# The Big Story: Hot Lead Catches a Cold Blooded Killer (EP5052)

An episode of [The Great Detectives of Old Time Radio| Daily Mystery Dramas](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/335549005), 1 Sep 2026, 34 min.

Audio: https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/pdrl.fm/997ffb/api.spreaker.com/download/episode/74777113/gd5052.mp3

Today's Mystery: Miami Herald reporter William Adams joins the investigation after a well-dressed stranger is found shot to death beneath a bridge in the Everglades. With little to identify the victim beyond an old newspaper and a loaded die, Adams begins tracing the dead man’s movements, searching for the clue that can lead authorities to his killer. Original Radio Broadcast: October 8, 1952 Originating in New York Cast: • Jim Stevens as William Adams • Cameron Prudhomme • Bill Zuckert • Jean Gillespie • Ruth York • E. Sam Raskin • Michael O'Day • Cameron Andrews Support the show monthly at https://patreon.greatdetectives.net Patreon Supporter of the Day: Deanna, Patreon supporter since December 2024. Thank you to our latest Platinum Patreon supporter: Margie, who has been supporting the show since September 2016 Support the show on a one-time basis at http://support.greatdetectives.net. Mail a donation to: Adam Graham, PO Box 15913, Boise, Idaho 83715 Take the listener survey…http://survey.greatdetectives.net Give us a call 208-991-4783 Follow us on Instagram at http://instagram.com/greatdetectives Become one of our friends on Facebook. Follow us on Twitter@radiodetectives Join us again tomorrow for another detective drama from the Golden Age of Radio.

## Transcript

[0:03] Speaker 1: Music Music Music.
[0:28] Speaker 2: Welcome to the Great Detectives of Old Time Radio from Boise, Idaho.
[0:34] Speaker 2: This is your host, Adam Graham. In a moment, we're
[0:37] Speaker 2: going to bring you this week's episode of The Big Story.
[0:41] Speaker 2: But first, I want to encourage you, if you're enjoying
[0:44] Speaker 2: the podcast, please follow us using your favorite podcast software.
[0:49] Speaker 2: As this is the first episode of September, I want
[0:52] Speaker 2: to go ahead and take a moment and recognize our
[0:56] Speaker 2: new Platinum Patreon supporters who have been supporting the podcast
[1:01] Speaker 2: for 10 years this month. Thank you to Margie, supporting
[1:06] Speaker 2: the podcast at the Detective Sergeant level of $ 7. 14 or
[1:10] Speaker 2: more per month. And also to Neil and John, each
[1:14] Speaker 2: supporting the podcast at the Shamus level of $ 4 or
[1:18] Speaker 2: more per month. Again, thank you so much for 10
[1:21] Speaker 2: years of support. Also, our listener support and appreciation campaign continues.
[1:26] Speaker 2: You can become one of our ongoing Patreon supporters for
[1:29] Speaker 2: as little as $ 2 per month. Just go to patreon.greatdetectives.net.
[1:36] Speaker 2: But now, from October 8, 1952, here is Hot Lead
[1:42] Speaker 2: Catches a Cold-Blooded Killer.
[1:46] Speaker 3: The Big Story.
[1:57] Speaker 4: Careful how we go under this bridge, Pete. Yep. Tamiami
[2:00] Speaker 4: Trail may be a beautiful highway, but you never know
[2:03] Speaker 4: what you might run into. Might be alligators around.
[2:06] Speaker 5: Usually are on the Everglades, Dan. Gators, snakes, everything else.
[2:11] Speaker 5: Tamiami is one state highway. I wish somebody else had
[2:13] Speaker 5: the job of inspecting.
[2:14] Speaker 3: Hmm.
[2:15] Speaker 4: We'll ask for a transfer.
[2:16] Speaker 5: Yeah, you and me both. Well, got it to do.
[2:20] Speaker 4: Let's do it.
[2:21] Speaker 3: Watch the float.
[2:22] Speaker 4: Yeah. Nothing but swamp for miles. Frogs, snakes, skeeters. See? Yeah?
[2:34] Speaker 4: Something under the bridge.
[2:35] Speaker 6: Huh?
[2:37] Speaker 5: Hey, looks like a gator.
[2:38] Speaker 4: Put up your gun. Come on, a gator. It's a man.
[2:45] Speaker 3: Shot through the head.
[2:46] Speaker 4: The Big Story.
[2:56] Speaker 1: The story you are about to hear actually happened.
[2:58] Speaker 4: It happened in Florida. It's authentic.
[3:02] Speaker 1: It's offered as a tribute to the men and women
[3:03] Speaker 1: of the great American newspapers. From the pages of the
[3:08] Speaker 1: Miami Herald... The story of a reporter who used a
[3:11] Speaker 1: hot lead to find a cold-blooded killer.
[3:19] Speaker 4: Miami, Florida.
[3:20] Speaker 5: The story as it actually happened.
[3:22] Speaker 1: William Adams' story as he lived it.
[3:24] Speaker 6: It's a late afternoon in March.
[3:39] Speaker 4: And you, Bill Adams, reporter for the Miami Herald, you're
[3:43] Speaker 4: in the city room at your desk, taking it easy
[3:46] Speaker 4: for the moment. You feel fine. It's a beautiful day.
