieves doing with all that stuff, the
furs and the jewelry. We've had every pawn shop in
the city on the alert since they started working. Checked
on every possible outlet we know of any place they
could use to dump this stuff. They haven't turned up
a trace of it.
Speaker 5: No results in those apbs you got.
Speaker 8: Out, Well, yeah, a few, but none of them. Am
panning out.
Speaker 3: How about trying the cafeteria here, they got pretty good coffee.
Speaker 4: Oh good idea.
Speaker 3: Why don't you too, grab a table, I'll get the coffee.
Speaker 5: Right then, Oh, hold the cream on mind? Will you
ride skim?
Speaker 8: How's this is all right? Yeah?
Speaker 4: Fine?
Speaker 5: Tree chairs?
Speaker 9: Yeah, okay, how about it, Friday, You or Ben got
any ideas at all?
Speaker 8: Well, there's one thing we wanted to talk over with you.
We were kicking the idea around on the way back
into the office. It's like a smoke.
Speaker 4: Oh thanks, there you go.
Speaker 8: Last night we were comparing the different stories we got
from the burgery victims.
Speaker 5: Yeah, life, thank you you a letter? Yeah, it's all right,
go ahead.
Speaker 8: Well that's one thing that all their stories seemed to
happen in common. Now that's counting all twelve victims.
Speaker 5: Yeah, what's that.
Speaker 8: Let's see, I got a piece of paper here, I
got it all figured out. Yeah, we know all the
victims are fairly wealthy people. They go out quite a
bit parties, nightclubs, things like that.
Speaker 5: Yeah, none of them were at home at the time
the burglaries.
Speaker 3: You pull up, that's right, Yeah, here you go. There's
your skipper, Joe, Thank you very much.
Speaker 8: I'm just telling you Captain about that idea we were
talking about on the way back in.
Speaker 5: Yeah, all right, so none of the victims were home
at the time of the burglary. Where does it go
from there?
Speaker 8: Well, for one thing, we all pretty much agree that
there must be a fingerman working with a gang, don't we.
Somebody who knows the victims aren't home. Somebody who also
knows the victims aren't wearing the furs or jewels on
that particular Night's right, right.
Speaker 5: We've been going on that assumption. The question is who's
the fingerman.
Speaker 8: Well, that's what I'm trying to get at here. Ben
and I compared the victims' stories. We found out that
in every case, each of the victims had been out
in some public place from three to five days before
the night of the burglary. Now, at that time, every
one of them wore furs and expensive jewelry.
Speaker 3: Yeah, why don't you read off some of those examples
we got there Joe.
Speaker 8: Okay, well, here's the first one. Mister and missus Charles King. Now,
on December tenth, they went to a nightclub out in Hollywood.
Missus King wore a fur coat and quite a bit
of jewelry. On December fourteenth, they went out to a theater.
They didn't dress up at all. They left the furs
and jewels at home. That's the night that their house
was burgerized.
Speaker 5: And the same pattern shows up in every one of
the victim's stories.
Speaker 8: No, no, it's not quite that close, but the same
elements seem to be there.
Speaker 3: Here's another one, Skipper. Let's see mister and missus Lyons.
November twentieth, they went to a big party to restaurant
out on sunset. Woman wore jewelry expensive for a wrap.
A week later, they went to a party to friend's house.
Missus Lyons left their first and jewelry at home. The
same night thieves broke in.
Speaker 4: That's a pretty good angle.
Speaker 5: How do you tie up all the loose ends?
Speaker 8: Well, I see a paper again, Ben, We got it
half way figured right here. Just before each of the
victims was taken, they appeared in the public place wearing
the furs and jewelry. We've got a list of all
the places nightclubs, restaurants. There's about six of them here.
Speaker 5: So the fingerman for the gag must be watching these
six places.
Speaker 3: He spots the people with expensive firs and jewelry, tips
off the gang. They watch the house next time the
people go out, and the thiefs see the woman isn't
wearing her furs and things, and they move in.
Speaker 8: It's not a sure thing. We're just guessing you in
this tent. We think it sounds like a fair guest.
Speaker 4: Let's move on.
Speaker 3: We'll have to cover each of those nightclubs and the restaurants.
