The Big Story: Witness to Drama of Violence and Death (EP5082)

0:03 THE END.

0:29 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 the big story. But first, I want to encourage you, if you're enjoying the podcast, please follow us using your favorite podcast software. And I want to encourage you to check out our other podcast, Public Domain Video Theater. where we bring you public domain television shows and movies as a companion podcast to the Great Detectives of Old Time Radio. You can find that on our YouTube channel or at videotheater.greatdetectives.net. But now, from March 24th, 1954, here is Witness to Drama of Violence and Death.

1:24 The Big Story Where are we? Just outside of town. I want to go home. Let's go home. What are you stopping for? I'm going to let you out for good. You're not going any further. What are you doing? And then to your two-timer, to your cheat. The Big Story. The story you're about to hear actually happened. It happened in Las Vegas, Nevada.

2:08 It's authentic and is offered as a tribute to the men and women of the great American newspapers. From the pages of the Las Vegas Review-Journal... The story of a reporter who was a witness to a drama of violence and death.

2:30 Las Vegas, Nevada. The story as it actually happened. John F. Kalin's story as he lived it. It's a hot morning in Las Vegas.

2:53 Outside police headquarters, you, Johnny Kalin, take a quick look at the thermometer.

2:59 102 degrees.

3:02 You can feel the baked air coming in from the Nevada desert. Inside police chief Warren's office, you can feel the heat even.

3:10 With the electric fan on. I wonder if you got home sitting nice, Babbage. Too hot to work, Johnny.

3:17 Gotta make my daily check, Chief.

3:20 Any car tests, salts, drunk drivers, or something any different for you? It's a charge book. It's not good for those, huh? Too much. Rain. A little rain. Cool off, son. That's trouble. What? Only in the morning is always trouble. Hello. Steve Warren speaking. What? Okay, I got it. Hold everything. Coming right out. What's up? Redhead.

3:47 Some woman.

3:48 Dead on the outskirts of the city. You find her in a black sedan. You and Police Chief Warren.

4:01 A red-headed woman, shot dead in the backseat. Who is she? No purse, no wallet, nothing to identify her.

4:11 All you have is the license of the car. If you check it to find out who owns it, stop with it. You don't know who he is. 31, 6th Street 1, weight 175, eyes blue, hair blonde. Sounds like a pretty one.

4:26 Pretty, all right.

4:27 Picked his address, too, from the license plate. Picked his hotel, said he was a handsome type.

4:32 Hotel? What hotel? Fleabag Hotel. It's his time? Yeah. Well, did you get him, Chief?

4:38 No.

4:38 The hotel clerk said Mr. Scott drove away alone last night. I haven't seen him since. Get it. If he beat it, why should he ditch his own car? What was he going to do, walk across the desert? He could have gotten himself a lift. Still, it doesn't make sense. Dealing never makes sense. Do you think he did it, too?

4:55 I don't know. First, we've got to find Scott Ritter. Then I'll have your.

5:03 Answer.

5:06 All the way back to your office, Johnny Kalin. You ask yourself, what about that car? Why did he ditch it? Leaving a clue as big as that. Nothing to face the ownership of a car. Scott Witte just dumb. You can ask questions, but you can't find the answers. You sit at your desk in the city room of the Review Journal and begin to write your story when.

5:32 Hello? This is Chief Warren coming. Listen, he's on the Union Pacific Railroad station right away. Why? We've got another dead one. What? The man. Just been shot dead. Two killings in one day. In a town of 8,500. Jackpot.

5:54 You rush out thinking it's a banner headline you'll be writing. And suddenly, halfway to the railroad station, pops.

6:01 Into your head. Scott Whitty. It said, Scott Whitty. Is it him? Who? Scott Whitty. Oh, Scott. No, it's a locomotive fireman named Joe Merritt. Shot by a fellow named Floyd Farnall. What gave you the idea it was this witty? No, I don't know. Guess. Broad daylight, this happened.

6:25 Often, the next thing people see is Farnall ripping out a gun and firing point blank at Merritt.

6:29 Where's Farnall now? Around, they tell me.

6:32 Wearing a white shirt and brown pants.

6:34 Chief, Chief Farnall. I got something to tell you. Tell you. I work in the railroad yards. Listen, I just saw Floyd Farrell. I know where he is. Where? I followed him after the shooting. He ran into a bar on Fremont Street.

6:52 Fremont Street. The main thoroughfare in Las Vegas. Traffic is heavy.

6:57 People are shopping.