[3:50] Speaker 4: Your feet are up on the desk and the windows open.
[3:54] Speaker 4: You can see the clean, cool smell of salt air.
[3:58] Speaker 4: And then....
[4:01] Speaker 3: City room, Adams talking.
[4:02] Speaker 2: Adams, this is Sheriff Thornton.
[4:03] Speaker 4: I often just got a report of a possible murder. Murder?
[4:07] Speaker 3: Who, Sheriff?
[4:08] Speaker 4: I don't know yet.
[4:09] Speaker 5: The body was found under a state highway bridge by
[4:12] Speaker 5: a couple of highway inspectors.
[4:14] Speaker 4: They reported it in from a nearby gas station. On
[4:17] Speaker 4: the way out there now.
[4:17] Speaker 3: Thanks for the tip, Sheriff. What's the street number?
[4:20] Speaker 4: They don't have numbers on the Tamiami Trail.
[4:22] Speaker 3: Tamiami Trail. The Everglades? That's right.
[4:26] Speaker 7: Right out in the middle of the Everglades.
[4:28] Speaker 8: Great place for a murder.
[4:35] Speaker 4: The Everglades. Some of it beautiful beyond belief. But where
[4:39] Speaker 4: you're going, it's grim, desolate. You get there after dark,
[4:44] Speaker 4: and you stand under the glare of a floodlight with
[4:47] Speaker 4: the state highway inspector as the sheriff bends over the
[4:51] Speaker 4: body of a well-dressed man. Well, that's that. No doubt
[4:59] Speaker 4: about it being murder. Three bullets, that's nasty as hell. Sheriff,
[5:03] Speaker 4: you're lucky to have killed someplace else and brought here. Yes, Adam.
[5:07] Speaker 4: Body laid out nice and peaceful. That gay overcoat folded
[5:10] Speaker 4: under his head like a pillow. Sheriff, how do you
[5:13] Speaker 4: figure he got here? Well, you're a state highway inspector, McLeod.
[5:17] Speaker 4: Suppose you tell me. Well, I'll tell you one thing.
[5:20] Speaker 4: He don't travel much on foot on the Tamiami Trail.
[5:23] Speaker 4: He must have been in a car. But where is he?
[5:26] Speaker 4: That's the answer, McLeod. Find the car and we'll find
[5:29] Speaker 4: the murderer.
[5:29] Speaker 3: Say, what about that gas station that Todd's partner phoned
[5:32] Speaker 3: in from, Sheriff?
[5:33] Speaker 4: What about him? You can ask the owner if he
[5:35] Speaker 4: recognizes a body.
[5:36] Speaker 3: Might have stopped for gas.
[5:37] Speaker 4: There's some way to do that. Now, I suppose you
[5:40] Speaker 4: two give me a hand. You going to move him?
[5:43] Speaker 4: Would you like to stand by till we get a
[5:44] Speaker 4: corner dragon out here in the cloud? In the Everglades
[5:47] Speaker 4: out in the dark? Not me. Okay, then. All right.
[5:54] Speaker 4: Two guys to take his arm. All right. Chef. Underneath him.
[6:00] Speaker 4: Put him down again. Newspaper and a pair of dice.
[6:07] Speaker 3: Not a pair, sir. Only one. If I'm not mistaken,
[6:11] Speaker 3: it's loaded.
[6:12] Speaker 4: Let me see that. Yeah, it's loaded. The ambulance died. Now,
[6:18] Speaker 4: look at this paper, Adams. Your paper. Miami Herald. What's today?
[6:23] Speaker 3: The 15th.
[6:24] Speaker 4: This paper is dated the 12th. Proves he's been here
[6:27] Speaker 4: several days. It might prove something else, Sheriff. He might
[6:30] Speaker 4: have come from Miami.
[6:31] Speaker 3: Possible.
[6:33] Speaker 4: Okay, let's take him. We'll ask that gas station owner
[6:36] Speaker 4: some questions on the way in. No, sir. No, sirree.
[6:51] Speaker 4: Don't look familiar to me at all. What about last night, Mr. Gaffney?
[6:55] Speaker 4: Might have stopped here for gas last night. Sheriff, I
[6:58] Speaker 4: don't stay open at night. Not enough business.
[7:00] Speaker 3: You're open now.
[7:02] Speaker 4: Young fella, I'm staying open only on account of all
[7:04] Speaker 4: this excitement. Fella comes charging in to use the phone
[7:06] Speaker 4: and report a murder.
[7:07] Speaker 3: I've got to stay open.
[7:08] Speaker 4: With no business.
[7:09] Speaker 3: Not a lick of business.
[7:09] Speaker 4: Did you see him yesterday? Nope. Or the day before yesterday? Nope.
[7:14] Speaker 4: Can't say, sir.
[7:15] Speaker 5: He might not have been alone, Mr.
[7:16] Speaker 3: Gaffney. Might have had someone with him. A hitchhiker, maybe.
[7:19] Speaker 4: Young fellow, I said I can't recall. You go back
[7:28] Speaker 4: to Miami, Bill Adams. You try to sleep. But in
[7:32] Speaker 4: your nostrils is the smell of the Everglades. On your
[7:36] Speaker 4: closed eyelids is etched that scene under the bridge. Your
[7:40] Speaker 4: thoughts turn with the turning hour. Who is that man?
