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Calling All Cars 34-01-24 ep009 Case of the Three Grooved Bullets
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Calling All Cars 34-01-24 ep009 Case of the Three Grooved Bullets
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- [00:01]
A
We interrupt this program to bring you an important Wayfair message. Wayfair's got style tips for every home. This is Stiles MacKenzie helping you make those rooms sing. Today's Style Tip when it comes to making a statement, treat bold patterns like neutrals. Go wild like an untamed animal. Print area rug under a rustic farmhouse table from wayfair.com this has been your Wayfair style tip to keep those interiors superior. Wayfair Every style Every Home Calling all.
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B
Cars A copyrighted program created by the Rio Grande Oil Company. Young woman found murdered in Stone Canyon. That's all those the greatest testing laboratory for gasoline is in the emergency cars operated by police and fire departments. Cities and counties keep accurate cost records of these cars and it is easy to tell which gasoline gives greater mileage. Emergency cars test gasolines over the same streets and roads that you travel on. So when we prove conclusively that more police and emergency cars use Rio Grande crack than any other gasoline, we have definite proof that this same gasoline will also improve the performance of your car. You'll get greater speed because Rio Grande crack has been chosen for the fastest cars on the highway. You'll get greater power for the most powerful motors made are in a fire engine that use Rio Grande cracked gasoline. And you'll get more economical operation because cost records of the many cities and counties using Rio Grande cracks prove that this gasoline gives more miles in every gallon. So Rio Grande backs up its bid for your business with facts, not merely claims. The same gasoline that powers more police and emergency equipment than any other brand will actually improve the performance of your car. Rio Grande's independent dealers in every neighborhood offer you the same cracked gasoline that emergency cars use. It is now our pleasure to present Chief James E. Davis of the Los Angeles Police Department. Chief Davis Good evening, friends. There is an element of pride in the makeup of every member of your police force. Pride in a job well done. Every man is eager to be the one who clears up a mysterious case. It is this element which is really responsible for the solutions to baffling crime. For as you all know, the financial reward of a police officer is certainly not enough to compensate him for the long hours, the nights away from home and the risks he run every day in his search for desperate lawbreakers. Your police officers are intensely personally anxious to trace down every evidence of a crime. And their greatest reward is the satisfaction of writing solved on the records of the case on which they have worked. Tonight we are presenting the dramatization of a famous case in which the Police had very slim and nebulous clues to work on. The case looked almost hopeless. But the men assigned to find the murderer of Barbara Maer made it a matter of personal pride to bring the case to a successful conclusion. The story you will now hear reveals what is, to my mind, one of the finest examples of sincere detective work in the annals of the Los Angeles Police Department. The case of the three grooved bullets. Our story tonight opens in June of 1928, when pretty Barbara Mauger, a girl of 19, is chatting gaily in her apartment with Mrs. Roberts, her neighbor from across the hall.
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Oh, my dear, I'm so glad for you. And when do you expect you'll be married? Oh, pretty soon now. Well, Russell and I haven't set the date, but we're going to run off anytime and. And when we come back, I'll be Mrs. Russell Burholme all night. And are you excited? Oh, terribly. I just can't wait. Oh, and reckon I have a new car. And Cindy, we're going out in hills in a picnic. How nice. Oh, drive me a moment, Mrs. Roberts. Of course, my dear. Hello? Oh, hello, Russell. Yeah. Yeah, I have it in the bed. All right. Yeah, I'll look at it right now. Hold the wire. Oh, don't be frightened, Mrs. Roberts. It's just Russell's gun. It's loaded. Come on. But please, I. Can, Mr. Sell, can you, Mrs. Roberts? Oh, don't point that at me. It's all right, really. Say, can you make out these numbers? I'm. Don't be afraid of guns. What do you want with a number? Russell wants them so he can get bullets for us. Bullets? Why, he wants to do some target practicing when we go on a picnic Sunday. Now, what do these numbers look like to you? Well, don't. Please keep it pointed the other way, sir. I'm sorry. Well, now, I'd say that looks like a three, doesn't it? Yes, that's right. And that's a two. Yeah, and a two and a zero. 3220. That sounds right, doesn't it? Well, I don't know. Well, I'll ask him. Hello, Russell. Is 3220 the number you want? Yeah. Well, that's what it is, all right. Yes, darling, all right.
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I'll look for you later.
- [06:24]
A
Goodbye. And Russell, I love you, my dear. Get that gun out of the place as soon as you can. I tell you, I'm frightened of them. No good ever come of having a gun around the place.