We're going to take more men, more time. Could be
nothing but a blind alley.
Speaker 4: We got the men, we got the time.
Speaker 5: Let's try it.
Speaker 8: Ten pm, Wednesday, January tenth. Our idea for stopping the
burglary gang by reaching their spot or fingerman was put
into operation. The half dozen nightclubs and restaurants where we
thought the spotter might be checking off richly dressed couples
as future burglary victims were placed under strict surveillance. Managers
and employees of each of the places were questioned. It
went slow. The first week got us four leads to
check out. They let nowhere. Any and all suspicious looking
persons loitering in or near the clubs and restaurants that
we had staked out were questioned and checked out thoroughly.
Another week passed no results in the meantime. On January
twenty third, the burglary gang hit again, this time at
a dentist's home in the Hollywood Hills. The maid, a
Missilsea Bergstrom, was the only one present at the time
of the burglary. Ben and I drove out the interviewer.
Speaker 10: It was soon before midnight. The mister and missus was
gone out evasitting the television.
Speaker 3: The three men broke in the side doors. That'd right,
Miss Brooks, ye had the side door, I think.
Speaker 11: So.
Speaker 12: I was sitting at the television boxing. I hear this sound.
I turn around and the three men they're right there
in the room with me. I thought I could scream,
but I couldn't.
Speaker 8: Or do you remember what the men looked like, Miss Bergstrom,
how they were dressed.
Speaker 11: I don't know.
Speaker 12: I was so much being frightened.
Speaker 10: One of them had a jacket on, I think dark jacket.
The others I don't know.
Speaker 8: Anything else about them that you noticed it.
Speaker 10: They had mass all over their faces. I couldn't see.
Speaker 11: I jumped up.
Speaker 12: I tried to scream, but that was so much frightened.
Speaker 3: What did they do then, miss, Yeah.
Speaker 10: They put the cloth all around my mouth so I
couldn't make noise. Then I tied my hands and my
feet and they put me in the closet down there,
you smiled the hollway. I was kicking and hitting at them.
Speaker 3: Had you ever seen any of the men before?
Speaker 4: No?
Speaker 12: Never before.
Speaker 8: Do you think you'd know any of the men if
you saw them again.
Speaker 11: I shouldn't be sure.
Speaker 12: One of them, maybe I might know him his way,
only it was very quick.
Speaker 10: Then I was putting me in the closet. I was
hitting and kicking at them. One of the men, I
knocked his hat off. It fell on the floor. I
pulled at the thing on his face, the mask almost
it came off.
Speaker 3: Well from what you could see, what did the man
look like?
Speaker 12: Blonde hair?
Speaker 10: I can remember, there's not so much on top here,
it's only on the side here, and there was right
there by the forehead hair a scar going over that way.
Speaker 8: Yeah. Was he a big man, you know, as big
as the.
Speaker 12: Other he has a smaller man.
Speaker 10: He was bigger this way, you know, feather. Yeah, he
was so mad and I knocked his hair off. I
thought maybe he'd kill me, only put me in the closet,
you know. And then they closed the door. I could
hear them upstairs going through.
Speaker 11: The mister and missus Ruth.
Speaker 3: And you're pretty sure the description you've given us, miss Worth.
Speaker 10: She had the scar, the blonde hair, not so much
on top. I remember that it was well. I was
so much frightened.
Speaker 11: I thought they'd.
Speaker 8: Killed me after they liked you in the closet. They
didn't come back. That's the last you saw them.
Speaker 10: Yeah, they didn't come back to me. I could hear
the moon round upstairs, and then I could hear them
leave after a while, like all night for the mister
and missus came home and found me. It was so
much frightened. This thing wouldn't happen in Sweden. That's where
I come from, Sweden.
Speaker 3: Yes, ma'am, you sure there's nothing else about these minute
You've noticed something we ought to know about.
Speaker 10: You know, everything I saw, Yes, I I hadden, I
told you the way it was, this never would have
happened in Sweden, not like this, these robbers like this
burglars man. Yeah, these burglars, I thought I'd be dead.
Never would happen in Sweden like this.
Speaker 3: You don't have burglars.
