Dragnet: The Big Blast (EP4768)

Summary

The Great Detectives of Old Time Radio | Daily Mystery Dramas

Episode Summary: Dragnet: The Big Blast (EP4768)

Release Date: July 31, 2025
Host: Adam Graham
Featured Series: Dragnet

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Introduction

In this episode of The Great Detectives of Old Time Radio, host Adam Graham presents "Dragnet: The Big Blast," an authentic radio drama from the Golden Age of Radio. This episode delves into a gripping homicide case, showcasing the meticulous investigative work of Sergeant Joe Friday and his partner, Ben Romero.

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Episode Plot Summary

Setting the Scene

The story unfolds on the warm evening of Monday, July 9th, in Los Angeles. Sergeant Joe Friday and his partner, Ben Romero, are assigned to a homicide case at 543 W. Bixel St. The victim, Josephine Stevens, a 28-year-old mother, is found murdered in her bed by her 7-year-old son, Charles.

Crime Scene Investigation

Upon arrival, Friday (00:28) and Romero assess the horrific scene:

"What's the Name? Josephine Stevens, 28 years old." [04:15]

The investigation reveals that Josephine was killed by a shotgun blast from outside the bedroom through a torn screen door. The meticulous search for the weapon yields no immediate evidence, raising suspicions about the killer's identity and motive.

Interview with Charles Stevens

A pivotal moment occurs when Friday interviews the traumatized child, Charles:

"What happened to my mommy?" [07:52]

Joe Friday gently reassures him:

"My name's Joe Friday, son." [11:04]

Charlie reveals that his mother was reading him a story when a man attempted to enter through the screen door, leading to the tragic shooting. His fragmented recollections provide crucial insights into the events of that night.

Suspect Interrogation: Keith Stevens

The investigation turns towards Josephine's husband, Keith Stevens (00:28), who appears distraught upon hearing of his wife's death. Despite his claims of innocence and an alibi corroborated by his workplace, inconsistencies arise:

"You never been in jail for any reason?" [21:05]

Further scrutiny reveals Keith's dishonesty about a prior arrest, leading the detectives to suspect his involvement indirectly.

Breakthrough: Arresting Michael Duff

The breakthrough comes when Michael Lewis Duff, an ex-convict, is found in possession of shotgun shells:

"It's Been recently fired." [20:54]

Confronted with evidence, Duff confesses to committing the murder for Keith Stevens:

"All right, I did it. But I did it for Stevens." [Notably at 21:05]

Convictions and Consequences

The episode concludes with the legal ramifications:

• Keith Edward Stevens is convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life imprisonment.
• Michael Lewis Duff is sentenced to death and executed in the lethal gas chamber.

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Notable Quotes with Timestamps

• Joe Friday: "You're a detective sergeant. You're assigned a homicide detail." [01:26]

• Charles Stevens: "Mr. Friday, are you a policeman?" [07:21]

• Michael Duff: "I did it for Stevens. Tell me you give me a thousand dollars if I kill his wife for him." [Further along the transcript]

• Joe Friday: "Somebody killed her while she was in bed." [25:00]

• Adam Graham (Post-Episode Commentary):

  "That scene where they were questioning him was beautifully done. It was heartbreaking and it was horrific to think that a father would put his own son through that because of a desire to maintain custody." [27:48]

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Key Moments and Insights

1. Emotional Depth in Child Interview: The interaction between Joe Friday and young Charles highlights the emotional toll of the crime. Charles's innocence and confusion add a poignant layer to the narrative, emphasizing the human impact of such tragedies.

2. Investigative Rigor: Friday and Romero's methodical approach—collecting evidence, verifying alibis, and uncovering lies—demonstrates classic detective work. Their persistence in following leads, even when initial suspects seem unconnected, showcases the thoroughness required in solving complex cases.

3. Character Motivations: The episode explores themes of desperation and the lengths one might go to retain parental custody. Keith Stevens's motive, driven by fear of losing his son, underscores the personal struggles that can lead to criminal acts.

4. Legal and Ethical Considerations: Adam Graham points out potential oversights in the investigation, such as the warrantless search of Duff's apartment. This raises questions about procedural adherence and the balance between effective policing and respecting legal boundaries.

5. Pop Culture References: Graham notes subtle nods to historical and cultural elements within the episode, such as references to Hal Gibney and the honorary deputy sheriff roles, enriching the listening experience for aficionados of the era.

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Host's Commentary

After the dramatization, Adam Graham provides insightful analysis:

• Emotional Impact: Graham reflects on the heartbreaking nature of the crime, particularly the involvement of a child and the father's severe actions driven by personal turmoil.

• Investigative Techniques: He questions how the case might have unfolded differently had Keith Stevens been honest about his past, suggesting that transparency could have potentially altered the investigation's trajectory.

• Legal Procedures: Graham critically examines the investigation's adherence to legal protocols, such as the warrantless entry and search, highlighting the evolving nature of law enforcement practices.

