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 Dragon napp
But first I do want to encourage you. If you're
enjoying the podcast, please follow us using your favorite podcast software.
Today's program is brought you in part by the financial
support of our listeners. You can support the show. Hi,
I'm mailing a donation to Adam Graham pielbox one five
nine one three. That's peelbox one five nine thirteen, Boise,
Idaho eight three seven one five, or by becoming one
of our owning Patreon supporters for as little last two
dollars per month at Patreon dot Great Detectives dot net.
And I want to welcome our latest Patreon supporter. Thank
you to Ben, Patreon supporter supporting us at the shawmus
level of four dollars or more per month. Thanks so
much for your support, Ben. But now from February twenty eighth,
nineteen fifty two, here is the big plant.
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 thirty nine
year old housewife disappeared suddenly, there's no explanation for it.
Five days later, evidence of possible foul play is uncovered.
Your job investigate.
Speaker 3: Dragnet, 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 violence.
From beginning to end, from crime to punishment. Dragnet is
the story of your police force.
Speaker 4: In action.
Speaker 5: Was Wednesday, September fifteenth. That was hot in Los Angeles.
We were working a day watch out a homicide. My
partner's Ed Jacob's the bosses that Brown Chief of detectives.
Speaker 6: My name is Friday.
Speaker 5: I was on the way back from lunch and it
was twelve fifty six pm when I got to Room
forty two homicide.
Speaker 6: Hi Joe waiting fight, Hi ed Al Here you got
something for us, m H.
Speaker 4: Here's the report right here.
Speaker 7: Guard her by the name of Abbot called in day
before yesterday Chester. Abbot said his wife disappeared from their
home out in the valley Thursday night. He says she
thinks she left him. Happens every day, Not this way,
it doesn't. Walsh and I went out to talk to
the man yesterday. A story doesn't make too much sense,
how I mean?
Speaker 4: Now?
Speaker 7: None of his wife's clothes are missing, none of her luggage.
She even left her pocketbook behind full of money. We
found out from the neighbors. The missing woman has a
seventeen year old boy by a former marriage.
Speaker 6: Does that mean anything?
Speaker 7: He's an only child, mother dotes on the kids. She
didn't even say goodbye to him.
Speaker 4: Well, how'd this? Chester?
Speaker 7: Abboit impression pretty groutchy with Walsh and made no cooperation.
Speaker 4: Wants to find his wife, doesn't he? I don't know.
I'm not sure. He's no help. I can tell you
that much.
Speaker 6: Could I see that report out?
Speaker 4: Yeah?
Speaker 6: Here you go, Thank you. Florence Trumble abbitt Age thirty nine.
Speaker 4: Abbot's your second husband. Persman died a little after the
boy was born.
Speaker 5: Disappeared Thursday night from the home five forty six Plasco
Road between sevente eight o'clock.
Speaker 6: Well, when did Abbot call in to notify you?
Speaker 7: Monday afternoon told us he thought his wife might have
been spending the weekend with her sister.
Speaker 4: When he found out she wasn't, he called us. You
meet the boy when you were out there? Yeah, that's
another thing.
Speaker 7: How do you mean a kid came riding up on
a bike when we were talking at one of the neighbors.
They tried to talk to him, but the old man
came out and hustled the boy into the house, and
then he started chewing us out.
Speaker 6: What's his trouble?
Speaker 7: Told us it was our job to find his wife,
not to go prying into his stepson's affairs.
Speaker 4: That's a new slat.
Speaker 6: Well, how about the woman's friends and relatives. They've been
checked out, you know.
Speaker 7: Well she's on it now. I don't think he's had
much luck contacting him so far. I'll tell you the truth.
I don't like the looks of.
Speaker 5: It, Missus Abbott have any other relatives here, I mean
besides his sister two lands?
Speaker 7: Yeah, I got the list right over here. Sure, wish
we had a chance to talk to that boy. Noticed
anything else out of the way about mister abbit Owl?
Speaker 4: Well, I don't know.
Speaker 7: There's that list, Joe, Oh, thank you. Abbot was upset
all right. I don't know though he didn't exact me.
Strike me as reacting way a normal man reacts when
his wife's disappeared.
Speaker 6: Well, how about a copy of this report? You got
one to spare?
Speaker 7: Yeah, sure, just a minute now, missing person's spaghetti.
Speaker 4: That's right, this is spaghetti speaking.
Speaker 8: Was that?
Speaker 4: Oh? Yeah, yeah? Sure about what? All right? Good? Four o'clock? Fine,
all right? Signed, goodbye?
