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Welcome to the Great Detectives of Old Time Radio from Boise, Idaho.This is your host, Adam Graham.If you have a comment, email it to me, box13 at greatdetectives.net.
Follow us on Twitter at Radio Detectives and become one of our friends on Facebook, facebook.com slash radiodetectives.
Before we do get started, I do want to let you know this program is brought to you in part by the financial support of our listeners. And I want to thank Mark so much for sending along a one-time donation through support.greatdetectives.net.
And I also want to thank Renee, who has become a regular Patreon at the rookie level of $2 or more a month at patreon.greatdetectives.net. Thank you so much for your support.
Also, over at greatdetectives.net this weekend, check out my review of the Big Finish Sherlock Holmes box set, The Ordeals of Sherlock Holmes.
Well, now it's time for today's episode of Dragnet, the original air date, November the 23rd of 1950, and the title is The Big Betty.
The story you are about to hear is true.Only the names have been changed to protect the innocent.Dragnet.You're a detective sergeant.You're assigned a bunco detail.A gang of petty swindlers has set up operations in your city.
They're experienced, cunning.They work fast.Your job, get them.
Dragnet, the documented drama of an actual crime.For the next 30 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 files.
From beginning to end, from crime to punishment, Dragnet is the story of your police force in action.
It was Tuesday, December 14th.It was cold in Los Angeles.We were working the day watch out of Bunko Detail.My partner's Ben Romero.The boss is Captain McCauley.My name's Friday.It was 10.35 a.m.when I got to room 38, Bunko Detail.Joe?Yeah, Ben.
Joe, this is Miss Bergstrom.You talked to her on the phone last night?Oh, yeah, sure.This is my partner, Sergeant Friday.
Glad to know you.Would you care to sit down?
Thank you.I was downtown, so I thought it'd be just as easy for me to come in and see you.
Did you bring those things with you, Miss Bergstrom?
Here they are.Wrist watch, pen and pencil set.
Sure make them look nice, don't they?On the outside, yeah.
Let me take the back off the watch for you.There.You can see for yourself, Sergeant.
It's junk, not worth 15 cents.
Charged me $48 for that watch.Said it was wholesale, he wasn't making any profit on it.Told me he was doing it because he'd known Harry so well.Watch only ran for a day, then it stopped.
How about the pen and pencil set, miss?
This is bad.Pen's just a shell, won't even write.Same with the pencil.I paid him $30 for them.
Uh-huh.This engraving on the pen was love from Harry.
That's Harry's boy I was engaged to.That's how the man got me interested to start with.Came to my house and gave him to me.The watch and the pen and pencil.Said Harry had ordered them as presents for me.I started to cry when he brought them.
When did this man come to your home, Miss Bergstrom?
Yesterday morning.Guess I should have been more careful, but I didn't think anybody would do a thing like that.
What kind of a story did he give you?
He came to the door and told me his name was Spencer.He said Harry had ordered these things as presents for me.Harry told him to deliver them to my house.Watch looked beautiful in the case.I didn't know anything was wrong.
I see.Would you go on, please?
He told me it was a special order.He said Harry had written him from overseas a week before.Harry was in the Marine Corps, you know.Well, he said he hoped the engraving was all right.The way Harry wrote, he wanted it in his letter.
I just couldn't take it, I cried.
This man, he pretended to be a close friend of Harry?
Yeah.That's why I showed him the letter.One from the Marine Corps about Harry being killed overseas.
When did you receive that letter, Miss Braxton?
Two days before, on Saturday.Harry's name was on the casualty list on Monday.Yes, I understand.
What did the man do when you showed him the letter?
He sympathized with me.Er, he pretended to. I didn't think there was any trick.I didn't think anybody was that low.Pen and pencil set look a little cheap, but I wanted them no matter how cheap they were.
Harry's last present to me, that's what I thought.
How did he broach the idea of money?
Well, when he was ready to leave, he told me Harry had ordered the things on credit.He said he didn't want to mention it, but he wondered how I could get payment for the watch and the pen and pencil.