• Cultural Significance: He discusses the cultural footprint of Dragnet, noting its authenticity and the way it mirrored real police work of the time, further cementing its place in radio history.

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Listener Feedback

Adam engages with audience comments, sharing insights and perspectives:

• Dino's Comment: Appreciation for Mathnet and its creative nods to Dragnet, including humorous elements like characters packing calculators as "guns."

• Chameleon's Praise: Enthusiasm for Square One TV and its innovative educational sketches, drawing parallels to the engaging storytelling found in classic radio dramas.

• Betsy's Observation: A debate on Joe Friday's personal life, specifically his lack of marriage, leading to a discussion on character development and the portrayal of law enforcement icons as symbols rather than fully fleshed-out individuals.

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Conclusion

"The Big Blast" episode of Dragnet serves as a compelling example of classic radio detective storytelling, blending emotional depth with procedural accuracy. Adam Graham's adept narration and subsequent commentary enhance the listener's understanding and appreciation of the narrative and its cultural context. Through detailed investigation and human-centric storytelling, this episode remains a standout in the legacy of old-time radio mysteries.

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Stay Connected

For more engaging summaries and discussions on classic radio dramas, subscribe to The Great Detectives of Old Time Radio via your favorite podcast platform or visit Great Detectives. Follow Adam Graham on Twitter @radiodetectives and Instagram @greatdetectives for updates and behind-the-scenes content.

Transcript

[Joe Friday]

Sam.

[Adam Graham]

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 this week's episode of Dragnet. But first, I do want to encourage you, if you're enjoying the podcast, to follow us using your favorite podcast software. Today's program is brought to you in part by the financial support of our listeners. You can support the show by mailing a donation to Adam Graham, P.O. box 15913. That's P.O. box 15913, Boise, Idaho, 83715. And you can also become one of our ongoing Patreon supporters for as little as $2 per month at patreon.greatdetactives.net now from May 17, 1951, here is the big blast.

[Joe Friday]

Dragnet is proud to present its Academy Award winning radio program. The story you are about to hear is true. Only the names have been changed to protect the innocent. You're a detective sergeant. You're assigned a homicide detail. A young mother is murdered in bed while her seven year old son sleeps by her side. The killer was vicious and cunning. Your job, get him. Dragnet. The documented drama of an actual crime. For the next 30 minutes, in cooperation with the Los Angeles Police Department, you will travel step by step, step on the side of the law through an actual case transcribed from official police files. From beginning to end, from crime to punishment, Dragnet is the story of your police force in action. Was Monday, July 9th. It was warm in Los Angeles. We were working the night watch out of homicide detail. My partner's Ben Romero. The boss is Thad Brown, Chief of Detectives. My Name's Friday was 11:25pm when we got to 543 W. Bixel St. Front door. Homicide? That's right. This is Friday. My name's romero. Klein, unit 16. I. How are you? Partner's Thomas. He's in with the victim's mother and son back. Guess what he's sleeping for. Okay, what's the story? Really a nasty mess. Looks like a shotgun. Victim's face is half gone. What's the Name? Josephine Stevens, 28 years old. What do you got so far? Not much. Your mother's in a state of shock. Talk to young boy for a minute. Pretty terrible. Here's the sleeping porch. Dear God. Yeah, you got a little kid by her side and knocks her props out from under you. What do you got on it? Seems as Josephine Stevens and her 7 year old boy were sleeping in the bed when it happened. Haven't been able to fill it all out yet, but from what the youngster told us, it happened about 30 minutes ago. I'd say it was a shotgun, too, wouldn't you, Joe? Yeah, looks like it. You can see by the head of the bed here, it looks like shotgun pellets. Yeah, there's screen in the door here. Looks like it was recently torn. Yeah, Thomas and I noticed that, too. We made an immediate search of the area. Didn't turn up anybody. Backyard around the side shrubbery. Didn't find anything. Yeah, we were careful not to step off onto the soft earth anywhere around. Didn't want a chance to string any prints or anything. That's fine. Did you talk to the girl's mother at all? Klein? Very little. She's still hysterical. Doesn't seem to know what she's saying. Couldn't tell us very much. Well, let's step into the next room, huh? Room's just the way we found it. Nothing out of order. Dresser drawers are all closed. Room admin prowled. Doesn't look like the work of a burglar or a prowler. Burglar or prowler wouldn't be carrying a shotgun either, would he? The only thing Thomas and I found were a cut in the screen. The gate around the side of the house there. It's open. Crime lab been called? Haven't had time to do it right now. No, never mind. I'll take care of it. I want to call in anyway. Do they have a phone here? Right in the kitchen there on that table. Okay, thank you. I figured we'd use some help, don't you? Yeah, Right there. You left. Yeah, I see it. Thank you. 2643, please. 2643. Crime lab, Allen. This Friday, Jay. Yeah, Joe, we're at 543 West Bixel. Got a homicide. We're gonna need prints, photographs, the whole deal. Jay. Looks like the woman was killed with a shotgun. Let me double check that address, Joe. 543 West Vixel. Yeah, that's right. You got a phone out there? Yeah, it's Hollywood 931999. We'll get right on it, Joe. Thanks. Hey, Jay, could you transfer me to 2521, please? Right. Operator. 2521. 2521. Homicide. Sanchez. Sanchez. It's Friday. What'd you find out there? Oh, it's a bad one. Shotgun killing. Haven't got too much yet. We're gonna have to have some help. What do you need? We need somebody to cover the area. We don't know what we got yet. Talk to the witnesses, neighbors, cover the parked cars. Will you send out a broadcast for us? Alert all units to be on the lookout for a person or persons with a shotgun in their possession. Take care of it right away. How many men you think you need? Well, at least four crews. Could you get them out right away? Okay. Anything else? No, I'll fill them in when they get here. Thanks a lot, Sanchez. Right, Joe. All right. Bye. Everything okay? Yeah. Klein says we could talk to the youngster. You don't think it'd do any good to talk to Mother? She's still in bad shape. Imagine. She'll be all right in a little while, but I think you just waste your time right now. Well, I forgot something. What's that? Forgot to call the coroner. I'll take care of it for you. Would you take the boy into the front part of the house for us? Sure. Fine. Then if you'll just call Sanchez down in Homicide downtown. He'll notify the coroner for us. Right. Thanks a lot, Joe. You want to see something break your heart? Yeah. What's that? Notice the blood on the floor there leading from the sleeping porch to this bedroom here. Yeah. Look like small footprints, huh? They are little boys. Let's go in the front room. This is a boy, 7 years old. Name's Charles. Right. Thanks, Clint. I'll make that call for you right away. Friday. Hello, son.