Speaker 7: Well that was the boy I was telling you about,
mister arabbit stepson, what do you want? He wants to
talk to a sounded worried about his mother. He thinks
something's happened to her.
Speaker 5: In police work, missing persons detail is not a department
separate in itself. It's organized is a part of homicide division.
When the possibility of homicide arises in the course of
handling a case, missing persons immediately turns the matter over
to homicide officers for investigation. When we got the call
from the Abbot boy, we automatically took over. According to
al Barghetti, the boy said he suspected his stepfather and
he didn't want him to know of any meeting between
him and police officers. At three point fifteen, Ed and
I left the office and drove to the meeting place.
Designated by the boy the Dairyland Fountain and Coffee Shop
near the corner of Fairfax in Hollywood Boulevard. We got
there at three point fifty pm. At eight minutes past five,
the Abbot boy still had not arrived. We waited another
fifteen minutes, and then we left and drove out to
the valley and pulled up in front of the main
gate to the Abbot.
Speaker 6: Nursery on Belasco Road. The house itself was set.
Speaker 5: Well back on the property, which covered about five acres
of ground. The entire nursery was surrounded by a six
foot chain link fence, and it looked like every available
foot of ground inside was planted with some kind of
flower or shrub. Mister Abbot met us at the gate.
He had three full grown mastiffs with him. He held
him on a chain.
Speaker 9: Yes, what do you want, blase officers you chesterrabbit, that's right,
what do you want?
Speaker 6: Well, didn't get those dogs by if you'd asked some questions?
Speaker 9: Pretty bid you now if you come back tomorrow, it's important, Abbot.
We like talking. Now, all right, you have to past
time you down you two quiet? That's a quiet all right? Now,
what do you want?
Speaker 6: Mind?
Speaker 4: If we come inside soon.
Speaker 9: He's what, dog and mind are pretty vicious. We can
talk here at the gate, all right.
Speaker 5: We've been assigned to look into your wife's disappearance, Abbot.
That's my partner, Sarge Jacobs.
Speaker 6: My name's Friday.
Speaker 9: Mm hmm. Find out anything about my wife?
Speaker 10: Had nothing definite, no thought. Maybe you could help us
mine telling us exactly what happened to night she disappeared.
Speaker 9: What do you mean what happened?
Speaker 4: Well? When did you see her last? When did you
first noticed she was gone?
Speaker 9: We had dinner at Thursday night, about seven o'clock. Then
I laid down for a nap. Florence went out on
the front port for some are I woke up a
little four eight o'clock, went outside to look for her.
She was gone.
Speaker 6: No one saw her leave, mister Rabbitt.
Speaker 9: Not that I know of. Maybe one of our neighbors.
You can ask them. They seem to know everybody's business.
Speaker 6: How about your step son. Wasn't he on Thursday night?
Speaker 4: Ruce?
Speaker 9: No, he went out to a show with some other kid.
Speaker 4: When'd you get back from the show?
Speaker 9: You remember ten o'clock? I think, why where's the boy now?
Speaker 6: Abbot?
Speaker 9: Who are you looking for my wife or stepson, both
of them. Where is he gone? I took him over
to my sister's in Nelhambur. He've been feeling bad and
his mother disappeared. Figure the chance to do him good?
And when did you take him over to your sister's
this afternoon? What's that got to do with It'd like
to talk to him. No, you can't. One allowed the
boy's to upset right now, and I can't allow it.
Speaker 6: Afraid you're gonna have to allow it.
Speaker 4: Abbot.
Speaker 9: Listen, mister, you can get off this property right now
if you want to get FRESI with me. No cough,
you're giving me any fast. He's down there, honey, quiet.
Speaker 6: Nobody's given you sass.
Speaker 5: We want to talk to your steps on that so
all he might be able to give us a lead
on the whereabouts of your wife.
Speaker 9: Now, I say, you can't see the boy. You've been
looking for Flarge for a week and you haven't found
a thing. I guess somebody else will look for it.
It's my business anyway, nobody.
Speaker 4: Else is our business. If anything happened to her, what
are you talking about?
Speaker 6: You better get your coat, Abbot, like to talk to
you out of town.
Speaker 9: Come through that gate and I'll let these dogs go.
Speaker 6: We hate to shoot him, mister.
Speaker 9: What do you find to prove anyhow? But I have
to go on tone for I'll tell.