He didn't show you a bill, did he?An invoice listing the price of the watch or the engraving that was done?
No.I didn't want him bothering Harry's mother or father at a time like this.I borrowed some money from my dad and paid him.
Let's see, that's $48 for the watch, $30 for the pen and pencil center.
Yeah.He gave me a phone number to call if the watch needed adjustment.When I found the watch was a fake, I called the number. It was a Chinese laundry.They didn't know anything about it.
You haven't seen or heard from this man since he left your house yesterday morning?
Could you describe this man for us, Miss Bergstrom?What he looked like?Clothes he was wearing?
What?Right here.In this slip of paper, Sergeant.I wrote it all out for you.
Well, you're not alone, if that's any consolation.There's an army widow out in Hollywood who was cheated on the same kind of deal last Friday.
It's so cruel using a dead person's name to cheat you. How can anybody get lower than that?
They keep trying.Ben and I took Miss Bergstrom's crime report.The phony watch and pen and pencil set were booked as evidence.
In the past two weeks, we've received a half a dozen identical complaints from relatives or friends of lately deceased persons.
The swindler or con man, as he likes to be called in his trade, gets the names of lately deceased persons from the obituary column or the military casualty list in the newspapers.
Then he fixes up some cheap article of merchandise with appropriate engraving and calls on the friends and relatives of the deceased.He pretends to know nothing about the death of the person whom he claims placed the order for the merchandise.
In almost every case, the friend or relative agrees to pay for the articles at some exorbitant price.For the conman, it's a lucrative racket.For the public, a vicious one.Wednesday, December 15th, Ben and I looked up an informant, a former conman.
What do you think of it, fellas? Been in business for two months, doing fine.What do you think of it?Looks great, Judd.It's a nice city.Finest baby laundry in South Los Angeles.That's why I advertise.Hey, you don't think that's too broad, do you?
No, I don't think so, Judd.We got some nice equipment here.Baby laundry.How'd you ever get started?
My in-law set me up with a loan.Says he got tired of me trying to sell him bum watches.Well, that's a good break for you, Judd.Say, you got a couple of minutes?We'd like to talk to you.Sure thing.Come on back here.No kidding.Fine, thanks.
Yeah, squared away, living a solid life.Not bad at all, you know.Surprised me.You ever see any of the old gangs yet?Not much, no.Some of the old grifters look me up now and then, try to touch me.
Pull one up.Yeah, thank you.You okay, fellas?What can I do for you? Only like to know how close you got your ear to the ground, Judd.There's a gang of bunks in town, they're working hard.What pitch they using?
They're working the O-bits, casualty lists.Thought maybe you might be able to help us.I don't know, how long you been going?Last couple of weeks.Had half a dozen reports on them.
That's one thing they never could tap me for, a bitch lawyer racket, lousiest racket there is.Can you do anything for us?I heard one little rumble about it.
Four or five guys in the con mob, that right?
We know that, Judd.Where can we look for them? You know my position.When I quit the game, I quit.The only contacts I make are when some of the old boys come around for a touch.Well, how much have you heard about the gang?
What I said, there's four or five of them out of the Middle West, I think.You got any idea at all where we could start looking?I can start checking for you.You nail any of them yet?We've got to find them before we can arrest them, Jack.
Yeah, well, as I say, when I quit the game, I quit.But maybe I can take a few soundings for you.
Can't promise you anything.I'm strictly not helping up.
You know where to get in touch with us.We'll appreciate anything you can do.Yeah, well, you helped me plenty of times, fellas.Wouldn't hurt a bit to tab that punch.I'll walk out with you, fellas.
Ah, see you got all the machines going.Baby laundry business must be pretty good, huh?It's a staple commodity, fellas.Kids always need a fresh change.Just look.Yeah, look at this. Just look at the size of it.Yeah.
You ever see anything so small in your life?It's cute, huh?Yeah, what is it?New kind of soakers, I think.Let's see the label here.Yeah, Mother Greg Super Soakers.
