October 24, 2025 • 29 mins
Suspense was one of the most popular and successful radio series during it's run of over 900 episodes, spanning 1940-1962. Guest stars included Orson Welles, Frank Sinatra, Lucille Ball, Agnes Moorehead, Marlene Dietrich and Humphrey Bogart. The plots were mostly engaging crime dramas, science fiction and some horror - usually with a surprise ending.
Hope you enjoy this episode of Suspense! Find all our OTR radio stations and podcasts at theaterofthemind-otr.com - Audio Credit: The Old Time Radio Researchers Group. - All Podcasts @ Spreaker | Apple | YouTube | Spotify | Amazon | iHeart
Hope you enjoy this episode of Suspense! Find all our OTR radio stations and podcasts at theaterofthemind-otr.com - Audio Credit: The Old Time Radio Researchers Group. - All Podcasts @ Spreaker | Apple | YouTube | Spotify | Amazon | iHeart
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:05):
Auto Light and it's ninety eight thousand dealers. Bring you,
mister Herbert Marshall. In tonight's presentation of suspense, Tonight, auto
Light presents a story of justice as we examine a
man who was suspected of having committed a perfect crime.
(00:26):
It's called murder by jury. Our star, mister Herbert Marshall,
this is Harlow Wilcox. Would you like to be responsible
for your local church or hospital getting a big share
of one hundred thousand dollars in cash? Well, a total
of one hundred thousand dollars will go to the recognized
(00:48):
charities chosen by the twenty five persons selected in the
Autolite Family Charity. Drawing to enter is as simple ass
signing your name and address, and that's all you do.
Now it's our to have you hear what the head
of one of America's finest health organizations says about this
great event. Here is mister Mark H. Harrington, President of
(01:10):
the National Tuberculosis Association.
Speaker 2 (01:14):
Auto Light is performing a wonderful service. If you're one
of the twenty five selected, I hope you'll remember the
National Tuberculosis Association, which needs your help to conquer our
number one infectious killer. Good luck in this Autolite family
charity drawing.
Speaker 1 (01:32):
Fill out a registration form at any of the following
Auto Light Family car dealers De Soto, Hudson, Plymouth, Studebaker, Dodge, Willis, Nash, Packard,
Kaiser or Chrysler and sign up tomorrow. And now Auto
Light Presents Murder by Jury, starring mister Herbert Marshall, hoping
(01:52):
once again to keep you in suspense.
Speaker 3 (02:07):
Pardon me, sir, to be sure I understood you.
Speaker 4 (02:10):
You did say a snake, Yes, sir, a snake, possibly,
mister Mason, you could describe the snake.
Speaker 5 (02:18):
Yes, it was gray with a sort of red muttling, dark.
Speaker 3 (02:23):
Plumb colored, I see, go on pears.
Speaker 5 (02:26):
Underneath it was raised up towards me, you know, its
head ready to strike. Well, underneath was grayish but lighter
almost white in the center.
Speaker 4 (02:36):
Now, was there anything else you remember about this snake,
mister Mason?
Speaker 3 (02:40):
It was big.
Speaker 5 (02:42):
It was as thick as my two wrists put together.
Speaker 4 (02:47):
And then, according to your statement of the police, you
seize the snake just below its head with both hands.
Would you kind of show the jury the position of
your hands? Yes, thank you? You say that you squeeze
with your fingers and dug in with your thumbs.
Speaker 3 (03:02):
Is that correct?
Speaker 6 (03:03):
Yes, that's about it.
Speaker 5 (03:04):
And I felt the snake twisting and squirming under me,
trying to get away, you know.
Speaker 3 (03:08):
And then you woke up.
Speaker 5 (03:10):
Yes, sir, I woke up. I was kneeling beside my bed.
It was my wife's snack which was in my hands.
Speaker 3 (03:19):
With her throat I was squeezing. What did you do
when you realized this?
Speaker 6 (03:23):
There was nothing I could do. She was already dead.
Speaker 3 (03:26):
I'd killed her.
Speaker 4 (03:36):
His name was Edward Mason, and he was on trial
for the murder of his wife, Frieda. I was counsel
for the crown in those days. It was just about
the nassiest case I've ever had one. Should I suppose
begin at the beginning?