Speaker 12: Yeah, yeah, we had burglars.
Speaker 8: Well just how do you mean he had burglars?
Speaker 10: But I don't break in the house when somebody's there. Yeah,
they they'd tell everybous going from the house. Then they
break it, even burglar, said the angleman. A little bit.
Speaker 8: Before we left the house, we checked with the owners,
took their crime report and a list of their stolen property,
some six thousand dollars in jewelry and fur coats. The
maid's description of one of the three men in the
gang wasn't complete, but it was the best that we'd
had on him in three months. Frank Cunningham and the
Eye Bureau had the description of the scar on the
suspect's forard checked through the oddity file. Meantime, Ben and
I paired up the additional facts about the suspect, the scar,
the color and condition of his hair, along with his
general description is approximate weight and height. We had the
Stat's office make a run for us and all ex
cons with burglary records who fitted the overall description. They
came up with a list of ten names and we
started checking them out. One of the first listed was
a Russell Snow. We checked his last known address, but
he'd moved. His mail was being forwarded in care of
his brother, George Snow, who managed the Neptune Plunge, a
public indoor swimming pool in the East Hollywood neighborhood. We
drove out the interview of the brother.
Speaker 3: Pretty good size for an indoor pool. Huh, yeah it is.
Speaker 8: It's a nice layout.
Speaker 3: They got, must be the office way ahead, Dan, Thanks, Joe, Jot.
Speaker 8: What's that that girl over there? Look at that baby
and so that she's got a real They keep getting smaller,
don't They.
Speaker 3: Makes you embarrass just to look at him? Yeah, maybe
I'm just getting old. Yes, sir, we're looking for George Snow.
Speaker 5: Yeah, I'm here.
Speaker 3: Police officers met the Snow. Like talk to you a
few minutes if we could.
Speaker 13: Oh yeah, let me grab a towel over and get
right off though, for sure, come on over, pull up
one of these deck chairs here.
Speaker 3: All right, thank you very much.
Speaker 8: Well, what is it, officers?
Speaker 4: What can I do for you?
Speaker 8: You have a brother, Is that right, sir or Russell Snow.
Speaker 3: Yeah, that's right.
Speaker 4: Russ is my brother.
Speaker 8: You know, we'd like to locate him if we could.
Do you know where we can find him?
Speaker 3: No, I don't think I can.
Speaker 4: Last I heard from Russ was about six months ago.
Speaker 5: He said he was going to take a job in Minneapolis.
Speaker 4: Not in trouble again, is he not?
Speaker 3: That we know? I would like to locate him, man, So.
Speaker 4: I don't think I can help you much. Russ is
much of a letter writer.
Speaker 5: Only time I hear from when he's in town.
Speaker 4: We've checked.
Speaker 8: At the last place your brother was staying, he told
us he left word to forward all his mail here
to you.
Speaker 4: Is that right? Yeah, that's right. Russ asked me to
take care of it. No letters have come through so far, though.
Speaker 8: Were you to hang onto his mail or send it
on to him in Minneapolis?
Speaker 4: Now, I was going to hang on to him.
Speaker 13: I said he'd picked up his mail next time he
was through. Did I say that was six months ago?
I haven't seen or heard from him since then.
Speaker 3: You wouldn't know if he was actually in Minneapolis or nothing.
Speaker 4: Well, no, I wouldn't. Yes, you know, my brother Russell
had a police record. Yes, there we do.
Speaker 13: Yeah, the trouble a couple of years ago that burglary wrapped.
I think Russe learned his lesson.
Speaker 3: Are you your brother's only living relative? I mean, is
there anyone else in town who might have heard from him?
Speaker 4: No?
Speaker 13: I don't know, olser, excuse me just a minute, all right, kids,
No running around the side of the pool.
Speaker 1: You here he slip and break your neck.
Speaker 3: No more running.
Speaker 13: Sorry, you gotta watch him like the hawk. Yes, like
I was saying, I can't think of anybody who might
have heard from Russ. I'm his only relation. But he
does have a few friends around time. I mean legitimate
fellas you know. Yeah, he'd come around.
Speaker 4: Once in a while, drop and say.
Speaker 3: Hello, Have any of them heard from your brother?