Kids things.They sure give me a wallet, you know.We might as well check the office while we're here, Ben.Can I use your phone, Judd?Yeah, right over there on the wall.You got change?Yeah, thank you.I have.
Joe Friday, Tom.Anything doing?
Yeah, Joe.Think we might have a lead on those bunks working the obituary racket.
They reached a woman in Highland Park.
Oh.Well, it's a Mrs. Westerly.Her daughter was killed in an auto accident.Last night they came around and sold the woman a watch her daughter was supposed to have ordered.Also a necklace and pen and pencil set.Usual junk.
Did you talk to this Mrs. Westerly?
Yeah, we took the report, the man's description, his M.O., the rest all match up.What's the lead?She watched the man when he left her house.
10.30 a.m., while Sergeants Bryant and Ullery got out a broadcast on the suspect, Ben and I drove to the offices of the cab company where we contacted the special agent.He helped us check the waybills for the preceding night.
On the waybill for cab 213, we found the trip listed.Starting point, the intersection nearest the Westerly home.Destination, a hotel on South Flower Street.We went to the hotel and interviewed the desk clerk.
From the description we gave him, he identified the man as Fred G. Norris from Minneapolis. At least that's the way he'd signed the hotel register.The clerk told us Norris wasn't in.We had him show us Norris's room.
In his suitcases we found quantities of dime store costume jewelry, monogrammed, and two dozen cheap wrist watches and wallets and handbags done in poor quality imitation leather.Also a portable engraving set.
The clerk told us that Norris was expected back shortly.We told him to say nothing to the suspect when he arrived.We called the office and arranged for a stakeout at the hotel, then we drove back to the office.1 p.m.
They told us Norris had been recognized from his description and picked up by Unit 17R on the way back to his hotel shortly before noon.Ben and I joined Sergeants Ullery and Bryant in the interrogation room where they were questioning the suspect.
He looked about 40 years old, white, male, American, about 6 feet tall, 170 pounds.He would admit nothing.Bryant kept questioning him.
You're wasting our time on your own, Norris.Face it.You were playing a rough game and you lost.Now how about it?
You're gonna feel pretty silly when you find out you got the wrong guy.Who do you work for, Fred?You can do what you want about investigating me, having a thing to hold me on.
There's no use wasting any more time.You got that list of victims?Yeah.These are the ones that tabbed Norris.Thank you.Couple more here, Joe.Thanks, man. Hello, Miss Bergstrom there, please?Oh, this is Sergeant Friday, Miss Bergstrom.Bunko Detail.
Yeah, we picked up a suspect.We'd like to see if you can identify him.Would it be all right if we sent a card for you right now?All right, fine.Thank you very much.Bye. Look, I can't sit here all day.I have business to attend to.
Well, I have no issues on the phone.Hello?Miss Cronin there, please.This is Sergeant Friday calling, Miss Cronin.Bunko Detail?Yes, ma'am, that's right.I'm sorry to disturb you, but we have a suspect in custody down here.Yes, ma'am?Hey, Sergeant.
Could you come down to City Hall right away?Sergeant?Would you hold on just a minute, please?Thank you.Yeah, Norris?You got me.
At 2.58 p.m., we informed the victims that the special show-off had been cancelled, and we called in a stenographer and had her take Fred Norris' statement.
In addition to listing the crimes he committed, he also told us that there were six men in the Bunko gang besides himself.He gave us the names and descriptions of each one of them.
He stated that they'd been operating in Los Angeles for the past four months.Norris said that none of them had ever met the leader of their Bunko gang.
The only contact they had with the leader was through one of the older gang members, a man by the name of Wesley Fisher.
Before Norris was taken to Central Jail for booking, he gave us the address of the house where he had been living with the other gang members.Norris' information on the suspects was checked through R&I.We got one mate, Wesley Fisher.
He had one prior arrest two years before on a grand theft charge, but he'd been released for lack of evidence.3.15 p.m., together with Sergeants Ullery and Bryant and two men from Metro Squad, we drove out to the address given us by Fred Norris.