[7:45] Speaker 4: Who killed him? Who is it?
[7:51] Speaker 8: Hello?
[7:58] Speaker 4: Sheriff, did I get you up? What is that, Adam?
[8:01] Speaker 4: I know it's early, but I woke up and couldn't
[8:02] Speaker 4: get back to sleep. Sheriff, I've got an idea. If
[8:06] Speaker 4: that dead man's from outstate, he might have stopped at
[8:08] Speaker 4: a Miami hotel. How about checking the hotel?
[8:11] Speaker 5: Our boys have.
[8:11] Speaker 4: Already started checking.
[8:13] Speaker 3: But we've got over 300 of them, Adam.
[8:15] Speaker 4: It's time. You've got his description. I can pick up
[8:21] Speaker 4: a picture and lend a hand. I'd be glad to help.
[8:23] Speaker 8: Glad to help you.
[8:31] Speaker 4: After two days, Bill Adams, you're not so glad. You're footsore, weary,
[8:38] Speaker 4: and everywhere the answer is no. You're turning away from
[8:41] Speaker 4: the desk at the Salt Air Hotel. The desk clerk
[8:44] Speaker 4: is new. He wasn't around at the time of the murder.
[8:48] Speaker 4: They're about to draw a line through that one and
[8:50] Speaker 4: try the next. A bellhop stands beside you.
[8:53] Speaker 5: I beg your pardon, sir.
[8:56] Speaker 4: I couldn't help overhearing, but this gentleman you're inquiring about,
[8:59] Speaker 4: is he the same one who had his picture in
[9:01] Speaker 4: the paper yesterday?
[9:01] Speaker 3: Yeah, that's him.
[9:03] Speaker 4: Down dead out in the Everglades? Murdered, I think. Say what? Well,
[9:07] Speaker 4: that picture in the paper was kind of smudgy. Have
[9:09] Speaker 4: you got another one?
[9:11] Speaker 3: Why, yeah.
[9:12] Speaker 4: Here. What? That is Mr.
[9:15] Speaker 5: Nabon. You know him?
[9:16] Speaker 4: No mistake, sir.
[9:17] Speaker 5: Mr.
[9:17] Speaker 4: Bertram Nabon. He was a guest here? Yes, sir. Resided
[9:20] Speaker 4: in room 312 in this very hotel. Came from Baltimore, Maryland,
[9:23] Speaker 4: as I recall. He was a gambler, wasn't he?
[9:25] Speaker 6: Mr.
[9:26] Speaker 4: Nabon? No, sir. Quiet, gentlemen. You were fine. I carried
[9:31] Speaker 4: his bag when he checked out. He cashed a check
[9:35] Speaker 4: for $ 1, 100. $ 1, 100? Yes, sir. When I put his bag
[9:37] Speaker 4: in his car, he gave me a $ 10 bill. And
[9:39] Speaker 4: he had a car?
[9:40] Speaker 3: Yes, sir.
[9:40] Speaker 5: Nice car.
[9:41] Speaker 4: Maroon-colored Mercury. Good checks, Adam. We just got word from
[9:52] Speaker 4: the Baltimore police. Bertram Nabom, age 27, bachelor, businessman, quiet,
[9:58] Speaker 4: good reputation.
[9:59] Speaker 3: Any family, Sheriff?
[10:00] Speaker 4: Parents still living. His mother took the news hard.
[10:03] Speaker 3: Sheriff, it couldn't have been a hitchhiker.
[10:05] Speaker 4: Why not?
[10:06] Speaker 3: Nabom doesn't sound like the kind that'd pick up a hitchhiker.
[10:09] Speaker 4: Certainly not on a lonely road like the Tamiami Trail.
[10:12] Speaker 4: Adams and police work guess in his bad business.
[10:15] Speaker 3: It must have been someone he met here in Miami,
[10:17] Speaker 3: someone he got friendly with.
[10:18] Speaker 4: We checked on his movements here.
[10:21] Speaker 5: All business. Sheriff Kneebaum had $ 1, 100 on him.
[10:23] Speaker 4: He could take it. And so was his car, a
[10:26] Speaker 4: maroon Mercury. Now, would a murderer who keeps money hang
[10:31] Speaker 4: on to a hot car, or would he sell it?
[10:33] Speaker 4: That's the way we figure, too. We start in the morning.
[10:40] Speaker 4: So you're off again, Bill Adams. Driving past those same hotels.
[10:45] Speaker 4: Checking the used car lot. Plenty of them. Plenty of cars.
[10:50] Speaker 3: And finally, a maroon mercury.
[10:55] Speaker 4: Howdy, mister.
[11:00] Speaker 5: Came to buy this car. I can give you a
[11:01] Speaker 5: good price.
[11:02] Speaker 4: Fine car.
[11:03] Speaker 3: No, I'm not fine. I'm a newspaper reporter.
[11:06] Speaker 4: Porter?
[11:07] Speaker 5: Porter's used cars too, don't they? I noticed there's a
[11:10] Speaker 5: stain on the front floorboards.
[11:12] Speaker 3: Looks like blood.
[11:13] Speaker 5: Oh, that'll clean easy. I found this under the front seat.
[11:17] Speaker 5: You find the other one. You got yourself a paradise, eh?