6:59 The ordinary events of the day go on for them. But nothing's ordinary for you today, Johnny Kaelin. You move swiftly and silently toward the bar with Chief Warren... The man who followed Farnall. You better stay outside, Johnny. This is no part of your job.

7:18 No, I just want to go and look at it. Well, there might be trouble. He has a gun. I want to go and look at it, Chief. This is it, Chief. This is the farm. I saw him go in. Johnny. Johnny. Come on. Come on. Let's go in.

7:43 From bright sunlight into a dimly lit bar, you're almost blinded as you step inside.

7:49 You can hear a jukebox clang.

7:55 The blood chills, realizing that you're a target for the killer within you.

7:59 But only the jukebox clang. Final? Your name Floyd Final?

8:17 What about it?

8:18 You killed a man, mister. Joe Merritt.

8:21 Did I?

8:21 You were seen. Come along quietly, mister. I'm police. I ain't finished my drink. Another time, maybe. Right now, you come along.

8:30 A man's got a right to finish his drink first.

8:33 That's the least a man's got a right to do. You've got to do things properly. And I always do things proper. Gun on you. I need it, mister. All finished, but I still need it. Give it up. Got a gun, too, I see. Yeah, I got a gun. Now give me yours. Don't try anything funny. Throw it on the bar. Put that gun down. Why? Like to keep on living? What for, mister?

8:59 I've had enough of it.

9:01 Men, women, wives.

9:03 Here's money arrived. Give me that gun.

9:29 You know, many great men have attained the highest office in our land, the presidency of the United States.

9:35 You guess the name of this man?

9:37 He was a United States senator and served as minister to both France and Great Britain. He was twice elected governor of the state of Virginia. He served as Secretary of State and Secretary of War, and in 1816 became president. During his two terms, many important events took place, including the acquisition of Florida from Spain, the admission of Mississippi, Illinois, Alabama, Maine, and Missouri. You should have his name by now, but if you don't, here's an important clue. His statement that no encroachment of foreign powers on either North or South America would be tolerated is known as the Monroe Doctrine. Yes, he was James Monroe, fifth president of the United States.

10:19 His life.

10:20 is part of your American heritage.

10:39 This is Cy Harris, returning with your narrator of the big story of Johnny Taylor.

10:44 As he lived it, he wrote it.

10:47 Ray Cox's One Day A red-headed woman and two men who were only a short time before were walking along like friends.

10:56 Sweet corpses. Plus a missing man named Scott Whittles.

11:02 How many big stories drop into a newspaper man's lap in one day?

11:07 Or is it only one story?

11:10 We contact your desk, John Kalin, and then along with Chief Warren, we go to inform the two widows.

11:17 We visit Mrs. Merritt. I can't believe it. I can't. It's true, Miss May. I'm sorry. Floyd finally stopped your message. He was here.

11:30 Early this morning, Floyd came in.

11:34 He had breakfast with us. Then he and my husband walked downtown. Is there anything wrong between them? No. What did they talk about? About railroad matters. He and Floyd were going to put a job... I don't know. There's no trouble to be sure of that. No, there wasn't. There was no reason for Floyd to kill my husband.

11:56 Or kill himself? Look, it doesn't make sense. There must have been something between him. A man doesn't use a gun the way Floyd finally did without a reason. Maybe your husband owed him money.

12:05 He had a good job, my husband. Made good money. He wasn't in debt to anybody. Maybe he was over some woman? I don't like to see it.

12:14 I mean, I don't like to hear anybody's feelings, but Could it be trouble over a woman?

12:20 Joe had nothing to do with Mrs. Farmer. My husband wouldn't have anything to do with that kind of woman. We were good, respectable people. You've got Mary's plan to shame the dead.

12:28 You get out of here.

12:28 Now, now, wait a minute, Mrs. Farmer. This is not the time to get excited. You've got to ask questions. I know she ran around with lots of names. But not for my husband. She's no good. She's just no good. Why should I? She's been married.

12:48 She told it.

12:49 No. She'd be glad.

12:53 She'll be glad that Floyd is dead.

12:56 Floyd would go away and she'd run around with everyone and anyone working in the railroad yard. She'd be red-haired. What?

13:03 Red-haired.

13:04 Because Claudia Fonnell is no good. Mrs. Merrick, you can on down town with us.

13:16 What happened to him?

13:29 He's not dead. Not this morning.

13:37 Do you know anyone who owns a black sedan?