Turned out to be a neat-looking bungalow in the West Hollywood area. Let's go.Wouldn't you take the front door, Joe?Yeah.Say, Tom.Yeah?You want to have Johnson and Brewer cover the back of the place, please?Okay, Joe.
Maureen and I will cover the side.Thanks.Let's go, man.
Did you want to see the people who live there?
Do you want to check for the termites now?I'm Mrs. Callahan, the owner.
No, ma'am, we want to see the tenants.
I think you're a little late.Is that so?
You are listening to Dragnet.Authentic stories of your police force in action.
Wednesday, December 15th, 4 p.m., we made a thorough check of the house, which the six suspects had just vacated.We found nothing that would help us.We talked to the owner of the house where the suspects had been living.
She told us that she'd rented the place, furnished to them, about three months before.She identified Wesley Fisher's mugshot, but she told us that he'd used the name of Charles Wilder.
She also recognized each of the other gang members from the descriptions that Fred Norris had given us. She told us that while they were living there, the men seemed to keep odd hours and that they had a car.
She told us that she'd taken the license number of the car the day the men moved in.The number was checked with DMV.It was registered in the name of Wesley Fisher, 1008 California Street.It's a transient hotel.
The manager told us Fisher had moved about nine months ago.There was no forwarding address.We got out an all-points bulletin on Wesley Fisher requesting that all occupants in his car be held for investigation of grand theft.
Thursday, December 16th, 8 a.m.Ollery, Bryant, Ben and I met with Captain McCauley.
Where are they getting all this junk they're palming off?Where's their source of supply?
The guy we picked up, Norris, told us he brought a good supply of it out with him from the Middle West.That hotel room Norris had downtown, they were using that for a warehouse.They didn't want to keep the stuff at the house they were living in.
How are they hitting?Any possibility of stakeouts?No, not unless we cover every name in the columns.You might have to try it.Something's got to be done.Look at these.Two more this morning, straight out of the obituary column.
Took one family for $90. Another one for 60.
How about that last run through the Stats office?Help you any?They pulled some more mugs for us.Gonna show them to the victims this morning. We were up talking to him again at county jail yesterday.
Didn't have anything new, Skipper.We dropped in at the sheriff's, Bunko, detail.They've got one new case, same M.O.Description comes close to one of the guys.The victim was the father of a Navy flyer lost overseas.
They sold him a gold watch chain that his son was supposed to have bought him for a present.Solid brass.
The sheriff's men got anything new?
Been working pretty close with them.Nothing new.
Excuse me.Bunko Fugitive, Captain McCauley.Can I talk to Joe Friday?Yeah, hold on. You, Friday.Oh, thank you.
Joe, this is Judd.Can you meet me out at my place?
The name Wesley Fisher mean anything to you?
8.30 a.m.Ben and I drove out and met with Judd at his home.He was still in his bathrobe when he met us at the door.He told us he had an important appointment downtown at 9 o'clock and he was in a hurry.We talked to him while he shaved.
Hope you fellas don't mind. Can't miss this day, buying up some new business, you know.It's all right, Judd, go right ahead.Yeah, I gotta move fast on these things before they cool, you know.What'd you say with us, Judd?What's the story?
Well, I don't know what's worse.Brother Max called me this morning.Remember my brother Max, don't you?No, I don't think so.
He works at the Pink Pad Bar in South Main.
When you were in to see me the other day about those grifters you want, I gave my brother a tumble on it.Told him to keep an eye open.Hand me that towel, will you?Oh, yeah.
Here you go.Thanks.They're all steamed up.What'd Max come up with?Well, he's a night bartender at the Parrot, you know.Last night he spotted a couple of guys at the bar.
Had some day-old newspapers.Uh-huh. They were sitting there with the papers turned in the obituary column, checking off names, writing down addresses.Max was pretty sharp that way.He spotted them right off.
Lousy razor.Does Max know these two men he spotted?
No, not by name, but he knew the one who lived in the hotel next door to the bar.When the hotel night clerk came in for a beer, Max asked him about it.
He tabbed one of the guys as Wesley Fisher. Did he have anything on the other man?