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B
That weekend in the canyon off Mulholland. Drive. Pretty. Barbara Mauger is enjoying the warmth of a June afternoon with her sweetheart, Russell Berholm. On the horizon, white clouds dilute the friendly sun. Overhead, the sky is deep blue. A bird sings nearby. Barbara is completely happy, but for one thin shadow across her heart.
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A
But, Rocco, we. We can't wait much longer.
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B
Why not?
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A
Well, I told everybody. My friends know we're going to be married.
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B
Now listen, Barbara. Been all over this before and I don't want to listen to it again.
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A
Oh, but Russell, you promised me you'd marry me. And, well, every time I bring him up, you. You stop me. Oh, don't you think you've hurt me enough, Russell? Gee, I haven't any pride left.
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Half a pizza. Glitter. Oh, but Russell, you want to know?
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A
I don't care.
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You. I'll tell you now. I won't marry you because I can. I've got a wife and kid back east, and I'm going back to them as soon as I can. You want the truth? I'm sick and tired of you, Barbara.
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A
Oh, Rosso.
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B
Amanda quit.
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Oh, Rosa, why didn't you tell me? But I love you, Marco.
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B
I love you. Live from the Internet's red carpet, it's Verbo's 202025 vacation rentals of the year. Selected from over 2 million private vacation rentals, this year's list features the best of vrbo. And with weekly discounts on select stays, they might be more affordable than you think. See the list@verbo.com and make it a Verbo. That was in June for more than two months. No one apparently missed Barbara Margaret. At least her disappearance was not reported to the police. And then on the afternoon of August 2, 1928, as Detective Lieutenant Frank B. Condaffer of the homicide squad is standing watch at the headquarters. Homicide squad, Condapper speaking. Hello, Condaffer. This is Brigand over the fire department. Mountain patrol. Yeah, we just found a dead body in the underbrush at the bottom of Stone Cabin Hill above Mulholland Drive. Yeah, dead long.
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Young woman.
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Looks like murder to me. Okay, Burgendorf, I'll get Flanderson. My partner will be right out. A half hour later, Detectives condition joined Burgundor on Mulholland Drive. Hello, Burkendorf. Hello, conductor. Where's the body? Well, the body's down this gully away. Come on, follow me here. Well, boys, here we are. Yeah. Who found it? We did. My name is Vernon Johnson, and this is my pal, Edgy Hitchcock. How did you happen to find it? Well, we was driving up this way. And we noticed some big buzzards circling over the bottom of the canyon. Went down to investigate. When we. When we saw what it was, we run back and reported it. Been dead sometime. Frank, look here. What's that, Anderson? A bullet hole in the temple. Have any clothes been found around here? No, sir, not a shred. Well, then it can't be suicide. No. She could hardly have wandered all the way here unclothed. That's what I figured. Looks like the body's been dragged down the hill here. From the way that brush is flattened out, yes, but it's going to be hard to make an identification. Nothing to go by accepting that she was a blonde. Uh. Oh, say, wait a minute. What's that you just picked up? May not be worth much, but we'll take them in. Four white beads. Detectives Sanderson and Kahn Baffer return to headquarters, and for hours they pour over the files of the Missing Persons Bureau. But their search seems doomed to failure. Well, this looks pretty hopeless. Yep. Not a description here that I've seen that'll fit the body we found there. You still got the beads? Yeah. A lot of good they'll do. You find they're not large enough to take fingerprints from. And if they were, these prints would probably only be those of a girl. It looks like this is just another unexplained murder. Sure does. Well, how are you two birds looking? Screw me about, eh? Oh, nothing much. We're far ahead of when we started. We know that the body of a young blonde girl was found apparently murdered near Mulholland Drive. And that's all we know. A young blonde girl, is it? How old? Oh, I should say between 19 and 21. Wait a minute now, wait a minute. Seems to me I heard something about a young blonde girl being living here. You did? Where? Wait a minute now, wait a minute. Let me think. Oh, yes, I remember my wife was telling me a friend of hers lived in the same flat building with a blonde girl, the name of Mrs. Barber. As I remember, about a month ago she went away suddenly and. Hey, that sounds hot. What address was that? Just a minute now and I'll call the wife and find out. A short while later, Convar and Sanderson visit the landlady of the flat building to which their friend directs them. So you see, lady, if you could give us a line on this Ms. Barber, we might be. It might help us a lot. Where?
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A
You're mistaken in the name. No one by the name of Ms. Barber ever lived here.
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B
But there was a girl by the name of Barbara Barbara Mauger she was called.
