The police reporter.
Again we present the police reporter dramatizing bizarre mysteries from the police records of the world.
On an October morning in 1930 a Coast Guard and the town marshal of Ketchikan, Alaska,
was sitting in the Coast Guard station at Point Higgins.
Say Taylor, why do you go fooling around with all them microscopes and telescopes and all
them weather scopes you got around here? These are scientific instruments, Stone.
Well what good are they? You'll end up in a nuthouse if you don't stop playing with all them dude jiggers.
Well I'd rather be like I am than like you are. That's just a matter of opinion and I can't say I
think much of yours. Hey take a look through that telescope and see if there's anything doing out
there. 1130 time check up on the boats. Okay. What's your matter? You expecting trouble? Nope.
Well it's been too good but my job is watching those fishing boats out there. You see anything?
Yep. There's a fishing boat away out there. This time of day? Yep. Who is it? Can you tell?
Nope. You better look. You see it? Hmm. It looks like old man Marshall's boat. He's out kind of late
in the morning ain't he? Hey there's something wrong with that boat. She's just drifting with the
tide. Do you suppose something's happened to the old man? Maybe. Guess I'd better run out there and
take a look. Anybody moving around on her? Nope. Not a soul. That's what makes me suspicious. Maybe
I better come with you. This may be a case for the law. Come on then. We'll run out in the launch.
It won't take us ten minutes. Wait till they get my hat and I'll be right with you.
Fifteen minutes later the two men were standing on the deck of old man Marshall's boat. Hey look out.
Holy smoke. What do you know about that? It's old man Marshall ain't it? Yeah. Dead as a doornail.
Looks like he'd been shot. I'd say it'd been knocked down first and then shot while he was laying on
deck. You can see where the bullet went right through his head and into the deck. Hey what's that
he's got in his hand? It's hair. Black hair. Hey give it to me. I'll put in an envelope and take a look at
it under a microscope. Sure looks like the old man put up a fight before they got him don't it? Say
Stone. Get out your jackknife and dig that bullet out of the deck while I take a look around. What do you
want with a bullet? You're a cop ain't you? You ever hear of ballistics? Sure that's that new fangle business of
looking at bullets through a microscope. Hey here's a broken hacksaw blade. Maybe we better take that
along with us too. I got the bullet dug out. Let me have it. Thanks. Let's go in the cabin.
Gosh sure is a mess in here. Why do you suppose anyone would want to kill the old man? Looks like robbery
to me. Robbery? Do you think he had any money on board? Certainly. The old man was a fish buyer for
the canneries. He always paid cash so his journey had quite a bit of money aboard. Say look at that
safe will ya? All busted to pieces. What do you think we'd better do? We better tow this boat in
a point Higgins and see what we can find out there. At point Higgins they discovered that George
Marshall had gone out to buy fish from two men, Burt MacDonald and Lloyd Close. At the city float
they found the boat of one of the wanted men and boarded her. Doesn't seem to be anybody here. He
must have just left. This cabin smells of fresh tobacco smoke. Sure does. Lloyd Close did kill
the old man. Been nice to have kissed him before he had a chance to go uptown. Why? We can get him
anytime. He'd still have whatever he stole on him. Now he's had a chance to get rid of it. Say will
you take a look in this chest? Plum full of new tools and about 50 hacksaw blades. Yeah the same
kind of blades as the one we found on Marshall's boat. This looks like the stuff that was stolen
from the cannery about a week ago. I wouldn't be surprised if it were. Well this trip wasn't a waste
of time anyhow. Looks like that cannery robbery is solved. Yes and I've got a feeling we've gone
quite a ways towards solving old man Marshall's murder. I wouldn't be at all surprised. What you
got there? 38 caliber revolver. Well that cinches it. I'm gonna find Lloyd Close and arrest him for
both these crimes. What's the matter with Burt McDonald? Old man Marshall went out to buy a fish
from him too. Once he used to taken him no doubt for what Lloyd did both jobs. Won't do any harm to
talk to McDonald. We know he went to see Marshall aboard his boat. It'd be just a waste of time.
Never can tell. Let's talk to him anyhow. What's the use? This case is in the bag right now. Hey do me a favor
will ya? Arrest both men. We next find Stone and Taylor in the former cubby hole office in the city
lockup. Well I've got both of them. Good. Let's talk to them. I want to hear what they've got to say.
We'll take McDonald first. He's mad as a hornet about the whole thing. All right. If we're satisfied
with his answers we'll let him go. Sam. Yes sir. Bring Burt McDonald in here. Yes sir. I'm gonna set
my microscope up on this table by the window. What are you gonna do with that darn fool thing? I
don't know yet but I got some ideas. Well kids have to have the toys I guess. Go ahead. Here's
McDonald Mr. Stone. Thanks. Sit down Mack. What's the idea to pinching me Stone? Well wasn't my idea exactly.
