Ep146 | "The Big Rose" | Dragnet | LIVE

[music] Heat. Hey. Hey. Hey. >> [music] [music] >> Hello and welcome to Dragonet Live from otrold.com. I'm your host, Austin Voc. Thank you for tuning in. Um, [clears throat] if this is your first stream, we're here every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 9:00 a.m. Pacific listening to one episode of Dragnet until we have listened to all 310 episodes currently available. Today, we are listening to Oh, hang on. My screen just went nutty for a second. We're listening to episode 146. Title is The Big Rose. Today's episode originally aired March 27th, 1952. And uh as is usual, I will uh share some historical context there um for that date. So in March of 1952, the English author Douglas Adams, best known for writing the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, was born in Cambridge, England. Um there was also a failed attempted assassination of the West Chancellor, West German Chancellor, Conrad Adenau, Adenau. I think it's Adidenau is how I would say it. If you're German or no German, please let me know. March 28th, 1952, US Ladies Figure Skating Championship was won by Tenley Albbright. And uh what else? I guess the infamous Harvey Weinstein was born March 19th, 1952. He's currently in jail for uh convicted for sexual assault. Um, Rex Tillerson, the American businessman, former CEO of Exxon Mobile who served as Secretary of State uh to in 2017 was born this month in Witchah Falls, Texas back in the year of 1952. See, I've been giving you historical bits, but I hadn't been I haven't been going through the birthdays. Famous weddings. Okay, this is the last one we're going to do. Um, actually there's two of them. So March 8th, 1952, future US President Ronald Reagan and uh got married to Nancy Davis, a little brown church in San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles, and Ian Fleming, the author of James, the James Bond novels, as well as Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and others. Um, [clears throat] got married to an Geraldine Charterus. C H A R T E R I S. I should probably try pronouncing these things before I just read them live, but um I don't. So you get you can tell how how good I am at uh speaking off the cuff. Okay, so that's all the historical facts. Quick shout out to Alfredo, Paul so over it, Chris and Addie who are already in chat. Addie says, "Hitchhiker's Guide is one of the alltime best books ever written, and if you want to fight about it, take a shot at me." I haven't read it yet. I know it's like super short and and people love it. So, I do plan to I haven't even seen the movie because I think I can't watch the movie till I've read the book. Um, is it worth reading? Did do do you all agree with Addie that is the best book ever written or at least top 10? And if you disagree that it's the best book ever written, tell me what what you think the best book is. Also, I'll highlight this one. Uh all these little like, you know, crazy things that you see pop up in the chat. If you look at the live chat replay, it's actually our little custom emojis that are available to channel members. So, if you like custom emojis, including this cool little police car, check that out. All right, so enough blabbing. Um, let's get the show started. And while I'm pulling it up, tell me what you're doing this weekend. I'm curious today. Okay, little bit of history. Um, today is my anniversary and if you have watched, so I'm gonna be we're gonna try and go out and get some dinner later tonight, but my wife is understanding and knows that that I got commitments. I got to be here 9:00 rain or shine unless I'm on my deathbed um or on vacation. That's the other thing. Um, I'm here for the stream. But April 25th, if anybody has seen the movie Miss Congeniality, tell me uh what the reference is to April 25th. I won't spoil it for you. It's good. All right, that's that. So, let's go. [music] Hold up. I tried to start 140. Where do I try to start? Yeah. Okay, we're on 146. The big rose. Here we go. The story you are about to hear is true. The names [music] have been changed to protect the innocent. >> Fatima Cigarettes, best of all, Kingsize Cigarettes, brings you Dragnet on both radio and television. [music] You're a detective sergeant. [music] You're assigned a homicide detail. A 38-year-old woman disappears. [music] She leaves her sister and her four children behind. There's evidence of foul play. Your job? Find her. [music] >> In Fatima, the difference is quality. >> Yes. In Fatima, the difference is quality. Prove it yourself today. Compare Fatima with any other king-size cigarette. One, Fatima's length filters the smoke 85 mm for your protection. >> Two, Fatima's length cools the smoke for your protection. Three, Fatima's length gives you those extra puffs, 21% longer than standard cigarette size. And in Fatima, you get an extra mild and soothing smoke, plus the added protection of Fatima quality. >> Definitely the best quality in its class, but the same price as a cigarette you're now smoking. >> Buy Fatima in the bright, sunny yellow pack. Best of all, king-size cigarettes. [music] Dragnet, the documented drama of an actual crime. For the next 30 minutes, in cooperation with the Los Angeles Police Department, [music] 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 [music] to punishment, Dragnet is the story of your police force in action. [music] It was Monday, June 3rd. It was overcast in Los Angeles. We were working the day watch out of