Speaker 5: You when we get there, I'll get your coat. Jester
Rabbit turned, made his way up the path and into
the house. A few minutes later he came out, closed
the gate behind him, and got into our car. On
the way back downtown, he talked pleasantly about the weather,
the nursery business, and his dogs. When we got to
the office, we found out the reason for his sudden
change and temperament. His lawyer was waiting for us at
the door. We tried to interrogate Abbot, but the lawyer
objected to just about every question we asked. It was
hopeless and we knew it, and so did the lawyer.
We released Abbot, but not before we got the name
and address of his sister in al Hambra, where the step son,
Bruce was supposedly staying. After Abbot and his lawyer left,
ed and I signed out of the office and drove
to al Hambra to check on.
Speaker 4: The boy or get you sure had this one a
real sleeper? Yeah?
Speaker 6: I like know how the step son missed that date
with us. This afternoon, the.
Speaker 4: Boy called us from the house. Stepfather could over hurt him.
Speaker 5: That's possible. Sister's house ought to be along this block.
Shudn't Let's see fourteen oh eight I was six?
Speaker 4: Yeah, yeah, there at is great cottage fourteen oh two.
Speaker 6: Okay, let's pull up here, all.
Speaker 5: Right, nice looking place, well, captain.
Speaker 4: Nice neighborhood. Wonder how the lot prices run out here?
Speaker 6: I'll get the bell.
Speaker 4: Yes, what is it police officers, ma'am you miss Abbot, Yes,
Helen Abbot.
Speaker 5: Why well, we talked to your brother earlier today, Miss Abbot.
He said he brought his step son Bruce over here
to stay a while, see him if we could Bruce.
Speaker 11: Well, yes, he was here until about an hour and
a half ago.
Speaker 4: I went to the store, and when I came back
he was gone. Any idea where we can find him
a habit?
Speaker 11: Well, I tell U phone my brother Chester just before
you came to the door.
Speaker 5: Bruce isn't there?
Speaker 4: Yes, master mind, if we came and looked around, the
sabbath won't take long. Well, why I told you Bruce
isn't here. It's the truth.
Speaker 11: There's no reason to lie about it is there.
Speaker 6: Well, no, ma'am, it's not that.
Speaker 9: Well then what is it?
Speaker 11: No reason for me to lie to you?
Speaker 5: How about your brother? We went in and looked the
house over from one end to the other. It wasn't
a trace of the boy. We drove back to the
Abbot nursery and satisfied ourselves the boy wasn't there. Meantime,
the home of Chester Rabbit's sister in al Hamber was
kept under constant surveillance. No one came or went. The
next morning, when Ed and I checked in for workers
usual at eight a m. We met with Sergeant al Barghetti.
Speaker 7: Well, I had have an idea there might be something wrong.
What makes you so positive.
Speaker 10: Though I just did it Holm, We're not positive. It's
the whole setup, I guess, smelt Bed.
Speaker 4: How do you mean, for instance.
Speaker 5: Well, Abbit's lawyer for one thing. If a man's innocent,
he doesn't have his lawyer sit with him and tell
him not to answer any question.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 6: Number two, the kid's phone call. He didn't show up
for that date you figured.
Speaker 7: I don't know, could be doesn't get along with his stepfather.
Happens you know, maybe he's trying to get back at
him for something or other.
Speaker 6: Yeah, that could be. Why is Abbot hiding him out? Then?
Speaker 4: Pretty sure he's hiding him out. Well, the thing's been
going an other way.
Speaker 7: To take it, Missus Abbot walked away from her home
last Thursday night. Nobody saw her. She took nothing with her,
No luggage, no clothes, no money.
Speaker 4: That's it. You check with her family.
Speaker 10: Doctor yesterday told us missus Abbott was in perfect health.
Checked her bank statements, double checked the name for Wanders
file repeaters found missing persons, couldn't find it in neither one.
Speaker 4: Her relatives too, How you talk to that some of them?
Speaker 6: Yeah, got a few more to check out this morning.
Speaker 7: One thing's certain. No clothes, no money, no luggage. She
couldn't have gone very far. He checked all the angles.
Speaker 5: Out, the sheriff's office, the jails, the hospitals. Sent out
a teletype and an APB. She's been gone almost a week.
Nobody's seen her. Now, how's that add up to you?
I got an idea. Yeah, I hope I'm wrong. Eight
forty five am ed and I left the office and
continued making the rounds of the missing woman friends and relatives.
We checked at the Western National bank, where missus Abbot
maintained another account. Her saving statement showed a total balance
of thirty one thousand, five hundred and sixty four dollars
and seventeen cents. Her checking account had a balance of
eight hundred and forty two dollars and seventy one cents.