Speaker 3 (03:50):
That was on the first day of the trial.
Speaker 4 (03:53):
McCrae was defending the accused, and he began his defense
by questioning the police inspector who was in charge of
the case. The inspector was nominally a witness.
Speaker 3 (04:03):
To the crown.
Speaker 7 (04:05):
Would you give us a brief account of your investigations,
Inspector Hey Wilson.
Speaker 8 (04:12):
He accused was residing with his wife at the Clendonian
hotel at Chapamone Sea and Norfolk. On the night in question,
the manager, two servants and some guests were aroused by
horrible screams and the mating from the Mason room. On
reaching said room, they found it to be opened by
(04:34):
mister Edward Mason, who appeared in a state of great excitement.
Speaker 7 (04:39):
I'll continue, Inspector, Yes, sir.
Speaker 8 (04:42):
He was in a state of great excitement, and while
looking he kept looking at his hands and saying, over
and over again, I killed her or I strangled her
one or the.
Speaker 7 (04:54):
Other, Inspector knows her.
Speaker 6 (04:56):
He said both, over and over.
Speaker 7 (04:58):
Then he never attempted to deny that he had killed
his wife.
Speaker 6 (05:02):
No, sir, he did not.
Speaker 7 (05:04):
Thank you, Inspector. That's all cross examination.
Speaker 4 (05:10):
You have before you the statement made by the accused.
Speaker 3 (05:12):
Inspector.
Speaker 4 (05:14):
Yes, sir, I call your attention to the following remarks
made by the accused during your question. Yes, Sir, I
had had a dream about a snake. I tried to
strangle it, and when I woke up, I found I
had strangled my wife. This was a dream that I'd
had before, but I'd never done anything like this. I'd
(05:37):
never killed anyone. Those are the words of mister Edward Mason.
Now they're not, yes, sir, they are What was your reaction.
Speaker 3 (05:46):
When you heard them?
Speaker 6 (05:48):
I thought it was a lot of rubbish.
Speaker 9 (05:49):
Objection, my lord, our objection sustained. They kindly contain your
remarks to a dignity fitting this court, Inspector.
Speaker 3 (05:58):
I'm sorry, my lord.
Speaker 4 (06:00):
I'm of the opinion, my lord, that before the Crown's
cases concluded, the accused carefully prepared statement would be termed
just such a tissue of lies and a complete fabrication.
Thank you, inspector. That will be all, then, missus. Mason's
(06:24):
brother was put in the box. He was a hefty
chap with a bull neck and hands like a pair
of warming pants covered with red hair. His name was
Hector Easterday, and we knew that he didn't like his
brother in law. He didn't like him at all. I
thought he was going to be a strong witness for
the prosecution, and for a time it looked as though
(06:44):
it would be very well.
Speaker 3 (06:46):
Mister Easterday.
Speaker 4 (06:47):
Now tell us where the police made aware of the
fact that Mason had insured his wife's life for ten
thousand pounds.
Speaker 10 (06:53):
They knew, and if you'd known Edward Mason, you'd have
realized it was just like him. He knew what he
was going to do to her a long time ago.
Speaker 3 (07:00):
Do you think that she had any idea of it?
Speaker 7 (07:02):
Mister Protection, the lord counsel is leading the witness.
Speaker 3 (07:05):
The counsel will kindly refrain from leading.
Speaker 4 (07:07):
The witness, Mister Easterday. Had she ever confided and it fears.
Speaker 10 (07:13):
To you, well, I wouldn't say that, but she knew,
she knew, all right, and last year there was another woman,
and between that and the money, that's why he killed her.
Speaker 3 (07:24):
Thank you, mister Easterday.
Speaker 6 (07:26):
That will be all.
Speaker 7 (07:33):
You spoke of a life assurance policy, mister easter Today,
I did. Did you know that they had each insured
the other's life, not an uncommon practice for married couple
of these days. Also that the insurance was by no
means recent. It was taken out when they were first
married and had been successively increased. Yes, but you spoke
(07:54):
of another woman, mister Easterday. Did missus Mason tell you
about that?
Speaker 6 (08:00):
Not exactly, but I knew? Oh and how did you know?
I could tell?
Speaker 7 (08:05):
Or you could tell? You are then clairvoyant, you could tell?
