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And now, tonight's presentation of radio's outstanding theater of thrills, Suspense.

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Tonight, we bring you a story more amazing than any fiction, the dramatized court reports

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concerning a man who tried to clear himself of murder, a factual document we call, Once

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a Murderer. So now, starring Ben Wright, here is tonight's Suspense play, Once a Murderer.

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Well, what'd you give it to him for? I told you, he said he'd lease the place and you'd

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give him the keys, I was out of no- It doesn't look like he's moved in yet, anyhow. Thought

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you said he'd be here. Ah, it's open. Well, that's hell. We can get our stuff out before

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he snigs them. I'll take the ladder. Alright. Er, tools and box are in the corner. You going

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to the races tonight? Well, I don't know, mate. You? Oh, not me. I'll lose another father

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on those ruddy dogs and the old lady will bash me head in. Oh well, that looks like

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the lot. Sure you didn't leave anything else? No. Alright. Hello? What? Behind the counter.

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Looks like a shoe. Half a tick. Oh, lousy- Ah! Cool. It's murder, Tom. That's what?

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It's a murder. Look, Tom. I know. Look, you say, I'll call the police. Oh, crikey. Oh,

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crikey. Look at her poor face. It's horrible. Yeah, yeah, Bert, Bert, you alright? Bert?

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I don't know. I don't know. I think I'm going to be- No, you wait outside. You'll feel

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better in the air and I'll, I'll get a copper. I won't be long. Bert Shin and I worked for

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a firm of signboard fixers. Bert was my foreman and as I told Peggy later that night, I was

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surprised the way he turned soft all of a sudden. Funny what the look of a dead body

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can do to a chap. Well, I suppose it takes all kinds though. Like the inspector at the

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police station asking me questions about finding the body. Funny way he had then looked fat,

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sloppy. A cigarette, Mr. Shaw? Yes, I don't mind. Thanks. Thanks. Yeah. Now, I'm sure

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you can help us, Mr. Shaw, just answer these few questions if you will. You are 31 years

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of age. That's right. Born in England. Yes. And you are a permanent resident of this city.

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Yes. Now, sir, you and Mr. Bert Shin discovered the body of the young woman Anna Leeming this

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morning in an empty shop at number 75 Bond Road. That's right. You went to the shop in

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order to gather a ladder and some tools which you, Mr. Shaw, left yesterday. Right. Mr.

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Shin was not present yesterday. He was not. Now, what time did you leave the shop yesterday?

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Well, it must have been about half past five. You had removed a two-let sign on the premises.

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I had, yes. Will you tell me why you left the ladder and tools after you'd finished?

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Well, I didn't have the car and it was late and the wife and I had a date. Ah, yes, I

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did. Did you see the deceased at any time yesterday? No. No, not yesterday or any other

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time. Mr. Shin, in his evidence, testified that you had given the shop keys to an unidentified

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man. Will you tell me about that, please? Well, it's the same thing I told Bert. This

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bloke come along and said he had leased a place. Did I know where the keys were? Oh,

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this bloke, how was he dressed? Oh, he had, um, pretty sporty. Plus fours. Brown, I think.

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Can you describe him? A medium-ite. On the, uh, fat side, if you know what I mean. I,

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uh, know what you mean. Go on. Well, that's all. He gave no name? No. Oh, would you mind

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using that ashtray, Mr. Shaw? Oh, sorry. Thank you so much. But, um, you gave this man the

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set of keys which had been entrusted to you by the owner. Oh, that's all right. He said

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he'd leased it. I took his word. I saw him just taking the sign down on order, so. Oh,

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of course you thought that he had every right. What then? Well, and, uh, time was getting

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on, so I thought I'd leave and come back today for the tools. Did the stranger stay in the

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shop after you'd gone? Yes. He said he wanted to look round. He told me not to worry about

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my things. He'd lock up when he left. Ah. Then didn't you wonder at the time how you'd

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manage to get in this morning if the door was going to be locked and you no longer had

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a key? No, he said he'd be there early. Said he'd let me in. Oh. Uh, what did you say

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was the color of the man's trousers? Plus fours. Brown. Oh, it's of course how silly

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of me to forget. And you'd never seen Anna Leeming before? Never. Ah. Well, you have

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been most helpful, Mr. Shaw. We may wish to get in touch with you again, particularly

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if, uh, when we find the man who leased the shop. Identification, you know. Yeah. Oh,

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well, anything I can do to help, Inspector, you, uh, you just call on me, huh? That's

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most kind of you. Good afternoon. I thought that would be the end to it, but it wasn't.