At the Farmer's mutual we found the record of an
insurance policy issued to Florence Trumbull Abbot. There was a
twenty pay life policy covering the insured in the amount
of thirty thousand dollars. The beneficiary was listed as the
insured son, Bruce Trumbull Abbot, if living upon receipt of
such due proof, if not, the insured's husband, Chester j Abbot.
By the time we finished checking the missing woman's financial status,
we figured we had a fair suspect in the husband,
Chester Abbot. From casual reports, we knew he was a
frugal man, almost to the point of obsession. If he
was greedy as well, if he wanted or needed money
badly enough to kill, then he had all the motives
necessary to murder his wife, maybe his stepson too. Six
forty p m ed Nidrove back to the office.
Speaker 4: Go ahead, A long day out of minage.
Speaker 6: Wonder fowl still around? Hey, Bargetti.
Speaker 3: Helt Yeah, here, that's you Friday.
Speaker 6: Yeah.
Speaker 4: How'd you do get anything?
Speaker 7: A few things? Pretty predock good. I got some more
for you. Just walked in here ten minutes ago. Bruce
savd he's waiting in the next room.
Speaker 5: We went into the next room and met the Abbot boy.
He was small for a seventeen year old, dark haired, thin,
a little on the sickly side. He seemed nervous and upset.
He told us that he wasn't able to keep the
date he made with us on the phone because his
stepfather did apparently overhear the conversation and drove the boy
immediately to his sister's place in al Hamburg. We asked
the boy what made him so sure that his stepfather
was responsible for his mother's disappearance.
Speaker 11: Well, for one thing, all three of us usually go
to the early show on Thursday night, Chester, Mom and me,
but last Thursday we didn't go.
Speaker 4: Why was that? Son?
Speaker 11: Chester said he wasn't feeling too good and he wanted
Mom to stay home and take care of him, and
he told me to go on ahead of the show,
So I did.
Speaker 6: For what times you get home, Bruce.
Speaker 11: About a quarter to ten ten o'clock.
Speaker 6: Did you know anything unusually when he got home?
Speaker 11: Some not so much. No, Mom wasn't there. I didn't
think much about it. Then I thought maybe she was
over to one of the neighbors.
Speaker 4: You ask your stepfather where she was?
Speaker 11: Uh huh? He said he didn't know. He said he
thought she was over at one of the neighbors too.
Speaker 4: What was your stepfather doing when he got home?
Speaker 11: Just sitting in the living room reading the paper. I
usually don't talk to him too much. I just asked
him where Mom was, and he told me, and then
I went back to my room and went to bed.
Speaker 5: He noticed anything unusual about the way he acted, anything
different about him at all?
Speaker 11: Well, I'm not too sure. He did seem a little nervous,
though jumpy.
Speaker 6: More than usual. I think anything else.
Speaker 11: Well, when I came through the front yard, I noticed
that dogs had mud all over their paws. Read Heimi
and George, all three of them. They must have been
out in the nursery plots.
Speaker 6: Anything unusual about that.
Speaker 11: In a way? Yeah, you see, the dogs don't go
out in the plots unless Chester's with him. He doesn't
want him to trample the seedlings. I noticed Chester had
mud on his shoes that night too.
Speaker 10: When you figure your stepfather was out digging somewhere in
the nursery plots that night.
Speaker 11: Yeah, that's right, digging somewhere he must have been. You
can't figure out why though what he means. My stepfather
never works at night.
Speaker 3: You are listening to dragnet authentic stories of your police
force and action.
Speaker 5: Thursday September sixteenth, seven oh five pm, we continued talking
to the missing woman's seventeen year old son, Bruce Abbot.
As the interview went on, it became more and more
obvious that the boy and his stepfather, Chester Abbot didn't get.
Speaker 6: Along at all.
Speaker 5: Apparently the boy was jealous of him, and he was
jealous of the boy. Besides his prejudice, Bruce also contradicted
himself during the course of the Questioning seven fifteen pm,
the interview went on.
Speaker 10: I understand that, all right, son, But you say you
can't think of any reason why your father would be
out working the nursery plots that time of night.
Speaker 11: No, sir, I can't. I don't know how I'd get
any work done. None of the plots are even light
at only the greenhouse.
Speaker 5: As well as possibly could have gotten that muddy and
his shoes working in one of the greenhouses.
Speaker 11: No, sure, I don't see how all the peasant the
greenhouses are graveled, so my job to see they're kept gravel.