Speaker 13: He might have, but I didn't ask him. Jo Matt Garson,
he's a good friend of my brothers. He was in
the other day, but he didn't say anything about hearing
from Russ. Might be that he has, Maybe he didn't
think to mention it.
Speaker 8: Where does this Matt Garson state?
Speaker 4: You know, I really couldn't tell you, Officer.
Speaker 13: That's a real character, kind of a fluater doesn't stay
with one job more than two months, like last week
when he was in here. He's a real pitchman. Give
me a big sales talk, biggest boggain on earth. Said
he'd tell me a couple of them, real cheap.
Speaker 4: I didn't have any use fun. What's that for a coach?
Speaker 8: Before we left, Snow gave us a complete description of
Matt Garson, together with the names of five of Garson's
acquaintances who might know of his whereabouts. When Ben and
I got back to the city Hall, we checked Garson's
name and description through R and I. He had a
record of two fairly recent arrests, but no convictions. Both
arrests were for suspicion of burglary. We checked on Garson's
last known residence. He'd moved no forwarding address. His last
place of employment was listed as the Parktivoli nightclub out
on Wiltshire Boulevard. The Park Tivoli was one of the
six places that we'd staked out as a possible working
ground for the burglary gangs. Fingerman a place where he
could spot expensively dressed persons, check on their home addresses
and line them up as future burglary victims. Ben put
in a call to the manager of the park, Tivoli
to check on Garson's employment.
Speaker 3: What was that you last July? I see, well, yes
you We'll probably be out tonight, right, thank you boy?
Speaker 8: What's again?
Speaker 3: Garson worked out there all right? Parking lot a tenant.
He quit lest you lie. He's the guy checking off
the customer's first and jewels. He's in a explod manager
told me that Garden has a girlfriend. She still works
at the club. Might be the answer, Joe, Or how
do you figure she runs a hat set stand.
Speaker 7: You are in the communications division of a metropolitan police department.
The teletype room.
Speaker 9: Forty three Los five twenty nine fifty one twelve oh
three pm ap B WMA one fifty five six. Dark haired,
dark eyes, wearing gray suit, no hat. Suspect is wearing glasses,
heavy build, twenty two years Suspect is armed with blue
steel revolver. Any information forward.
Speaker 7: You have just heard a teletype description of a suspect.
This information will apply to many, but careful screening will
eliminate all but one.
Speaker 8: One of the biggest problems that faces a police officer
working the burglary detail is not only apprehending the thief,
but also recovering the stolen property. Dozens of criminals of
this type will spend five, ten or even fifteen years
in prison if they know that on their release they
will have a stake of thousands of dollars in stolen
property which they've hidden somewhere to start over again with.
Thursday January twenty sixth to five pm, we got out
a broadcast and an APB on the burglary suspect Matt Garson.
Then we began checking back on his girlfriend, Virginia Ramsey,
who worked as a hat check girl at the Park
Tivoli nightclub on Wilshire Boulevard. It was one of the
six probable places where we thought that the fingerman for
the burglary gang was lining up potential victims. Despite the
fact that she often associated with known criminal suspects, the
Ramsey girl had no previous criminal record herself. That night,
after she reported in for work at the club, Ben
and I checked her apartment. In one of the closets
we found three expensive fur coats. They were all identified
as property taken in previous burglaries by the gang. In
a strong box in the desk, we found a half
a dozen pieces of expensive jewelry, also identified on the
stolen property list. Ben and I got in the car
and drove to the Park Tavy Nightclub.
Speaker 11: Your hat, sir, check your hat?
Speaker 3: Your name Virginia Ramsey.
Speaker 8: Yes, that's right, police officers. Miss Ramsey, like talk to
you downtown.
Speaker 11: I beg your pardon.
Speaker 8: Say we're police officers. There's our identification. Like to talk
to you downtown.
Speaker 11: What's it all about?
Speaker 3: I haven't done anything, then, there's no reason to worry.
We'd just like to ask you a few questions, that's all.
What about Remember the name of Matt Garson. Understands you
know him quite well?
Speaker 11: No, I don't know. I don't even know what you're
talking about.