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A
She suddenly went away. Her boyfriend called for her since, but his explanation didn't sound straight to me.
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B
Sounds like we're on the right track. Does it that. Now tell us all you know about her, please.
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A
Well, to be truthful, I don't know much, but if you talk to Mrs. Roberts she may be able to help you. She was pretty close with the girl.
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B
Where is she?
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A
Well, she lives across the hall from the apartment. The Mar girl had. Just go up the stairs and knock on the door on the left.
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B
Fine. Thank you very much. There we are. There's the name on the door. Mrs. Roberts.
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A
How do you do?
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B
We understand that you were acquainted with Barbara Mauger and Mrs. Roberts.
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A
That's right. She lived across the hall from me. Thank you.
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B
We're police officers, ma' am. Barbara Margaret has been missing and we're trying to locate her. When did you see her last?
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A
Why? Why that Sunday when she went off on a picnic with a sweetheart.
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B
What is his name?
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A
Twite? Russell. Russell Berholme.
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B
Do you recognize these lady?
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A
Oh, those are her bees. What's happened? Is she dead? Oh, I just knew something terrible would happen that morning. Sinister. Oh, that poor child. What's happened to her?
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B
Tell me now. Ms. Robert, you can help us most by remaining quiet and answering our questions, mister.
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A
All right, I'll find. Only tell me what happened to Barbara.
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B
We found a body yesterday, ma' am, out in Stone Canyon. She'd been.
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A
Oh, I knew it. Oh, I just knew something awful would happen to me. I just had a premise cremadition when I saw that gun.
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B
What gun?
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A
It doesn't have long to us, Ms. Todd. Russell. She had it here.
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B
What was she doing with a gun?
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A
Well, she said that Russell had lifted with her one day. The day before she went on the picnic. It was. I was in there with her when Russell called and asked her to read him the number on it so we could buy some bullets. I'd help link out the number.
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B
Now Mrs. Roberts, please, you must help us here. How long did you know Barbara Morgan, Ms. Roberts?
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A
Quite a while. I was really every day from the ticket across the hall.
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B
Did you know her, sweetheart?
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A
I met him once when Barbara and I were Donald Town. He was in front of the Metropolitan Theater.
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B
Did he work there?
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A
My impression.
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B
And what did you say his name was?
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A
Boholm. Russell Boholm.
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B
How old was he?
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A
About 28. I should say several years older than Barbara anyway.
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B
Did Barbara seem to be happy?
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A
Well, not always. Sometimes when I'd visit her I Fussed him kind, but she never admitted it. She was always excited about getting married.
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B
Oh, she was engaged to this Burr home then? Oh, yes.
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A
Although I somehow had a suspicion he was doing her along.
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B
I see. Now, Mrs. Roberts, if you tell us the circumstances, the last time you saw Barbara.
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A
Well, it was on a Saturday afternoon in the latter part of June. She was looking forward to a picnic. She and Russell were going on in.
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B
And that's where you found Stone Canyon?
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A
That's right.
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B
What else?
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A
Well, as I told you, he calls and asks for the number on the gun. She gave them to him and then she explained that he had borrowed it from a friend of his and he wanted to try it out on a picnic. Now I know what that meant.
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B
Can you think of anything else?
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A
I can understand it all now. Arthur came back at about 6 o' clock and I asked him where Barbara was. He said, you said Goodbye to Barbara, Mrs. Roberts? She left for the east this afternoon to visit her family. I asked him if that wasn't pretty sudden. And I was a little angry because. Because she hadn't said goodbye to me.
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B
Well, didn't it occur to you to report your suspicions to the police?
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A
Well, I never meddled in other people to share his story seemed plausible enough. She said something about Barbara's having met an uncle of hers who took her back. After all, I didn't think it was my business to start an investigation. She could have gone away, as he said, you know.
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B
Yes, she could have. Now, Mrs. Roberts, have you any idea where this Burholm works?
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A
Well, as I said, I was under the impression that he worked at the Metropolitan Theatre. Barbara used a telephone.
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B
Where? At the Metropolitan Theater?
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A
I don't know. It was a Metropolitan number.
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B
Can you remember it?
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Let's see now. It had some five in it. I think it was Metropolitan 1, 5, 2. Yes, that's it. Metropolitan 1525.
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1525, that's fine. Mrs. Alice, you've been a big help to us. Now we'll see if we can trace down this Burholme fellow.
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A
Well, please call me if I can be of any more assistance.