I know they weren't Mouddy because I fixed him the
day before.
Speaker 6: Well what do you think it means, Bruce?
Speaker 11: I don't know. I don't want to think about it.
I just know he's done something. He's done something to.
Speaker 4: Her after your father, that is, your stepfather.
Speaker 10: Give me any reason for keeping you away from the
police officers he came to your house?
Speaker 4: I mean the first two officers we showed up.
Speaker 11: No, he said people were getting nosy, that's all.
Speaker 4: He said.
Speaker 11: It might be better for me over at my aunt
Helen's place.
Speaker 4: Do you think your aunt Helen might know where your
mother is?
Speaker 11: I don't think so. We hardly ever see Aunt Helen.
We don't know her well at all.
Speaker 6: Well, do you know if your mother and stepfather argued
very much? Son?
Speaker 11: I mean big arguments sometimes, yeah, mostly about me. What
do you mean Chester's pretty tight? You know, doesn't like
to spend money at all. He and Mom used to
argue about whether I ought to get paid for the
work I did around the nursery. Chester didn't want to
pay me. That's so yeah. When I started working, he
promised he'd pay me. I was saving up to buy
a thirty one model A. After a couple of weeks,
when he didn't pay me, I asked him about it.
He told me I ought to be glad to work
for him for nothing.
Speaker 4: And your mother argued with him about that.
Speaker 11: Sure, she got good and mad too. She should have
gotten mad. It was her money that bought the nursery.
Speaker 4: Anyway, how'd you happen to get away from your aunt's place?
Speaker 11: Bruce wasn't too hard. Helen had some shopping to do,
and she left me alone. She locked the door to
my room. Even the screen over the window was nailed down,
but I kicked it out and got away. I stayed
at a friend's house last night.
Speaker 6: You thought much about where you're going to stay to night?
Speaker 11: Son, Well, I don't know. Sergeant Burghetti, I was talking
to him. He asked me if I wanted to go
out and have dinner and then stay at his house
to night, And I don't know.
Speaker 6: It sounds like a good idea.
Speaker 11: To me, I don't know sure. Nice of him to
ask me.
Speaker 10: I think it'd be a lot better for you, son.
Why don't you check in next offic see if Bargetti's
ready to leave.
Speaker 12: Huh yeah, okay, Sergeant, thanks Joe, what do you think?
Harrd to say he might be lying. Before we signed
out of the office.
Speaker 5: That night, we met with Captain Warman and outlined a
plan to bring in the husband of the missing woman
for questioning alone. We figured it had served two purposes,
clarify the boy's position in the case and determine, one
way or another if the stepfather was withholding information about
the disappearance of missus Abbot. The big problem was to
bring in Chester Rabbit for interrogation without the knowledge of
his lawyer. As we'd found out more than once it
was impossible to get anything out of Abbot with his
lawyer present. We set up a plan to call at
the Abbot home early in the morning, get the suspect
out of bed, and bring him in before his lawyer
could be notified. At three point thirty the following morning,
Ed and I met at the office and started for
the Abbot place. We brought along a couple of pounds
of fresh horse meat to keep the dogs quiet if
they raised a fuss. At ten minutes past four am,
we parked our car a few hundred feet down the
road from the Abbot Nursery and made our way toward
the gate.
Speaker 6: I reached in and tried the latch. The dog started.
Speaker 10: Out, how about it, joll hope, No, it's padlocks.
Speaker 5: We're gonna have to climb the fence. Task some of
that moat over them. When okay, there, that does it?
Speaker 6: All right, let's climb the fence.
Speaker 4: Keep an eye on the hounds. Looks like to take
a leg off or.
Speaker 6: Take it easy?
Speaker 4: Ed? All right, watch.
Speaker 6: It comes out of the dog and get somewhere of that.
Speaker 4: Moat right there. You're right, boy, go get it.
Speaker 11: Go on?
Speaker 6: All right, that's fine. Come on, let's hurry.
Speaker 4: Yeah, have a little chalk when's alongside of the house.
Fights just went on?
Speaker 6: Come on?
Speaker 4: Who who's there?
Speaker 8: Who'sh it?
Speaker 4: I'll take the dogs on.
Speaker 6: You police officers, Abbot, Friday and Jacobs.
Speaker 9: What kind of business is? What are you doing out
here this time of night?
Speaker 4: You're under arrest, mister rabbit.
Speaker 9: What are you talking about?
Speaker 4: I think you heard me. You're under arrest.