[Charles Stevens]

What happened to my mommy?

[Joe Friday]

I'm sorry. You better take it. Joe. Yeah. Come over here to me, son. Charles. Is that your name?

[Charles Stevens]

Charlie?

[Joe Friday]

My name's Joe. Charlie?

[Charles Stevens]

Yes, sir, Mr. Joe.

[Joe Friday]

Well, it's Joe Friday, son.

[Charles Stevens]

Mr. Friday, are you a policeman?

[Joe Friday]

Yeah, that's right, Charlie. Now, that other man in the uniform. Officer Klein.

[Charles Stevens]

Yes, sir.

[Joe Friday]

He said you might be able to tell us what happened here. Do you feel like talking about it, son?

[Charles Stevens]

Mr. Friday, do you know what happened to my mommy?

[Joe Friday]

Well, that's what we're trying to find out, son. We'd just like to ask you a few questions.

[Charles Stevens]

She's hurt bad, isn't she? Did she talk to you? She wouldn't talk to me. Grandma and those other policemen wouldn't let me stay in there.

[Joe Friday]

Well, can you tell us what happened here?

[Charles Stevens]

You want me to tell you like I told the other policeman?

[Joe Friday]

If you would, please.

[Charles Stevens]

I wish you'd let me go in and see Mommy. She could tell you a lot better than I can.

[Joe Friday]

Well, she's hurt kind of bad, son. We just thought that maybe you'd tell us.

[Charles Stevens]

Well, we were sleeping in the bed on the back porch. We just Got to bed and Mommy was reading me a story. Then I heard this man at the screen door.

[Joe Friday]

Did you see the man, Charlie?

[Charles Stevens]

No, I didn't. Mommy wouldn't let me.

[Joe Friday]

Well, how do you mean, son? How do you know it was a man?

[Charles Stevens]

Then somebody was cutting the screen at the door. I thought it was a man.

[Joe Friday]

But you're not sure you didn't see him?

[Charles Stevens]

No, sir, I didn't see anybody. It's dark outside.

[Joe Friday]

You heard somebody cutting the screen, though, is that right?

[Charles Stevens]

Yes, sir. Then Mommy sat up in bed. I started to sit up, too, but she wouldn't let me. She pushed me back down and said, keep down.

[Joe Friday]

Can you remember exactly what she said, Charlie?

[Charles Stevens]

She said she just to keep down. That's all she said.

[Joe Friday]

Well, then what happened?

[Charles Stevens]

I heard this big gun. Mommy fell down on the bed again. I could tell she was cut. I could see blood all over her. I tried to talk to her, but she wouldn't talk to me. So then I went to get Grandma.

[Joe Friday]

Now, after you heard the gun, did you hear anything else?

[Charles Stevens]

I don't know what you mean.

[Joe Friday]

Well, did you hear anybody running outside the house? Anything like that?

[Charles Stevens]

I don't remember and I don't think so. I got up and went into Grandma's room. I was awful scared. I don't know why Mommy wouldn't talk to me. She always used to when I was scared.

[Joe Friday]

Well, now, can you think of anything else that you might be able to tell us, son?

[Charles Stevens]

No, sir. I just don't know why anybody would hurt my mommy. She's so good. She never hurts anybody.