homicide detail. My partner's Ed Jacobs. The boss is Thaad Brown, chief of detectives. My name's Friday. I was on the way back from communications and it was 8:15 a.m. when I got to room 42. Homicide. >> Joe, what's doing? >> Hi, Brian. You seen Ed? >> Went down the hall a minute. Said he'd be right back. >> Oh, thank you. >> I don't see anything in the book. Nothing new, huh? >> Not much. Pretty slow. How's your mother, Joe? I heard she wasn't feeling too well. >> No, she's not. As a matter of fact, doctor said it's anemia. It's going to take a little time to get over it, I guess. >> No, sorry to hear it. I got to do some checking down at the auto desk. If I get any calls, have them switch it down there, will you? >> Yeah, I sure will, Brian. >> Thanks. >> You bet you. >> Oh, excuse me, Ed. Pardon me, Tom. >> Hi, Ed. What' they give you? >> Missing report, woman. How about the mail? >> No, there's nothing. Got the missing report there? >> Yeah, it's all here. Some woman out on 64th Street. Name's Rose Baker. It's been gone about a week. >> Mhm. Last seen Tuesday, May 27th, 10 p.m. >> Who's this that made the report? Carl Shelton. Who's he? It's >> her boyfriend. Miss Baker's husband died about 5 years ago. He's been running around quite a bit since then. Had a lot of man trouble. >> She disappeared before then, huh? >> Yeah. Half dozen times. Never been gone this long, though. Holmes took this report from Shelton. He gathered Miss Baker's not too stable. She's known to drink quite a bit. Doesn't seem to care anything for her home or kids. >> Yeah, I see it here. She has four children. They're living with her aunt, Mrs. Baker's sister. It's kind of a funny arrangement, isn't it? >> Yeah. Baker woman packed her bags and walked out of the house about a year ago. Her sister's been taking care of the kids ever since. Mother comes back for a visit once in a while. >> Mhm. This address we've got on Mrs. Baker. It's the same address as her boyfriend, Carl Shelton. >> Yeah, that's right. They both have apartments in the same building. >> This a recent picture, Miss Baker? >> Supposed to be. Yeah. It's a nice looking woman, huh? >> Yeah. Sister's listed here as the last person who saw her. Well, how's that? Baker woman still wasn't living at home, was she? >> According to the sister, Mrs. Baker came over to the house to see her the night she disappeared sometime around 8:00. Two of them had some business to talk over. >> Mhm. >> Seems the sister had a check for $400 she got from selling some furniture. Claimed the kids had been sick. She had doctor bills to pay. >> You mean Mrs. Baker's sister took care of things to that extent? >> Apparently. [clears throat] Anyway, after the sister got the check for selling the furniture, Mrs. Baker wanted half the money. Sister said that's why she came to see her that night. Two of them got in the car and went out to find somebody to cash a check. >> You want a drink of water? >> No. No thanks. Man, >> where do you get a $400 check cashed at 8:00 at night? Would you know? >> Sister said Mrs. Bacon knew somebody who'd cash it for him. Turned out the person couldn't cash it. Sister stopped at a bar for a glass of beer. Mrs. Baker took a car and went to look up somebody else she thought could cash it. That was it. Mrs. Baker hadn't been seen since. >> Who was this somebody else? >> No idea. Sister claimed she doesn't know. Mrs. Baker didn't tell her. >> Sounds like Mrs. Baker wanted the whole check. Wouldn't you say? >> That's what the sister figured when Ms. Baker didn't come back. She finished the glass of beer, left the barn, started walking home. Two blocks from the house, she found her car parked. No sign of Miss Baker. Car keys were in the glove compartment. So, it's a sister share of the money. $200 in cash. >> Well, how about the firm that issued the check? They get it back canceled. >> Yeah, a couple of days ago, Miss Baker's endorsement on the back. >> Yeah. Sounds pretty wild, doesn't it? >> Whole thing does. Talked to half dozen people who saw Miss Baker that night. None of their stories jive. >> What do you mean? >> Her boyfriend, Carl Shelton. He claims Miss Baker told him she was going out of town for a few days with a girlfriend. >> They check it out. Yeah. Girlfriend didn't know anything about it. Then they talked to a woman who works with Ms. Baker. She says, "Yeah, the Baker woman was planning a trip." >> Miss Baker mentioned anything about it to her sister. >> No. Sister says Miss Baker told her just the opposite. Said she was getting out of her apartment into a new place. She was going to spend the next couple of days moving. They checked the boyfriend Shelton. Said if Ms. Baker was moving was news to him. >> Well, either she's a liar or one of her friends are. Huh? >> It's all bollocked up. No two [clears throat] stories anywhere near alike. >> What do they figure for a motive? They got a line on anybody who might have wandered out of the way. >> Big field to pick from. She fought with Carl Shelton. She fought with his sister. Some of the people she worked with. She had three or four other men around town on the string, too. Any one of them could have wanted her out of the way. >> All her relatives been checked out and all her friends. Places she'd be most likely to go. >> I'll check. Not a trace or nothing. >> Yeah. Well, I guess we better start moving on it. A lot of ground to cover. See if we can't straighten out some of those stories. >> One thing's sure, somebody's lying. >> [music] >> 8:35 a.m. Before