Speaker 9: What kind of crazy thing is this?
Speaker 4: You're gonna pay for this? I'll have your job.
Speaker 6: How do you want to get your coat?
Speaker 9: Your cops are asking for a pack of trouble. You
know that I get your coat. I'd like to know
what you think you're doing. Where's my steps on?
Speaker 4: Anyway?
Speaker 9: What have you done with him?
Speaker 6: I got a better one for you, mister. You done
with your wife?
Speaker 5: Four am ed and I drove the suspect chester Abbit
back downtown to the office.
Speaker 6: He was quiet and sullen. We headed down the hall
for the squad room.
Speaker 4: Right still burning in the office.
Speaker 6: Yeah, probably by Getty's standing by all right, Abbitt in there.
Speaker 4: You are going to pay for these.
Speaker 9: You can take my word on that head.
Speaker 6: You want to take him in, the officer and stay
with him. I'll check with al.
Speaker 4: Okay, all right, Joe, you bring him in.
Speaker 6: Yeah, he's next door. Eds with him.
Speaker 4: It's tough for somebody must have seen you.
Speaker 6: No, I don't think so.
Speaker 4: I must have. Why what do you mean Abbot's lawyer?
He's sitting in the next room.
Speaker 6: How the lawyer had been notified? We couldn't be sure.
Speaker 5: Again, we tried to question Abbot and again on the
advice of his attorney. He refused to answer frantically every
question we put to him. We released him that day.
Captain Mormon assigned two men to stake out on the
nursery and report on all.
Speaker 6: Of Chester Abbit's movements.
Speaker 5: A little after sevent p just after ninth fall, we
tried again to bring the suspect in for questioning without
his lawyer's knowledge.
Speaker 6: It didn't work.
Speaker 5: The men assigned to stake out on the Abbot place
reported definitely that someone was tipping off the attorney. Whenever
unknown visitors showed up at the nursery and drove off
together with mister Abbot, there was nothing we could do
about it. The following morning, al Barghetti came up with
a lead.
Speaker 7: Had a long talk with the boy last night. I
think he came up with a pretty fair lead. How's
that the old man's responsible. We know there's only one
way we'll get a conviction. Yeah, find the body and
enough evidence to tie him in. Where do we start looking?
In a new rose bed. It's next to one of
the greenhouses in Abbot's nursery. Boy tell you this, Yeah,
seems to make sense. We know all man Abbot's crazy
about saving a dollar. We found that out from the
neighbors and the relatives on the nursery trade, especially in
the limited area Abbot has to work in. You cultivate
every foot of ground you have, you plan every foot
of soil with something.
Speaker 6: Well yeah, what's the point.
Speaker 7: Well, Rabbit's not the type to waste anything. He wouldn't
let ground lie fallow when he could plan something that
might bring in a few dollars next spring. Bruce tells
me his stepfather has every inch of the property planet
was something everything except a six i ate plot of
ground on that rose garden.
Speaker 6: Well, what did the boys say? A plot been vacant
for a long?
Speaker 11: Why?
Speaker 7: He says, his stepfather got al ready for planning a
week and a half ago. It's still vacant. Be worth
checking out. How do we do it? We can order
up a crew from the crime lab. They can take
probings to the plot all around it. They ought to
be able to tell us how deep the ground's been
worked over lately.
Speaker 6: Okay, what do you figure tonight?
Speaker 4: I think so? Yeah, maybe eleven twelve o'clock.
Speaker 6: What about old man Abbit? You think he's gonna sit
still for.
Speaker 4: The hunch pays off. He's gonna sit still a long time.
Speaker 5: It was ten minutes past eleven that night when we
got to the Abbot nursery, Lee Jones and the crime
lab crew Al Barghetti, Ed and two other men from Homicide.
Speaker 6: The men on.
Speaker 5: Steakhout told us Chester Abbot, along with his attorney, had
left the house a half hour before.
Speaker 6: In his car, a dark blue coop. They hadn't returned.
Speaker 5: Ed brought along another supply of fresh horse meat for
the dog, so we didn't have any trouble their We
located the vacant plot of ground in the rosebed next
to one of the greenhouses, as Bruce Abbott had described
it to Barghetti. The crime lab crew started probing the ground,
obviously had been working over recently, into some depth.
Speaker 6: They started digging.
Speaker 4: Anderson, get that light over here with you. Thanks, Chelsea. Anything, No,
let's keep digging.
Speaker 11: Try it over here.
Speaker 6: Yeah, you know, this is it.