[Joe Friday]

Where's your father, Charlie?

[Charles Stevens]

I don't know where he is. They don't live together anymore.

[Joe Friday]

Now, how long has it been since you saw your father?

[Charles Stevens]

Just last Sunday. It was yesterday, I guess. I see him every Sunday.

[Joe Friday]

Well, do you have any idea who might want to hurt your mother?

[Charles Stevens]

No, sir. Nobody.

[Joe Friday]

All right. What do you think, Ben? Jonny?

[Charles Stevens]

Yes, sir.

[Joe Friday]

Did your mother and father seem to argue with one another very much.

[Charles Stevens]

Before we moved here to Grandma's house, they used to argue all the time. That's when we lived in the apartment.

[Joe Friday]

Is that why you moved over here, son?

[Charles Stevens]

Yes, sir, that's partly it. Mama had to work and she didn't want to leave me alone here, so we moved over to Grandma's house.

[Joe Friday]

Do you think your father would ever hurt your mother? Did he ever say anything about ever hurting her?

[Charles Stevens]

My daddy was always so good to me. He used to buy me all kinds of things. I don't think he was Ever mean to anybody.

[Joe Friday]

See? Do you remember your mother ever saying she was afraid of anybody?

[Charles Stevens]

No, sir. She was never afraid of anybody.

[Joe Friday]

How do you know that, son?

[Charles Stevens]

She and grandma used to always tell me that I'm the man of the family. As long as I'm around, they're not scared of anybody.

[Joe Friday]

Oh, I see.

[Charles Stevens]

But when you talk to Mama, you won't tell her, will you?

[Joe Friday]

Tell her what, son?

[Charles Stevens]

She always says that big men don't cry about things. When grandma came out on the porch, she started to cry and she took me into her room. Then she cried some more. I guess I cried a lot too. When you talk to Mommy, you won't tell her that, will you?

[Joe Friday]

No. No, we won't.

[Charles Stevens]

I've never really known. Was that right? Did big men ever cry?

[Joe Friday]