we left the city hall, we checked with Sergeant Holmes and missing persons, who' taken the report on Rose Baker's [music] disappearance. He had nothing to add to what was in the report and what he'd already told Ed. First on the interview list was the sister of the missing woman, Bernice Marin. She was employed as a saleswoman [music] for a grocery supply firm. We called at the home where Miss Marin lived with her four nieces and nephews, but there was no answer. The next door neighbor [music] told us that Miss Marin was working, that she usually didn't get home until 4:15 or 4:30 in the afternoon. In the meantime, we figured we might as well check the next name on the list, Mrs. Baker's boyfriend, Carl Shelton. We'd already [music] checked him through RNI, and he had no record. We drove out to his address, a three-story apartment house on [music] 64th Street. Shelton's apartment was on the main floor rear. He answered the door in his bathrobe and slippers. He told us that he was employed at one of the local oil refineries and that this particular week [music] he was working the graveyard shift 11 at night until 7:00 in the morning. He showed us back [music] to a small kitchen at the rear of the apartment. While we questioned him, he fixed a percolator of coffee and put it on the stove. >> You sure about Ms. Baker's plans, are you? She never mentioned anything to you about moving out of the apartment house. >> No, never. Somebody's handing you a line there. If Rosie was going to move, she'd tell me about it. Just a minute. I got to get that coffee. It looks about done. You guys want some Java? Got a whole pot full here. >> No, no, thank you. >> How long did you say you've known Mrs. Baker? >> About [clears throat] a year, year and a half. We got along pretty good. Did right from the start? Sure don't understand her taking off like this. >> Miss Baker ever talked to you much about the family? Her sister, four children? I mean, did she see them regularly? Seem to get along with them all right to you? >> I don't think I'd know that. Rosie never had much to say about them. The only thing I could gather was that she just got sick of the routine. You know, keeping up a house, doing the wash, mopping, dusting, taking care of four kids. She just checked out. That's all. Let her sister Bernice take over. >> Mhm. >> If you ask me, she never should have had a family to begin with. Rosie isn't the kind. She's a party girl. Likes a good time. You know what I mean? One thing I don't understand, Shelton, you said a minute ago you couldn't figure out Miss Baker's going off like this. When you filed a missing report on her, you said she was planning a trip out of town. >> Yeah, that's right. >> Well, isn't it possible she might have taken off without telling you? [clears throat] No, I don't think so. She'd have told me she's planning a trip, all right, but she wasn't going to leave till the next night, Wednesday night. She's going to pick up this girlfriend of hers, Iris, and the two of them were going to take the bus down to Laguna for a couple days. >> Well, it's our understanding this girlfriend, Iris, didn't know anything about the trip. Can you explain that? >> I don't know. I guess Rosie forgot to tell her. Can't figure these women sometime. Maybe she was going to phone her Wednesday morning. She knew Iris could get away almost any time. >> You think it's possible she might have gone down to Lagona by herself? >> No, that's not like Rosie. Besides, before I went in to report her missing, I called a couple of places down Laguna where Rosa usually stops at. They hadn't seen her. >> Possible she might have gone some other place. >> No, without telling me. No. Besides, she wouldn't go alone. I know that. >> Shelton, we understand Mrs. Baker was friendly with two or three other men around town. You think it's possible she might have gone someplace with one of them? >> Shelton? >> No. No, I can't buy that. If it was 8 months ago, I'd say maybe, but not now. >> Why not? >> We had it out. That's all. It was all settled. She wouldn't do anything like that again. You're pretty sure about that, are you? >> Yeah, positive. I don't get it at all. She wouldn't do that to me. Taking off, just packing up and leaving. Rosie wouldn't do that to me. >> Well, she's got four children. >> Yeah, >> she did it to them. [music] >> We questioned Carl Shelton for another half hour, but he failed to come up with anything in the way of a definite lead. [music] 10:40 a.m. We drove to the home of the missing woman's girlfriend, an Iris Kirby. Two things she was pretty definite about. She knew nothing about an out of town trip Mrs. Baker was supposed to have planned for the two of them. And secondly, she had [music] no use for Carl Shelton. She told us that Shelton was her ex-boyfriend and that she had introduced him to Rose Baker and that shortly after that he dropped her. A few weeks later, Shelton began to keep steady company with Mrs. Baker. [music] Outside of her personal grievance against Shelton, Iris Kirby had nothing to offer in the way of a lead to the whereabouts of her friend. 