Speaker 5: He wasn't taking any chances down a good four or
five feet now, wuldn't you say?
Speaker 4: Yeah, at least that Anderson more light.
Speaker 6: Huh, All right, let's go at it.
Speaker 13: Wait a minute, yeah, woman, shoe here, Yeah, come on,
just a matter.
Speaker 6: Yeah, that's it. Shoulders there, it's a body. I look
paid off al the boy had it figured.
Speaker 4: Yeah, too bad. He was right.
Speaker 5: Ed, and I went back to our car and notified
communications to broadcast a want for murder on Chester Rabbit.
Speaker 6: His description, together with the description of.
Speaker 5: His car and license number, was rebroadcast every fifteen minutes.
The attorney was contacted and he stated that mister Abbot
had dropped him off at his home more than an
hour before, he knew nothing of his whereabouts. Ed and
I went back to check the Abbot home and found
the front door unlocked.
Speaker 6: We went inside and looked around.
Speaker 5: In one bedroom, we found clothes scattered over the bed
and on the floor. There was only one old soup
left in one closet. On the table next to the bed,
we found an airline's timetable. We got to the phone
and notified communications to alert all special details at railroad stations,
bus terminals and airports, and then to get out an APB.
After that we checked with the airlines. One of them
told us a man answering Abbot's description of book passages
to Mexico City that night under the name of Charles
Frasier the plane was scheduled to leave at one fifty
two am at the Burbank Airport. We called the detail
at the airport and alerted them. Then we drove over
to the field to follow through on it. It was
one thirty two am when Ed and I took up
our positions just inside Gate three, where passengers were boarding
flight seventy two for Mexico City. There was no sign
of the suspect, either on the plane or in the
waiting room.
Speaker 4: I think you, sir, I don't know.
Speaker 8: Walk your bag over here.
Speaker 10: Where Sparghetti over there by the cocktail, I say him.
Speaker 6: Oh, yeah, what time he got? Now?
Speaker 4: One?
Speaker 6: Eight planes do to take off another four minutes? Isn't it.
Speaker 4: Any sign him? Now?
Speaker 11: No?
Speaker 7: Nothing, just made the rounds check with Stevens and Cummings.
If he got and he came in somebody's suitcase couldn't
have possibly gotten through without one of us seeing.
Speaker 6: It, Well, well he hasn't got much more time. Maybe
it's a dead end.
Speaker 4: Huh, don't see how he could have gotten the whis
do you over there? No? No? By the ticket count
of there, assume.
Speaker 6: Yeah that's him. Come on, huh right, just a minute, abbot.
Speaker 9: I haven't got time now, I missed my plane. Do
you have anything more to say to me? If you wait, like,
get back? It's right, not of it and take it
up my lawyer. I'm in a hurry.
Speaker 5: We find your wife's body. I was that from the
rose bed next to the greenhouse.
Speaker 4: I don't know what you mean. You must be mistaken.
No mistake, hands behind your back. What's it's all about?
Speaker 9: I haven't done anything?
Speaker 6: All right, let's go.
Speaker 9: No, just a minute. You've got it wrong. I don't
know anything about it.
Speaker 6: We think you do?
Speaker 9: Now, come on, wasn't my fault. I didn't know what
I was doing. I pleaded in sanity. She drove me
to it. We were allaing about the boy and you
slapped me. I didn't mean to do it.
Speaker 4: All right, let's go, Abbitt.
Speaker 9: Can you wait just.
Speaker 4: Two minutes more?
Speaker 6: What four?
Speaker 9: I cleaned one from Mexico City? Funny, isn't it?
Speaker 4: What's that?
Speaker 9: I was so close, just missed it. I'd buy more
than one minute. No, you're wrong about that, Abbot, just
one minute, that's all.
Speaker 6: You missed it before you ever bought your ticket. How
do you figure when you first decided to kill your wife?
Come on.
Speaker 2: The story you have just heard was true. The names
were changed to protect the innocent.
Speaker 3: On December nineteenth, 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, Chester Vernon
Abbott was tried and convicted of murder in the first degree.
The jury failed to recommend clemency. Abbot was executed in
the lethal gas chamber at the State Penitentiary San Quentin, California.
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
Technical advisors Captain Jack Donahoe, Sergeant Marty Wynne, and Sergeant
Vance Bracer. Heard tonight were Barney Phillips and herbella script
by Jim Mosic, music by Walter Schumann, Hell Gifney speaking.
Speaker 6: Now, It's Counterspy on NBC.