But now I've gotcha I want to ask you a few questions. About what? Oh a couple of things. Let's get it
over with. Did you see old man Marshall yesterday morning? Sure I sold him a catch of fish like I always
do. I see. And then what was he still alive when you went aboard his boat? Of course he was. And you
didn't have any trouble with him? Oh why should I have any trouble? He's a square guy who always paid
the market price for fish. Well did he buy from anybody else while you was there? Oh he didn't. You see
anyone else around? Yes. Saw an old boy close boat heading towards old man's when I was leaving. Well what
do you say Taylor? Got anything you want to ask him? Yeah. Would you mind giving me three or four of
your hairs McDonald? My hairs? Yeah I just cut a few off your head. Don't mind him Mack. He's potty about that
microscope of his. I'm serious Stone. How about it McDonald? Oh go ahead Mack. Give him a couple of hairs
to play with. All right I'll pull out a couple. There. Thanks. Can I go now? Why yeah I guess. Hey let him wait
here till you've talked to Lloyd Close. Do you mind Mack? No it's all right. Hey Sam bring Lloyd Close in here. Yes sir Mr. Stone. When you get four
people in this office it's a crowd. Excuse me while I go take a look at this hair. Sorry to keep you like
this Mack but I can't be helped. You understand don't you? Sure I know. It's all right Stone. There he is Mr. Stone.
Well Lloyd I'm afraid you'll have to stand. Ain't another seat in the place. I don't mind Stone. I can talk better standing.
I guess that's what you want me to do ain't it? Yes Lloyd. I'm afraid you've got a lot of explaining to do. About what?
About the Cannon Factory robbery for one thing. So Mack you couldn't keep your mouth shut. I never said a word.
Then how did they know we pulled a Cannon Factory robbery? What do you mean we? So that's it eh? Trying to dump all the blame on me.
Well you won't get away with it. They had just as much to do with it as I did. They didn't find any of the stolen stuff on my boat.
Well you're in it and you're in it just as deep as I am. You can't blame it all on me. No the fact is Lloyd he didn't. But that's neither here nor there.
We brought you here for another reason. What other reason? The murder of old man Marshall. I didn't have nothing to do with it.
That's gonna be pretty hard for you to prove Lloyd. Well I didn't do it. I didn't see the old man yesterday. Mack here says he saw your boat headed for old man Marshall when he left.
That's a dirty lie. You didn't sell him any fish yesterday? No. I had a bump catch. So I took him into town and sold him retail. And I can prove it.
Taylor here says the old man was killed with your gun. Well how can he say that when the gun ain't been out of my cabin in months?
Well for some kind of microscope business. You tell him Taylor. Raffing on a bullet to kill the old man is the same as all the slugs that fire from your gun.
I can prove that your gun killed the old man Lloyd. I don't care. I didn't kill him. That ain't all the evidence we got either.
We found a broken hacksaw blade in the cabin of old man Marshall's boat. It was the same kind of a blade that was stolen from the canning factory.
Well whatever. Explain that one if you can. I ain't explaining nothing. I'm telling you. I never saw old man Marshall yesterday.
I ain't fired my gun in two months and I ain't used one of them hacksaw blades I stole from the cannon factory. There it is. You can take it or leave it.
That won't do Lloyd. It won't do at all. I've had my say. Well that's all right with me. All I can do now is charge you with the murder of George Marshall and put you back in jail to wait for trial.
I didn't do it. What's the use denying it Lloyd when we got the proofs. There ain't a jury in Alaska that wouldn't convict you.
You were through with me Mr. Stone. Well now I guess. You've been doing a lot of bum guessing Stone. Now let me tell you some scientific facts.
Stuff you found out with that there microscope. Well that microscope doesn't make mistakes like you do. Say what mistakes have I made.
Well the first thing this microscope has told me is that the hair we found in old man Marshall's hand was McDonald's hair.
How do you know that. You can look in the microscope and see for yourself. It's exactly the same color and texture as the hair McDonald gave me less than 10 minutes ago.
There's a lot of people have the same kind of hair. Yeah but it don't look the same under the microscope.
Lloyd has the same kind of hair I have. Why didn't you put that under your microscope. I will if it'll make you feel any better. How about it Lloyd.
How about what. He wants to look at a couple of your hairs under the microscope. It's all right with me. I'll pull out a couple. Here.
Come over here Stone. Take a look. Do we have to go on with this foolishness. Don't be bald headed. Take a look at that eyepiece. What do you see.
Why it looks like two cables with rings around them. Do they look alike. Yes sir exactly. Well what you're looking at is one of the hairs we found in Marshall's hand which was evidently pulled out of the murder's head.
The other one is one of the hairs Burke McDonald gave me. Well what do you think of that. Now I'm going to put one of Lloyd close hairs with these two.
There. Now what do you see. Why it looks like an altogether different kind of cable. Are you satisfied. Yeah I'm satisfied. I've made a mistake.
But evidence like this is kind of hard to hang a man on. Well here's something else that don't quite hit. Did you notice a hole in the old man's boat when we discovered the body. Well can't say that I did.
Well there wasn't a fish in it. What the old man do with those that McDonald says he sold him. Throw him overboard. You're sure of that Taylor. Of course I'm sure.
If you've got the sense of a flea you'll hold Burke McDonald for the murder of old man Marshall.
And the Burke McDonald is serving a life sentence on McNeil Island and all because of a hair.
You have just heard the police reporter bringing you another dramatization of an actual happening. These stories are taken from the police records of the world.
You like this type of entertainment right to the police reporter in care of this station and tell him so. This is a radio release production.
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