Speaker 8: I want to get your coat, Miss Ramsey. We'll talk
it over downtown. Huh.
Speaker 11: I'm working now. Let's not be off till two o'clock.
I can't just walk off the chib.
Speaker 8: We just talked to the manager. He's going to have
one of the other girls take your place. Do you
want to get your coat?
Speaker 4: Police?
Speaker 11: All right? You sure you checked with the manager. I
don't want to lose my job leaving like we talked
to him.
Speaker 8: It's all right this way. Please have the side door.
Speaker 11: Like to know what this whole thing's all about. I
think I have a right to me pulling you off
a job like this.
Speaker 8: We told you, Miss Ramsey, it's about a friend of yours,
Matt Garson. He used to work here at the club,
didn't he?
Speaker 11: I wouldn't know a lot of people work here. I
don't know him all. Why should you want him anyway?
Speaker 8: Do you know him?
Speaker 11: I think I might, yes, I'm not sure. Why do
you want him?
Speaker 8: For interrogation? Just like to ask him a few questions?
Why you're ready to admit that you know Garson?
Speaker 11: I think I might, Yeah, I know him.
Speaker 3: I want to get in, Miss Ramsey.
Speaker 11: Still don't know what it's all about. Why do you
want Matt Garson.
Speaker 8: The same reason we want you? Suspicion of burglary.
Speaker 11: You don't know what you're talking about. You can't prove
anything against me.
Speaker 8: We already have, Miss Huh. We found three fur coachs
in your apartment. There was some jewelry there too.
Speaker 11: Those things are mine, every one of them. They're all mine.
Speaker 8: Might come on, you're wasting time. They're stolen property, you
know that.
Speaker 3: How about it?
Speaker 8: Miss?
Speaker 3: You want to tell us about Matt Garson. Where is
he told?
Speaker 11: You told your first time? I don't know him.
Speaker 8: Ten PM we drove the suspect of Virginia Ramsey downtown
to the City Hall and took her to the interrogation room.
We questioned her continuously until well past midnight. She refused
to admit anything. We gave her time to rest a
little and set out for some food. Then we resumed
the interrogations. Two am. The Ramsey girls still refused to
admit any connection with Matt Garson, his friend Russell Snow,
or any members of the burglary gang. We stayed with it.
By four am, we'd halfway convinced her that protecting the
members of the gang wasn't the answer, that the best
thing for her to do would be to cooperate. Five
thirty AM.
Speaker 11: I have a cigarette.
Speaker 3: Yeah, here you.
Speaker 11: I'll tell you about it. I know Matt Garson, he's
one of the gang.
Speaker 8: You know where he is.
Speaker 11: No, he got me into it, he made me do it.
There was anything else I can do?
Speaker 8: What do you make you do?
Speaker 11: Well? When I was checking coats and things at the club,
I was supposed to watch for customers with money, expensive
furs and jewels, I found out who they were, and
then I'd tell Matt.
Speaker 3: He'd tell the others.
Speaker 11: One of them's Johnny Lang. There are a couple of others,
but I don't know their names. Believe me, Sergeant Matt
made me do it. He got me into it before
I knew what it was all about. When I found out,
he threatened to frame me if I didn't go along
with him.
Speaker 8: Do you know whereny of these men live where they
hang out?
Speaker 11: No, none of them, not even Matt. Ever since he moved,
he wouldn't give me his new address.
Speaker 8: Do you think Garsal will try to contact you with
your apartment in the next few days? Maybe?
Speaker 11: No, I don't think so, not till after the next job.
They're waiting on it. No, they've been watching the house.
Which else is that place out worst Hollywood wealthy people.
They were in the club about a week.
Speaker 8: Ago, and the gang's waiting for them to go out
some night and leave their valuables at home, isn't it?
Speaker 11: Yeah, it's right. Matt says. It's an easy house to
break into. He thinks it ought to be sinch.
Speaker 8: Matt, I don't know better.
Speaker 11: Huh.
Speaker 8: It's the easy ones you trip over before we booked
her in on suspicion of burglary, Virginia Ramsey gave us
the name and address of the people in West Hollywood
who were supposedly the next victims on the burglary gang's list.
Later in the morning, we drove out to see the people.