Possibly you hired detectives to follow mister Mason. Possibly you
followed him yourself.
Speaker 4 (08:23):
The defense counsel tore him too, bits made him sound
like a nasty, minded, pruri and busybody who had never
liked the accused and never lost an opportunity to blacken
his character, nevertheless making a fool out of it. This
is a two edged weapon, and I could see that
the jury, although not in sympathy with Easterday, still felt
that there might be more than a word of truth
(08:44):
in what he'd implied.
Speaker 3 (08:47):
You couldn't argue away insurance.
Speaker 4 (08:50):
Mason did stand to correct ten thousand pounds by his
wife's death.
Speaker 3 (08:54):
But did he murder? That's what they were thinking.
Speaker 4 (08:58):
You could see it, and they waited for him to
take the witness box. When my turn came for cross examination,
I made him go through the whole thing again.
Speaker 5 (09:12):
When I woke up, I was kneeling beside my bed.
It was my wife's neck as it is in my hands,
and it was her throat I was squeezing.
Speaker 3 (09:20):
What would you do when you saw this?
Speaker 6 (09:22):
There was nothing I could do.
Speaker 4 (09:23):
She was already dead and I had killed I see
now you have admitted small quarrels between yourself and your
wife I have married.
Speaker 6 (09:31):
Life is like that.
Speaker 5 (09:32):
You live together, you have differences and then you make
them up.
Speaker 3 (09:34):
Most people do.
Speaker 4 (09:35):
But there were quarrels which were more serious, perhaps less
likely to be made up.
Speaker 3 (09:39):
No, you were happy. I love my wife. You loved
your wife, But you killed her.
Speaker 6 (09:45):
Quite so.
Speaker 4 (09:48):
Now, as far as the insurance is concerned, you gradually
increased it until it reached the amount of ten thousand
pounds on your wife's life.
Speaker 6 (09:55):
Yes, I did.
Speaker 5 (09:57):
As a matter of fact, it was about oh, three
or four years ago that i'd done another well in business,
and that's when I increased.
Speaker 4 (10:03):
The premiumsy But more recently, you've been in some difficulty financially,
I mean things had become rather slow.
Speaker 5 (10:09):
Yes, I couldn't afford to buy any more insurance.
Speaker 6 (10:12):
I know that.
Speaker 3 (10:13):
But you hadn't produced the amount on your wife.
Speaker 5 (10:14):
No, sir, that would have been unsound, quite uneconomical.
Speaker 4 (10:18):
In fact, then your business position would have improved considerably
in the event of your wife's death and the money
received from the insurance.
Speaker 6 (10:24):
I did not say that, sir.
Speaker 3 (10:26):
But is it not the case, mister Mason. Nothing could
be worth the loss of my wife. But you did
kill her, Yes.
Speaker 4 (10:33):
I did do you know the woman referred to by
mister easter Day, There was no woman. Do you wish
to refresh your memory, mister Mason last year?
Speaker 3 (10:45):
Perhaps to escape there was no other woman. You still
maintained that the cause of your wife's death was due
to the recurrent dream you had.
Speaker 6 (10:52):
Yes, I do.
Speaker 4 (11:00):
It went on like that, and I couldn't shake him.
He never contradicted himself and never sounded too glib.
Speaker 3 (11:08):
If he was lying. I knew that the court was
of the.
Speaker 4 (11:10):
Opinion that was some of the most perfect and painstaking
lying they never heard. Then, Mason's sister was called as
a witness. She was a gray haired, middle class intellectual,
about two years older than the defendant. Didn't take long
for her to come to her brother's defense.
Speaker 7 (11:28):
Will you, stating your own words the event took place
between you and your brother?
Speaker 3 (11:33):
Please?
Speaker 6 (11:33):
Indeed, I most certainly.
Speaker 3 (11:34):
Will I think that it's criminal?
Speaker 9 (11:37):
Judt objection sustained, Miss Mason. Restrict adherence to fact is
the object of the court. Kindly abstained from all subdictive feeling, if.
Speaker 11 (11:48):
You will well, I was going to say that when
we were children, he was eight theen I was only ten.