No, the clerk told Max he doesn't live at the hotel, but he spends a lot of time there with Fisher.
Had he seen Fisher and this other guy at the bar before?
Yeah, Max says he's been in before.Got lashed up a couple times.
Say, would it be okay to contact your brother at his home, Judd?Sure.We don't want to contact him at the bar.
Yeah, sure thing.Get you an address as soon as I'm finished here. He just moved.
I don't know.I hope I didn't get you guys out here for nothing.We appreciate it, Judd.Looks good.Seems to fit.That hotel down there, it's a hang-up.God, man.Angles are all there.Let's hope Fisher is. 8.53 a.m.
We arrived at the hotel on South Main Street.We checked with the desk clerk who told us that Wesley Fisher had room 37.As far as he knew, Fisher was in his room.
We got a passkey from the clerk and went up to room 37 where we found Fisher and another man.He identified himself as Raymond Breen, one of the gang members identified by Fred Norris.
We also found a small supply of cheap watches and pen and pencil sets in Fisher's car.It was parked near the hotel.It was impounded.We took both suspects back to the city hall. We questioned them separately in the interrogation room.
Breen was first, but he refused to answer our questions.He was taken back to the squad room and Wesley Fisher was brought in.Sit down, Fisher.Thank you.Guess you know why you're here.No, I haven't the least idea.All right, then we'll show you.
Do you know Fred Norris?Fred Norris?Name sounds a little familiar.Can't quite place it.He places you pretty well.He says he worked with you and Breen up till a couple of days ago. I've so?Yeah.
Says he lived with you in that bungalow out in West Hollywood.
Two days ago, Fisher.Your landlady identified your mug.She even had the license number of your car.What's it prove, gentlemen?Proves you're lying.You didn't bring work together.You did work with Norris.
You're part of one of the filthiest rackets going. Gentlemen, you're making a bad mistake.No, no, there's no mistake, Fisher.Your picture's been identified by at least a half a dozen victims.
Now, you can go on playing coy all you want, but we can prove that the pen and pencil sets that you sold some of the victims are identical to the ones we find in your car.
I haven't any idea what you're talking about.
Believe me, that's the truth.You wouldn't know the truth if it followed you, mister.Now, look, maybe you're great at conning old men and young girls, but don't try to pass any of it here.Now, just a moment.Now, you listen, you two-bit thief.
I couldn't begin to tell you off for the rotten things you've been pulling off in this town for the past three months.That young girl who lost her boyfriend overseas, that widow out in Hollywood, the old man in Highland Park whose wife passed away.
You must have felt pretty sharp cheating them out of a few bucks.Maybe you don't remember, mister, but we do and they do.And you're gonna pay for them.You're through?I'm through, Fisher.You're just starting.I have nothing further to say, gentlemen.
You can talk to my lawyer.We'll give him your new address.Yes.County Jail. Suspects Wesley Fisher and Raymond Breen were booked and transported to the county jail.Both of them were positively identified by the victims.
Warrants were obtained for the three suspects, Norris, Fisher, and Breen.They were arraigned and held to answer at a preliminary hearing on several counts of grand theft.
During the next two weeks and through the Christmas holidays, identical complaints of bunco operations continued to come in.Friends and relatives of lately deceased persons were still being victimized. The gang's operations continued as usual.
There was only one change.The crime report showed that a woman was now operating in the obituary racket along with the male suspects.Christmas came and went.On New Year's Eve, Ben and I were assigned a standby duty.
A few minutes before 8 p.m., we got a call from the county jail that Wesley Fisher wanted to see us.Went to the 10th floor of the jail, the interview room.
Not gonna take all the heat.They're in just as deep as I am.If they can't do right by me, I'll square it up myself. I'll tell you everything I know.Go ahead, Fisher.What is it?Her name's Betty McGraw.She's the one you've been looking for.
The whole idea was hers.She planned it out.She got everybody together.It was her show.Where can we find her?213 Foster, Apartment 8.