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The owner of the shop said he hadn't leased the place at all. He decided to take it over

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for himself. Well, that left me with my story. The man in plus fours had no way to prove

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it. Well, they gave Peg and me a hard time. Police, newspaper reporters, neighbors, everybody.

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It kept on like that for over a month. And then one day I, I got a call from the police

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to go down to the station. Oh, it's so good of you to come, Mr. Shaw. We've, uh, found

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a man who seems to answer the description you gave. Well, it's about time. Things have

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been pretty nasty, you know. I lost my job. I've got a wife and kid to think about. Well,

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then your identification of this man will clear up any doubts concerning you, won't

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they, Mr. Shaw? Has he confessed? Unfortunately, no. He denies everything. Well, I expect you

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won't have much trouble after I identify him, will you? No, I expect not. Uh, bring in the

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suspect, please. Mind if I smoke? Oh, no, not at all. Sure. Match? No, I've got one,

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thanks. Ah. All right, Mr. Shaw. I want you to have a good look at this man and tell me

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if you've ever seen him before. Hello. Well, don't say hello to me. I've never seen you

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before in my life. That will do, Mr. Cottle. Well, is, uh, is this the man? Yes. You're

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absolutely certain? I think so. Clothes look about the same. Would you ask him to say something

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again? Oh, Mr. Cottle, I already will say something I will. You haven't got any right

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to warn me in here. I guess what I was... That's enough. You're not on trial. Well,

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I've got my right, I have. Not fair. I think so, Inspector. That's the way he sounded when

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he asked for the keys. You'd be willing to swear to it on oath? Yes, I, I think so. Yes,

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that's the man, all right. But he wasn't. He'd been out of town during the week the girl

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was killed and he proved it. So it was an unsolved murder. And that's the way it stayed for two

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years. Oh, the papers forgot about me, the dead girl. Now, people who read the papers

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forget. But the police don't. And whenever I went looking for a job, there was always

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somebody who remembered the name Thomas Shaw. Was that you, Tommy? Yes. Any luck? No. Part-time

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work, there's not enough in it to keep a fly alive. Oh. How's the kid? Asleep. You been

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drinking? Oh, a couple of beers at the corner. Well, come on, dinner's been on for an hour.

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Fish? No, filet mignon with caviar. What do you think? Oh, no, look, there's no need

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to get funny. It's not my fortune, though. I suppose so. Tommy, what are we going to

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do ever since that girl? Oh, Tom. Oh, no, love, I know. That old cat next door was talking

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to the postman I heard her. She said it was a wonder they let a murderer walk about loose.

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Oh, she did, did she? Well, the next time you see her, you give her a smack in the eye

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for me, or perhaps I'll do it for myself. Oh, what's the use? Now, come on, kid. Things

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will get better. You'll see, ducks. I couldn't get better, though, not until I did something

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about it. I made up my mind what to do a week later. I had to make it right, and there was

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only one way. I'd made arrangements for the wife and kids, so I knew they'd be all right,

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and then I called the police inspector. Chief Inspector Osborne here. Hello, Inspector,

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this is Tom Shaw. Remember me? Two years ago? Oh, I remember, Mr. Shaw. Well, I just called

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because I want to make a confession. A confession? Mr. Shaw, where are you? Oh, don't worry,

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I'm not going to run away. I'll do myself in. What is it you wish to confess, Mr. Shaw?

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I want to confess the murder of Anna Leeming. You are listening to Once a Murderer, tonight's

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presentation in radio's outstanding theater of thrills, Suspense.

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This week, an annual hunt for unknown and unknowing diabetics is underway. Diabetes

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can be controlled. People live completely useful lives with this disease. But it is

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important to discover its presence to avoid the possible serious consequences of neglect.

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This week, hundreds of communities are providing free tests to determine the presence of diabetes.