11:30 a.m. We got in the car and headed for the factory in the south end of town where Rose Baker was employed. We stopped off on the way for lunch, a bowl of soup and a sandwich. Ed [music] had a cheeseburger and a piece of pie. Before we left, we checked the office to see if there were any calls. Nothing. The place where Mrs. Baker worked was on Santa Fe Avenue, a one-story building covering almost half [music] a block. They manufactured men's work clothes, shirts, and overalls. We checked with a personnel office. We asked if Rose Baker had any friends that [music] she worked with. We were told that there was a Mildred Dunn who was a fairly close friend of the Baker woman. [music] Ed and I waited in the office while they sent down to the plant for Mildred Dunn. >> Miss Dunn. >> That's right. >> Police officers. My name's Jacobs. This is my partner, Sergeant Friday. >> How do you do? >> How are you? I'd like to ask you a few questions about Rose Baker. Mrs. Dunn. Understand you're a pretty close friend of hers. >> Yes, that's right. I've known Rose ever since she came here. She worked on the machine next to me. She come home yet? >> No, not yet. You remember Miss Baker saying anything to you about taking a trip, Miss Dunn? You mean just before she disappeared? >> Yes, she did. She'd been looking forward to it. That's probably where she is, don't you think? Off on her trip. >> Well, we don't know, ma'am. Did she mention anything definite about the trip to you? Where she was going? When she was leaving? >> Well, I think she was going to Lagouna Beach. It's hard to tell. She's always kidding around, Rose is. Once she said she was going to fly to Switzerland for a vacation, San Maritz, she's always kidding around like that. >> Oh, that's so >> like once when she had a date with Fred, she said she was going to the pump room in Chicago. You know, just being funny. >> I see. Hey, who is this Fred? Mrs. Dunn, >> fell in the shipping department. Fred Lions. Nice fella. >> He and Mrs. Baker see much of each other. >> They used to. Yes, quite a bit. I don't know if they were serious about each other. I I thought they were till the last month or so. Maybe they had a tip or something. Maybe Rose got tired of him. I don't know. >> But you did think the two of them were serious at one time. >> Oh, yes. It wasn't more than a month ago. And all of a sudden, they weren't sweet on each other. At least Rose wasn't about him. She told me that. >> Mhm. Well, I [clears throat] guess we better check on him, man. >> Mhm. >> Is this Fred Lions working today? Do you know, ma'am? >> Oh, no. He quit last Tuesday. >> 1:15 [music] p.m. We finished questioning Mildred Dunn and we went back to the personnel office to get Fred Lion's description and [music] last known address. We checked out the address, but Lions had moved out the previous Tuesday and left no forwarding address. We questioned the land lady, looked over his rooms, checked through the neighborhood, and talked to everybody he knew. We found nothing to indicate that Lions had anything directly to do with Rose Baker's [music] disappearance, but we did find out that he knew Mrs. Baker and that he thought quite a bit of her. We went back to the office, got out a broadcast and an APB on Lions. >> Want to check the book, Joe, see if we got any late calls there? >> Yeah, sure. >> I'll get it. >> Right. >> Homicide Jacobs. That's right. Mhm. Are they sure? Where was that? >> All right. Thank you. Got something? >> Yeah. >> Hollywood division. Woman's purse found in the vacant lot out there. High school kid found it. A lot of identification inside. >> Yeah. >> Rose Baker. 3:15 p.m. The purse was brought downtown to the crime lab for detailed examination. Brian and Barrett from homicide went out to interview the boy who found the purse [music] and to check the neighborhood where it was discovered. Meanwhile, Ed and I drove out to talk to the missing woman's [music] sister, 36 years old Bernice Marin. She and her sister's four [music] children lived in a five room Stuckco house just off Exposition Boulevard. We got there shortly after Miss Marin [music] returned home from her job. Her two older nephews were out in front cutting the lawn. She showed us into a neatly kept living room where we interviewed her. [music] She was a plain looking woman, brown hair, gray eyes. She showed little concern about her sister's disappearance. >> I gave up trying to keep track of her a long time ago, Sergeant. I haven't any idea where she's gone. I used to worry about her. I don't anymore. >> Well, how about that purse of hers that was found this afternoon, Miss Marin? Wouldn't you say that makes it a little unusual this time? >> I don't think so. She loses things all the time. I don't know what she does when she goes off in those things. I don't want to know. Gets drunk and does a lot of fooling around. I suppose she's lost two or three purses the same way. >> What about last Tuesday, the night she disappeared? You notice if she'd been drinking then? >> Yeah, I got the idea she'd had a couple of high balls before she came over. She wasn't drunk, but she wasn't feeling any pain. We'll see. Would you excuse me? I want to yell at the kids out there. >> Yes, ma'am. >> Frank. Frank, that's enough of that playing around out there. Let's get started pushing that lawn mower. Huh? >> Okay, just try out a new system. Almost half done now. >> Better hurry it up. You still got the backyard to do, remember? Yeah. Okay. The >> only good thing that came out of that married Sergeant, those kids out there. >> Yes, ma'am. >> There's two more besides Frank and Bobby. The girls, my nieces. One's nine, one seven. >> Marvelous kids. Girls are just as pretty as pictures. I'm glad I have a chance to take care of them. I guess I just like kids. Can't understand it when people don't appreciate them. I don't have a family of my own. >> Oh, I see. >> Miss