A mister and missus Thomas Thornson told them the story
and laid out our plans, which they agreed to. That night,
the Thornsons left their home a few minutes before nine.
They were simply dressed, no furs, no jewels. At nine
thirty five, three men scaled a fence at the rear
of the Thornton's home and broke in through a side door.
Right behind them was a detail of a half a
dozen officers who moved in and made the arrest. The
three suspects were taken downtown, where they were identified as
Russell Snow, Matt Garson, and Howard Ferris. We searched their apartments,
their cars, and garages. There was no trace of the
stolen property. Each of the men were brought to the
interrogation room separately for questioning. Matt Garson was the first.
He denied any knowledge of where the loop was hidden,
that's the truth. I don't know where the stuff is.
Speaker 4: I worked for the outfit, that's all.
Speaker 3: And you've been working for three months without a payoff.
Is that what you're trying to tell it?
Speaker 4: Or we haven't been turned over everything.
Speaker 3: We got hold not half of stuff, selling it on
the side.
Speaker 4: I just worked for the outfit, that's all.
Speaker 3: That's not the way we get at Guyson. You're supposed
to be the big man. You masterminded the deal. He
who told you that?
Speaker 8: Your girlfriend, Virginia Ramsey, We picked her up yesterday. She
told us everything.
Speaker 3: What'd you tell you?
Speaker 8: You're the big man? Was your idea? You ran the works?
Speaker 4: What about it? Garson?
Speaker 3: Big joke, sergeant on both of us? What do you mean?
You can ask the other boys. They'll tell you the
same thing. We can prove it too. There's only one
boss in this operation, man, Virginia Ramsey.
Speaker 8: For a twenty three year old girl. It seemed like
a new record of some kind if it was true.
We checked the other suspects, Russell Snow and Howard Ferris.
They told us substantially the same story. The Ramsey girl
had formulated all the plans and directed the entire operation
of the gang since its inception. They insisted that they
had no idea where the stolen property was hidden, but
they did know that the Ramsey girl had a safety
deposit box in a downtown bank. We made a canvas
of banks in the downtown area, and a day later
we located the safety deposit box listed in Miss Ramsey's name.
We obtained a court order and the box was opened.
In it, we found practically all of the stolen jewelry,
almost fifty thousand dollars worth. Ben and I went back
to the main jail where we had Virginia Ramsey signed
out for investigation. We brought her to the interrogation room
where we confronted her with the evidence.
Speaker 11: I didn't think you'd find out. I didn't think you'd
ever find out.
Speaker 3: How about the first Miss Ramsey, I.
Speaker 11: Got the key, you can have it. I rented a
private garage. I got some stored in there, all of
them just about Yeah, you picked up the others in
my apartment.
Speaker 8: How'd you manage to run this whole operation? Those men
you had working for you, you cut them in for practically nothing.
They were experts, the best in the business.
Speaker 11: That's why I hired them. They're the best. It's too
bad she had worked out too bad, didn't go You had.
Speaker 3: A pretty fair run.
Speaker 11: Wasn't that bad for me? Wasn't only twenty three? First
time I ever tried anything like it?
Speaker 3: What gave you the idea?
Speaker 11: I don't know. I wanted things pretty smart setup, though,
don't you think so? Wouldn't you say I played the
whole thing pretty smart?
Speaker 4: Oh?
Speaker 8: I don't know. You figured what You're in jail, aren't you.
Speaker 2: The story you have just heard was true, only the
names were changed to protect the innocent. On March twenty eighth,
the trial was held in Superior Court, Department eighty nine,
City and County of Los Angeles, State of California.
Speaker 4: A moment the.
Speaker 2: Results of that trial, twenty three year old Virginia Ramsay,
the leader of the gang, was tried and convicted on
four counts of first degree burglary and four counts of
receiving stolen property. The three male members of the gang
were convicted of first degree burglary, also four counts. They
are now serving their terms in the state penitentiary. First
degree burglary is punishable by imprisonment for not less than
five years. Receiving stolen property is punishable by imprisonment for
not less than six months no more than five years.
Ladies and gentlemen, vacation time is here again, and a
great many of you will be taking trips in your automobile.
