In this gripping episode of the Mystery Theater, host E.G. Marshall delves into the enigmatic world of murder mysteries with "The Hanging Judgment," a tale penned by Ian Martin. The story unfolds with the murder of Barbara Grant, a woman caught in the throes of a tumultuous divorce. As the investigation progresses, listeners are introduced to a cast of intriguing characters, including the accused Dr. Samuel Grant and his former secretary, Cheryl Stafford. The narrative explores themes of love, betrayal, and the quest for justice, as the courtroom drama intensifies with unexpected twists and turns.
Listeners are taken on a suspenseful journey as the defense and prosecution present their cases, revealing secrets and lies that challenge the jury's perception of guilt and innocence. The episode raises thought-provoking questions about the nature of justice and the complexities of human relationships, leaving the audience to ponder the true identity of the murderer. With a surprise witness and a dramatic courtroom showdown, "The Hanging Judgment" keeps listeners on the edge of their seats until the very end.
(00:52) Introduction to Mystery and Murder
(03:03) The Crime Scene and Investigation
(06:59) Dr. Grant's Alibi and Defense
(14:18) The Trial Begins
(27:15) Surprise Witness and Testimonies
(34:03) Cheryl Stafford's Testimony
(39:05) The Verdict and Aftermath
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Unknown:
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Hardie.
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Come in. Welcome. I'm E. G. Marshall. Do you ever think of exactly what the word mystery means? Something beyond human comprehension is part of Webster's first definition. The supernatural, the gothic, witches, ghosts, and ghouls, of course, but the word has a wider meaning. It is also defined as an enigma, often used retrospectively of what has been, but is no longer unexplained or unrevealed. And this story is summed up in that statement more or less exactly. Our mystery drama, The Hanging Judgment, was written especially for the mystery theater by Ian Martin and stars Mandel Kramer and Leon Janney.
It is sponsored in part by Luden's medicated cough drops and Buick Motor Division. I'll be back shortly with act one. Murder, perhaps the greatest and most inexplicable mystery of all. How can one human being ever take the life of another? Bad enough in the heat of anger, but outrageous and sickening when it is in cold blood. Yet that particular riddle of the crime of murder is not the only one. We all know the others, how, where, when, and in so many cases, the most baffling, cool. Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I now present to you the problem of solving that in the case of the state against doctor Samuel Grant and miss Cheryl Stafford.
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Who's that?
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Who is it? It's me, Barbara.
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Sam. What are you doing here? You don't belong here anymore.
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You know we made a date tonight to talk over the divorce. You did, not me.
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Get out of here. Who's that with you?
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I said I'd bring Cheryl along.
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You get that slut out of my house and off my property.
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Put that gun away.
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One, Cheryl.
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Give me the gun, Barbara.
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I'll give you what you deserve, you cheeky lion. Oh, no. No. I'm sorry.
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Hello, Lieutenant Kinsella.
[00:03:54] Unknown:
Mister District Attorney, I kind of expected to see you earlier at the scene of the crime as we say.
[00:04:01] Unknown:
Why don't fill me in on this Grant case? Let's go into my office.
[00:04:05] Unknown:
Looks like, murder won. How did you kill it? Shot? Close range? Probably, 38.
[00:04:12] Unknown:
What's that, thanks? Well, I don't know. Could have been a prowler.
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The woman, Barbara Grant, was separated from her husband. Has he been notified? No. We haven't been able to reach him. A Swedish maid was wakened by the shots and called us in. She thinks doctor Grant might be out of town.
[00:04:30] Unknown:
Whose maid? His or hers? Her maid. The dead woman. They said they're separated. K. So how would she know about the doctor's comings and goings?
[00:04:41] Unknown:
Sit down, Al. I got a hunch you don't have to be nervous over this one. What do you mean? Well, I looked over a couple of pictures of this doctor Samuel Grant. Lover boy. How do you figure? Well, a chaser. Final breakup of the Grant's was over a secretary he had, a babe named Cheryl Stafford. Did you pick her up? At least I'm waiting on that. Seems missus Grant made enough noise so the doctor fired her and she moved back to her hometown, Las Vegas.
[00:05:13] Unknown:
And if doctor Grant is out of town, that's where he might be? Figures?
[00:05:18] Unknown:
We should know any moment. Like maybe right now. Yeah. What? Well, you don't say. Well, how about that? Hold on a minute. Guess who just walked into the station? Not our prime suspect? None other. The good doctor Grant himself.
[00:05:44] Unknown:
And, I was out of town on special business when I heard the report on radio. So I flew back here to Los Angeles right away and came straight to the precinct house. Well, we appreciate that, doctor Grant. Well, you don't well, you can't think that I have anything to do with the murder of my wife. I never even suggested that. You're bringing it up. No matter what you might suspect, I couldn't have. I parked my car at the airport day before yesterday and flew to Las Vegas for a medical meeting. I didn't return till early this morning. I'm sure the airport parking lot employees can vouch for that. It'll be checked.
Well, now may I ask what is being done about whatever Prowler or whoever he was who who murdered my wife?
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First off, we're checking on the bullet that killed her. There was a gun beside her, a 32.
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It had been fired once. But
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that couldn't have been what killed her, could it? We'll have to wait for ballistics to decide that. In the meanwhile, now just for the record, since you were virtually offered the information, at the time of the murder, which was between six and 8PM on the night of August 29, do I understand that you are out of town, to be more specific, in Las Vegas, Nevada?
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Strictly off the record, I think I won't answer that question until I have found me a lawyer.
[00:07:13] Unknown:
J. Carr Justin and Associates. I'd like to talk to mister Justin, please. Oh, may I ask who's calling? This is doctor Samuel Grant. Could you hold just a moment, doctor? Let me check if mister Justin is in the office.
[00:07:27] Unknown:
What is it, Sandy?
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Oh, hot one. Doctor Samuel Grant, whose wife was just murdered. And who wants me to represent him, I presume? He didn't say so. But why else would he call? Are you in or out? What else can I be? He needs me. Because he's guilty? Now who laid down that judgment? Will you read the papers, JC? Just like me. You know everything points against this guy being innocent. Do I? And if it does, he still deserves the best legal defense he can find. That's a basic lawyer's ethics. If he gets you, he's got it. Does he have you?
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Make an appointment for me to see him as soon as possible today without fail. Yes, sir, boss.
[00:08:03] Unknown:
But me, I don't think he deserves you. I'm Sandy Russell. Girl Friday through j car Justin. I'm 25. I want a home, children, a happy marriage. But that's not what any girl could expect from Justin, especially not as Friday, girl. Working for Justin is like 18 wild, exhilarating, exhausting hours every day. You either love him or hate him. No in between. He's tough, tenacious. In his own way, tender, compassionate, or he has to be. Because day in, day out, people put their lives in his hands. Guilty or innocent, he's their last death defense.
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So doctor Grant, you told the police that at the time of your wife's death, you were in Las Vegas? The attendant at the parking lot Were you in Las Vegas? I had a speaking engagement. Where did you stay? Stay? You spent overnight there. What hotel? It's silly. I don't recall some motel. It should be how did you get to the motel? Well, how does anyone get to a motel? By car. Only yours was parked in the Los Angeles Airport. Remember? Well, I could have gone by cab or rented a car. Sure. But if you went by cab, the motel would remember if you manage to remember the name of it. And if you rented a car, it'd be a simple matter to check. Whose side are you on? Mine or the police? If I represent you, yours. I'm just giving you a little taste of the kind of questioning that you're going to have to face up to, either from the police or prosecuting attorney. I see now it wouldn't hold up. That's better.
Now what is true, doctor? I was there when my wife was murdered
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was shot. Did you shoot her? No. Who did?
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I don't know. Were you alone when it happened? No. There was someone with me. Who? My ex secretary, Cheryl Stafford. The medical meeting was only an excuse to fly to Vegas and see her. You're in love with her? We intend to be married. But my wife will, wouldn't give me a divorce. Mhmm. How much of this have you told the police? None of it. I used the alibi. I mean, about my car. You're childish. Why? Well, I was afraid of how it would look if I mean, Barbara, that's my wife, and I have been having trouble. I didn't wanna sue for divorce in California because it might disturb a loan I was negotiating.
And there's the problem also of community property. But in spite of that, she had started soup. That's why I was there the night before last with Cheryl to ask her to be reasonable and not ruin all of us. If you didn't shoot her, doctor, who did? Miss Stafford? Good Lord. No. I want you to represent Cheryl, both of us. We're innocent. Did miss Stafford testify to the fact that you are? You could ask her yourself. She's waiting in the car downstairs. But you don't have to or for me to testify for her. Why not? Because there were two shots.