Yes, son. They cry. 11:45pm the crime lab men arrived and went to work. They found three shotgun pellets embedded in the wall to the right and above the head of the victim's bed. Two additional lead pellets were removed from the bedstead above the pillow on the right side of Josephine Stevens bed. This fact, in conjunction with the position of the hole ripped in the screen door proved that the victim was sitting up in bed at the time of the shooting. This fact too showed why the seven year old boy lived and his mother died. Further investigation showed that the fatal shot was fired from outside through the hole in the screen door. The search of the surrounding area failed to yield the murder weapon or any additional physical evidence. The neighbors were all checked. They could add nothing to what we already knew. The few who had heard the blast from the shotgun thought it was backfire from a passing car. Units in the area of the murder picked up 14 possible suspects on the street and in the neighborhood at the time of the killing. They were all checked out and cleared of any connection with the crime. Josephine Stevens mother, Mrs. James Edwards, was in a near state of collapse. But she managed to give us a statement. Her story corroborated that of 7 year old Charles Stevens. Supplemental broadcasts and an all points bulletin were put out to try and locate the killer. Ben and I drove over to 1543 E. Workman St. To check out the husband of the murdered woman. Well, this is it, huh? Yeah. White house there. All right, let's go. Car park in the driveway. Yeah. The hood's warm. Car's been used recently. Yeah. You got your flashlight? Yeah. Here. Car's registered to Keith Steven. Yeah. Come on. Lights are on inside. Yeah. Yes? Mr. Keith Stevens? Yes, that's right. Police Officers like to talk to you. Want to come in? Yes, sir. Thank you. Lots of trouble, officers. When's the last time you saw your wife, Stevens? Why? Well, when did you see her last? Well, I was over there Sunday. Yesterday. Always go over every Sunday to visit my little boy. Charlie, my wife and I are separated. That's what we agreed on. That's the last time that you saw her? Yes, it is. Why? I'm sorry to have to tell you this. Your wife is dead. What's that? I'm sorry. You're kidding. She was all right yesterday. Must be some mistake here. No, sir. I'm afraid not. Josephine Stevens. You sure? 543 W. Bixel St. I gotta sit down. What happened? She was shot. How? I can't believe this. Well, we're working on it now. Somebody shot her while she was in bed. I just saw her yesterday. How did it happen? Was it an accident? No, sir. Somebody killed her. How about little Charlie? He sleeps with his mother. Is Charlie all right? Yes, sir. He's fine. He wasn't hurt at all. It was a small miracle how he came out of it. But apparently his safety was the last thing your wife thought of before she was killed. It's just terrible. I still can't believe what you're saying is true. Who in the world would do a thing like this? We want to know that, too. We need your help. Where's my boy? I better go right over and see my boy. He's in good hands with his grandmother. We just want to ask you a few questions. And then you can go right over and see him. All right? You got to get whoever did this terrible thing. Yes, sir. We're gonna try. How is it that you happen to be up this late at night? I just got home from work. I worked the swing shift at Gibney's. That's the steel mill down in Alameda, is it? Yes, that's right. Did you work today? Yes. I told you, I just this minute got in swing shift. What hours would that be? 4 to 12. Did you work the full shift today? I did. You don't think I would have done this thing? We have to check everybody. Is there somebody out at the plant that can verify the fact that you. You were out there during the entire shift today? Yes. My lead man. And I always punch my time card in and out. How do you get to work? I drive. My car's right outside there. Blue Chevy. Do you own any firearms? No, I don't. You ever owned any? No, never have. Didn't want to Go around with a boy. You live here alone? No, since the wife and I split up, I live with another fella here. Where's he tonight? He's out somewhere. Usually home when I get here. Do you have any idea where he might be? Does he go out much? He goes out quite a bit. He's going with some girl. Might be at a movie or something like that. Does he know your wife well? Not too well, no. I think I took him over to the house one Sunday. He met my son Charlie and my wife. Try to take it easy, Mr. Stevens. I'm sorry. It's kind of hard to take. Yes, sir, we understand. This man that you live with here, what's his name? Carl Walters. Where'd you know him from? He advertised in the papers. He said he wanted somebody to share a small house with him. I answered the ad and we seemed to hit it right off from the start. He's okay. What do you know about him? I know enough to know he's all right. I wouldn't want to get him mixed up in this. Well, has this Walters ever been in trouble? Has he ever been arrested? Not that I know of. He's a good guy. Fine army record. Grimson. Have you ever been arrested? No, sir, I never have. Any kind of an arrest, misdemeanor, anything like that? Never. You never been in jail for any reason? No, sir, never have. I had traffic tickets, but I've never been in jail for any reason. I always paid my fines. Never had any trouble. Have you any idea who might want to do a thing like this? No, no one. How did it happen? Did they break in the house? It wasn't burglary or anything like that. Somebody just wanted to do away with your wife. You can think of anybody who might do a thing like this? It'd help. You know, we've been separated for a while. Maybe she took up with someone. Who'd do something like this? I wouldn't know. I can't think of anybody I know that'd do this. I see. She and I have had our ups and downs, or we wouldn't be apart. We argued time and again over the custody of Charlie, but nothing serious. Can't tell you what a shock this is to me. You say that you don't own a gun. Do you know of any of your friends or hers that might? No, I can't think of anybody. This fella, Carl Walters, what can you tell us about him now, please? He's all right. He certainly had nothing to do with this. But we just want to Be sure to check everybody out if you can tell us. It may save him some embarrassment. I realize you have to be sure, but please believe me, he's all right. You say he doesn't know your wife at all? No, just that one meeting. You sure he couldn't have had any part in. Absolutely sure. What kind of a fella is he? Oh, average guy, I guess. Likes to swim, plays a little golf. Always wants me to go out camping or hunting with him. Do you ever go with him? No, I haven't so far. Wants to go on weekends and I like to see my son on Sundays. Like I said. What does he hunt? You know, he's not much of a hunter, really. Just likes to go out for ducks once in a while. Does he keep his equipment here? No, he doesn't. Over at his father's house. Does he ever hump for anything besides death? No. I'm positive about that. He's always saying how he never could shoot a deer. Says he gets buck fever. Can't say I blame him. He ever tell you what kind of a gun he had? No, not that I recall. Still think he had a part in this? We didn't say that. What's his duck hunting got to do with it? Well, when you hunt ducks, you use a shotgun. You are listening to Dragnet Authentic cases from official police files. Tuesday morning, July 10, 1:00am we continued to question Keith Stevens about the murder of his wife. He could add very little to what he had already told us. We made a thorough search of his house and garage. We searched his car. We found nothing that would incriminate him in any way. 1:37am Carl Walters, the man who Keith Stevens lived with, returned home. We retraced his steps for the night of July 9th. All his time was accurately accounted for. We talked with his father. We were told that the shotgun had not been used for about 10 months since last duck season. We looked at the gun and noticed that it was covered with lint and had not been recently fired. We talked to the plant foreman at Gibney Steel Mill. He verified the fact that Keith Stevens worked his full shift on July 9th and did not leave his job until 12 midnight. At this point, both men were clear of any complicity in the murder of Josephine Stevens. Tuesday, July 10, 8am we made the usual routine check of R and I of the four people involved in the case so far. Josephine Stevens, the murdered woman, her mother, Mrs. James Edwards, the husband, Keith Stevens, and his friend, Carl Walters. Here it is, Joe. One package. Nothing on Josephine Stevens or Mrs. Edwards. That's right. Carl Walters is clean. He kind of makes a liar out of the husband. Keith Stevens. It's his package. Yeah, or he forgot. Let's see. Keith Stevens. Here's the arrest report. One only. Let's see. It's 4127A. Yeah, I picked up from drunk. George. He didn't forget, Joe. This was on June 7th. Yeah, let me look at that officer statement. Let's see above. Suspect was picked up in the company of co defendant Michael duff. Booking number 8023. Both suspects were drunk and disorderly at time of arrest. Their condition was such they were unable to care for themselves. No, he didn't forget. Hey, Mary. Yes, sir? Pull this package for us, will you please? Booking number 8023. Give us a mug if he's got one, huh?