Speaker 1: Welcome back. Well, if this episode sounds familiar, you've been
paying incredible attention because this is pretty close to a
complete reenactment of the script for the episode commonly known
among fans as Eric Kelby. It is the second nineteen
forty nine Dragonet episode to be restaged within about a
four month period. Well, the Big overtime made some important
changes from the nineteen forty nine version. This story is
pretty much straight up in terms of every single plot point,
the tone, everything, as far as I can tell, is
the same. Other than the names of the people involved.
I'd be interested to know the reason for the changing names.
It's a bit of an odd decision. Script for uses
are certainly quite common, but just tweaking names when you're
on the same series and you're redoing a script from
two years ago or two and a half years ago,
seems like an odd choice. All right, Well, listener comments
and feedback now, and we have some comments regarding the
big phone call, and we start on Patreon with Jeff,
who writes, why is there no attorney with the alleged
thief during this rather hardcore interrogation? Because this episode predates
Miranda Rights, I think that's part of it. Now, this
episode illustrates that you could have a lawyer present, but
you needed to plan for it. So in this case,
I think it's fair to say that the big phone
call and arrest wasn't expected. And he also didn't have
anybody watching out or any plan that he would ever
be caught, who would clue in a lawyer. As we
heard in this episode, it could still be quite a
challenge for the police, even if they don't have to
notify people of their constitutional rights and make sure a
lawyer can be present during questioning. If a suspect is prepared,
they can have a lawyer ready to go. Dawn ask,
do you have to call dial nine to call outside?
And and this is from Spotify, A random Spotify user replied,
I'll listen to the episode again. I'm not sure that
he's said. Well, that was definitely a point, and I yeah,
I don't know the reason for it. If it was,
you know, just kind of to increase the pressure by
continually having that reminder. But we did learn that lesson now.
I have never had, and hopefully never will have in
occasion to have to make a call from police headquarters
in Los Angeles. If I do, I expect I will
have to dial nine to get an outside line. And
if I don't, what are we even doing here over
on YouTube? I want to thank James for hitting the
hot button on the episode The Big Honeymoon. Truly appreciate
that and that's another way to help the YouTube channel
episodes get out there, and Cuthbert writes, Dragnet never gets old,
indeed it doesn't. Well, now it's time to thank our
Patreon supporter of the day, and I want to go
ahead and think I want to thank Peter, Patreon supporter
since April twenty twenty, currently supporting the podcast at the
Shawmus level of four dollars or more per month. Thanks
so much for your support. That'll 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 ware.
Speaker 8: Ah, what's the big problem?
Speaker 14: A little matter of a liquor star holder. Well, I'm
afraid this one wasn't so little. Then tell me on,
Yes you do, Johnny. For some reason or another, these
places that sell bottle goods are a pretty frequent target
for stick ups here in Los Angeles.
Speaker 8: There have been quite a few of them over the years.
Speaker 14: I'm surprised you insure them, and needless to say, premiums
are pretty high, and at least as far as our
company is concerned, the policies are somewhat limited. That is,
in so far as maximum allowable coverage is concerned, makes sense.
And the whole we've been pretty lucky. But that I mean,
we've had to pay off relatively few claims. But now
in the case of Willie Layman, whose lam his stories
are in West Los Angeles at one out ninety two
to one Santa Monica Boulevard, and that's only about a
mile from where I'm staying. The old man opened up
his place late in nineteen fifty one. Huh yes, sixty one,
very nineteen fifty two. He had his first hold of it.
The bandit's got away with something over nine hundred dollars,
so he bought some insurance from us.
Speaker 11: We'll go on.
Speaker 8: Since then there have been seven more attempted stick ups
there a total of eight in as many years. And
your company must be getting of a tie of pan off. No,
because after the second time he know how to use it.
He certainly did.
Speaker 14: He had a lot of metals from some germanis that
he was in during the last war. Anyhow, he suffered
no more losses, that is until last night. Ah, how
much good money?
Speaker 4: What else?
Speaker 14: Something like over four hundred dollars out of the cash
register as nearly as the police can figure it from
the register.
Speaker 8: Slip or couldn't Layman tell you how much? No, because
you see Johnny, he also lost his life.
Speaker 1: I hope you'll be with us then in the meantime.
Sends your comments to Box thirteen at Great Detectives dot ne,
follow us on Twitter at Radio detactoos, and check us
out on Instagram, Instagram dot com, slash Great Detectives from
Boise Altohol. This is your host, Adam Graham. Sign and off.