One, my wife fired at me. The other came from another gun and hit her in the back. I swear to you, I'm innocent. Doctor, how much did you say to the police? Nothing beyond claiming the alibi. Alright. If you want me to, I'll represent you. But I must warn you, doctor, that if it goes to trial, I'll be expensive. How much is expensive? Well, if you're not invited, nothing. If it goes to trial, my expenses and $50,000. You're right. You're not cheap. Neither is life, doctor. Like you, I hope I'm an expert at preserving it.
[00:12:09] Unknown:
J. Carr Jackson and Associates.
[00:12:12] Unknown:
Just J. Carr will do, honey. You can tell him it's district attorney Herman on the wire. Yes, sir, mister Herman. Just one moment. Give.
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I'll Herman on the line. He sounds particularly smug today.
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Always a bad sign. Put him on.
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Mister Justin will talk to you now, mister Herman.
[00:12:35] Unknown:
Thank you. Hello? Al? So I just thought you'd like to know the grand jury handed down indictments against your clients, doctor Grant and miss Stafford.
[00:12:46] Unknown:
I'm just having warrants issued against them both for first degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder. Now you know that's going to be a waste of time, Al. You don't say. I just did. Ballistics show that missus Grant was killed with a bullet from a gun other than the one on the scene of the crime. That gun has disappeared, Al. Without it, you have no case. You wouldn't wanna bet on that, would you? I'm not a betting man. Just as well,
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I've got a nice little surprise to spring on you just for once. See you in court. Al?
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What you got, JC?
[00:13:21] Unknown:
Search me. I'm more worried about what I may have got. What? Like they say, a bull by the tail.
[00:13:35] Unknown:
So, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, the crime is laid out, and you have met all the principal characters, some of them very briefly. Motive is established, opportunity in a sense, and a wavering finger points at doctor Grant and his inamorata, Cheryl Stafford, or both, or since the vital link is missing, the weapon, perhaps to someone else as yet unidentified. I shall return shortly with act two. The awful suspense of a murder trial has begun. The wheels once set in motion cannot be halted until a jury renders a verdict. A woman is dead, her life snuffed out by unnatural causes.
The whole organization of society demands that an explanation or some vindication of her ceasing to live must be forthcoming. Judge Ellen b Prince presiding. The trial has begun and is in progress. The district attorney is questioning Lieutenant Kinsella on the stand.
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Lieutenant, may we return to your description of the crime? Or rather, I should say, what's your investigation that night of the August 29
[00:15:02] Unknown:
and subsequent follow-up investigations revealed? Yes, sir. In response to a phone call from a miss Trenum at 3349 Ventura Boulevard, West Covington Central sent out a code 11. Sergeant Barasini and his partner patrolman carperman were first on the scene responding to a general bulletin on murder one. I arrived there myself or early in the morning of the thirtieth about, 4AM.
[00:15:27] Unknown:
And what did you discover, lieutenant?
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The body of a woman, identified as missus Barbara Grant, was lying before the garage door, a revolver lying near her right hand. Had this revolver been fired? Yes, sir.
[00:15:41] Unknown:
Once, did the bullet discharge result in the death of missus Barbara Grant? No, sir. What was the cause of death?
[00:15:51] Unknown:
As a result of, ballistics checks subsequently, a slug from a 38 revolver,
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almost certainly a police positive. Was this gun found at the scene of the crime? No, sir. Has it been found anywhere else since? No, sir. Is it not true, Lieutenant Kinsella, that at your request, the Police Department of Records and Licenses substantiated the fact that two years ago, a permit was issued to a doctor Samuel Grant. He was entitled to carry a gun? That is correct, sir. Just one more question, lieutenant. The type of slug which killed missus Barbara Grant did come from a police positive 38? Oh, absolutely. And it could have come from this particular weapon? Not you don't have to answer that.
The question was really unnecessary. You're a witness, counselor.
[00:16:43] Unknown:
Well, let's complete that question, Lieutenant Kinsella. Could the slug have come from this particular weapon? What weapon is that, mister Ah, but that's just the point, isn't it, lieutenant? This particular weapon is only a theoretical one, isn't it? Well, I, I'm not sure I know how to answer that question. Well, I have no tricks, lieutenant. I have nothing up my sleeve. I'm merely trying to establish that this phantom gun is not established. It exists at the moment only as a speculation, an inference drawn from a bullet that caused the death of missus Grant. Is that not correct, lieutenant? Yes, sir. It's correct as far as it goes. Substantially, what you have in mind, lieutenant, is that the death bullet could have been fired from exactly the sort of gum that the defendant, doctor Samuel Grant, was licensed to own and carry. That is just what I meant.
Well, we can go into that a little later. A couple of more questions, if you will, lieutenant. Yes, sir. Now the gun that was found by missus Grant had been fired. Is that correct? Yes,
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once.
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What caliber was that? 32,
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sir.
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Was that bullet found? Yes, sir. In the back wall of the garage. And the bullet from her 32 was fired in the direction of doctor Grant who was inside the garage at the time? Yes, sir. Yes, sir. But there were definitely two shots. Well, of course, sir. There was one right after another. The, the maid in the house heard them. Where was missus Brant shot? In what part of her body? She was shot in the back. In the back. Thank you very much, lieutenant. That's really all I need.
[00:18:23] Unknown:
That's what Justin Dovin is so great. He meanders around, gets everyone cooled off and relaxed, and then whams home a zinger that makes the jury sit up, and that stays planted in their minds. It's like a a baseball game, a trial inning after inning, each side striking out or or scoring.
[00:18:46] Unknown:
What Justin just did? Doctor, I asked you to describe the events of the night of the twenty ninth leading up to the death of your wife.
[00:18:54] Unknown:
Alright. To the best of my ability. My wife, against an agreement I thought we had, had taken action to sue me for divorce. I called her from Las Vegas and asked her to reconsider,
[00:19:07] Unknown:
and we had made a date to meet that evening. In your own words, could you tell us what happened when you arrived?
[00:19:12] Unknown:
I can try. Cheryl, miss Stafford and I had driven there in her car. We parked at the downhill parking lot and walked up the two blocks to my
[00:19:24] Unknown:
I mean, to Barbara's house. Why didn't you just drive up and park in the drive? Well, that's difficult to explain.
[00:19:32] Unknown:
The house is perched on the side of a hill. A cliff, really. The driveway is difficult to maneuver. So I built this parking space on our property just below. Unless you were planning to drive into the garage itself, we usually left our cars there.
[00:19:46] Unknown:
Your own car? Your own house?
[00:19:50] Unknown:
My wife and I were separated. Ending a divorce agreement, it was her house. You considered it then? I was willing to grant her that privilege.
[00:19:59] Unknown:
After you and miss Stafford had walked up to the garage, what did you find?
[00:20:06] Unknown:
Well, there was no one home. I had still had my keys, and I had just let miss Stafford and myself in when my wife drove up. We'd come in the back door, and it was just at dusk, so I didn't bother to put on any lights. Cheryl and I just went through the inner door to the garage about the same time as Barbara opened the garage sliding door.
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Who's that? Who is it?
[00:20:32] Unknown:
It's me, Barbara.
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Sam. What are you doing here? You don't belong here anymore.
[00:20:38] Unknown:
Now you know we made a date tonight to talk over the divorce. You did. Not me.
[00:20:43] Unknown:
Who's that with you?
[00:20:45] Unknown:
I said I'd bring Cheryl along. You get that slut out of my house and off my property? Barbara, put that gun away. Run, Cheryl. Run.
[00:20:55] Unknown:
Give me the gun, Barbara. I'll give you what you deserve, you cheeky lying.
[00:21:00] Unknown:
No. You're wrong. Are you crazy?
[00:21:15] Unknown:
I have ducked down behind the lawn tractor in the garden tools. Even with the headlights on, I couldn't see anything. All I knew was there was a a second shot and that Barber had been hit. I went to her right away. Was the gun still in your hand?
[00:21:30] Unknown:
What what gun? Someone shot your wife. If it wasn't you, are you suggesting it was miss Stafford? No.
[00:21:36] Unknown:
I mean, well, I don't I didn't even know where miss Stafford was at at the time. I see. So you went to your wife and then happened, Barbara? Are you alright? And did she reply? Yes. She she she said, I I love you. I should have listened to you take care of
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the children. Your son and daughter? Yes. Who were not home at this time? No. They were away at school. There was no one in the house?
[00:22:05] Unknown:
Yes. A maid, a miss Kennom. I could hear her moving, and I imagine calling the police. And then what happened?
[00:22:13] Unknown:
I panicked. I'm sure you did. What did you do in your panic?
[00:22:18] Unknown:
I ran
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down the hill to the parking lot. Where you found miss Stafford waiting for you? Yes. With the gun? What gun? The gun that shot your wife. Cheryl had no gun, then you had it. What did you do with it? Objection, your honor. The district attorney is obviously trying to put words into the mouth of the defendant.
[00:22:36] Unknown:
Not quite, mister Justin. But I do feel, mister Herman, you have not established the existence of the gun up to this point.