Marin, when you were with your sister last Tuesday night, you say she didn't mention anything at all about taking that trip out of town. >> No, just the opposite. Like I told you, said she was moving out of her apartment into a new place. That's why she needed the money. >> Mhm. Well, what's the story about this money your sister came to pick up, Miss Maron? I don't think I quite got that clear. >> Well, we had this baby grand piano that my mother gave Rose and me just before she died. Kids have been sick the last couple of months. One thing and another. I needed a little money to catch up on some doctor bills, so I sold the piano. I needed to do it, but the bills had to be paid. >> Mhm. >> Well, Rose found out about it somehow, and she wanted half the money I got for the piano. She wanted the money for herself. Can you imagine that? She wasn't even willing to pay for her own kids' doctor bills. It'd be different if I was charging her to take care of the kids. I just do it because I like them. >> Mhm. I see. >> Well, anyway, she found out about it and I had to split the check with her. The whole thing was for $400. >> I understand your sister got the check cash that night. That correct? >> Yeah, that's right. It was 8:00 at night, but Rose said she knew somebody who'd cash it. She wanted the money that night. To save an argument, we got in the car and went to see this friend of hers, some bartender. He couldn't cash the thing, so Rose took the car and went out to look up another friend she thought would cash it. I didn't want to go chasing all over town with her, so I stayed at this bar and had a beer. >> Mhm. And that's the last time you saw your sister, is it? >> Yes. I waited a couple of hours and then I walked home. Two blocks from the house, I saw my car pulled up at the curb, right on Exposition Boulevard. Car keys were in the glove compartment. $200 in cash right under him. No sign of Rose, though. >> Well, what time was it when he got back to the house, you remember? >> It was after 11. Close to 11:30, I I think I went right to bed. >> And since that time, you've had no indication where your sister might have gone. No phone calls, no letters, no word from one of her friends who might have seen her. >> No, not a thing. She's in trouble. You can understand why. Been coming for a long time. Last 5 years going downhill all the time. She's no good, Sergeant. I don't know how it happened. Just no good at all. >> Um, thank you very much, Miss Marin. >> Thank you, ma'am. >> Oh, not at all. No trouble. I guess I better get dinner started for the kids. Well, if you hear anything about your sister, we'd appreciate it if you'd give us a call. >> Yes. All right. It's going to be the same old story, same thing all over again. You can bet on it. >> Ma'am, >> she'll come back when the money's gone. >> 5:15 [music] p.m. Ed and I drove back downtown and went directly to the crime lab. The missing woman's purse, [music] which had been found in the vacant lot out in Hollywood, had been examined thoroughly. They'd found nothing that had provide us with a new lead. We [music] checked communications, but there was still no answer to the APB. We'd gotten out on Fred Lions, the [music] man who'd worked with Rose Baker and who dropped from sight the same day she did. 5:30 p.m. We got back to the squad room. >> Hi. Hi, Brian. You just got back? >> Yeah. You get the word? >> No. What's that? >> Mrs. Baker. They just found her body. [music] You are listening to Dragnet. Authentic stories of your police force in action. Comparison proves Fatima quality. Prove Fatima quality yourself today. Compare Fatima with any other king-size cigarette. One, Fatima's length filters the smoke 85 mm for your protection. Two, Fatima's length cools the smoke for your protection. Three, Fatima's length gives you those extra puffs, 21% longer than standard cigarette size. >> And in Fatima, you get an extra mild and soothing smoke, plus the added protection of Fatima quality. >> Friends, to show our confidence in Fatima, we make this money back guarantee. Buy a pack of Fatimas. Enjoy Fatima quality, extra mildness, and superbly blended tobacos. If you're not convinced Fatima is better than the king-size cigarette you're now smoking, just return the pack and the unsmoked Fatimas by August 1st, 1952 for your money back plus postage. Fatima, Box 37, New York 1. >> Remember, because of its quality, its extra mildness, its better flavor and aroma, more smokers now insist on Fatima than ever before. >> Insist on the best Fatima. Extra mild and soothing, plus the added protection of Fatima quality. Smoke Fatima. Best of all, king-size cigarettes. [music] June 3rd, Monday, 6:00 p.m. The body of 38-year-old Rose Baker had been discovered in the Hollywood Hills area. Approximately 3-4s of a mile from the intersection of Mullhalland Drive and Oak Terrace, a dirt road branched off to the left of Mullholland and wound about 300 yd down the hill to a deadend stop. Just below the guard rail, which circled the edge of the road, there were two eucalyptus [music] trees. They overlooked a deep ravine covered with scrub oak and patches of laurel. Halfway down one slope of the ravine, they found the body of the missing woman. There were two bullet holes in the left side of the skull, there was another one at the base of the throat. [music] In her clenched right hand, there was a 50 cent piece. The immediate area surrounding the body had been roped off, and Lieutenant Lee Jones and the crime lab crew were making