13:40 No. Floyd. Floyd. He shot her, too. Are you sure this is Claudia Farnell, Floyd's wife? I'm sure. I'm sure. She's not so pretty now, is she? Wait. Why?

14:00 I don't like her. I'm sorry for her now. She was a bad, terrible woman to me.

14:22 They are dead. And suddenly there's a mob of questions to answer.

14:27 You write your story, Johnny Kalin, naming all three persons who died today.

14:32 Then you get down to police headquarters. This thing is still, definitely still. Where is this Scott Whitting, Chief? What's he got to do with it?

14:44 I've got no answer yet for a statewide alarm. Who killed Claudia Farmer? I don't know.

14:52 And Joe Murray? Was there anything between him and Claudia? Oh, you should.

14:56 You've got a million questions, haven't you, John? Why not, haven't you? I mean, is everything simple and straight in your mind? Look, I've been a cop a long time. I've learned patience.

15:08 I've got a fine, patient mind.

15:10 I've got an old newspaper that I don't Now it's either simple or simple. Why?

15:17 Because I don't know. In fact, I decide. What? The fact that I'm waiting for is Scott Witte. I think that's the boy that's got all the answers. I wonder. Maybe the more we.

15:33 Learn about Claudia Bond, the more peaceful this party will come together.

15:44 Where can you learn more about Claudia Farmer, Lieutenant Galen? Where? Remember something that Mrs. Merritt said. Run around. Everyone standing within a railroad yard. Yards.

16:01 Union Pacific Railroad Yards. If you make your way down there fast, you'll start to ask around. You're the reporter, ain't you? The one who was around when Joe Merritt got shot?

16:13 That's right. Don't you remember me? I'm the guy who told you where Floyd Farnell was. Not far. Oh, yeah, yeah.

16:20 Guess when I'm all greased up and an overalls like this, I ain't good for recognizing.

16:25 You, you both look pretty well, huh? Oh, sure. Worked with Joe on short hauls. You know who's thought of you, Farnell? Well, did you? Well, look, I don't like to say things bad about anybody in this world, especially when they're dead. Listen, all I'm trying to do is dig up facts. I'm not digging up facts. Why was Claudia killed? Who killed her?

16:46 That's what I'm trying to find out. Okay. What do you want to know? Was there anything between Claudia and Joe Moore?

16:54 We went on dates together. Did Floyd follow them? I think it's quite possible. People are dead. One man is missing.

17:03 Missing? Who? A fellow named Scott Whitty. Scott? I saw him two nights ago. You know him? Sure I know him. He had dates with Claudia, too. All right, all right.

17:18 He's another. I guess everybody had dates with her. I saw Scott 42 nights ago in the Sagebrush Cafe. He was there with Claudia. Funny part of it is, though, Floyd was.

17:32 There, too. The Sagebrush Cafe. It's a mile out of town.

17:43 An adobe building built on the edge of a desert. We drive out fast on the trail.

17:49 I'm feeling excited.

17:51 We're here together. Two nights ago. Yesterday morning. Claudia was found dead. In the afternoon, another death.

18:00 A suicide.

18:02 Maybe Chief Warren. Find Scott Witte. And the mystery comes clear. Only the bartenders in the cafe... Early afternoon. Business will take off. Right now, it's a perfect.

18:19 Time for questions. How are you feeling? I'm in Las Vegas with you, General. You're a reporter, huh? Yeah, and I've got some questions about a group of people who were out here two nights ago. Two men and a woman. The woman was a redhead. Uh-huh. I remember them. Are you in trouble? They are. I ain't surprised. Have you seen the papers today? No, not yet. You're in trouble over there. Look, what do you remember about them? Well, they acted funny, all right. Three people sat down for beers.

18:47 They're friendly. They laugh. Have a good time. And I was sure surprised.

18:53 When the older guy called the redhead his wife. I was sure she and the handsome young guy would be the ones who were hooked. They sat at that table there.

19:00 By the bar. And I wasn't surprised. Another beer for me and my wife. You can have one, too, Scott. You can live off of me, too. Let's go home, Floyd. We're having a party. Don't you like parties? You're getting drunk. Yep. Quiet, slow, careful drunk. You ain't drinking, Scott? I'm not having a... Why?

19:27 Because I'm back home? Ain't running any freight somewheres into Arizona tonight? Look, I... I didn't want to come out in the first place. You're all friends, ain't you? And I wanted fun. And you've got a car.

19:40 It's a favor you're doing, taking me and my wife out for a time. How come you've got no woman of your own, Scott? That's right. How about couple of hours? I wasn't so dead certain about Claudia Hill loving me. I think she's awful. Oh, but she's a faithful friend.