[00:22:45] Unknown:
Well, may I say it doesn't matter, your honor? The bullet that lodged in missus Rand's heart has established that such a gun existed. Your witness, mister Justin?
[00:22:58] Unknown:
Mister Grant I beg your pardon. Doctor Grant, can I take you back for a moment to the night of May? Would you be good enough to tell the court what took place at your home on Ventura Boulevard? Both my wife and myself were away. It was miss Trenum, the maid's night out. We were robbed. Mhmm. Now I have here a certified list from the insurance company of all the things that were taken, the stereo equipment, TV sets, jewelry, etcetera. Among those items is one very relevant one. Was a 38 caliber police positive revolver also removed?
[00:23:39] Unknown:
Yes, sir. And did you immediately, in the course of the insurance investigation,
[00:23:43] Unknown:
notify the police of that fact? I did. And did you subsequently seek a license for a new gun of any sort? Not for myself. By that time, I I was in the course of separating from my wife. Since she was afraid of being in the house alone, I arranged to get one for her and have it licensed. The 32, which is an exhibit here, and with which she fired the bullet at me. And you have no knowledge who might have fired the bullet that killed your wife? No, sir. Could it have been Miss Stafford? Why would you suggest that? Your wife was shot in the back. You were facing her, were you not? Yes, but good Lord. Cheryl was scared to death of firearms.
She didn't know anything about guns. She's the last person who could have been responsible for my wife's death. I have no further questions. Thank you, doctor.
[00:24:34] Unknown:
But there were. The DA went after doctor Grant on redirect tooth and nail. And worse than that, Oh, I've been around courts long enough to know that when Cheryl Stafford got on the stand, she was in for hell. Most of all, I couldn't understand JC. You work for a man long enough, love him too much like me, And you know too much about him not to know he wasn't putting out his best effort here. I called him on it. Alexandra, don't ask questions. That's my business. Mhmm. I get the foot down anytime you call me Alexandra. Oh, but I can't let it dull, JC.
[00:25:10] Unknown:
Alright. Alright. Now, look, we're skating on a lot of thin ice. And I am supposed to be advocate, not judge. Now why don't you just leave me be and let what is to be to take its natural course?
[00:25:25] Unknown:
Okay. If you think your clients are guilty, do you?
[00:25:30] Unknown:
I have a basic rule to try and consider my clients innocent. Oh, but the way things are going, you're gonna lose. Well, that's very absolute term. It's the way it's going.
[00:25:40] Unknown:
Like well, as things go now, one of them killed missus Grant. Well, and since she was shot in the back, it's Cheryl Stafford.
[00:25:48] Unknown:
But it's still collusion, and both of them are guilty. That's the way it may look, my love. But not enough hard facts to pin it down. That should worry Al Herman. But you notice that it doesn't. He still has something big to hit us with in this case. So let's go grab some dinner and some personal life.
[00:26:07] Unknown:
Oh, I don't know. Sometimes I wonder about you. Whether you care. About winning? No. About how you win.
[00:26:15] Unknown:
And if it's right that you do. Sandy, you have to make your own judgments on that like anyone else. Everything in its time. Let's wait until all the cards are in.
[00:26:33] Unknown:
As Jay Carr Justin knows from experience, there is no drama more tense, more uncertain in its outcome than the arena of the courtroom. And no theater in which the incredible surprise, the shocking factor that follows no law of dramaturgy simply pops up to turn upside down all the facts which have gone before. So ladies and gentlemen of the jury, it will be with some startling new evidence that I return with act three. Everyone in the trial, of course, was waiting for the appearance of Lafane Fatau, the other woman, Cheryl Stafford.
But before her appearance, the surprise witness suddenly appeared on the chair, a witness guilelessly introduced by Cheryl's brother who was testifying as a character reference for his sister, a witness
[00:27:50] Unknown:
VA had set his trap well. William Brody was a complete surprise to us and to the jury. Just listen to the unflappable muscle man on the stand in the midst of a story he had to tell. Mister Brody, you actually discussed
[00:28:06] Unknown:
murder with Cheryl Stafford?
[00:28:08] Unknown:
You called it, ma'am.
[00:28:10] Unknown:
And she named the victim? Yeah. Miss Grant, Dame. Well, I must admit that I am caught a little out of my depth here. But, would you describe in your own words just what you mean?
[00:28:22] Unknown:
Well, it's no big deal. Like I say, I'm at this party. And a kid I know named Stafford gives me the big intro to his sister here. Her. So who's gonna back off? She's a real good looking dame when one thing leads to another and I get an invite to come up to her apartment like the next night. Did you go? Why not? What kind of guy'd pass it up? Please continue your story. Well, I rig myself out in some fancy threads figuring this is a score and I ain't got no reason to change my mind when she opens the door. I mean, she's like you say, undress for action. And the welcome sign is out. It's a big hello, a big drink, and this kid is I I think the picture is graphic enough.
[00:29:08] Unknown:
Suppose you just tell us simply and directly what happened.
[00:29:13] Unknown:
Can I get you some more to drink?
[00:29:15] Unknown:
No, babe. I'm coasting easy now. Your kid brother told me you want a favor?
[00:29:21] Unknown:
That's right.
[00:29:23] Unknown:
Try me. I deliver.
[00:29:26] Unknown:
Supposing I was to tell you I want someone I I mean, I I want someone out of the way. Out of the way? You mean total? Wiped out? I mean killed. Dead.
[00:29:42] Unknown:
Okay. You don't have to draw pictures. Just name numbers. How much?
[00:29:48] Unknown:
Say, $2,000.
[00:29:51] Unknown:
Oh, you gotta be kidding. I wouldn't touch it for under a 5. I haven't.
[00:29:57] Unknown:
I I mean, I I don't think I could raise that much.
[00:30:00] Unknown:
Who's a pigeon anyway? Well, if I tell you, can we make a deal?
[00:30:04] Unknown:
3,000 is my top figure. It's all I've got. All I can get.
[00:30:10] Unknown:
Yeah. So we got a deal.
[00:30:14] Unknown:
Give me your name. Her name is Grant. Barbara Grant. She's married to my ex boss. But it wouldn't be hard. They're separated and she lives alone. So lay the bread on me, 2 thou in advance.
[00:30:28] Unknown:
Third on delivery.
[00:30:34] Unknown:
You actually contracted to kill missus Grant? Are you kidding?
[00:30:41] Unknown:
This was all con as far as I was concerned. Did she pay the money? I took the money in blue. I was only doing her kid brother a favor. But you took money and promised a killing.
[00:30:51] Unknown:
Look,
[00:30:52] Unknown:
her, that, Cheryl Stafford says to me, missus Grand has given us a bad time, causing us a lot of grief. Now if you don't take care of her, Sam will have to do it himself. So I wanted to make her feel better.
[00:31:06] Unknown:
And when the date came, you were supposed to deliver.
[00:31:10] Unknown:
What happened when nothing happened? I gave it the wide eyed act. I said I took her out with a shotgun in the chest and I hit her behind the convent. What was her reaction? Well, I never saw her so happy. Then she calls us doctor Grant and he levels with her. His wife is still alive and kicking. What was miss Stafford's reaction? She said, you must have shot somebody else. And you said, maybe I goofed. If I made the wrong hit, I'll go back and do it again. But I need more money. And miss Stafford said, there isn't any more money. This time, we'll handle it by ourselves.
[00:31:48] Unknown:
Thank you, Mr. Brody. No more questions.
[00:31:50] Unknown:
Your witness counselor. Oh no, Mr. Herman. Not mine. You turned over your own rock to produce this specimen there. You know better than to make a remark like that, counselor. My mind does, your honor. My throat just threw it up involuntarily. Are you courting a mistrial by exhibiting prejudice towards a witness? My apologies to the court. Do you intend to cross examine? I think not, your honor. I would prefer to wait for miss Stafford's side of the story. Perhaps just, one or two questions.
[00:32:23] Unknown:
The witness is yours.
[00:32:25] Unknown:
Will you repeat your name, please?
[00:32:28] Unknown:
Brodie. William Brodie. William Aloysius Brodie? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. But like man, I dropped a middle go around in high school. You also dropped your other names?
[00:32:40] Unknown:
What other names? Well, don't be alarmed. If you have any aliases, I don't know about them. I just mean the various public nicknames
[00:32:48] Unknown:
that people have hung on you, such as dream man and the treasure chest. Well, I can't cool it. Will you cool it, man? Everybody has his own bag. I like to build up the body. Right? Anything wrong in that? To each his own.
[00:33:00] Unknown:
By the way, what did you say, that you do for a living, mister Brody? I did. Would you now? Well, this and that. You know, a man I hang loose. No big deal. Oh, I think you're much too modest, Mr. Brody. I have here a list. Dancehall bouncer, shill, candy butcher, Beach Boy? But I don't mean all of these. I mean your real profession since Gigolo and Ladies Man are a little out of style. What shall we call you? A professional star? Objection.