[11:21] Speaker 3: The other one was found. Three days ago, under a
[11:23] Speaker 3: dead man.
[11:24] Speaker 5: What?
[11:25] Speaker 3: Who sold you this car?
[11:27] Speaker 4: A man named.
[11:29] Speaker 5: Oh, let's see now. It was early morning on the 15th.
[11:33] Speaker 5: A man named Nabon.
[11:36] Speaker 3: Nabon was dead on the 15th.
[11:38] Speaker 5: You're crazy. A fellow from Maryland. Had his registration and everything.
[11:41] Speaker 4: Nabon.
[11:42] Speaker 3: Don't you read the papers?
[11:43] Speaker 5: Sure I do. Sports page and the used car ad.
[11:46] Speaker 3: Try the front page sometime. Here's a picture of Nabom
[11:49] Speaker 3: and a description.
[11:50] Speaker 5: Let's have a look. Are you kidding? That's not Nabom.
[11:54] Speaker 5: The fellow who sold me this here mercury had brown hair.
[11:58] Speaker 5: Kind of thin. Had full lips. Yeah, and it says here,
[12:01] Speaker 5: quiet dresser. He didn't dress quiet. He wore a cowboy shirt, mister.
[12:06] Speaker 5: Loudest shirt I ever saw.
[12:07] Speaker 4: A new description goes out. Nothing happened. You wait, Bill Adams,
[12:16] Speaker 4: and there's no words. You go over to the sheriff's office.
[12:20] Speaker 4: You sit there, killing time, waiting. Get that, will you, Adams?
[12:28] Speaker 5: I'm busy.
[12:29] Speaker 4: It's a policeman up in Jacksonville. A friend of yours,
[12:32] Speaker 4: you know him. He's got a lead on a possible suspect.
[12:36] Speaker 4: You take down the information and pass it on to
[12:39] Speaker 4: the sheriff.
[12:39] Speaker 3: He said a woman up there read the story in
[12:41] Speaker 3: the newspapers and called his office.
[12:42] Speaker 4: You've got the woman's name in the dress? Yep, and
[12:44] Speaker 4: her phone number. She's wondering about a young guy who's
[12:47] Speaker 4: been calling on her daughter. I'll give her a ring, sir.
[12:50] Speaker 3: Good idea.
[12:51] Speaker 4: Go ahead, Adam. I'll listen in on the extension. Yes,
[13:01] Speaker 4: that's right, Mr.
[13:02] Speaker 1: Adams.
[13:02] Speaker 4: It's about Dave Baylor.
[13:04] Speaker 1: He wears that kind of shirt a lot, Todd.
[13:07] Speaker 6: He's been seeing my daughter, Alice, and I don't approve
[13:09] Speaker 6: one bit.
[13:10] Speaker 4: And where'd he come by all that money? Go on, ma'am.
[13:13] Speaker 6: Didn't have money two weeks ago.
[13:14] Speaker 4: Now he spends it onto his water.
[13:16] Speaker 3: You told this to the police up in Jacksonville?
[13:20] Speaker 4: Somebody does.
[13:21] Speaker 3: The less they fail to see my daughter Alice, the
[13:23] Speaker 3: better I like it.
[13:25] Speaker 5: I hope I didn't do wrong going to the.
[13:27] Speaker 4: Police, though. Don't worry about it, ma'am.
[13:29] Speaker 3: It never hurts to be careful.
[13:31] Speaker 4: Thanks very much. Bye. Thank you, young man.
[13:34] Speaker 3: Goodbye. Sheriff, you heard. What did he say?
[13:38] Speaker 4: Might be a wild goose chase, hadn't he? On the
[13:41] Speaker 4: other hand, yeah, let's go up to Jacksonville and see him.
[13:53] Speaker 8: Is that him now, Adams?
[14:04] Speaker 4: Coming out of the band hall?
[14:05] Speaker 3: Yeah, after a smoke.
[14:07] Speaker 4: The girl's not with him, Sheriff.
[14:09] Speaker 3: Now's our chance.
[14:13] Speaker 4: Excuse us. You're Dave Baylor? Yeah, mister, that's right. My
[14:17] Speaker 4: name's Thornton. This is Bill Adams, reporter for the Miami Herald. Oh. Well,
[14:22] Speaker 4: I still don't... Mr.
[14:23] Speaker 3: Thornton is a sheriff, Baylor. Sheriff?
[14:26] Speaker 4: Well, now, look, my date will be back in a second.
[14:28] Speaker 4: She just wants to powder her nose. If it's that
[14:30] Speaker 4: mother of hers... What's her mother got to do with it?
[14:33] Speaker 4: She don't want me to see Alice. And she's just
[14:36] Speaker 4: angry enough to call the police. More than that, Baylor.
[14:40] Speaker 4: Mind answering a few questions?
[14:42] Speaker 3: Like what?
[14:42] Speaker 4: Like where'd you get all your money? Well, I threw
[14:45] Speaker 4: a little betting.
[14:46] Speaker 3: I made a killing at the dog track. How about
[14:48] Speaker 3: a killing on the Tamiami Trail?
[14:50] Speaker 4: Tamiami Trail? A man was found dead there a week ago.
[14:52] Speaker 4: You know what you're talking about.
[14:55] Speaker 3: I never went near there.