their preliminary investigation. [music] There was no sign of the murder weapon. The coroner arrived, and when the preliminary investigation was completed, the body was taken downtown [music] to the county morg. All clothing and personal effects were removed from the body and sent to the crime lab for detailed examination. Rose Baker's sister, Bernice Marin, was brought to the county morg and identified [music] the body. A few minutes after 10:00 that night, Ed and I got back to the office. I got it. Homicide Friday. >> Is this Sergeant Friday? >> Yes, sir. That's right. >> This is Carl Shelton. Sergeant, you were out to talk to me this morning. You remember? >> Oh, yeah. Shelton. >> I heard about Rosie just a couple minutes ago. I got to talk to you, Sergeant. There's something I got to tell you. >> Was that so? Do you want to tell me now? Well, I don't want to tell you on the phone. I'll drive in to see you. I'll leave right now. >> Well, yeah. All right. Do you mind telling me what it's about? >> Yeah. I know who killed Rosie. >> 11:08 p.m. Carl Shelton arrived at the office. Ed and [music] I took him down the hall to the interrogation room where he gave us his story. He told us, first of all, that he was well acquainted with most of the regular customers [music] at the tavern where Rose Baker and her sister had first stopped to cash the $400 check. He told us one of [music] these people, Leroy Hansen, had contacted him after he read in the morning paper about Mrs. Baker's murder. >> I've known Loy at least four or five years. He used to work with him. He wouldn't lie to me. >> What did this fellow tell you, Shelton? That's Leroy Hansen. >> He said he got to the bar a little after midnight. Had to be at least that cuz Leroy doesn't get off work till 11:30. Said he saw Rosie sitting in a car, parked a couple doors down from the bar. There was a woman in the car with her. He described her just like Rosy's sister. They were having a beef. >> This friend of yours hear what Mrs. Baker and this woman were talking about? No, but he's smart enough to know a big argument when he sees one. He says they were really going to it. >> Is he sure about the time? >> He's got to be. Loy works at a sheet metal plant south of town. He gets off at 11:30. Takes him more than a half hour to get in. Why should he lie about it? He wasn't even going to mention it till he found out she was dead. >> This woman he says Miss Baker was with, she fits her sister's description that close. >> Exactly. And there was a guy with Loy. He'll back it up. If the sister says she wasn't sitting in that car with Rosie outside that bar after midnight, she's a liar. >> Well, she is. If you can prove your story. >> Here's a phone. You ask Leroy. 11:22 p.m. We [music] put in calls to both of the men who were supposed to have seen Rose Baker and her sister Bernice sitting in a parked car outside the tavern six nights before. [music] Both of them corroborated Carl Shelton's story down to the last detail. They were especially [music] certain about the time. Bernice Marin told us that on the night her sister Rose disappeared, she hadn't seen her after 9:15 p.m. and that she had walked home and was in bed by 11:30. Both Leroy Hansen and his friend told us that they had seen Rose Baker and a woman answering her [music] sister's description sitting together in a car parked outside the tavern. They were both [music] certain at the time that it was well past midnight. We made a check on Loy Hansen and his friend. As far as we were able to find out, there was no logical reason why they should lie about what they told us. Ed and I got in the car and drove out to the home of Bernice Marin just off Exposition [music] Boulevard. It was 20 minutes past midnight. We rang the front doorbell and got her out of bed. >> Oh. Oh, officers. Didn't know who it was. Come in. >> Thank you, man. >> Well, you have to wait long before I answered. I sleep pretty sound. >> We'll have to ask you to get dressed, Miss Marin. Like to talk to you downtown. >> Why? What's the matter? >> Well, some more questions we have to ask you, ma'am. A few more things we have to clear up about your sister. It's pretty important. >> Well, I've told you everything I know. I don't like to go out and leave the kids alone at night. What is it you want to ask me about? >> Well, you told us the last time you saw your sister was about 9:15 last Tuesday night in Miss Mar. >> Yes, that's right. We've got a couple people who claim they saw you with your sister after midnight Tuesday. You were sitting with her in your car parked outside a tavern. You're having an argument with her. At least two people saw you and they'll swear to that. >> No, that couldn't be right. >> They claim it is. >> They say it was after midnight and they saw me with Rose. >> Yes, ma'am. That's what they say. >> And you believe it? You believe it was me? >> Yes, ma'am. We do. >> You think I killed Rose? Is that it? >> Yes, ma'am. We think so. How about it, Miss Baron? It'll take me a minute to get my clothes on. I want to talk to the oldest boy, my nephew Frank. But it be all right. >> I'll have to go along with you. >> All right. This way down the hall. >> All right. >> In here. I don't want to wake the other kids if I can help. >> All right. >> Frank, wake up. Frank. Frankie. >> What do you want, Anony's? I hate to wake you up, Frankie. I'm going to have to go downtown tonight. I'm leaving now. In case I'm not here, when you and the kids get up, I want you to take care of