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B
We will indeed. Detectives Carnbather and Sanderson, drive immediately to the Metropolitan Theater. At the stage door they asked for the stage manager. The stage shows on now? Yeah. Come on, let's get a look. I always get a kick out of being backstage. Wait a minute. I got an idea. What's that? You better not let this guy know where detectives might show a hand. Yeah, that's a good idea. We'll just act like we're friends of our Holmes. Okay, but wait a minute. This must be the guy. Now. You want to see me? Yes. We're looking for a man by the name of Burholm. He works here. Burholm? Never heard of him. Well, you see, he works here. Not here, buddy. Oh, that's funny. Are you positive? Couldn't he be one of the motion picture operators? Hey, listen, don't you suppose I know my own employees? Yes, but there's nobody here by that name. Somebody's giving you a bunch here, that's all. Well, has anybody by that name worked here in the last couple of months? No, I tell you, I'm busy. I got a show to put on. I can't stand here when I answer junk questions. He's sort of a guy, isn't he? Yeah. Well, we're out on the limb again. Let's look at this number Ms. Roberts gave us. Okay. There's a phone over here by the wall. S, C. Now, J, C, L, M. Here we are. Metropolitan Theater. What was that number? Metropolitan 1525. That's not the number of the theater. It isn't? Let me see. No, but look, it is the number of the engine room of the Metropolitan Building. Well, now, that's getting closer. Let's go down there right now. Are you the boss here? I'm the engineers. We're looking for Burr Homes. Oh, Gopher Burholm. He's working here somewhere. Nobody for that name. Here. Let's take a look at the time book. Why? We're trying to locate Burholm. Where's your book? I can't let you look at them. We're police officers. Oh, well, that's different. Yeah. Hand over the book there. Sure, sure. Here it is. Find anything, Frank? No. No Burr home listed here in the past six months. Say, we had a cooling system put in here a while back. Maybe your man worked on that crew. Maybe. What company? It was the McIntosh Engineering Company. You might see the foreman of the installation gang. They're putting in a system in the bar room at the Bilbo now. Well, thanks. We'll go over there and talk to him. It looks more like a pipe yard than a ballroom. Yeah. Hey there. Yeah? Is Russell here? Russell? No, he's not working on this job. Oh, that's too bad. We're friends of his. We're leaving for San Diego this afternoon. We wanted to see him before we left. Well, you can touch him at the office. I know he's there today. Okay, thanks. We'll Drop by the office. Someone to see you, Russell. Right this way, please. Huh. We're off to Durham. Come along with us. I thought so. What do you mean? I read in the papers about her body being found. I suppose you'd be looking me up. Then you killed her. I didn't kill anybody. I had an argument with my girlfriend and she left me. Is that any reason for you to think you'd be accused of murder? Well, I. I noticed the body was found out on Mulholland Drive and was out there. I lost to her. Pretty peculiar coincidence, don't you think? I don't know. Even if it is her day Fun. That doesn't prove I killed her. Somebody else must have done it. I'll warn you right now that anything you say may be used against you. At the same time you're at liberty to clear yourself if you can. I guess I won't do any talking until I've seen an attorney. If you aren't guilty, you won't need an attorney. A few hours later, accompanied by a police stenographer who makes surreptitious notes from the front seat of the police car, Combato and Sanderson drive their home to the scene of the crime. They question him en route. Now, you say you had an argument with Barbara and she got out of the car and you left her there. What was the argument about? She was always asking me to marry her. I told her I wouldn't. Why? I couldn't. Why not? Because I'm already married. Oh, I see. Then you had a motive. Now, what do you mean, motive? I told you, I didn't kill her. Where did you first meet her? Department, Storm Philadelphia. What name did you go by when you worked in Philadelphia? Burholmes? No, not my own name. Russell Sinclair, bachelor. Oh, you real name isn't Burhol. Right. I got into a little trouble for sure. So I decided I'd use another name out here. As I didn't want my wife to trace me then. And I'm sick of this place. I'm going back to my wife and kids. Maybe you are. Perhaps you won't mind telling us why you thought the body found in the canyon might be hers. Sure, sure. I'll tell you Sunday. I. I think it was the 24th of June. We started towards Joan Canyon. For a pig, everything went swell until on the way out, she began to beg me to marry her. I told her I wasn't ready to marry her anyway. We had a quar. Finally she started crying, Got so mad she made me stop the car. She wouldn't ride with me any further. I kidded her a little bit, but I just made her mad and she got up and walked off at the last I talked. Why'd you leave her along here somewhere? I really couldn't say. She might be near here. Well, let's stop here anyhow. Get out. Burholm or Beitzel or whatever your name is. Now, you say you left Barbara Margrave on the road along here? Yeah. She said he'd get home all right. She said someone had come along, give her a lift. You haven't seen her since and it's been over a month. That's right. Why didn't you report her disappearance to the police? I was afraid I'd get into a gym, just like I am now, see? Come on down this way. Bike. Folks. This is where we found her.