Danger is never absent from the highways of America.
Speaker 8: Be careful.
Speaker 6: The care you take may save a life, and that
life may be your own.
Speaker 7: You have just heard Dragnet, a series of authentic cases
from official fireouts. Technical advice comes from the Office of
Chief of Police wh Parker, Los Angeles Police Department.
Speaker 6: Stay tuned for counters by next over most NBC.
Speaker 1: Stations, Welcome back. I hate to attack the honor of
Finnish burglars. That's one of those senses you just never
expect to say. But the real reasons they don't rob
houses when people are there is because they don't want witnesses.
And this case illustrates why, as that one error led
to the police getting their big lead and ultimately prison
time for all involved. Well, now we turn to listener
comments and feedback, and we're going over to Spotify with
a comment from Harrison who Rights regarding the Big Cleft.
I went to bed last night and I had a
wife sounds like the start of a traveling Willburry song.
Romero's yeah, and his Joe, I wouldn't worry about it.
We'll call it a white lie. Both caught me off
guard for different reasons, but both deserved a radio award
for delivery. He delivers laugh and can tug on the heart.
Another reason he's my favorite partner of Joe's. There's a
restaurant called Cephalous, so I'm picturing a waiter giving an
autopsy report. Well, thank you so much. I appreciate the comments.
I had actually look up the Traveling Willberry's and I
thought they were really obscure, but it was actually a
super group of musicians including Bob Dylan, George Harrison, jeff Lynn,
Roy Overson and Tom Petty and even someone whose knowledge
of rock music is so woefully low, I can recognize
that that would have been an amazing gro So thanks
for expanding my knowledge a little bit. Marton Yarborough definitely
brings a different dynamic, and you rarely get the sort
of comedy sketch effectively that you got when you get
into the sort of Ben Alexander and Harry Morgan eras
as Friday's partner, but there are all these nice, little,
understated bits of humor that really make him a believable cop.
And Yarborough, definitely, I think is a bit underrated in
part because he got because of his accent, sort of
natural accent, he got a lot of random Texas person
roles that could be a bit one dimensional, but he
was a talented actor and really brought something great to
drag it. Thanks so much, appreciate your comments. And now
it is time to thank our Patreon supporter of the day,
and I want to thank Mark, Patreon supporter since March
twenty twenty, currently supporting the podcast at the shawmus level
of four dollars or more per month. Thanks so much
for your support, Mark, and that will do it for today.
If you're enjoying the podcast, please follow us using your
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be sure to lock the video, subscribe to the channel,
and mark the notification bell. We will be back next
Thursday with another episode of dragonapt but join us back
here tomorrow for yours truly Johnny dollar Ware.
Speaker 14: Well, what's it all about, Lee, Well, the floods along
the Ohio and pretty severe this year Johnny somewhat later
than usual.
Speaker 7: Yeah, that much.
Speaker 14: I did read about half a dozen of the big
cities have been taking a real beating in spite of
all their preparations for the big run on that's been
through all over the country. Well, what you don't read
about in the headlines, though, is a little place like Carterret.
It's my old hometown, Johnny. I've sold a lot of
policies there, particularly to the local shopkeepers.
Speaker 4: You know, on their.
Speaker 14: Stocks and merchandise. So there's been a lot of flood
damage and your company's having to pay up a lot
of claim Not yet. So far, the town's been lucky.
Most of the recent bad storms have been across the
state line up in Pennsylvania or over in West Virginia,
the same as too.
Speaker 3: Last year and the year before.
Speaker 4: So the people.
Speaker 14: Gone around Cottaret farmers mostly haven't gone ahead with their
flood control project the way they should have.
Speaker 4: It's kinda red right on the Ohio.
Speaker 14: No, it's in a valley a few miles north. It's
on the Crooked River, and parts of the town are
actually below the river bank. And you see what that means.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I sure can.
Speaker 14: Most of the year it's a quiet, lazy stream about
fifty or sixty feet wide. But when the feeder streams
up in the hills start pouring water down and never
overflows half a time, will go with it and swept
right down into the Ohio.
Speaker 1: I hope you'll be with us then in the meantime,
send your comments to Box thirteen 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 Son and AF