[00:33:37] Unknown:
A stain. Strike that last sentence from the record. Mister Justin, I am tempted to find you in contempt of court. You know you cannot discredit a witness without objective proof. Your honor, respectfully, it is my contention that the witness has already discredited himself.
[00:33:55] Unknown:
And when I bring miss Stafford to the stand, he will be even further discredited.
[00:34:03] Unknown:
So at last, it was the defense's turn. And finally, Cheryl Stafford was on the stand, small and slight, very pretty in a quiet way, somehow defenseless. To try to puncture the obvious effect she had on the audience and jury, the DA tore into her mercilessly.
[00:34:24] Unknown:
And you are not ashamed to face the woman whose husband you had stolen? No.
[00:34:29] Unknown:
Sam, doctor Grant had already left his wife before I
[00:34:34] Unknown:
before we fell in love. Why didn't you drive straight out of the house? But, Sam, explain that. You didn't use that way to approach the house with the object of surprising Mrs. Grant? Well, why should we? She was expecting us. To discuss divorce? Yes. Then will you tell me why it was necessary for doctor Grant to take his bag up to the house with him? He wasn't making a house call, was he? No. But Well, well, now were you aware that that bag contained along with the expected items you might think of, a hank of rope, rubber gloves, a butcher's knife, and a box of cartridges, perhaps even a gun, which was missing, of course, by the time the police found the bag abandoned in the garage. Wouldn't you say that was less a doctor's bag than a murder kit? Objection, you're not. I withdraw the question. Now, let's skip to the moment missus Grant arrives and takes out a gun and fires at her husband. What did you do? I I I ran just as hard as I could the way Sam told me to. And did you stop to see what was happening before and at the moment the fatal shot was fired? Did doctor Grant run and duck? Could someone else have approached and fired the shot into missus Grant's back? I don't know. I I I don't know. Admit the possibility, can't you? Perhaps even a probability that it could have been you who returned and fired that fatal shot to protect your lover and to carry out the scheme you were both agreed upon before you went there that evening of the twenty ninth.
To kill the only thing that stood in the way of your happiness and your future since you couldn't hire someone successfully to kill her, didn't you and doctor Grant by one means or another carry out her death sentence yourself?
[00:36:20] Unknown:
The coil of rope was only some leftover line that doctor Grant had used to secure a bumper on his boat. Yes. And the so called butcher knife was a simple kitchen all purpose knife which Doctor. Grant had bought because you needed it to cut bread and prepare salads and so on. Yes. It wasn't even that big. Couldn't be less important. And the rubber gloves, I think, of course, are self explanatory. Just one question. Why did he lug that bag up the hill? Because when he talked to his wife, she said she was having her migraine headaches again.
[00:36:52] Unknown:
He thought he might have something to relieve them.
[00:36:55] Unknown:
Alright. Let's move to another shield for a moment. You've heard the testimony of William Brody. I have. Was he telling the truth?
[00:37:02] Unknown:
Mister Brody is a liar. If you want the real truth of what happened in our interview, here it is.
[00:37:10] Unknown:
Well, here I am, babe. Let's break out the booze and get the party going. This is no party, Mr. Brody.
[00:37:17] Unknown:
You were recommended to me by my brother. But count on me. I delivered.
[00:37:22] Unknown:
I'm embarrassed about this. I I don't quite know how to say it. Hey, hey, hey. Don't run a fever. I'll lay it out. You want a dame compromised enough to make a case for her husband to sue for divorce.
[00:37:32] Unknown:
I'm ashamed to say you're right.
[00:37:35] Unknown:
And could run-in the real dough, you know. Who's the dame? Her name is Grant.
[00:37:39] Unknown:
She lives alone.
[00:37:41] Unknown:
She's gonna run five big ones. 5,000?
[00:37:45] Unknown:
Mhmm. Well, I haven't got that much. 3,000 is the best the most I could raise.
[00:37:51] Unknown:
No. Okay. If that's what the traffic will bear. You got a deal.
[00:37:59] Unknown:
You paid him?
[00:38:00] Unknown:
Yes. But he just took the money without Delivering.
[00:38:05] Unknown:
You hated what you felt you had to do, didn't you? Oh, yes. Then how could you have done it? Attempt to compromise a woman as decent and vulnerable as you are. Because Barbara Grant wasn't like that at all.
[00:38:19] Unknown:
She was cold and hard and calculating. She didn't want Sam by herself. She was just determined that no other woman should have him. She hadn't allowed him to touch her in over two years. She wasn't a woman, just a machine. And if that was the only way Sam could get his freedom, I was willing to take it. Because he's the gentlest, kindest man in the world. I love him.
[00:38:46] Unknown:
One more question. Did you shoot Barbara Grant? Mr. Justin,
[00:38:52] Unknown:
I wouldn't even know how to fire a gun.
[00:38:56] Unknown:
Thank you, Miss Stafford. The defense rests.
[00:39:05] Unknown:
The jury's been out three hours, JC. What do you think? Mostly at a time like this, I try not to. Oh, I wish I could make my mind a blank. Why? Because I love you, and I don't know why you took this case. Now, don't give me the lawyer's ethics line again. Everyone is entitled to a defense.
[00:39:24] Unknown:
You know he's guilty as hell. Do I? Yes. And how do I feel about her? Well,
[00:39:30] Unknown:
that's not so easy to Excuse me?
[00:39:33] Unknown:
Yeah. They're coming out? Okay. We'll be right there. Oh, the jury has a verdict?
[00:39:39] Unknown:
Yep. What what do you think it'll be?
[00:39:45] Unknown:
Alright, ladies and gentlemen of the radio jury. What was your verdict? Was the stolen gun just a cover for doctor Grant to have a weapon to kill his wife? Did they struggle so that she was shot in the back? Did Cheryl fire the fatal shot? Or did the incredible mister Brodie decide to earn his money by coincidence that evening? It's your decision. Who killed Barbara Grant? I might add that this was an actual case. Only the names and some locations changed, so you were guessing at an actual result.
[00:40:26] Unknown:
A hung jury?
[00:40:28] Unknown:
Oh, then you lost. Well, that depends on the point of view. Now he conned me into representing both of them. I had to fight for doctor Grant as hard as I could to save a trusting of stupid little girl who gave her love not wisely but too well. Oh, but in saving her, you got him off. No. No. No. No. They'll be tried again. This time separately. And this time, I will represent only one. Miss Stafford. Without her as a shield, he'll be convicted. She won't get out of it clean. We all have to pay for mistakes. But at least she won't have to share the death chamber with him.
[00:41:09] Unknown:
Three months later, doctor Grant broke on the stand and admitted that he had taken advantage of the robbery at his house to pretend the gun was one of the articles stolen. He had had it with him in the murder kit bag, and in struggling with his wife, as she had turned to flee, he had deliberately shot and killed her. He got life imprisonment. Cheryl was convicted as an unwitting accessory after the fact. She was sentenced to a two year term, but released on probation. On the basis of the facts, would your verdict have been the same? I'll be back shortly.
How does a nice young woman like that get mixed up with a man like doctor Samuel Grant? One of the oldest questions in the world, which people have been trying to answer since time began. A few of them, love is blind. To a more than woman to be wise, or perhaps to wind things up, a quote from mister Thackeray. Every single woman I ever knew is a puzzle to me, as I have no doubt she is to herself. With no apologies to women's lib, it's the way of the world. Our cast included Mandel Kramer, Leon Janney, Ken Harvey, EB Juster, Joan Shea, and Earl Hammond. The entire production was under the direction of Hyman Brown. Radio Mystery Theater was sponsored in part by Anheuser Busch Incorporated, brewers of Budweiser.
This is EG Marshall inviting you to return to our mystery theater for another adventure in the macabre. Until next time. Pleasant dreams.
[00:43:21] Unknown:
Tonight's mystery theater was brought to you in part by ShopRite Supermarkets, where you get a lot more for a little less. The preceding program is furnished by CBS radio.
[00:43:32] Unknown:
In the time before AT and T fiber internet.
[00:43:35] Unknown:
Shame. Shame.
[00:43:37] Unknown:
Shame.
[00:43:38] Unknown:
What did you do, love? I ran out of internet data. And they're making you shame walk. No. It's just how I feel. Shame. Shame.
[00:43:47] Unknown:
In the time after AT and T fiber Internet. Nice to have unlimited Internet data. Right? Right. The dawn of a better Internet era with AT and T Fiber. Limited availability in select areas. Check eligibility at att.com/getfiber.
[00:44:00] Unknown:
Restrictions apply.