everything. All right, honey. >> Yeah. Okay. Why do you have to go downtown for? >> Well, it's something about your mother, Frank. Might take a little time. You see, the girls get off to school on time in the morning, won't you? Bobby, too. The sandwiches are all made. They're in the ice box. All you have to do is put them in a paper sack. All right. >> Yeah. Okay. Why do you have to go now? Can't you wait until tomorrow? No, I'm afraid not. Honey, >> you take care of everything, huh? Make sure all the doors are locked and don't forget to feed the dog. >> No, I won't forget. What's the matter? Is there anything wrong? >> Of course not. Now, if something happens, so I can't get back tomorrow, I'll call you on the phone. All right. >> Yeah. Okay. You be sure and call. Huh? >> I'll call you, honey. Go to sleep now. It'll be all right. You get some sleep. Good night, Frankie. >> Yeah. Okay. Good night. I'm sorry to keep you waiting. I had to tell Frank what to do. The kids wouldn't understand. I mean, if they woke up and didn't find me here. >> Yes, ma'am. >> What'd you do with a murder gun, Miss Man? >> Out in the garage. I'll show you. I had her four kids to raise. It's not easy. You know what it costs to feed them, put clothes on their back? It's not the kids I minded. They're wonderful. I love every one of them. I'm glad to get the chance to raise them. Never married myself. Never had any of my own. >> Mhm. >> Hasn't been easy at all. working all day, coming home and cooking for them, doing the wash, trying to keep the house clean. Rose never gave me a dime to pay a bill for her own kids, too. She gave us nothing, and she tried to take everything. Tried to bleed me for my last dollar. She cashed the check that night, said she was going to keep all the money. I couldn't stand anymore. We argued and I killed her. >> Yeah. Well, I'm sorry, ma'am. We'll have to go. >> Yes. All right. >> What'll I do, Sergeant? What'll I say? >> I'd advise you to tell the truth. You'll get a fair trial. I know that. It's not what I mean. >> What do you mean >> inside there? What am I going to say? How will I explain it? >> Ma'am, >> the kids. How do you tell four kids you killed her mother? [music] >> The story you have just heard was true. The names were changed to protect the innocent. >> On October 3rd, trial was held in Superior Court, Department 92, City and County of Los Angeles, State of California. In a moment, the results of that trial. Now, here is our star, Jack Webb. >> Thank you, George Finnamman. Friends, I make it a habit to carry two packs of Fatimas around with me. One's for my smoking, and the second one's for smokers I see with other king-size cigarettes. All I have to say is here, compare Fatima. I know they're going to be sold on Fatimas the next time we meet. How about comparing Fatima yourself? You'll find Fatima's length filters the smoke 85 mm, cools the smoke, all for your protection. You get those extra puffs because Fatima is 21% longer than standard cigarette size. And Fatima gives you an extra mild and soothing smoke. Plus the added protection of Fatima quality. Prove it today. Buy Fatima. [music] When their aunt Bernice Alberta Marin was apprehended on suspicion of 187 PC, the four Baker children were taken into protective custody by juvenile authorities. Bernice Marin was indicted for murder and entered a plea of self-defense. She claimed that at the time of the murder, her sister attacked her with a knife while they argued over the division of the $400 check. Bernice Marin was tried in superior court by a jury composed of nine men and three women. She was found not guilty. [music] You have just heard Dragnet, a series of authentic [music] cases from official files. Technical advice comes from the office of chief of police, WH Parker, Los Angeles Police Department. Technical advisers, Captain [music] Jack Dono, Sergeant Marty Wyn, Sergeant Vance Bracher. Heard tonight were Barney Phillips, Virginia [music] Greg, Vic Perin. Script by Jim Moser. Music by Walter Schuman. Hal [music] Gibney speaking. Fatima cigarettes. Best of all, Kingsize Cigarettes has brought you Dragnet. [music] Transcribed from Los Angeles. [music] Next, it's Counter Spy on NBC. [music] You've been listening to the Otr Gold Network. Find more classic radio at otrold.com. [music] All right, I hope everybody enjoyed that episode. Um, Alfredo, let me highlight this comment right here. Whoa, not guilty. Yeah, kind of crazy. Um, so check this out. I was I was looking at this just off camera sitting here. So, I used to I I have a lot of these notebooks that I put notes in, just like random stuff. And someone's going to see whatever's on that page. I don't know. I hope I didn't write my social security number on there. Um, but uh I finished this one and I was excited about finishing this one because I got all these blank ones and I was like in July I was trying to uh figure out like since I use these all the time, how do I make like an otr inspired one? At first I was doing like top secret clandestine thing. Come on. What the heck? Get out of here. Focus. Okay, maybe this isn't going to work, guys. Let's see. I don't know what it's trying to focus on. My ear. Anyway, I'm excited because now I can use this one. And then this was like a little I was see I was doing like a good grief. Give me something else. Here's my Here's my uh this there. Okay. If I put something behind it um to block out my face. Oh, almost. This is my This is the garbage pickup schedule here. Okay. But