Wesley Fisher gave a complete statement of all his crimes and also implicated the other members.He told us Betty McGraw was his girlfriend. She'd come up with the idea for the obituary racket.
She gathered the men together for the job, and it had been planned that she was to stay in the background.In case of trouble, she would furnish aid to the gang members in the form of bail bond money and lawyers.
She received a percentage of the take from each of the gang members.We checked her through R&I.She had a criminal history dating back 11 years.We obtained her mugshot.10.30 p.m.We went out to the address Fisher gave us.A maid answered the door.
She told us that the McGraw woman was not there, that she'd gone to a New Year's Eve celebration at a downtown hotel. It was 11.15 when we got there.
We identified ourselves to the special officer at the hotel and showed him the mugshot of Betty McGraw.He thought he'd seen her at the main bar.We started looking.
Could you pack them in?Yeah.Excuse me, please.Can I get through here?Thank you.Sorry, excuse me.Hey, Joe, over this way.I think we can get through.Okay, do you see her yet?No, they're jammed in there.I can't see a thing. Hey, wait a minute.Yeah?
Can you see that at the end of the bar there?Where?In the black dress?Oh, yeah.That's her.Would you let her through here, please?Excuse me.Sorry.
Is your name Betty McGraw?
Is your name Betty McGraw?
I don't know you.Who are you anyway?
Police officer.We'd like to see you outside.
Is there a bar outside?I didn't know there was a bar outside.
Come on, Lenny.I don't know you at all.
Happy New Year!No use trying to get through this.We'll have to wait.Yeah.Well, Happy New Year, Joe.Yeah, same to you.Maybe next year we'll have it all.
I don't know why.I always cry when I hear that song.No reason, I just cry.
Every year, I play it and I cry.No reason at all.
You got one this year, lady.
The story you've just heard was true.Only the names were changed to protect the innocent.
On March 28th, trial was held in Superior Court, Department 93, City and County of Los Angeles, State of California.In a moment, the results of that trial.The remaining members of the Bunko gang were apprehended and brought to trial.
All of them, including the gang leader, Elizabeth McGraw, were tried and convicted of grand theft.They are now serving their terms 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.
Coming up, We the People, then Screen Directors Playhouse on NBC.
Hello, mystery lovers!I'm Jennifer Moss, author of Town Red, the first in a series of mysteries with a metaphysical twist.Town Red has received critical acclaim and all five stars from avid mystery readers just like you.
Town Red and the rest of my books are available in print and an e-book on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and iTunes.For more information, visit my website, jennifermoss.com.You're listening to the great detectives of old time radio.
Welcome back.Well, Drain It often made crimes that other shows would consider not very important or serious or even worth discussing worthwhile through the way that they were portrayed.
Here, you really got a sense of the, not just the financial damage to the victims, but the emotional pain wrought by these con men, which I think definitely
builds throughout the story as you really hope that Friday and Romero catch him just because of how cruel this racket is.And so it's nicely done very well written throughout with some great dialogue from Joe Friday, really getting angry.
And I think appropriately so in this case.All right.Well, now we do turn to some listener comments and feedback.
And we start with this one from Janice, who writes, on our Sherlock Holmes page, I just wanted to say that I love the updates to the website.
I've been coming here for several months to listen to all the Sherlock Holmes stories you have, and I really like the change you've made.Thanks for making all those shows available to us.
Well, you're welcome, Janice, and I definitely appreciate the feedback on the new website. All right, well that will do it for today.We will be back tomorrow with our video theater.
We're doing this a week early, so video theater back to back, just because we have a big special in honor of our 1750th episode we'll be bringing you next Sunday.So this Sunday, we'll be bringing you Michael Shane in Shoot the Works.
And then, uh, back to the, uh, Michael Shane, uh, TV show on Monday or radio show on Monday, and then join us back here next Saturday for another episode of drag net.In the meantime, send your comments to box 13 at great detectives.net.
Follow us on Twitter at radio detectives and become one of our friends on Facebook, facebook.com slash radio detectives from Boise, Idaho.This is your host, Adam Graham signing off.
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