What you're hearing is Hardie fiber cement siding living up to its reputation as the siding that handles hail impact with ease. James Hardie knows how important a reputation is, especially when you're a contractor. That's why Hardie's siding withstands severe weather better than vinyl siding, with styles to match its strength, so you can be sure you're providing your clients with the best. Protect your reputation with exterior products by James
[00:00:35] Unknown:
Hardie.
[00:00:47] Unknown:
Come in. Welcome. I'm E. G. Marshall. Do you ever think of exactly what the word mystery means? Something beyond human comprehension is part of Webster's first definition. The supernatural, the gothic, witches, ghosts, and ghouls, of course, but the word has a wider meaning. It is also defined as an enigma, often used retrospectively of what has been, but is no longer unexplained or unrevealed. And this story is summed up in that statement more or less exactly. Our mystery drama, The Hanging Judgment, was written especially for the mystery theater by Ian Martin and stars Mandel Kramer and Leon Janney.
It is sponsored in part by Luden's medicated cough drops and Buick Motor Division. I'll be back shortly with act one. Murder, perhaps the greatest and most inexplicable mystery of all. How can one human being ever take the life of another? Bad enough in the heat of anger, but outrageous and sickening when it is in cold blood. Yet that particular riddle of the crime of murder is not the only one. We all know the others, how, where, when, and in so many cases, the most baffling, cool. Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I now present to you the problem of solving that in the case of the state against doctor Samuel Grant and miss Cheryl Stafford.
[00:03:03] Unknown:
Who's that?
[00:03:05] Unknown:
Who is it? It's me, Barbara.
[00:03:08] Unknown:
Sam. What are you doing here? You don't belong here anymore.
[00:03:13] Unknown:
You know we made a date tonight to talk over the divorce. You did, not me.
[00:03:18] Unknown:
Get out of here. Who's that with you?
[00:03:21] Unknown:
I said I'd bring Cheryl along.
[00:03:24] Unknown:
You get that slut out of my house and off my property.
[00:03:28] Unknown:
Put that gun away.
[00:03:30] Unknown:
One, Cheryl.
[00:03:32] Unknown:
Give me the gun, Barbara.
[00:03:34] Unknown:
I'll give you what you deserve, you cheeky lion. Oh, no. No. I'm sorry.
[00:03:52] Unknown:
Hello, Lieutenant Kinsella.
[00:03:54] Unknown:
Mister District Attorney, I kind of expected to see you earlier at the scene of the crime as we say.
[00:04:01] Unknown:
Why don't fill me in on this Grant case? Let's go into my office.
[00:04:05] Unknown:
Looks like, murder won. How did you kill it? Shot? Close range? Probably, 38.
[00:04:12] Unknown:
What's that, thanks? Well, I don't know. Could have been a prowler.
[00:04:17] Unknown:
The woman, Barbara Grant, was separated from her husband. Has he been notified? No. We haven't been able to reach him. A Swedish maid was wakened by the shots and called us in. She thinks doctor Grant might be out of town.
[00:04:30] Unknown:
Whose maid? His or hers? Her maid. The dead woman. They said they're separated. K. So how would she know about the doctor's comings and goings?
[00:04:41] Unknown:
Sit down, Al. I got a hunch you don't have to be nervous over this one. What do you mean? Well, I looked over a couple of pictures of this doctor Samuel Grant. Lover boy. How do you figure? Well, a chaser. Final breakup of the Grant's was over a secretary he had, a babe named Cheryl Stafford. Did you pick her up? At least I'm waiting on that. Seems missus Grant made enough noise so the doctor fired her and she moved back to her hometown, Las Vegas.
[00:05:13] Unknown:
And if doctor Grant is out of town, that's where he might be? Figures?
[00:05:18] Unknown:
We should know any moment. Like maybe right now. Yeah. What? Well, you don't say. Well, how about that? Hold on a minute. Guess who just walked into the station? Not our prime suspect? None other. The good doctor Grant himself.
[00:05:44] Unknown:
And, I was out of town on special business when I heard the report on radio. So I flew back here to Los Angeles right away and came straight to the precinct house. Well, we appreciate that, doctor Grant. Well, you don't well, you can't think that I have anything to do with the murder of my wife. I never even suggested that. You're bringing it up. No matter what you might suspect, I couldn't have. I parked my car at the airport day before yesterday and flew to Las Vegas for a medical meeting. I didn't return till early this morning. I'm sure the airport parking lot employees can vouch for that. It'll be checked.
Well, now may I ask what is being done about whatever Prowler or whoever he was who who murdered my wife?
[00:06:27] Unknown:
First off, we're checking on the bullet that killed her. There was a gun beside her, a 32.
[00:06:33] Unknown:
It had been fired once. But
[00:06:37] Unknown:
that couldn't have been what killed her, could it? We'll have to wait for ballistics to decide that. In the meanwhile, now just for the record, since you were virtually offered the information, at the time of the murder, which was between six and 8PM on the night of August 29, do I understand that you are out of town, to be more specific, in Las Vegas, Nevada?
[00:07:00] Unknown:
Strictly off the record, I think I won't answer that question until I have found me a lawyer.
[00:07:13] Unknown:
J. Carr Justin and Associates. I'd like to talk to mister Justin, please. Oh, may I ask who's calling? This is doctor Samuel Grant. Could you hold just a moment, doctor? Let me check if mister Justin is in the office.
[00:07:27] Unknown:
What is it, Sandy?
[00:07:29] Unknown:
Oh, hot one. Doctor Samuel Grant, whose wife was just murdered. And who wants me to represent him, I presume? He didn't say so. But why else would he call? Are you in or out? What else can I be? He needs me. Because he's guilty? Now who laid down that judgment? Will you read the papers, JC? Just like me. You know everything points against this guy being innocent. Do I? And if it does, he still deserves the best legal defense he can find. That's a basic lawyer's ethics. If he gets you, he's got it. Does he have you?
[00:07:58] Unknown:
Make an appointment for me to see him as soon as possible today without fail. Yes, sir, boss.
[00:08:03] Unknown:
But me, I don't think he deserves you. I'm Sandy Russell. Girl Friday through j car Justin. I'm 25. I want a home, children, a happy marriage. But that's not what any girl could expect from Justin, especially not as Friday, girl. Working for Justin is like 18 wild, exhilarating, exhausting hours every day. You either love him or hate him. No in between. He's tough, tenacious. In his own way, tender, compassionate, or he has to be. Because day in, day out, people put their lives in his hands. Guilty or innocent, he's their last death defense.
[00:08:52] Unknown:
So doctor Grant, you told the police that at the time of your wife's death, you were in Las Vegas? The attendant at the parking lot Were you in Las Vegas? I had a speaking engagement. Where did you stay? Stay? You spent overnight there. What hotel? It's silly. I don't recall some motel. It should be how did you get to the motel? Well, how does anyone get to a motel? By car. Only yours was parked in the Los Angeles Airport. Remember? Well, I could have gone by cab or rented a car. Sure. But if you went by cab, the motel would remember if you manage to remember the name of it. And if you rented a car, it'd be a simple matter to check. Whose side are you on? Mine or the police? If I represent you, yours. I'm just giving you a little taste of the kind of questioning that you're going to have to face up to, either from the police or prosecuting attorney. I see now it wouldn't hold up. That's better.
Now what is true, doctor? I was there when my wife was murdered
[00:09:56] Unknown:
was shot. Did you shoot her? No. Who did?
[00:10:02] Unknown:
I don't know. Were you alone when it happened? No. There was someone with me. Who? My ex secretary, Cheryl Stafford. The medical meeting was only an excuse to fly to Vegas and see her. You're in love with her? We intend to be married. But my wife will, wouldn't give me a divorce. Mhmm. How much of this have you told the police? None of it. I used the alibi. I mean, about my car. You're childish. Why? Well, I was afraid of how it would look if I mean, Barbara, that's my wife, and I have been having trouble. I didn't wanna sue for divorce in California because it might disturb a loan I was negotiating.
And there's the problem also of community property. But in spite of that, she had started soup. That's why I was there the night before last with Cheryl to ask her to be reasonable and not ruin all of us. If you didn't shoot her, doctor, who did? Miss Stafford? Good Lord. No. I want you to represent Cheryl, both of us. We're innocent. Did miss Stafford testify to the fact that you are? You could ask her yourself. She's waiting in the car downstairs. But you don't have to or for me to testify for her. Why not? Because there were two shots.
One, my wife fired at me. The other came from another gun and hit her in the back. I swear to you, I'm innocent. Doctor, how much did you say to the police? Nothing beyond claiming the alibi. Alright. If you want me to, I'll represent you. But I must warn you, doctor, that if it goes to trial, I'll be expensive. How much is expensive? Well, if you're not invited, nothing. If it goes to trial, my expenses and $50,000. You're right. You're not cheap. Neither is life, doctor. Like you, I hope I'm an expert at preserving it.