We slept in the same room. And one night, it
was after we'd gone to see a pen and Edward
was frightened by the crocodile. You probably remember how frightening
that was. It was that night that he awakened and
(12:09):
he was dreaming that a crocodile was chasing him, and
he tried to strangle it. And when he woke up,
he was strangling me.
Speaker 3 (12:23):
It was perfect timing. The accused gave Way buried.
Speaker 4 (12:27):
His face in his hands and sobbed as though his
heart would break the jury, even, mister Justice Faubaur, Wherelizabeth
is shaken, I could see the case from the crown
disappearing down the drain. More than that, I could begin
to see a man who had committed a perfect murder.
Speaker 12 (12:47):
Going scot free.
Speaker 1 (13:06):
Auto light is bringing you, mister Herbert Marshall in Murder
by Jury Tonight's presentation in Radio's Outstanding Theater of Thrill's Suspense.
Speaker 6 (13:29):
Say here's a new fifty.
Speaker 13 (13:31):
Four willis stunning, isn't it?
Speaker 6 (13:33):
Mister Wilcom. Oh, Hi, Miss Drake, is this yours?
Speaker 3 (13:36):
It?
Speaker 6 (13:36):
Sure is.
Speaker 13 (13:37):
When I saw this car, I fell in love with it.
And when I saw the price tag, I just couldn't resist.
Speaker 1 (13:43):
Well we're privileged to salute Willis as a member of
our autolite family. So let's hear more about your new Willis,
miss Drake.
Speaker 13 (13:50):
Well, it's not only beautiful and economical, but that wonderful
Hurricane engine is a bundle of power, much more power
than ever before.
Speaker 6 (14:00):
What model is this?
Speaker 13 (14:01):
It's the brand new Arrow Lark. And Willis also has
the luxury hard top Arrow Eagles and the lovely Arrowace
with that unmatched Willis visibility. And don't forget the famous
Jeep and the first all steel bodied station wagon. And
of course you know that all Willis cars come equipped
(14:21):
with Auto Light products.
Speaker 6 (14:23):
I sure do.
Speaker 1 (14:24):
And Auto Light is proud of its long association with
Willis and Willis dealers everywhere. And now Auto Light brings
back to our Hollywood soundstage. Mister Herbert Marshall in Elliot
Lewis's production of Murder by Jury, a tail well calculated
to keep you in suspense, Mister.
Speaker 4 (15:03):
Edward Mason was given half an hour to recover following
his outburst, then the trial continued. His sister remembered every
detail of the matter, and even when I made a
girl through her story again, she remembered he was an only.
Speaker 11 (15:18):
Strong boy, you know, even at eight, very strong. And
I'm sure if nurse hadn't come in when she did, well,
I don't really care to think about what might have happened.
Speaker 4 (15:28):
Would you mind telling the court your age, Miss Mason?
Speaker 3 (15:31):
Oh? Is that necessary? My lord?
Speaker 6 (15:36):
Is it necessary?
Speaker 3 (15:37):
Counsel? There is a point involved, my Lord very.
Speaker 9 (15:40):
Well, Recognizing the delicacy of the question, the witness is
still directed to answer.
Speaker 11 (15:47):
I'm not ashamed a bit of a course, I just and.
Speaker 3 (15:50):
Your age, Miss Mason fifty four?
Speaker 6 (15:54):
Thank you?
Speaker 4 (15:56):
Now you have every detail of your brother's attack firmly
in your mind.
Speaker 3 (16:00):
That is so, isn't it?
Speaker 11 (16:01):
If I live to be eighty, I shall never forget it.
Speaker 4 (16:04):
Yet, this was forty four years ago, and you ask
us to believe that the incident is still indelibly etched
in your mind.
Speaker 11 (16:10):
Indelibly, sir, Absolutely, it was a long time ago, but
such an experience.
Speaker 3 (16:16):
Is not likely to be forgotten.
Speaker 11 (16:18):
Of course, I forgave it what it wasn't his fault,
and furthermore.
Speaker 4 (16:22):
Fortunate that you are still alive to forgive him, Miss Mason,
his wife Marster.
Speaker 3 (16:27):
Pity is not No further questions, Lord.
Speaker 6 (16:31):
The witness may step down.
Speaker 3 (16:41):
It was a telling point for the defense.
Speaker 4 (16:43):
They had proved the jury at least that they accused
her years ago repeated the act of strangulation during a dream.