[Charles Stevens]

What was that arrest date?

[Joe Friday]

6-7-51. Thank you. That's an outside chance. He lied once, maybe he'll lie again. What do you suppose he was trying to prove by not telling us about this? I know.

[Adam Graham]

Here you are.

[Joe Friday]

Oh, thank you, Mary. That's a little bigger package, huh? Yeah. Look, he's our card. He's done time in Quentin. Yeah. 1933, grand theft auto. Did four and a half years. Paroled out in 37. There he is, back in again on suspicion of robbery. 1946, charge released, picked up again, suspicion of robbery. Released again. Michael Lewis Duff, alias Mickey Duff. Stevens is moving in pretty fast company. Yeah, look here. This is the guy. All right. Here's that last drunk arrest see on we saw in Stevens, June 7th. Yeah. Is there a mug there, Joe? I see. Well, there's this one on that 211 arrest in 47. Yeah, I see. That one is pretty old, though. It's a little warm and kind of hard to see. Check that last arrest report on the drunk charge. Maybe we got one of those auto photo strips. That ought to do it. I hope so. Yeah. Here we are. Let's see. Yeah, those auto photos are good mugs, aren't they? Yeah. What address did he give on that last arrest? 5234 West Main. No, all these other addresses are just transient hotel. That Main street address, the most recent looks like the best bet. This is probably why Stevens lied about being arrested. Yeah, let's see if he lied about anything else. We drove over to 5234 West Main street was a small two story rooming house. We checked with the landlady and she told us that she had a man registered under the name of Michael duff in room 20. She told us that he had just walked out a few minutes before we arrived, saying he was going down to the corner to buy a newspaper. We identified ourselves and stated that we'd wait in his room for him. We asked her not to tell him. She went upstairs with us and unlocked the door to room 20. We made a thorough search of his place was a two room apartment. I searched the living room and Ben went over the kitchen. Joe, come here. Yeah? Look here. Look, I'm up under the sink here, cradled in the gooseneck of the drain. Yeah. Shotgun. Just a minute. It's been fired recently? No. This much fits in. We don't. Found him. In the pocket of one of his coats in the closet there. 12 gauge shotgun shells. Where'd you find him? In the pocket of a dress suit. That doesn't fit, does it? Not unless he's the best dressed hunter in town. Sounds like he's back. Yeah. Get your hand out of that pocket. Police officers. What's going on? Keep your hands out and open. Stand still. Here, Jill. You want to take this? Yeah. What are you doing carrying a gun, Duff? Anything wrong? You know better than that. What'd they tell you when they paroled you? That was a long time ago. They haven't changed the rules. I don't know what you're doing here in the first place. Go on over there and sit down. All right. If that's what you want. That's what we want. Move. Right now. Do you want to tell us about it? What about the gun? About both of them. The shotgun here on the table and this one I got in my hand. Well, you found that old shotgun, huh? They found it. I haven't used that old thing for years. Just kept it as a keepsake. Haven't fired it for a long time. Don't even have any shells for it anymore. Except these two, huh? I don't know where those came from. Look, Duff, you're an ex convict. We find two guns in your possession. Now, let's don't play games. Tell us about it. I haven't got anything to tell you. I would if I did. Just had a long talk with Keith Stevens. What'd he have to say? Never mind what he had to say. Let's hear your side of it. You wouldn't try to kid me, would you? Now you listen, fella. We just came from a house over on Bixel Street. There's a woman lying in bed over there that took a blast from a sawed off shotgun. You own a shotgun? It's Been recently fired. You lied. You said you hadn't fired it. You said you didn't have any shells for it. Well, here they are. Now. Look. They fit, don't they? Take a good look at it, mister. There's only one thing missing. Who pulled the trigger? Ex Avid. Duff. Did Stevens tell you? We'll ask the questions now. Come on. All right, I did it. But I did it for Stevens. Tell me you give me a thousand dollars if I kill his wife for him. I haven't been paid yet. I'm still waiting to get paid off. You won't have to wait any longer. We took Michael Duff downtown together with a murder weapon. He gave us a full confection stating that Keith Stevens had offered to pay him a thousand dollars for the murder of his wife. He said that he and Stevens had planned it together. 1:30pm Tuesday, July 10. We drove out to pick up Keith Stevens. What else could I do? Is that how you justify the murder of your wife? It was her fault. She'd have just tried to be reasonable. This never would have happened. People settle these kind of problems every day. And they don't use a shotgun. You wouldn't understand unless you got a son. You'd never really understand why I did it. I've got a son I don't understand. And you don't love him like I do. Couldn't stand the thought of never seeing him. Having her take him away from me. And that's the way you want us to put it down. But you didn't want your child taken away from you. So you killed his mother. Not exactly. She was going to take him away. She wanted him to forget all about me. She wanted him all for herself. Did your wife tell you all this? No, of course not. Any fool could see that's what she had in mind. You mean just because of some argument that you and your wife had? You just assumed all this to be so sure? I knew she'd never give me a break with Charlie. Isn't that what always happens? You never ask her how she felt. Never thought that you could stand on your legal rights. Never knew that. What you're trying to make us believe seldom happens unless there's a good reason for it. Wasn't going to let her take my son away from me. Nobody could do that. Yes, sir. You're right. You lost him yourself. The story you've just heard was true. Only the names were changed to protect the innocent. On October 15, trial was held in September. Superior Court Department 84 City and County of Los Angeles State of California. In a moment, the results of that trial. Keith Edward Stevens was convicted of murder in the first degree and received a life sentence. He is now serving his time in the state penitentiary. Michael Lewis Duff was convicted of first degree murder and received the death sentence. He was executed in the lethal gas chamber at the state penitentiary. Dragnet wishes to thank Sheriff Brian Clemens of the parish of East Baton Rouge, State of Louisiana, for the appointment of Sergeant Joe Friday and Sergeant Ben Romero as honorary deputy sheriffs. Our sincere thanks to Sheriff Clemens. You have just heard Dragnet a series of authentic cases from official files. Technical advice comes from the office of Chief of Police W.H. parker, Los Angeles Police Police Department. Stay tuned for counterspy next over most NBC stations.