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Test yourself or be tested. It's simple, painless, and sure. And now we bring back to our Hollywood

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soundstage Ben Wright, starring in tonight's production Once a Murderer, a tale well calculated

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to keep you in suspense. That was in July, my confession. They didn't

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bring me to trial until September. You'd think that a man who'd made a confession would make

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it easy for him to get it over with. While it was raining cats and dogs the day they

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brought me up to the dock in criminal court, the judge was a nasty old devil, Sir William

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File, and he looked it. Clerk, read the charge. Members of the jury,

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the prisoner at the bar, Thomas Shaw, is charged with the murder of Anna Leeming. And it is

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your charge. Oh, that jury, silly looking bunch. I'd been

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on juries. I know what they were like. Somebody rather always grumbling. I wanted to go home

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to baby or back to work. Call a man guilty so as I can be home in time to go to the movies.

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I know I did it myself once. Of course, it wasn't a murder trial.

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I'll leave it with your case, Mr. Beckett. Now, Mr. Shaw, I have here a detailed statement

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describing how you inveigled the young woman into the shop that evening two years ago,

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strangled her and then made off with the money in her purse.

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Will you show the evidence to the prisoner, Mr. Beckett?

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So he may see it for himself. Certainly, my Lord. I call to your attention,

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Mr. Shaw, an excerpt from your confession here. Yes.

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Would you be good enough to read it aloud, please?

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All right. I lost my temper and put my hands around her throat. She seemed to faint away

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and fell back out of my hands on the floor. She didn't scream or speak. I knew that something

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was seriously wrong when she fell back and lost control of myself and cannot remember

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exactly what happened afterwards. Yes, thank you. That'll be enough, I think.

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And that is your confession, Mr. Shaw. Now, I wrote it, yes.

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Now, that will be all. No more questions, my Lord.

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Any questions, Mr. Sheckshaw? If you please, my Lord.

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Mr. Shaw, will you tell us a story you first told the police concerning the men in plus

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fours to whom you gave the keys of the shop? Yes. This fellow in plus fours came up and

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said he'd leased the shop and to give him the keys.

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You had never seen him before? No, I took his word.

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You then left the premises and this man within the confines of the shop.

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That's right. Did you see the girl and her leaving at all

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that night? No.

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Did you know her personally or had you ever seen her?

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No. I put it to you plainly. Did you kill that

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girl? I did not.

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Why did you make that onto statement, the confession?

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Because I hadn't got a chance to prove I was innocent. I wanted the whole thing cleared

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up properly. I wanted to be arrested and put on trial so

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I could be proved innocent by law. Them people let me and my wife and kid alone.

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A peculiar way of proving your innocence to say that you are guilty of murder, sir?

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It was the only way, my lord. That will be all.

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Not by a long shot it wasn't. Mr. Edward Beckett was at my throat for another

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hour. He made me dizzy with his questions. But when he was done, the judge leaned across

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and looked over his specs at him. Mr. Beckett, do you think it possible to

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convict from the evidence? I do not think so, my lord.

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I do not think so. Members of the jury, I have indicated to

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you through this trial the matters to which you should apply your minds.

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There is no evidence against the prisoner except for his own statement.

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It's quite obvious he's a liar, but you can't find a man guilty of murder simply because

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he's a liar. I therefore direct you to find a verdict of

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not guilty. Things were a little better after that.

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I got a job or two, the usual. It kept enough in the earth for the kid, Peg,

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then a pint now and again for me. But I was fed up.

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Men like me want money. Lots of money. What's the use of grubbing about all your

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life trying to save sixpence here, sixpence there?

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Now I had to get hold of something worthwhile. I found it when I met Harriet Vaughan.

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She was a widow who owned a flat near the motor works.

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Middle-aged, but still pretty good-looking. We took to each other like a couple of lovebirds.

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Of course, I had to keep it dark from Peg, but that wasn't hard.

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I'd done it before. What time is it?

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About eleven. Yeah, especially for you.

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Not too weak, not too strong. Thanks.

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Now I've got to go. Too many late nights for me.

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Peg's going to start wondering what kind of job I'm doing.

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You're not going? Oh, now you're not going again?

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Yeah, I'm afraid so. By the way, could you spare a fiver?

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You see, there's a dog running to Morrie. No. No. I'm sick and tired of this.