19:58 Shut up, Floyd. Come on, take me home. Yeah. Okay. We're going home. We're all going home. Hey, Scott, ain't she a real ever-loving wife?

20:15 Look how she's concerned about me. We walked out of this place after that without a word.

20:29 Then comes the funny part. Funny part? Yeah.

20:31 An hour later, he came back.

20:33 Walked in here again.

20:34 Alone?

20:35 No, he had to let everything go. Do you know something? He had changed his shirt. Wait a minute, wait a minute. He came back with his wife. It wasn't just Scott with him. No, they were alone. He changed his shirt?

20:47 Yeah.

20:47 He had a green sports shirt on the first time. He came back and he was wearing a white one. What happened then? Nothing. They just sat for a.

20:54 Couple hours, talking and drinking. Oh, yeah, the redhead was very nervous. Finally, they went out. I saw them drive off in a black sedan.

21:03 A black one? They drove away in a black sedan? Yeah, why? By tomorrow's papers. You'll see why. This bartender told you all this, Johnny? Uh-huh. He's beginning to bring.

21:19 The pieces together. He's beginning the next session. Now, I'll bet Barnall killed his wife.

21:25 And why?

21:26 Jealousy.

21:26 In the statistics report, the same John Fielder read it. No merit in the court of Barnall.

21:30 You see? But where's Scott Woody? I don't think there's any Scott Woody. For my money, I'll bet Scott Woody's dead.

21:38 Don't you go theorizing on me, Johnny. I think it was all carefully planned. We're going out on a limb, boy. A cold-blooded, deliberate wiping out of people by Floyd Fawkes. People running around with his wife, going out to breakfast, walks into work, and kills him. He has Fawkes in his life.

21:54 I'm sure it's, uh... Sure, but I bet he made Claudia watch when he shot you.

21:59 The first time they left the bar, he stopped her, but he shot him. Then he brought her back to the bar, got some more, and then later put a bullet in Claudia's Are you serious?

22:07 Dead serious. It's a plan. It's a deliberate plan. You'd be surprised if you caught her with a plane.

22:15 This man's just a railroad worker, not a horror story writer.

22:19 I'll bet, Chief. I'll bet. Chief Lawrence speaking. What? Where? Okay. I'll be right out. Somebody just came across a body in the desert. Scott Whitty. Shot in the head.

22:38 You ride out for a cheap while into the hot desert. The air bakes and shimmers. You get out a few miles along the desert road. Then a ditch.

22:49 There's the bottom. Nearby. Sure. Green sportswear. But all dried up. Thank you for your time. We'll see you next time. Thank you. Their initials. J.M. Joe Merrick. S.W. Scott Whittaker. C.F. Claudia Farley. Their initials. F. Floyd Farley. His own list. The list of victims of the terror. The list of victims. Now, do you agree that this is all planned? Yes. Yes, you're right. All planned. Planned and carried out to the back.

23:50 The story of Floyd Farrell is the.

23:56 Most and so ends.

24:25 Another big story in order to protect the names of people actually involved in tonight's authentic big story the names of all characters in the dramatization were changed with the exception of the newspaper reporter.

24:58 The Big Story has been a presentation of the United States Armed Forces Radio Service.

25:23 Thank you.

26:01 Welcome back.

26:03 Well, let's go ahead and go through our cast.

26:20 As we do with The Big Story. Michael O'Day played Johnny Callen. Chief Warren was played by Ed Begley. More on that later. Also in the cast, Brenna Rayburn, Danny Occo, Rita Lynn, Gilbert Mack, and Billy Gray. Now, the stories behind The Big Story website has some details on it. Uh, The actual name of the killer was Wayne Tyler, and he killed his wife Evelyn, along with Kalen Gilmore and a Charles Decker, before killing himself when police came to apprehend him. What is surprising, I guess, is how relatively young the actual people were compared to what was portrayed on radio. Wayne Tyler was 24, his wife was 21, and Galen Gilmore, 19, Charles Decker was the oldest at 34.

27:23 So they seemed to age up these characters for some reason. I was able to find out the date of this from a website that tracked the killing, and it reflected that this occurred in 1941, which would also go along with the population figure the episode provides of 8,500, which was the population of Las Vegas, actually around 8,400 in the 1940 census. The population was 24,624 by the time of the 1950 census, and by 1960, the population would be 64,405. And the population has increased more than tenfold in the years since then. The stories behind the Big Story website notes that Callan was, and I quote, a very well-known and highly regarded Las Vegas journalist and citizen.