[00:12:09] Unknown:
J. Carr Jackson and Associates.
[00:12:12] Unknown:
Just J. Carr will do, honey. You can tell him it's district attorney Herman on the wire. Yes, sir, mister Herman. Just one moment. Give.
[00:12:23] Unknown:
I'll Herman on the line. He sounds particularly smug today.
[00:12:27] Unknown:
Always a bad sign. Put him on.
[00:12:32] Unknown:
Mister Justin will talk to you now, mister Herman.
[00:12:35] Unknown:
Thank you. Hello? Al? So I just thought you'd like to know the grand jury handed down indictments against your clients, doctor Grant and miss Stafford.
[00:12:46] Unknown:
I'm just having warrants issued against them both for first degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder. Now you know that's going to be a waste of time, Al. You don't say. I just did. Ballistics show that missus Grant was killed with a bullet from a gun other than the one on the scene of the crime. That gun has disappeared, Al. Without it, you have no case. You wouldn't wanna bet on that, would you? I'm not a betting man. Just as well,
[00:13:10] Unknown:
I've got a nice little surprise to spring on you just for once. See you in court. Al?
[00:13:19] Unknown:
What you got, JC?
[00:13:21] Unknown:
Search me. I'm more worried about what I may have got. What? Like they say, a bull by the tail.
[00:13:35] Unknown:
So, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, the crime is laid out, and you have met all the principal characters, some of them very briefly. Motive is established, opportunity in a sense, and a wavering finger points at doctor Grant and his inamorata, Cheryl Stafford, or both, or since the vital link is missing, the weapon, perhaps to someone else as yet unidentified. I shall return shortly with act two. The awful suspense of a murder trial has begun. The wheels once set in motion cannot be halted until a jury renders a verdict. A woman is dead, her life snuffed out by unnatural causes.
The whole organization of society demands that an explanation or some vindication of her ceasing to live must be forthcoming. Judge Ellen b Prince presiding. The trial has begun and is in progress. The district attorney is questioning Lieutenant Kinsella on the stand.
[00:14:52] Unknown:
Lieutenant, may we return to your description of the crime? Or rather, I should say, what's your investigation that night of the August 29
[00:15:02] Unknown:
and subsequent follow-up investigations revealed? Yes, sir. In response to a phone call from a miss Trenum at 3349 Ventura Boulevard, West Covington Central sent out a code 11. Sergeant Barasini and his partner patrolman carperman were first on the scene responding to a general bulletin on murder one. I arrived there myself or early in the morning of the thirtieth about, 4AM.
[00:15:27] Unknown:
And what did you discover, lieutenant?
[00:15:29] Unknown:
The body of a woman, identified as missus Barbara Grant, was lying before the garage door, a revolver lying near her right hand. Had this revolver been fired? Yes, sir.
[00:15:41] Unknown:
Once, did the bullet discharge result in the death of missus Barbara Grant? No, sir. What was the cause of death?
[00:15:51] Unknown:
As a result of, ballistics checks subsequently, a slug from a 38 revolver,
[00:15:57] Unknown:
almost certainly a police positive. Was this gun found at the scene of the crime? No, sir. Has it been found anywhere else since? No, sir. Is it not true, Lieutenant Kinsella, that at your request, the Police Department of Records and Licenses substantiated the fact that two years ago, a permit was issued to a doctor Samuel Grant. He was entitled to carry a gun? That is correct, sir. Just one more question, lieutenant. The type of slug which killed missus Barbara Grant did come from a police positive 38? Oh, absolutely. And it could have come from this particular weapon? Not you don't have to answer that.
The question was really unnecessary. You're a witness, counselor.
[00:16:43] Unknown:
Well, let's complete that question, Lieutenant Kinsella. Could the slug have come from this particular weapon? What weapon is that, mister Ah, but that's just the point, isn't it, lieutenant? This particular weapon is only a theoretical one, isn't it? Well, I, I'm not sure I know how to answer that question. Well, I have no tricks, lieutenant. I have nothing up my sleeve. I'm merely trying to establish that this phantom gun is not established. It exists at the moment only as a speculation, an inference drawn from a bullet that caused the death of missus Grant. Is that not correct, lieutenant? Yes, sir. It's correct as far as it goes. Substantially, what you have in mind, lieutenant, is that the death bullet could have been fired from exactly the sort of gum that the defendant, doctor Samuel Grant, was licensed to own and carry. That is just what I meant.
Well, we can go into that a little later. A couple of more questions, if you will, lieutenant. Yes, sir. Now the gun that was found by missus Grant had been fired. Is that correct? Yes,
[00:17:48] Unknown:
once.
[00:17:50] Unknown:
What caliber was that? 32,
[00:17:53] Unknown:
sir.
[00:17:54] Unknown:
Was that bullet found? Yes, sir. In the back wall of the garage. And the bullet from her 32 was fired in the direction of doctor Grant who was inside the garage at the time? Yes, sir. Yes, sir. But there were definitely two shots. Well, of course, sir. There was one right after another. The, the maid in the house heard them. Where was missus Brant shot? In what part of her body? She was shot in the back. In the back. Thank you very much, lieutenant. That's really all I need.
[00:18:23] Unknown:
That's what Justin Dovin is so great. He meanders around, gets everyone cooled off and relaxed, and then whams home a zinger that makes the jury sit up, and that stays planted in their minds. It's like a a baseball game, a trial inning after inning, each side striking out or or scoring.
[00:18:46] Unknown:
What Justin just did? Doctor, I asked you to describe the events of the night of the twenty ninth leading up to the death of your wife.
[00:18:54] Unknown:
Alright. To the best of my ability. My wife, against an agreement I thought we had, had taken action to sue me for divorce. I called her from Las Vegas and asked her to reconsider,
[00:19:07] Unknown:
and we had made a date to meet that evening. In your own words, could you tell us what happened when you arrived?
[00:19:12] Unknown:
I can try. Cheryl, miss Stafford and I had driven there in her car. We parked at the downhill parking lot and walked up the two blocks to my
[00:19:24] Unknown:
I mean, to Barbara's house. Why didn't you just drive up and park in the drive? Well, that's difficult to explain.
[00:19:32] Unknown:
The house is perched on the side of a hill. A cliff, really. The driveway is difficult to maneuver. So I built this parking space on our property just below. Unless you were planning to drive into the garage itself, we usually left our cars there.
[00:19:46] Unknown:
Your own car? Your own house?
[00:19:50] Unknown:
My wife and I were separated. Ending a divorce agreement, it was her house. You considered it then? I was willing to grant her that privilege.
[00:19:59] Unknown:
After you and miss Stafford had walked up to the garage, what did you find?
[00:20:06] Unknown:
Well, there was no one home. I had still had my keys, and I had just let miss Stafford and myself in when my wife drove up. We'd come in the back door, and it was just at dusk, so I didn't bother to put on any lights. Cheryl and I just went through the inner door to the garage about the same time as Barbara opened the garage sliding door.
[00:20:30] Unknown:
Who's that? Who is it?
[00:20:32] Unknown:
It's me, Barbara.
[00:20:34] Unknown:
Sam. What are you doing here? You don't belong here anymore.
[00:20:38] Unknown:
Now you know we made a date tonight to talk over the divorce. You did. Not me.
[00:20:43] Unknown:
Who's that with you?
[00:20:45] Unknown:
I said I'd bring Cheryl along. You get that slut out of my house and off my property? Barbara, put that gun away. Run, Cheryl. Run.
[00:20:55] Unknown:
Give me the gun, Barbara. I'll give you what you deserve, you cheeky lying.
[00:21:00] Unknown:
No. You're wrong. Are you crazy?
[00:21:15] Unknown:
I have ducked down behind the lawn tractor in the garden tools. Even with the headlights on, I couldn't see anything. All I knew was there was a a second shot and that Barber had been hit. I went to her right away. Was the gun still in your hand?
[00:21:30] Unknown:
What what gun? Someone shot your wife. If it wasn't you, are you suggesting it was miss Stafford? No.
[00:21:36] Unknown:
I mean, well, I don't I didn't even know where miss Stafford was at at the time. I see. So you went to your wife and then happened, Barbara? Are you alright? And did she reply? Yes. She she she said, I I love you. I should have listened to you take care of
[00:21:55] Unknown:
the children. Your son and daughter? Yes. Who were not home at this time? No. They were away at school. There was no one in the house?
[00:22:05] Unknown:
Yes. A maid, a miss Kennom. I could hear her moving, and I imagine calling the police. And then what happened?
[00:22:13] Unknown:
I panicked. I'm sure you did. What did you do in your panic?
[00:22:18] Unknown:
I ran
[00:22:19] Unknown:
down the hill to the parking lot. Where you found miss Stafford waiting for you? Yes. With the gun? What gun? The gun that shot your wife. Cheryl had no gun, then you had it. What did you do with it? Objection, your honor. The district attorney is obviously trying to put words into the mouth of the defendant.