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For the past month, it's been the same thing. Spend a couple of hours here and off you go.

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I'm not giving you any more money either. Oh, come on. Now I've told you, Peg's been...

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I don't believe you. It's probably another woman.

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Another woman? What do you take me for? Look, just a fiver tonight and I promise to

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Morrie I... I haven't got any money in the hours.

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I've got to have it, sweetheart. It's an emergency. You don't think I like asking you, do you?

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No more. All right, well make it two quid.

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No. You're going to get nasty.

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No more money. Oh, I'm onto your game. It's not me. It's me money. That's all.

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Well, you've seen the last of both of us. All right. For old times sake, a few quid,

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a farewell present, eh? Present? You? Don't make me laugh.

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I'll have to take it myself then. Don't you dare. I'll have the law on you.

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Keep away from my bag. Now you take it easy, aren't you? There's

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no need to get all excited. You give that to me.

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You clear out of here now. Shut your mouth.

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I'll have the law on you, I will. Yes, you do. You tell them what a naughty boy

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I've been. You tell them all about yourself too, eh?

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That'll look nice in the papers. I don't care. You can't make a fool of me.

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I'm calling the police. You come back here.

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Take your hand off of me. Hurry. I don't want to hurt you, but I'm going to

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have to unless you... I warned you. Now it's your own fault.

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All that row about a fiver. They were spread all over the papers next day.

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Nobody seemed to know anything about it. The murderer hadn't left a clue.

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They suspected a robbery motive, but that's as far as they were going.

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I was pretty lucky myself. I took the five pounds, tripled them at the dog races.

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I thought I'd give the kid a peg of presents, so I bought a train for him and a new dress

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for her. It was a treat to see the tears in her eyes

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when I gave it to her. Pure silk.

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Tommy. Tommy.

195
00:19:41,800 --> 00:19:46,360
Now, go on. Take it easy. Go on and try it on.

196
00:19:46,360 --> 00:19:49,640
I'm going to set up the kid's train. It'll be ready when he wakes up in the morning.

197
00:19:49,640 --> 00:19:53,360
Tommy. Put it on, eh?

198
00:19:53,360 --> 00:20:00,000
All right. You know something? I always wanted a set like this.

199
00:20:00,000 --> 00:20:03,480
I think I'll have as much fun as a kid working it.

200
00:20:03,480 --> 00:20:06,800
Of course, it's only clockwork, but it's a starter.

201
00:20:06,800 --> 00:20:14,560
Oh, you wait till you see the engine. Peg?

202
00:20:14,560 --> 00:20:24,480
Hey, what's all this? Why you ever put it on? Don't you like it?

203
00:20:24,480 --> 00:20:28,040
Listen, if the colour's no good, you can change it. There's no reason to cry.

204
00:20:28,040 --> 00:20:31,120
Ducks, come on. Now, try it on. See if the size is right.

205
00:20:31,120 --> 00:20:34,120
I like the colour. I thought you would. Hey.

206
00:20:34,120 --> 00:20:39,160
Don't you touch me. Don't. What's the matter? What did I do?

207
00:20:39,160 --> 00:20:43,520
Where did you get the money for those things? What do you mean, where did I get the money?

208
00:20:43,520 --> 00:20:48,600
Tell me. Or shall I tell you? Now you're upset. I'll tell you what.

209
00:20:48,600 --> 00:20:50,920
I know about you. That woman who was murdered.

210
00:20:50,920 --> 00:20:53,360
Loop it on the dress and we'll go out. I know you've been seeing someone.

211
00:20:53,360 --> 00:20:59,000
And I followed you to her flat last night. I saw you go in. She was dead after that.

212
00:20:59,000 --> 00:21:05,000
That's where you got the money, isn't it? You told anyone?

213
00:21:05,000 --> 00:21:08,040
No. You wouldn't lie to me, would you, Peg?

214
00:21:08,040 --> 00:21:12,080
I haven't, I haven't. Not because of you, but the kid.

215
00:21:12,080 --> 00:21:16,880
You did it, didn't you? Well, didn't you? Now you listen to me.

216
00:21:16,880 --> 00:21:19,560
You don't know anything about anything. Understand that?

217
00:21:19,560 --> 00:21:22,040
You didn't see anything, did you? I'm afraid of you.