[Adam Graham]

Welcome back. Well, this was such a heartbreaking crime, the interview with the child and the so, you know, and he just really felt as he didn't fully understand what had happened. That scene where they were questioning him was beautifully done. It was heartbreaking and it was horrific to think that a father would put his own son through that because of a desire to maintain custody. And of course, you can take issue with the degree to which Friday was essentially like, ah, it never, never happens that a court takes away access to a parent or any visitation to a parent unjustly. I think a lot of us know people where that happened. But regardless, that hadn't happened yet. And even if it did end up happening, that would be a horrible thing to put your child through. I do find myself wondering if the father might have gotten away with it if he had just owned up to the drunk charge. What really got them suspicious and kind of looking at that package more critically was the fact that he lied about it. It's possible that if he had just told them, well, yeah, I did have this drunk charge a month ago, they would have just said, well, yeah, that confirms that. And not looked into it too much more deeply. Probably the one thing I thought was legally dicey was the search of the shooter's apartment. They didn't have a warrant and the landlady couldn't legally let them into his apartment. If you'll recall in the episode the Big Little Jesus, which actually aired after this, but we tend to play it around Christmas time, Joe Friday declined a chance to search Claude Stroup's apartment, saying it mad mattered that Stroup wasn't there and hadn't given his consent. In some ways, this may reflect that the stories that were told in Dragnet were not necessarily particularly recent in every case. So you might be dealing with an older case when Some constitutional protections were not so vigorously enforced by the court. At the same time, it may also reflect an evolution in how the LAPD wanted themselves portrayed. I'll also say this episode had a few interesting features. For one thing, the plant the father worked at was named after radio announcer Hal Gibney. More weird is the fact that at the beginning of the episode, you have Fatima saying that Dragnet was an Academy Award winning program. How even in 1951, an Academy Award meant an Oscar. At this point in 1951, Dragnet wasn't even a TV show. Radio programs don't get Academy Awards. The weirdest thing I don't think I even noticed on listening to this a couple times before was that a sheriff in Louisiana named Joe Friday and Ben Romero honorary deputies, not Jack Webb and Barton Yarborough. They named their characters as deputies. I mean, police departments still do that with celebrities. They'll let someone be an honorary deputy if they play an action hero or policeman. Like, you might have made Chuck Norris an honorary deputy back in the day, but they made the characters honorary deputies. That be like naming Cordell Walker an honorary deputy. It's just such an odd thing. And we say that people take fiction too seriously today. But that was 1951. I did a newspaper article search and I couldn't find any explanation for why that was done. But at any rate, that's the level of pop culture sensation Dragnet was in 1951. Listener comments and feedback now. And we start out on Spotify, where we have a couple of comments regarding. And Dino writes, I anticipated you bringing up that educational parody. Mathnet was on square one. Packing calculators. Don't forget James Earl Jones was on it. I loved it. Well, thanks so much. And yes, packing calculators. I don't think that they made a big deal of it after the first few episodes, but I did watch the first episode and they had a little bit of a scene where before they went out, they did a quick draw with the calculators in the pockets as if they were guns. It was hilarious. I don't think they kept that up forever. They did, as the show went on, kind of turned down the cheese factor slightly. You know, they still had jokes, but the cases were a little more involved and it was slightly more grounded, but never totally lost that edge, at least during the period I was watching it, which was the Kate Monday era, as opposed to the Pat Tuesday era. And yes, James Earl Jones was in it. And in one of those nods to Dragnet, his character was named Thad Green, which Was a nod to Thad Brown, who was a character in the 50s radio show in the very first 1950s TV episode. So the people who wrote Dragnet were. I mean, who wrote Mathnet were definitely huge Dragnet fans. They also had Weird Al Yankovic make an appearance. A dramatic. Well, as dramatic is a weird Alan Mathnet gets during that run. So a really fun show. And then Chameleon of Central Police headquarters writes Square One TV was underrated. Mathnet was awesome. Totally agree. I think that Mathnet was fantastic in so much that it essentially consumed Square One. It got to the point when it started out, the Mathnet was like it was a six minute sketch in this 25 minute programming block. And then it got to the point where it was a 20 minute daily sketch in this 25 minute