[00:22:36] Unknown:
Not quite, mister Justin. But I do feel, mister Herman, you have not established the existence of the gun up to this point.
[00:22:45] Unknown:
Well, may I say it doesn't matter, your honor? The bullet that lodged in missus Rand's heart has established that such a gun existed. Your witness, mister Justin?
[00:22:58] Unknown:
Mister Grant I beg your pardon. Doctor Grant, can I take you back for a moment to the night of May? Would you be good enough to tell the court what took place at your home on Ventura Boulevard? Both my wife and myself were away. It was miss Trenum, the maid's night out. We were robbed. Mhmm. Now I have here a certified list from the insurance company of all the things that were taken, the stereo equipment, TV sets, jewelry, etcetera. Among those items is one very relevant one. Was a 38 caliber police positive revolver also removed?
[00:23:39] Unknown:
Yes, sir. And did you immediately, in the course of the insurance investigation,
[00:23:43] Unknown:
notify the police of that fact? I did. And did you subsequently seek a license for a new gun of any sort? Not for myself. By that time, I I was in the course of separating from my wife. Since she was afraid of being in the house alone, I arranged to get one for her and have it licensed. The 32, which is an exhibit here, and with which she fired the bullet at me. And you have no knowledge who might have fired the bullet that killed your wife? No, sir. Could it have been Miss Stafford? Why would you suggest that? Your wife was shot in the back. You were facing her, were you not? Yes, but good Lord. Cheryl was scared to death of firearms.
She didn't know anything about guns. She's the last person who could have been responsible for my wife's death. I have no further questions. Thank you, doctor.
[00:24:34] Unknown:
But there were. The DA went after doctor Grant on redirect tooth and nail. And worse than that, Oh, I've been around courts long enough to know that when Cheryl Stafford got on the stand, she was in for hell. Most of all, I couldn't understand JC. You work for a man long enough, love him too much like me, And you know too much about him not to know he wasn't putting out his best effort here. I called him on it. Alexandra, don't ask questions. That's my business. Mhmm. I get the foot down anytime you call me Alexandra. Oh, but I can't let it dull, JC.
[00:25:10] Unknown:
Alright. Alright. Now, look, we're skating on a lot of thin ice. And I am supposed to be advocate, not judge. Now why don't you just leave me be and let what is to be to take its natural course?
[00:25:25] Unknown:
Okay. If you think your clients are guilty, do you?
[00:25:30] Unknown:
I have a basic rule to try and consider my clients innocent. Oh, but the way things are going, you're gonna lose. Well, that's very absolute term. It's the way it's going.
[00:25:40] Unknown:
Like well, as things go now, one of them killed missus Grant. Well, and since she was shot in the back, it's Cheryl Stafford.
[00:25:48] Unknown:
But it's still collusion, and both of them are guilty. That's the way it may look, my love. But not enough hard facts to pin it down. That should worry Al Herman. But you notice that it doesn't. He still has something big to hit us with in this case. So let's go grab some dinner and some personal life.
[00:26:07] Unknown:
Oh, I don't know. Sometimes I wonder about you. Whether you care. About winning? No. About how you win.
[00:26:15] Unknown:
And if it's right that you do. Sandy, you have to make your own judgments on that like anyone else. Everything in its time. Let's wait until all the cards are in.
[00:26:33] Unknown:
As Jay Carr Justin knows from experience, there is no drama more tense, more uncertain in its outcome than the arena of the courtroom. And no theater in which the incredible surprise, the shocking factor that follows no law of dramaturgy simply pops up to turn upside down all the facts which have gone before. So ladies and gentlemen of the jury, it will be with some startling new evidence that I return with act three. Everyone in the trial, of course, was waiting for the appearance of Lafane Fatau, the other woman, Cheryl Stafford.
But before her appearance, the surprise witness suddenly appeared on the chair, a witness guilelessly introduced by Cheryl's brother who was testifying as a character reference for his sister, a witness
[00:27:50] Unknown:
VA had set his trap well. William Brody was a complete surprise to us and to the jury. Just listen to the unflappable muscle man on the stand in the midst of a story he had to tell. Mister Brody, you actually discussed
[00:28:06] Unknown:
murder with Cheryl Stafford?
[00:28:08] Unknown:
You called it, ma'am.
[00:28:10] Unknown:
And she named the victim? Yeah. Miss Grant, Dame. Well, I must admit that I am caught a little out of my depth here. But, would you describe in your own words just what you mean?
[00:28:22] Unknown:
Well, it's no big deal. Like I say, I'm at this party. And a kid I know named Stafford gives me the big intro to his sister here. Her. So who's gonna back off? She's a real good looking dame when one thing leads to another and I get an invite to come up to her apartment like the next night. Did you go? Why not? What kind of guy'd pass it up? Please continue your story. Well, I rig myself out in some fancy threads figuring this is a score and I ain't got no reason to change my mind when she opens the door. I mean, she's like you say, undress for action. And the welcome sign is out. It's a big hello, a big drink, and this kid is I I think the picture is graphic enough.
[00:29:08] Unknown:
Suppose you just tell us simply and directly what happened.
[00:29:13] Unknown:
Can I get you some more to drink?
[00:29:15] Unknown:
No, babe. I'm coasting easy now. Your kid brother told me you want a favor?
[00:29:21] Unknown:
That's right.
[00:29:23] Unknown:
Try me. I deliver.
[00:29:26] Unknown:
Supposing I was to tell you I want someone I I mean, I I want someone out of the way. Out of the way? You mean total? Wiped out? I mean killed. Dead.
[00:29:42] Unknown:
Okay. You don't have to draw pictures. Just name numbers. How much?
[00:29:48] Unknown:
Say, $2,000.
[00:29:51] Unknown:
Oh, you gotta be kidding. I wouldn't touch it for under a 5. I haven't.
[00:29:57] Unknown:
I I mean, I I don't think I could raise that much.
[00:30:00] Unknown:
Who's a pigeon anyway? Well, if I tell you, can we make a deal?
[00:30:04] Unknown:
3,000 is my top figure. It's all I've got. All I can get.
[00:30:10] Unknown:
Yeah. So we got a deal.
[00:30:14] Unknown:
Give me your name. Her name is Grant. Barbara Grant. She's married to my ex boss. But it wouldn't be hard. They're separated and she lives alone. So lay the bread on me, 2 thou in advance.
[00:30:28] Unknown:
Third on delivery.
[00:30:34] Unknown:
You actually contracted to kill missus Grant? Are you kidding?
[00:30:41] Unknown:
This was all con as far as I was concerned. Did she pay the money? I took the money in blue. I was only doing her kid brother a favor. But you took money and promised a killing.
[00:30:51] Unknown:
Look,
[00:30:52] Unknown:
her, that, Cheryl Stafford says to me, missus Grand has given us a bad time, causing us a lot of grief. Now if you don't take care of her, Sam will have to do it himself. So I wanted to make her feel better.
[00:31:06] Unknown:
And when the date came, you were supposed to deliver.
[00:31:10] Unknown:
What happened when nothing happened? I gave it the wide eyed act. I said I took her out with a shotgun in the chest and I hit her behind the convent. What was her reaction? Well, I never saw her so happy. Then she calls us doctor Grant and he levels with her. His wife is still alive and kicking. What was miss Stafford's reaction? She said, you must have shot somebody else. And you said, maybe I goofed. If I made the wrong hit, I'll go back and do it again. But I need more money. And miss Stafford said, there isn't any more money. This time, we'll handle it by ourselves.
[00:31:48] Unknown:
Thank you, Mr. Brody. No more questions.
[00:31:50] Unknown:
Your witness counselor. Oh no, Mr. Herman. Not mine. You turned over your own rock to produce this specimen there. You know better than to make a remark like that, counselor. My mind does, your honor. My throat just threw it up involuntarily. Are you courting a mistrial by exhibiting prejudice towards a witness? My apologies to the court. Do you intend to cross examine? I think not, your honor. I would prefer to wait for miss Stafford's side of the story. Perhaps just, one or two questions.
[00:32:23] Unknown:
The witness is yours.
[00:32:25] Unknown:
Will you repeat your name, please?
[00:32:28] Unknown:
Brodie. William Brodie. William Aloysius Brodie? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. But like man, I dropped a middle go around in high school. You also dropped your other names?
[00:32:40] Unknown:
What other names? Well, don't be alarmed. If you have any aliases, I don't know about them. I just mean the various public nicknames
[00:32:48] Unknown:
that people have hung on you, such as dream man and the treasure chest. Well, I can't cool it. Will you cool it, man? Everybody has his own bag. I like to build up the body. Right? Anything wrong in that? To each his own.