218
00:21:22,040 --> 00:21:25,560
That's two you've killed. You kill me next. Don't be silly.

219
00:21:25,560 --> 00:21:29,760
I should have told the police. I'll be next. Or the kid.

220
00:21:29,760 --> 00:21:33,040
What I did or what I didn't do is none of your business.

221
00:21:33,040 --> 00:21:37,080
You attend your arse work. I'll take care of it.

222
00:21:37,080 --> 00:21:44,080
Well, I'm going out for a while and don't you talk to anybody about anything, mind?

223
00:21:44,080 --> 00:21:48,080
Don't you forget what I say. Not a word.

224
00:21:54,080 --> 00:22:00,080
There was nothing else to do. Peg was right. There was the kid and there was her.

225
00:22:00,080 --> 00:22:06,080
I didn't want to hurt her and I knew sooner or later she'd say something she had to.

226
00:22:06,080 --> 00:22:12,080
Well, a man's got to protect his family, so I went to the police.

227
00:22:12,080 --> 00:22:15,080
I confessed to the murder of Harriet Vaughan.

228
00:22:22,080 --> 00:22:27,080
It was the same court, the same judge. And I had another shock when I saw the prosecutor.

229
00:22:27,080 --> 00:22:31,080
I knew him and I could tell by the way he smiled that he knew me.

230
00:22:31,080 --> 00:22:34,080
It was Beckett, the same one who'd been down my throat last time.

231
00:22:34,080 --> 00:22:39,080
Oh, he wasn't supposed to say anything about the other child, but he had a funny smile as he came up to me.

232
00:22:41,080 --> 00:22:45,080
Mr. Shaw, odd coincidence meeting you again.

233
00:22:45,080 --> 00:22:53,080
Now, you stated in your confession that you murdered Mrs. Vaughan because you did not have the fortitude to take your own life.

234
00:22:53,080 --> 00:22:56,080
As far as I can remember, that's what I said, yes.

235
00:22:56,080 --> 00:23:02,080
And that by committing murder you would, in that act, forfeit your life thereby accomplishing your aim of suicide.

236
00:23:02,080 --> 00:23:04,080
Yes.

237
00:23:04,080 --> 00:23:08,080
Would you mind explaining to us your reason for contemplating the taking of your own life?

238
00:23:08,080 --> 00:23:11,080
I said I'd quarreled with her. She was finished with me.

239
00:23:11,080 --> 00:23:18,080
I knew I couldn't go on living without her. And I didn't have the nerve to kill myself.

240
00:23:18,080 --> 00:23:20,080
Will the prisoner speak up?

241
00:23:20,080 --> 00:23:24,080
I'm sorry. I said I didn't have the nerve to kill myself.

242
00:23:24,080 --> 00:23:26,080
And that is what you stated in your confession?

243
00:23:26,080 --> 00:23:28,080
Yes.

244
00:23:28,080 --> 00:23:30,080
No more questions, my lord.

245
00:23:30,080 --> 00:23:32,080
Mr. Lyons.

246
00:23:32,080 --> 00:23:34,080
Thank you, my lord.

247
00:23:36,080 --> 00:23:40,080
Now, Mr. Shaw, you have admitted to the writing of the confession.

248
00:23:40,080 --> 00:23:41,080
I have.

249
00:23:41,080 --> 00:23:42,080
Is it true?

250
00:23:42,080 --> 00:23:49,080
Oh, but one thing. I did have a quarrel with her, but I didn't kill her.

251
00:23:51,080 --> 00:23:53,080
Explain to the court, if you will.

252
00:23:53,080 --> 00:23:58,080
I went back to the house to apologize, and when I got there another man was just coming out of her flat.

253
00:23:58,080 --> 00:24:01,080
I went in and I found her lying dead.

254
00:24:01,080 --> 00:24:06,080
And you knew then that the police suspicions would be upon you because there was no proof of the other man being there?

255
00:24:06,080 --> 00:24:07,080
That's right.

256
00:24:07,080 --> 00:24:11,080
I put it to you, Mr. Shaw. Did you kill that woman?

257
00:24:11,080 --> 00:24:13,080
No, I did not.

258
00:24:16,080 --> 00:24:18,080
Why then did you confess to the police?