anyway, I was I scribbled on this one. This is one of the stickers I popped on there. And then I was trying to burn it into this thing, which I thought you might find interesting if I can get it. But this is like laser dawn, but that's hard to read. So, and then I'm still working on this, like trying to iterate and find like what's the coolest uh oldtime radio um inspired notebook that I can use. And I'm going to think I'm going to call it like uh field note. So this is field notes, which is cool, but they're going off of like the the term field notebook, which is like a generic term, and I'm going to use that. It's going to be a field notebook, but it's going to be like themed as if it's for police officers, like dragnet or something. And in here on this this page that is currently blank, I'm going to try and figure out how to get like all those call sign information like the alpha bravo Charlie that's up here. But then down here is like all the police codes, the uh 10 codes. Um so as you're listening to your uh Yeah, sorry guys. I don't know what's happening. Um as you're listening to Dragnet, they're like, "Oh, put out an APV or it's a 1090 or whatever." I think that's actually a tax document, but um you can just reference your field notebook and keep all your, you know, grocery lists or whatever else like your thoughts, random thoughts throughout the day, which is what I scribble in here a lot. It really is scribbles. But then at the but then you got this little theme notebook. So this is something just random that I'm working on when I have time. I started this in July 2012. This one I scribbled 2024. This one I scribbled on this one. Uh it's, you know, April 2025. So obviously I have these little ideas and I work on them in spurts. But I'm now I finished this notebook. So now I can work I can like scribble my own thoughts in my own top secret for official use only notebook. Anyway, [clears throat] some some of you enjoy those little random tangents and I figure if I save them to the end, then people can drop if they're not interested. So, thanks for sticking around uh listening to me. Let's see here. Talking about lighters. Let's see. Going to relisten to that one. Men, even if they did, let me highlight this. We're going to see what this is. Just like men, even if they did not smoke, used to carry sigs and a lighter for someone else who needed one that was in the 40s and 50s. Sam says, "The number of times I've been asked for a light in the past. Matches are cheap enough." Yeah, I don't think I've ever been asked. I was at a concert once where this guy, it was an outdoor concert. I won tickets off the radio uh off like a radio contest. It was to see Jack Johnson when he was performing his second album. So, I was a Jack Johnson fan. Excited to go there. But it's outdoor amphitheater. And if you know like his vibes, he's like a surfer from Hawaii that became a, you know, that started writing music. And um, fortunately, it was outdoors, otherwise I would have had like a secondhand high. And the person next to me kept asking me if I had any uh any marijuana to share with him and if I had a light. I told him like, "No, I don't." I had to tell him like repeatedly like I'm not I'm [clears throat] not lying to you. I don't have anything to to share. I don't I don't use it. So, he finally believed me and started asking somebody else. Um but that I think is the only time that someone's asked me both for something to smoke and then something to to light a smoke table lighter. But but I I do remember my parents collecting like we had like a set of matches, but then we'd also have all the matchbooks from the restaurants they'd go to, like the little cardboard things. And I know people that collect those matchbooks. Um or I know of people. See what else is here. [clears throat] Vaguely related in Scottish law. Let's see here. This will [clears throat] probably the last one. Vaguely related. In Scottish law, there are three positive verdicts. The conventional two and not proven. Oh, like guilty, innocent, and not proven. Not proven seems to be like, so they're not convicted of that, but therefore you're not innocent. Like there's still questions around it. Is there any is there like a if you fall in that third bucket, what happens to you? I'd be curious to know. Does it go on your It's not expuned from your record. Like if you're if you're uh accused of something and in the jury finds you innocent, it doesn't appear on your record. I'm curious if these not proven. It's like a little asterisk. Sam, you know, likely killed someone, but it's not proven. But we'll still put this on his record is like he probably did it, but they can't send you to jail. Explain to me what that is if if you know. Um, [clears throat] cool. Well, I think that's it. Thanks for that little uh tidbit of information. I wish you all a happy Friday and a great weekend. Um, hope you find it uh relaxing and I hope to see you back. Oh, I'm going to uh today I'm going to publish the Astro King interview. I wanted to do it yesterday. Um, I'll get that one out. So, something to listen to over the weekend and then I'm going to if you have ideas for guests for future podcasts. I don't have anything that I'm working on like in the hopper. So, if you I think Rosco mentioned Martin Grahams Jr. who I I'll reach out to see if he'll he'll talk to me. But anybody else um let me know. I'd love to do more of these. So, thank you all. Have a good one. Hope to see you on Monday. Bye. [music] >> [music]