[14:56] Speaker 4: The closest I got was last week when I was
[14:59] Speaker 4: down in Miami. I won a car from a man
[15:02] Speaker 4: playing poker, and I sold it there. You won a car?
[15:06] Speaker 4: What's wrong with that? Who'd you win it from, Baylor? Well,
[15:09] Speaker 4: his name was Nabalm. The big tall fella. Big and tall? Yeah,
[15:13] Speaker 4: you know, over six feet. About 50 years old. Maybaum
[15:18] Speaker 4: was about 5'10. He was 27 years old. No, sir.
[15:20] Speaker 4: He was found dead on the Tamiami Trail in the Everglades.
[15:24] Speaker 9: No, sir.
[15:24] Speaker 5: What are you trying to pull?
[15:26] Speaker 4: I went in from a different man. I tell you,
[15:28] Speaker 4: it was a different man.
[15:28] Speaker 3: I never killed nobody.
[15:47] Speaker 4: You've found the man with the loud cowboy shirt, Joe Adams.
[15:51] Speaker 4: The man who sold the dead man's car. He admits
[15:54] Speaker 4: he sold it, but he swears he never killed anybody.
[15:59] Speaker 4: And his description of the man from whom he says
[16:01] Speaker 4: he won the car wasn't pallid. Maybaum was small, quiet.
[16:07] Speaker 4: He wanted from a big man, a different man entirely.
[16:10] Speaker 4: So he said. What do you think of Baylor's story, Adam?
[16:14] Speaker 3: I don't know, Sheriff.
[16:15] Speaker 4: I let him go, but I told his girlfriend's mother
[16:17] Speaker 4: to get in touch with me if he acted up
[16:19] Speaker 4: at all. Another thing. Baylor said he's from Maryland. That's
[16:23] Speaker 4: where Maybaum hails from.
[16:25] Speaker 5: Yeah.
[16:26] Speaker 4: He could have stuck up an acquaintance with Maybaum in Miami.
[16:30] Speaker 4: Gone with him in that car and killed him. It
[16:32] Speaker 4: stops me, is that description... Suppose somebody else did do
[16:36] Speaker 4: the shooting. Came back to Miami, went to a poker
[16:39] Speaker 4: game with Baylor, lost the car. Possible. Not even had
[16:43] Speaker 4: lost the car on purpose to divert suspicion to Baylor.
[16:48] Speaker 4: I'll get it, Sheriff. Hello?
[16:51] Speaker 5: Hello, Sheriff Thornton?
[16:52] Speaker 3: No, this is Bill Adams. Who's calling? Oh, Mr.
[16:54] Speaker 7: Adams. Well, I can tell you.
[16:56] Speaker 9: Just as well.
[16:57] Speaker 4: This is Alice's mother. She was here, Mr. Adams. Dave Baylor?
[17:00] Speaker 6: Yes.
[17:04] Speaker 4: Well, what did he say to her?
[17:05] Speaker 3: Well, nothing to her. Went upstairs.
[17:07] Speaker 4: Wouldn't even talk. But he got mad at me, Mr.
[17:10] Speaker 3: Adams.
[17:10] Speaker 4: Huh?
[17:10] Speaker 5: Got real mad.
[17:12] Speaker 4: Why, he even said something about having a.
[17:13] Speaker 10: Gun over at Gordon's house.
[17:15] Speaker 4: A gun?
[17:16] Speaker 3: I'll tell the sheriff.
[17:17] Speaker 8: The End.
[17:36] Speaker 4: You see, sir?
[17:38] Speaker 3: It isn't there.
[17:39] Speaker 4: The young lady gave me the key. There's a dresser.
[17:47] Speaker 4: I reckon you'd better try that, too. You see? No
[17:53] Speaker 4: gun here either.
[17:54] Speaker 3: Wait a second, sir.
[17:55] Speaker 4: Smell. Does that smell like gun oil? I think we're dead.
[18:04] Speaker 4: There was a gun in this drawer. Either he moved
[18:06] Speaker 4: or some place else.
[18:08] Speaker 3: Somebody on the staircase.
[18:13] Speaker 4: Hi, DeBeer. Oh, the landlady told me, Mr. Adams, that
[18:16] Speaker 4: you were here, Sheriff. We heard you had a gun.
[18:19] Speaker 4: Alice's mother told you, didn't she? Well, you need not
[18:23] Speaker 4: set the room, Sheriff. Here it is, right under my pillow.
[18:27] Speaker 4: I'll take that. Yeah, I want you to. Oh, I
[18:30] Speaker 4: shouldn't have gotten mad at Alice's mother.
[18:33] Speaker 3: Is it the NATO gun, Sheriff?
[18:35] Speaker 4: Could be, Adams. Jane Garland? Well, I never used that gun.
[18:38] Speaker 4: It was in the car. I found it in the car.
[18:41] Speaker 4: I won in that poker game.
[18:43] Speaker 3: Why did you keep it?
[18:44] Speaker 4: Well, I had no notion it was used in a murder.
[18:46] Speaker 4: It's worth money.
[18:48] Speaker 3: I just thought I'd keep it.
[18:49] Speaker 4: Are you sure you didn't use it? I tell you now.
[18:52] Speaker 4: Why don't you find that other felon and stop hounding me?
[18:54] Speaker 3: Ain't it bad enough I can't.