[00:33:00] Unknown:
By the way, what did you say, that you do for a living, mister Brody? I did. Would you now? Well, this and that. You know, a man I hang loose. No big deal. Oh, I think you're much too modest, Mr. Brody. I have here a list. Dancehall bouncer, shill, candy butcher, Beach Boy? But I don't mean all of these. I mean your real profession since Gigolo and Ladies Man are a little out of style. What shall we call you? A professional star? Objection.
[00:33:37] Unknown:
A stain. Strike that last sentence from the record. Mister Justin, I am tempted to find you in contempt of court. You know you cannot discredit a witness without objective proof. Your honor, respectfully, it is my contention that the witness has already discredited himself.
[00:33:55] Unknown:
And when I bring miss Stafford to the stand, he will be even further discredited.
[00:34:03] Unknown:
So at last, it was the defense's turn. And finally, Cheryl Stafford was on the stand, small and slight, very pretty in a quiet way, somehow defenseless. To try to puncture the obvious effect she had on the audience and jury, the DA tore into her mercilessly.
[00:34:24] Unknown:
And you are not ashamed to face the woman whose husband you had stolen? No.
[00:34:29] Unknown:
Sam, doctor Grant had already left his wife before I
[00:34:34] Unknown:
before we fell in love. Why didn't you drive straight out of the house? But, Sam, explain that. You didn't use that way to approach the house with the object of surprising Mrs. Grant? Well, why should we? She was expecting us. To discuss divorce? Yes. Then will you tell me why it was necessary for doctor Grant to take his bag up to the house with him? He wasn't making a house call, was he? No. But Well, well, now were you aware that that bag contained along with the expected items you might think of, a hank of rope, rubber gloves, a butcher's knife, and a box of cartridges, perhaps even a gun, which was missing, of course, by the time the police found the bag abandoned in the garage. Wouldn't you say that was less a doctor's bag than a murder kit? Objection, you're not. I withdraw the question. Now, let's skip to the moment missus Grant arrives and takes out a gun and fires at her husband. What did you do? I I I ran just as hard as I could the way Sam told me to. And did you stop to see what was happening before and at the moment the fatal shot was fired? Did doctor Grant run and duck? Could someone else have approached and fired the shot into missus Grant's back? I don't know. I I I don't know. Admit the possibility, can't you? Perhaps even a probability that it could have been you who returned and fired that fatal shot to protect your lover and to carry out the scheme you were both agreed upon before you went there that evening of the twenty ninth.
To kill the only thing that stood in the way of your happiness and your future since you couldn't hire someone successfully to kill her, didn't you and doctor Grant by one means or another carry out her death sentence yourself?
[00:36:20] Unknown:
The coil of rope was only some leftover line that doctor Grant had used to secure a bumper on his boat. Yes. And the so called butcher knife was a simple kitchen all purpose knife which Doctor. Grant had bought because you needed it to cut bread and prepare salads and so on. Yes. It wasn't even that big. Couldn't be less important. And the rubber gloves, I think, of course, are self explanatory. Just one question. Why did he lug that bag up the hill? Because when he talked to his wife, she said she was having her migraine headaches again.
[00:36:52] Unknown:
He thought he might have something to relieve them.
[00:36:55] Unknown:
Alright. Let's move to another shield for a moment. You've heard the testimony of William Brody. I have. Was he telling the truth?
[00:37:02] Unknown:
Mister Brody is a liar. If you want the real truth of what happened in our interview, here it is.
[00:37:10] Unknown:
Well, here I am, babe. Let's break out the booze and get the party going. This is no party, Mr. Brody.
[00:37:17] Unknown:
You were recommended to me by my brother. But count on me. I delivered.
[00:37:22] Unknown:
I'm embarrassed about this. I I don't quite know how to say it. Hey, hey, hey. Don't run a fever. I'll lay it out. You want a dame compromised enough to make a case for her husband to sue for divorce.
[00:37:32] Unknown:
I'm ashamed to say you're right.
[00:37:35] Unknown:
And could run-in the real dough, you know. Who's the dame? Her name is Grant.
[00:37:39] Unknown:
She lives alone.
[00:37:41] Unknown:
She's gonna run five big ones. 5,000?
[00:37:45] Unknown:
Mhmm. Well, I haven't got that much. 3,000 is the best the most I could raise.
[00:37:51] Unknown:
No. Okay. If that's what the traffic will bear. You got a deal.
[00:37:59] Unknown:
You paid him?
[00:38:00] Unknown:
Yes. But he just took the money without Delivering.
[00:38:05] Unknown:
You hated what you felt you had to do, didn't you? Oh, yes. Then how could you have done it? Attempt to compromise a woman as decent and vulnerable as you are. Because Barbara Grant wasn't like that at all.
[00:38:19] Unknown:
She was cold and hard and calculating. She didn't want Sam by herself. She was just determined that no other woman should have him. She hadn't allowed him to touch her in over two years. She wasn't a woman, just a machine. And if that was the only way Sam could get his freedom, I was willing to take it. Because he's the gentlest, kindest man in the world. I love him.
[00:38:46] Unknown:
One more question. Did you shoot Barbara Grant? Mr. Justin,
[00:38:52] Unknown:
I wouldn't even know how to fire a gun.
[00:38:56] Unknown:
Thank you, Miss Stafford. The defense rests.
[00:39:05] Unknown:
The jury's been out three hours, JC. What do you think? Mostly at a time like this, I try not to. Oh, I wish I could make my mind a blank. Why? Because I love you, and I don't know why you took this case. Now, don't give me the lawyer's ethics line again. Everyone is entitled to a defense.
[00:39:24] Unknown:
You know he's guilty as hell. Do I? Yes. And how do I feel about her? Well,
[00:39:30] Unknown:
that's not so easy to Excuse me?
[00:39:33] Unknown:
Yeah. They're coming out? Okay. We'll be right there. Oh, the jury has a verdict?
[00:39:39] Unknown:
Yep. What what do you think it'll be?
[00:39:45] Unknown:
Alright, ladies and gentlemen of the radio jury. What was your verdict? Was the stolen gun just a cover for doctor Grant to have a weapon to kill his wife? Did they struggle so that she was shot in the back? Did Cheryl fire the fatal shot? Or did the incredible mister Brodie decide to earn his money by coincidence that evening? It's your decision. Who killed Barbara Grant? I might add that this was an actual case. Only the names and some locations changed, so you were guessing at an actual result.
[00:40:26] Unknown:
A hung jury?
[00:40:28] Unknown:
Oh, then you lost. Well, that depends on the point of view. Now he conned me into representing both of them. I had to fight for doctor Grant as hard as I could to save a trusting of stupid little girl who gave her love not wisely but too well. Oh, but in saving her, you got him off. No. No. No. No. They'll be tried again. This time separately. And this time, I will represent only one. Miss Stafford. Without her as a shield, he'll be convicted. She won't get out of it clean. We all have to pay for mistakes. But at least she won't have to share the death chamber with him.
[00:41:09] Unknown:
Three months later, doctor Grant broke on the stand and admitted that he had taken advantage of the robbery at his house to pretend the gun was one of the articles stolen. He had had it with him in the murder kit bag, and in struggling with his wife, as she had turned to flee, he had deliberately shot and killed her. He got life imprisonment. Cheryl was convicted as an unwitting accessory after the fact. She was sentenced to a two year term, but released on probation. On the basis of the facts, would your verdict have been the same? I'll be back shortly.
How does a nice young woman like that get mixed up with a man like doctor Samuel Grant? One of the oldest questions in the world, which people have been trying to answer since time began. A few of them, love is blind. To a more than woman to be wise, or perhaps to wind things up, a quote from mister Thackeray. Every single woman I ever knew is a puzzle to me, as I have no doubt she is to herself. With no apologies to women's lib, it's the way of the world. Our cast included Mandel Kramer, Leon Janney, Ken Harvey, EB Juster, Joan Shea, and Earl Hammond. The entire production was under the direction of Hyman Brown. Radio Mystery Theater was sponsored in part by Anheuser Busch Incorporated, brewers of Budweiser.
This is EG Marshall inviting you to return to our mystery theater for another adventure in the macabre. Until next time. Pleasant dreams.
[00:43:21] Unknown:
Tonight's mystery theater was brought to you in part by ShopRite Supermarkets, where you get a lot more for a little less. The preceding program is furnished by CBS radio.
[00:43:32] Unknown:
In the time before AT and T fiber internet.
[00:43:35] Unknown:
Shame. Shame.
[00:43:37] Unknown:
Shame.
[00:43:38] Unknown:
What did you do, love? I ran out of internet data. And they're making you shame walk. No. It's just how I feel. Shame. Shame.
[00:43:47] Unknown:
In the time after AT and T fiber Internet. Nice to have unlimited Internet data. Right? Right. The dawn of a better Internet era with AT and T Fiber. Limited availability in select areas. Check eligibility at att.com/getfiber.
[00:44:00] Unknown:
Restrictions apply.