259
00:24:18,080 --> 00:24:22,080
Oh, because they wouldn't have believed me, and I wanted to have myself cleared by trial.

260
00:24:22,080 --> 00:24:24,080
Thank you.

261
00:24:24,080 --> 00:24:26,080
No further questions, my lord.

262
00:24:26,080 --> 00:24:28,080
I have a question, my lord.

263
00:24:28,080 --> 00:24:33,080
I understand, Mr. Shaw, that you repudiate your confession. Is that so?

264
00:24:33,080 --> 00:24:38,080
That's right. It's all true about the quarrel, but I didn't kill her.

265
00:24:38,080 --> 00:24:44,080
Yet, Mr. Shaw, you've painted an excellent picture of her death in your confession. Every detail, I might add.

266
00:24:44,080 --> 00:24:46,080
I didn't kill her.

267
00:24:46,080 --> 00:24:54,080
If you wanted to confess to a murder you had not committed, what could have been more convincing at the time than to put your head out of the window and call the police?

268
00:24:54,080 --> 00:24:59,080
Well, I hadn't exactly decided to confess to killing her then.

269
00:24:59,080 --> 00:25:05,080
However, your description of the murder is graphic to the extreme. How do you account for that?

270
00:25:05,080 --> 00:25:13,080
Well, I could tell by looking at it what had happened. It was just good guesswork, that's all.

271
00:25:13,080 --> 00:25:18,080
Were your fingerprints guesswork? On the glass of whiskey, on the knob of the door, on her handbag?

272
00:25:18,080 --> 00:25:27,080
Did you know, Mr. Shaw, that following your confession, your wife came to us of her own volition and substantiated your movements on the night in question?

273
00:25:27,080 --> 00:25:31,080
No. I didn't know.

274
00:25:31,080 --> 00:25:36,080
No. I didn't think that you did.

275
00:25:36,080 --> 00:25:54,080
I'm satisfied, my lord. No further questions.

276
00:25:54,080 --> 00:25:58,080
Members of the jury, are you agreed upon your verdict?

277
00:25:58,080 --> 00:26:00,080
We are.

278
00:26:00,080 --> 00:26:05,080
Do you find the prisoner Thomas Shaw guilty or not guilty of bad app?

279
00:26:05,080 --> 00:26:07,080
Guilty, my lord.

280
00:26:07,080 --> 00:26:12,080
I didn't really think it would work, but there hadn't been any harm in trying.

281
00:26:12,080 --> 00:26:20,080
It's the funny thing about a sure bet. If it works once, don't try it twice.

282
00:26:20,080 --> 00:26:22,080
Oh well.

283
00:26:22,080 --> 00:26:27,080
Thomas Shaw, the sentence is the sentence laid down by law.

284
00:26:27,080 --> 00:26:33,080
I haven't been a good father or husband, I suppose. How many of us are?

285
00:26:33,080 --> 00:26:39,080
But what I get from these memoirs is for Peg and a kid.

286
00:26:39,080 --> 00:27:08,080
The only thing is, I'm sorry, I can't be around to spend some of it.

287
00:27:08,080 --> 00:27:15,080
Suspense, in which Ben Wright starred in tonight's presentation of Once a Murderer.

288
00:27:15,080 --> 00:27:34,080
Be sure to listen next week to radio's outstanding theater of thrills, Suspense.

289
00:27:34,080 --> 00:27:39,080
Suspense is produced and directed by Anthony Ellis, who also wrote tonight's script.

290
00:27:39,080 --> 00:27:43,080
The music was composed by Lucian Morwick and conducted by Wilbur Hatch.

291
00:27:43,080 --> 00:27:54,080
Featured in the cast were Betty Hofford, Paula Winslow, Richard Peel, Joseph Kearns, Charlie Lung, Ramsey Hill, John Doddsworth, Herb Butterfield, and Byron Cain.

292
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Know the way to follow the best of the music when you dance, while you'll follow the dramatic highlights on CBS radio's Monday through Friday daytime drama, The Guiding Light, just as closely.

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Listen to the inspiring stories of people like yourselves, your friends, your neighbors, tomorrow and every weekday on most of these stations.

294
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Listen while you work. Dr. Malone is here on the CBS Radio Network.

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The Guiding Light