28:28 And he took his first job with the Nevada State Journal in 1926. Then he moved to Las Vegas in 1929. and worked his way up from reporter to managing editor, and he was there until 1961. Though I will say in this portrayal, he was maybe a little bit too enthusiastic about the whole triple murder thing, and having an attitude of, wow, what a story. Now, Ed Begley is kind of an interesting case, because I have said quite often that that generally you will have New York radio actors or you'll have Hollywood actors, and you don't see much crossover, but Ed Begley Sr. definitely a bit of an exception. His work would take him to both coasts.

29:25 He was not only a film actor, but he also did quite a bit of work on Broadway and won a Tony for his work in Inherit the Wind. He began on local radio, then went to New York, and eventually went to Hollywood, but then also went back to New York and really maintained a career and contacts while building a remarkable acting legacy. And then we have a comment on Spotify regarding the Back from the Dead and my answer to a listener question about the whole business of the Big Story's attempts at anonymity. And a random Spotify user writes, For some reason, I think you've had your recap bottled up for a long time. Well, it kind of depends on what you mean for a long time. Now, I don't just see comments on the day of recording.

30:34 Usually I've seen them several days in advance. So I may have spent quite a little while thinking about and processing what I think about the particular issue. So it had been several days knowing that this question was coming up. And those answers that tend to be a bit longer tend to be those that I've just had to think out and come up with, okay, what exactly do I feel about this and why? Because I hadn't given much thought to the question of how effective the anonymity efforts were until I got the question. So I did have to think through it and think, you know, what are they doing and do some research. So it's a result of a whole thought process. Stuff I've had an opinion on for a long time tends to be a lot

31:31 easier to say because I've already had that in my head for a while. All right, now it's time to thank our Patreon supporter of the day. Thank you to Ken, Patreon supporter, since January 2020, currently supporting the podcast at the sharmless level of $ 4 or more per month. Thanks so much for your support, Ken. And that will do it for today. If you're enjoying the podcast, please follow us using your favorite podcast software and be sure to rate and review the podcast wherever you download it from.

32:03 We'll be back next Tuesday with another episode of The Big Story, but join us back here tomorrow for Broadway's My Beat, where.

32:10 Flop yourself anywhere, mister, you'll excuse how I am. I was in the tub with a warm bath reading the paper and listening to the radio. Tough day today. The warm tub relaxes me. Music likewise. I see. Yeah, sure you see. So, okay, so now you killed it for me. What's with Mary? She's in police emergency hospital.

32:29 She's dying.

32:30 Mary got hurt? Hit by a car? What? Someone tried to kill her. Mary?

32:34 She's on a subway platform at Times Square.

32:36 Someone stabbed her, ran.

32:38 We found this address on her.

32:39 You found this address on her because this is where she lives sometimes. This is her home sometimes. Sometimes she remembers I'm her father. Those are the times when she yawns, asks me how things are going, where I work, goes to sleep in her room. I can count the times on the fingers of my hands. Tell me about her, Mr. Travers.

33:00 What do I know about her? This is her private hotel, these three rooms. I'm not her father, I'm her desk clerk, her bellboy. I take messages for her, send out her cleaning press and rustle up night snacks for her. And you know what?

33:13 No.

33:13 No.

33:14 She leaves tips for me on my dresser when she goes out. Yeah, five or ten spots. You know something else? I take it. I use it for get-loaded money, forget money. But I get more Father's Days than any father in the world. Someone try to kill her, Mr.

33:33 Trevor.

33:33 Maybe you could... Don't ask me too much about Mary. I don't know about her life, so I wouldn't know about her diet. Or her friends, people she ran around with, men, girlfriends. Doesn't get through to you, huh? Unbelievable, huh? I'll lay it out for you. This girl stopped being my child maybe five years ago. After that, we couldn't find anything in common. We'd get lost in different worlds. She had a bag with her when we found her. Traveling bag.

33:58 She ran in here a couple of nights ago. Said she was in a big hurry. Threw her things in a bag. Told me she was going out of town, not to wait up. Don't question me where, mister, because I knew better than.

34:09 I hope you'll be with us then. In the meantime, send your comments. to box13 at greatdetectives.net. Follow us on Twitter at Radio Detectives and check us out on Instagram, instagram.com slash greatdetectives. From Boise, Idaho, this is your host, Adam Graham, signing off.