[18:55] Speaker 4: See Alice anymore? Find him!
[18:57] Speaker 3: The End.
[19:04] Speaker 10: The gun was taken to Miami Philistines and checked. The
[19:08] Speaker 10: bullets matched those which killed Maybaum.
[19:11] Speaker 4: I had Baylor go up there and have him. That
[19:13] Speaker 4: used car dealer identified him.
[19:14] Speaker 3: Baylor admits he sold the car.
[19:16] Speaker 4: Yeah.
[19:17] Speaker 3: Baylor still sticks.
[19:18] Speaker 4: To his story about a third man? Yeah. He's even
[19:21] Speaker 4: given us a description. We sent it out on a flyer.
[19:24] Speaker 4: There's no result.
[19:25] Speaker 3: Baylor's the only suspect.
[19:27] Speaker 4: He still denies it.
[19:28] Speaker 3: You need a witness.
[19:30] Speaker 4: You don't say.
[19:32] Speaker 2: What'll I do?
[19:33] Speaker 4: Go out to that bridge and ask the gator.
[19:35] Speaker 10: You leave the sheriff and go back to your city room.
[19:44] Speaker 4: You think of Dave Baylor. Is this very true?
[19:48] Speaker 10: Do you remember that night, that scene under the bridge,
[19:53] Speaker 10: the hot.
[19:53] Speaker 4: Sultry smell of the vast Everglades? Do you remember? And
[19:58] Speaker 4: you're late for the fall. Sheriff, have you got the
[20:02] Speaker 4: motor car, that maroon Mercury?
[20:04] Speaker 5: I've had it impounded.
[20:06] Speaker 9: How about putting gas in it and taking Baylor for
[20:08] Speaker 9: a ride tomorrow?
[20:09] Speaker 4: Where?
[20:10] Speaker 3: To the Everglades, Sheriff.
[20:16] Speaker 10: You're not there the next day, Bill Adams. At the
[20:19] Speaker 10: bridge 72 miles west on the Tamiami Trail.
[20:23] Speaker 4: You're someplace else.
[20:25] Speaker 10: The sheriff goes there with Dave Baylor.
[20:28] Speaker 4: Baylor is nervous. This is where the body was found, Baylor.
[20:36] Speaker 4: Right under this bridge. I never came here, Sheriff.
[20:39] Speaker 7: The State Highway Inspector thought it first that it was
[20:41] Speaker 7: a duty.
[20:42] Speaker 4: Yeah.
[20:43] Speaker 10: Read about it in the places.
[20:45] Speaker 4: Where's Mabon? When you knew the dead man's name was Mabon.
[20:47] Speaker 7: Mabon?
[20:48] Speaker 4: Oh, no.
[20:49] Speaker 10: Read about that afterwards.
[20:50] Speaker 6: Oh.
[20:52] Speaker 4: Body was set by the state as a screen. Did
[20:55] Speaker 4: you hold his overcoat under his head? I never came here.
[20:58] Speaker 4: When did you take his money and his car?
[20:59] Speaker 3: No, I won't confess to something I didn't do. No.
[21:02] Speaker 3: They got no right to keep me here.
[21:04] Speaker 4: Take me back. Okay, Berna. There's the car. Let's go.
[21:09] Speaker 4: The gas station at the roadway is going to stop
[21:10] Speaker 4: for gas.
[21:16] Speaker 10: That's where you are, Phil Adams. At the gas station.
[21:19] Speaker 10: You were there when the sheriff and Taylor went by.
[21:22] Speaker 4: I didn't know that.
[21:23] Speaker 10: And now you're ready for them to come back. You
[21:27] Speaker 10: and the gas station owner.
[21:29] Speaker 4: Waiting.
[21:32] Speaker 3: Well, that's mischievous.
[21:34] Speaker 7: That car you mentioned don't show up soon.
[21:36] Speaker 4: You'll be eating your eyes. I ought to be here.
[21:38] Speaker 7: They don't comprehend what good it's going to do.
[21:40] Speaker 4: Mr.
[21:41] Speaker 9: Gaffman, just do me one favor.
[21:43] Speaker 4: Such as what?
[21:44] Speaker 3: Just take your time. Take my time?
[21:47] Speaker 9: Not whether you can identify the man with the cowboy shirt.
[21:50] Speaker 9: Just look at him closely. Um, you say so.
[21:56] Speaker 3: Car coming down the road.
[22:02] Speaker 4: It's a room naked.
[22:05] Speaker 3: Oh.
[22:10] Speaker 6: Hey, Adam.
[22:11] Speaker 4: Hi, Sheriff.
[22:12] Speaker 9: Hello, Barry.
[22:13] Speaker 7: Hey, what are you doing here?
[22:15] Speaker 3: Mr. Gaffney and I said we'd go by.
[22:18] Speaker 4: Didn't we, Mr.
[22:18] Speaker 3: Gaffney?
[22:19] Speaker 4: Yep. Yep, we did. There, if I thought we stopped
[22:22] Speaker 4: for gas. Don't need gas, Barry.
[22:24] Speaker 3: But you said that that's.
[22:25] Speaker 7: A real fancy shirt the man's wearing.
[22:27] Speaker 3: Real fancy. Have you seen it before, Mr. Gaffney?