programming block. And really there was an incredible amount of creativity in Square One. You had just this wide variety of different ongoing sketches. You had one sketch they were doing with Math man, video game sketch. They had another in animated sort of good guy cartoon, kind of like a modern Dudley Doo Ride, except not exactly a Mountie, but similar style. And then you had music videos and all of these ongoing parodies really, in this very sketch comedy, educational format to teach kids about math. And to an extent you had that for younger kids with things like Sesame Street. And I enjoyed so much of it. They even did. They did a music video love ballad called 8% of my heart. It's hilarious. Don't sing it to your girlfriend unless you want to lose her. But so many great sketches. Some parodied the Honeymooners. Kind of the assumption that a lot of the kids of the era, as opposed to today, where the existence of any anything before the child was born is kind of a revelation. Back then, watching the old programs was just kind of something that you'd add. So it really was a very, very good program, particularly for its time. Very innovative. It's probably harder for more modern audiences to appreciate because it is very 1980s in its perspective and setup. So a lot of the references get missed. But it was a classic production that really deserves more credit for all that it did to entertain and teach kids about math. Then we have a comment from Betsy regarding the episode the Big Joe's Mother is Too Much. No wonder he never got married. Who could come close to mom? Well, I don't know if you are the first person to suggest that Joe's lack of getting married was a result of his mom, but I disagree at least slightly. For one thing, Joe's mom actually moves away. It's something that's handled in a very low key way. You know, it's at the start of an episode and Joe's asked how was your mother's move? And Joe says that, oh, his mom's doing fine. She moved, I believe, to Washington State. And that is the last time she is ever even mentioned on the series. Now, in terms of the production, it was because this was understood. It was not an element that they were going to carry on on television. There was not going to be Peggy Weber playing Joe Friday's mother in heavy makeup. No, that was not what they were going to do. Now, in universe, you might even offer the explanation that his mother might have agreed with Betsy in a way like, okay, I'm here and he's not getting on with his life. If I move and I go back and live with relatives, he will get on with his life and he will find a nice girl and settle down and get married. Which obviously didn't happen because the big problem with Joe Friday in that regards is that he was married to the job. And of course he became an icon of law enforcement and this sort of symbol and less a person that you could seriously imagine getting married or that you would want to see getting married because he was not so much a man as an icon, as a symbol. Now, I suppose you could come up with a rationale for why Joe was who he was or became the man he became, particularly as you get into the 60s TV series. But we don't know a ton about his backstory. We don't know much about what his home life was like. I guess that once all legal hurdles are cleared and Joe Friday is in the public domain, some creative comic book artist or writer can write like a Joe Friday Year one novel, which I will most likely write off as nonsense.

[Joe Friday]

But.

[Adam Graham]

Yeah, I don't think it's as simple as his mom. But thank you so much. Appreciate the comment, Betsy. And now it's time to thank our Patreon Supporter of the Day and I want to go ahead and thank Martin, Patreon supporter Since March of 2024, currently supporting the podcast at the Master detective level of $15 or more per month. Thanks so much for your support, Martin. And that will do it for today. If you're enjoying the podcast, please follow us using your favorite podcast software and be sure if you're watching on YouTube to like the video, subscribe to the channel and mark the notification bell. All those great things that help YouTube channels to grow. We will be back next Thursday with another episode of Dragnet but join us back here tomorrow for yours truly, Johnny Dollar Ware.

[Joe Friday]

Yeah, it wouldn't be the first time a timid soul had finally felt his oats had run off with company money, and usually that type was hard to find. The methodical mind always planned things well, including a getaway. Item 4 $0.80 taxi to a car rental agency. Item 550 bucks deposit and I drove to Elmer Cockerly's home a few blocks off Wilkins Avenue, west of town. I wondered why the old fella had done it. Sometimes the why can be the best clue as to where to hunt for a man. You know something? A good part of the why became very clear when the door of Elmer's house was open.

[Adam Graham]

I hope you'll be with us then. In the meantime, send your comments to Box [e-mail] follow us on Twitter at radiodetectives and check us out on Instagram. Instagram.com Great detectives from Boise, Idaho, this is your host, Adam Graham, signing off.