The next witness, i'd like to forget. She was a
surprise to the crown, and a rather nasty one. Her
name was Amy Burke, an extremely self possessed young lady
in her early thirties. She had already made a tremendous
(17:07):
impression on the court.
Speaker 3 (17:11):
Correct me if I am wrong, Miss Burke.
Speaker 4 (17:12):
You stated in this court of justice that three years
ago you met the accused mister Edward Mason at a
seaside result Broadstairs.
Speaker 14 (17:21):
Yes, sir, I did.
Speaker 3 (17:23):
Was his wife aware of this meeting?
Speaker 6 (17:25):
I don't know.
Speaker 14 (17:26):
Well, I don't think so. She wasn't with him, Like
I told the other gentleman, he was there alone for
a few days.
Speaker 4 (17:33):
Quite so, Now, for my benefit, would you repeat the
incident which occurred during your first meeting.
Speaker 14 (17:40):
Oh, i'd be ever so glad to. We were walking
on the sand, was very nice, perfectly all right, don't
you know? Talking about his wife, as I remember, she
was with friends in Devon. Yes, go on, peers, Well,
it was a hot day and we sat down for
a bit. The next thing I knew he was sleep.
Speaker 3 (18:01):
I believe you said, with his head in your lap.
Speaker 14 (18:04):
Oh no, I put his head in my lap while
he was sleeping. He was getting sand in his hair. Well,
it was all perfectly proper, and all he didn't even
know it.
Speaker 3 (18:13):
I'm sure of that. He's continual.
Speaker 14 (18:16):
Well, I got a bit drowsy myself. And next thing
I knew, I was asleep too, with.
Speaker 3 (18:21):
Mister Mason's head still in your lap.
Speaker 14 (18:23):
That's right, but all very proper. Mister Mason is a gentleman.
Speaker 3 (18:28):
What took place then, Willie?
Speaker 14 (18:30):
He started to choke me. It was something horrible. When
I woke up, he was leaning over me with his
hands about my throat. Now I couldn't breathe.
Speaker 3 (18:38):
But you managed to fight him off?
Speaker 14 (18:41):
Oh yes, I haven't managed.
Speaker 3 (18:43):
What did he say to you after that? Well, it
was like.
Speaker 14 (18:46):
He was just waking up, you know, And oh he
was terribly upset. Tell me about a dream of snake
in it. Of course I was dreadfully angry and frightened,
you can imagine.
Speaker 4 (18:58):
But after he paid your ten pounds to soothe your feelings,
the anger subsided, did it not?
Speaker 14 (19:03):
He was a gentleman about it, if that's what you mean,
so much.
Speaker 4 (19:06):
So that you didn't pursue the matter further. A stranger
tries to murder you and pays you ten pounds not
to report the matter to the police.
Speaker 14 (19:13):
Now it wasn't the ten pounds. He was sorry. It
wasn't well, and I could see that, and I felt
sorry for him.
Speaker 4 (19:20):
This took place three years ago, miss Burke, that's right,
and yet here you are today.
Speaker 3 (19:25):
Nobody is springing to his defense.
Speaker 4 (19:28):
The event must have made quite an impression on you,
or perhaps mister Mason did.
Speaker 14 (19:32):
Mister Mason is a gentleman. He didn't want me to
come here at all. I said I had to after
I read about what happened. Mister McCray over there talked
to him into letting me come here. Ah, he's a gentleman,
he is.
Speaker 4 (19:44):
I put it to you, Miss Burke, that your whole
story is a lie. But it never happened. Although I
don't doubt that you are familiar with the accused, I
put it to you that your testimony has been bought
and paid for, and that you have deliberately purjured yourself
in the witness box.
Speaker 7 (19:59):
That's a ruddy inside the lord I protest counsel is
badgering the witness most unfair silence in the court.
Speaker 9 (20:06):
Mister Peyton, you will confine yourself to stated fact, refrain
from badgering the witness.
Speaker 3 (20:12):
Yes, but.
Speaker 4 (20:14):
Not now, not for a moment, Miss Berg. Did you
see mister Edward Mason again after that day?
Speaker 14 (20:22):
I never set eyes on him again till today in court.
And that's the truth.