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A
What?
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B
Yeah. Surprises you, doesn't it? Not where you left her at all. That was further up the hill. If you hadn't figured on Carl dragging her body, had you? Oh, stop. I tell you, I didn't do it. Where's the gun you shot her with? You had one and we're going to find it. Sure I had a gun. Yeah, I brought her along for target shooting. Your aim must have been very good. What did you shoot at? Nothing in particular. A couple of birds. That's all. Yeah. What you really mean is you murdered her, stripped her body and left it up the hill there. I did not. Where's the gun you used for target practice? My desk. I borrowed it from a friend. I thought I might buy it, but I decided not to, naturally having no further use for it. What did you do with her clothes and things you removed from her apartment? Well, I bundled them up and shipped them away. Where to? I just sent them up some town in Arizona. Phoenix, I believe. To what name? Can't remember. I put a Seattle return address on the pack. What was the idea of that? I thought I could get him back again if you ever came a route for him. Come on now, Biteful. You must realize your story is pretty thin. Won't hold water at all. That's my story and you're stuck with it. I haven't anything to worry about. You may have before you're through, young fellow. Pil has much to worry about. Is the case against him. Mount Philadelphia police notified us of arrest. Inform Los Angeles that he is wanted in Eastern City for embezzlement. A taxi driver, recognizing his picture in the paper tells police who are taking him to the lonely spot of the murder. Late one night, a check of a fictitious address to which Byteville admits sending Barbour's clothes results in the return of the package. Microscopic examination reveals some blonde hair on the clothing to be the same as the hair on the murdered girl's head. In September of 1928, Biteville goes on trial for murder before superior judge Charles S. Burnell. As the trial drags through one hot September day after another, fightful maintains an elegant air of cool insouciance. Then, after the defense has been wound up, the prosecution introduces a surprise witness. Yeah, this is going to be a stint. It doesn't look bad. Who's this guy? The colonical stance? I don't know. Let's listen. And what is your profession, Captain Crosby? I'm an expert on ballistics. Will you explain to the jurors what that means? Ballistics is the science of projectors. Good. Do you recognize this gun? Let me see. Yes. I examined that gun for Lieutenant Kondoffer of the police department. This is the gun you examined. The same gun which has been entered in testimony as belonging to the defendant? Yes. How do you know it is the same gun? Well, I recognize the serial number. Even if I didn't, I'd know it by the collar marks on the side barrel has been sawed off. Apparently to make possible the attachment of a maximum. Silence. I object, your honor, on the grounds that this has no bearing on the case. It has a direct bearing, your honor. If the counsel for the defense will permit me to proceed. Objection overruled. Proceed. I would like to admit, as exhibits two, enlarged photographs. Turn them so the jury may see them, Bailey. Thank you. Now, Captain Crossman, do you recognize these photographs? Yes. They are enlargements of photographs I made myself. And will you tell the court what they depict? The one on the right shows the mouth of the barrel of this gun. The saw mark I referred to may be seen clearly. Your honor, I object. The other photograph shows three fired bullets. You will notice the grooves clearly shown along the sides of the slug. These grooves were cut by the store mark on the barrel of the gun. Your honor, this is the waste of the court's valuable time. Witness may proceed. The bullets you will notice are marked identically. The ones on the right and left were test shots made from this gun. The middle bullet was taken from the skull of Barbara Morga. Nothing could save Beissel. After the unimpeachable testimony of the ballistics expert and the jury of five women and seven men found him guilty of murder in the first degree on September 28, 1928. Judge Burnell sentenced Beitzel to hang by the neck until dead. And on August 2, 1929, Russell Sinclair Beitzel paid his ultimate debt to society for his crime. Thank you, Chief. Police departments of the west are great boosters for real Brandy Crack gasoline. The officers and sheriffs who drive police cars know that it develops greater speed and power in their engines, especially in emergencies when so many ordinary gasoline fail. The recommendations of these police officers and sheriffs have caused thousands of motorists to try Rio Grande Crack gasoline with such satisfactory results that Rio Grande is leading all gasoline companies and percentage of sales increase. 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