[22:30] Speaker 4: Seen it before? Say, around the 14th of March or
[22:32] Speaker 4: the 13th.
[22:32] Speaker 3: Oh, yeah.
[22:34] Speaker 9: This car obliged the man that was murdered. The car
[22:36] Speaker 9: came back this way.
[22:38] Speaker 3: You can't miss a shirt like that, can you?
[22:40] Speaker 4: Nope.
[22:41] Speaker 3: Real fancy. Stop looking at me.
[22:44] Speaker 4: Stop looking at me. Sit down, Baylor. Where are you going?
[22:46] Speaker 4: Let go of me. Self-defense. Self-defense, I tell you.
[22:50] Speaker 7: He owed me money.
[22:51] Speaker 3: He gambled with me.
[22:52] Speaker 4: Shot dice and he wouldn't pay. Maybaum wasn't a gambler.
[22:54] Speaker 4: He wouldn't pay, I tell you. He reached for a gun.
[22:56] Speaker 4: I grabbed it from him. It was self-defense, I tell you.
[22:58] Speaker 4: Sit down. Put out your hands. What for? These. It's self-defense.
[23:06] Speaker 4: See you back in town, Adams. Okay, Sheriff. Go home.
[23:23] Speaker 7: Well, now, if that ain't the bait. Confessed right before
[23:27] Speaker 7: my eyes, didn't it?
[23:28] Speaker 3: Confessed. Just about. You know something, Mr.
[23:31] Speaker 10: Adams?
[23:32] Speaker 4: That shirt.
[23:34] Speaker 7: On the one hand, I couldn't swear I'd seen it before.
[23:38] Speaker 7: On the other hand, I couldn't swear I ain't. I
[23:41] Speaker 7: couldn't swear either way at all.
[23:58] Speaker 10: Now we read you that telegram from William Adams for
[24:00] Speaker 10: the Miami Herald.
[24:02] Speaker 9: Killer in tonight's big story went to trial pleading self-defense.
[24:06] Speaker 9: He was convicted of first-degree murder and after several stays
[24:09] Speaker 9: of execution.
[24:10] Speaker 3: And a delay of three and a half years, finally
[24:12] Speaker 3: went to chair.
[24:14] Speaker 9: Executed at Florida State Prison, morning of July 1st, 1952.
[24:27] Speaker 1: And so ends another big story.
[24:30] Speaker 4: In order to protect the names of people actually involved
[24:33] Speaker 4: in tonight's authentic big story, the names of all characters
[24:36] Speaker 4: in the dramatization were changed, with the exception of the
[24:39] Speaker 4: newspaper reporter. The End.
[24:50] Speaker 6: THE END.
[25:18] Speaker 8: This is the.
[25:28] Speaker 4: United States Armed Forces Radio Service.
[26:24] Speaker 2: Welcome back. All right, let's go ahead and run through
[26:27] Speaker 2: the cast list from the script. Adams was played by
[26:32] Speaker 2: Jim Stevens. Also in this episode, Cameron Prudhomme, Bill Zuckert,
[26:41] Speaker 2: Gene Gillespie, J-E-A-N, Ruth York, E. Sam Raskin, Michael O'Day,
[26:51] Speaker 2: and Cameron Andrews. Now, according to stories behind the big story,
[26:57] Speaker 2: this particular case... actually occurred in 1949, so relatively recently.
[27:06] Speaker 2: The name of the man who was murdered was Leonard Applebaum,
[27:10] Speaker 2: and the man convicted of his murder was Merlene Leiby,
[27:15] Speaker 2: and one detail that's added on the stories behind the
[27:19] Speaker 2: Big Story website is that Leiby was actually a Now,
[27:26] Speaker 2: the big story continues to provide a very interesting look
[27:29] Speaker 2: into the past with so many jurisdictions that the golden
[27:34] Speaker 2: age of radio, the fictional programs, never really covered. And
[27:39] Speaker 2: of course, you have this whole situation that existed before
[27:43] Speaker 2: there were photo IDs. That came up a few weeks
[27:47] Speaker 2: ago in the episode that was set in Utah. Although
[27:52] Speaker 2: here the buyer doesn't face nearly as severe a risk
[27:57] Speaker 2: of prosecution as the bike shop owner in Utah, but
[28:02] Speaker 2: I think that the fact that the bike shop owner
[28:05] Speaker 2: had more of the victim's stuff was probably much more
[28:09] Speaker 2: of a clue. The confession is interesting, and I know
[28:15] Speaker 2: that a lot of people take issue with Golden Age
[28:19] Speaker 2: portrayals of confessions, and they are often overly dramatic, but
[28:26] Speaker 2: I think we can underestimate how much pressure it can
[28:33] Speaker 2: put someone under to know that they are guilty of
[28:37] Speaker 2: murder and to somehow avoid giving that away, particularly if
[28:42] Speaker 2: you're not someone who has killed a lot, who has
[28:46] Speaker 2: lied and covered up a lot. The combination of conscience
[28:51] Speaker 2: and the fear of getting caught can really lead you
[28:55] Speaker 2: to make mistakes that ultimately give you away. Now, I
[28:59] Speaker 2: do want to talk about our plans for Tuesdays in
[29:04] Speaker 2: the upcoming season. And I actually have to admit that
[29:08] Speaker 2: I got surprised by how many Big Story episodes were
[29:12] Speaker 2: out there that we found. So, the Big Story is
[29:15] Speaker 2: going to Be with us all the way till the
[29:18] Speaker 2: end of Season 17 and into the start of Season 18.
[29:23] Speaker 2: After that, we will be bringing you a very rare
[29:27] Speaker 2: Australian detective series, Burton Trent Detective. And then I think
[29:33] Speaker 2: most of the season will be spent revisiting old series
[29:38] Speaker 2: that we played previously. And we'll close out 2026 by
[29:43] Speaker 2: bringing you Results Incorporated, starring Lloyd Nolan for three weeks.
[29:48] Speaker 2: And then in the new year, you can expect The
[29:52] Speaker 2: long-awaited return of Mr. Chameleon. We have more uncirculated episodes
[29:58] Speaker 2: of that series, and I think that should take us
[30:02] Speaker 2: most of the way through Season 18, although we may
[30:05] Speaker 2: have some more revisits along the way. All right, listener
[30:09] Speaker 2: comments and feedback now, and we've got a great question
[30:12] Speaker 2: on Spotify from Random Spotify User. I talked a little
[30:17] Speaker 2: about my... journalism aspirations when i was younger if uh
[30:24] Speaker 2: and uh listener wrote if you wrote for the paper
[30:28] Speaker 2: what section would it be well i kind of set
[30:32] Speaker 2: my heart on working at a weekly newspaper and at
[30:38] Speaker 2: a weekly you you know and i would imagine a
[30:42] Speaker 2: smaller weekly you might carry a bunch of different hats
[30:47] Speaker 2: But if there were one type of writing that I
[30:50] Speaker 2: would love to have done for a newspaper, it'd be
[30:54] Speaker 2: feature writing. I think going in depth on people and
[31:00] Speaker 2: local issues, that is really a fascinating thing to study.
[31:07] Speaker 2: I don't particularly care for a lot of the surface
[31:11] Speaker 2: level sort of small talk conversations with people, but I
[31:18] Speaker 2: find people's real stories to be quite interesting, quite compelling.
[31:24] Speaker 2: And I'd love to have the opportunity and, dare I say,
[31:29] Speaker 2: excuse to ask people questions and to dig deep to
[31:33] Speaker 2: really understand them and their stories. And who knows, that
[31:38] Speaker 2: might have become my career if I'd been born, I
[31:41] Speaker 2: don't know, 15 or 20 years earlier. But thanks so much,
[31:46] Speaker 2: appreciate the question. Now it is time to thank our
[31:49] Speaker 2: Patreon supporter of the day. And I want to thank Deanna,
[31:55] Speaker 2: Patreon supporter since December 2024, currently supporting the podcast at
[32:00] Speaker 2: the showmust level of $ 4 or more per month. Thanks
[32:03] Speaker 2: so much for your support, Deanna, and that will do
[32:05] Speaker 2: it for today. If you're enjoying the podcast, please follow
[32:09] Speaker 2: us using your favorite podcast software. And be sure to
[32:12] Speaker 2: rate and review the podcast wherever you download it from.
[32:16] Speaker 2: We will be back next Tuesday with another episode of
[32:20] Speaker 2: The Big Story. But join us back here tomorrow for
[32:24] Speaker 2: Broadway's My Beat, where.
[32:25] Speaker 4: What did you say, Danny?
[32:27] Speaker 3: Do you think Marty's death, Lila.
[32:29] Speaker 9: Yes, yes, I do.
[32:30] Speaker 3: A link between them, sure. How? I don't know that, Danny.
[32:33] Speaker 4: Haven't thought about it. Want me to think about it
[32:34] Speaker 4: and let you know?
[32:35] Speaker 3: I'll do it. Be glad to.
[32:37] Speaker 4: Your question about Marty's death, Mike, wasn't it?
[32:40] Speaker 3: You know that.
[32:42] Speaker 4: Felina, dear.
[32:44] Speaker 3: Yes, like that. Thank you.
[32:46] Speaker 2: He used to work for you.
[32:47] Speaker 4: For months I had a history, Danny.
[32:49] Speaker 3: Long time ago. No police record, but a history.
[32:52] Speaker 4: Police didn't like me. Shook me down, made pledges what
[32:54] Speaker 4: they would do to me. But I never went to jail.
[32:56] Speaker 3: But Danny... Danny, you know what I do now.
[33:01] Speaker 4: I raise sewers for housing projects.
[33:03] Speaker 3: I know all about them.
[33:04] Speaker 4: Just talk to me about Marty Stronner once.
[33:06] Speaker 3: Once when the police didn't like me, Marty used to
[33:09] Speaker 3: run down to the corner and get me.
[33:10] Speaker 4: The free papers I liked to read.
[33:12] Speaker 3: And now no connection.
[33:13] Speaker 4: None.
[33:13] Speaker 2: I hope you'll be with us then. In the meantime,
[33:17] Speaker 2: send your comments to box13 at greatdetectives.net. Follow us on
[33:22] Speaker 2: Twitter at Radio Detectives and check us out on Instagram, instagram.com
[33:27] Speaker 2: slash greatdetectives. From Boise, Idaho, this is your host, Adam Graham,
[33:33] Speaker 2: signing off.

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