Speaker 4 (20:25):
And you ask us to believe that this story you've
just told us is given of your own voration, that
you at no time given a prepared statement by interested
parties that this event actually took place.
Speaker 14 (20:37):
I wouldn't be like to have forget it. It's true,
every word of it.
Speaker 6 (20:41):
Very well.
Speaker 3 (20:42):
That's ormus Berg.
Speaker 7 (20:44):
Witness is excused, Doctor regal to the witness box, please.
Speaker 3 (20:55):
McCrae had us. I knew what was coming.
Speaker 4 (20:58):
It was perfect, and there wasn't a thing that I
could do to prevent it, not to Beriagel was a small,
intense little man with heavy glasses. The jury looked at
him and they were impressed when he said he told
the truth of nothing but the truth.
Speaker 3 (21:13):
They believed him. They would have believed him even if
he had been the biggest liar on us, which I'm
happy he wasn't.
Speaker 7 (21:20):
Doctor Riggel, Will you tell us if you recognize anyone
in this courtroom?
Speaker 3 (21:26):
Yes, sir, that young lady over there, Miss Burke.
Speaker 6 (21:29):
I believe there is her name.
Speaker 7 (21:31):
Anyone else, the gentleman there, the accused mister Mason.
Speaker 6 (21:35):
Yes, sir.
Speaker 7 (21:35):
Will you tell the court upon what occasion you had
the opportunity of meeting these two people?
Speaker 10 (21:40):
Oh, it was about three years ago. I have the
date my attendance diary. This moment.
Speaker 6 (21:49):
Ah the sixteenth of July. That was it.
Speaker 10 (21:52):
Mister Mason brought the young lady to my office during
the afternoon, Miss Burke, Yes, sir, it was half past three.
He asked me to look at her throat.
Speaker 7 (22:00):
See and what did you find when you look at
her throat?
Speaker 6 (22:03):
Bruises?
Speaker 10 (22:05):
They were not dangerous, but I treated them and after that.
Speaker 6 (22:08):
I never saw them again.
Speaker 10 (22:09):
The bill was paid, Yes, mister Mason paid in cash
before he left.
Speaker 3 (22:13):
Thank you.
Speaker 6 (22:14):
Doctor.
Speaker 3 (22:15):
That will be all.
Speaker 6 (22:16):
Goss examine, no.
Speaker 3 (22:17):
Questions, that was all.
Speaker 4 (22:27):
There wasn't any use in cross examining what was so
obvious in truth. Counsel of the defense made a brilliant
and short summation. I made her not so short, and
I'm afraid far from brilliant summation for the Crown. Mister
Justice Forbaugh gave his instructions and the jury never hesitated.
They were tired for only a few moments.
Speaker 3 (22:50):
With your Worship's permission, we have already reached a verdict.
Speaker 6 (22:55):
Very well, what is your verdict?
Speaker 10 (22:57):
We find the accused, mister Edward Mason, not guilty of
the child.
Speaker 3 (23:02):
He's guilty. He's a dirty murderer.
Speaker 6 (23:04):
He killed my sister, and I say he's guilty.
Speaker 3 (23:07):
He ought to be hands.
Speaker 6 (23:08):
Arched a dance. Put that man under arrest.
Speaker 3 (23:10):
Silence, silence.
Speaker 4 (23:21):
The dead woman's brother thought that Mason was guilty, and
I knew it was one of the most cold blooded
successful murderers we ever failed to hang. It was about
six months later that we found the proof, and then
it was too late. I talked it over with the
Director of Public Prosecutions in his office.
Speaker 6 (23:40):
Nothing we can do.
Speaker 8 (23:42):
I suppose had I been on the jury, I should
have brought in the same verdict.
Speaker 6 (23:46):
We have to assume the.
Speaker 3 (23:47):
Man was innocent. He was guilty, Sir.
Speaker 6 (23:50):
My dear fellow.
Speaker 8 (23:51):
Surely Mason didn't start to plot the murder of his
wife at the age of eight, My dear.
Speaker 4 (23:55):
No, no, but he did decide to about three years ago,
and he took a precaution before he did so. He
knew his sister remembered the strangling incident during their childhood,
and all he had to do was to repeat the
dream strangling with some one else, the burkwoman.
Speaker 6 (24:14):
But how was she?
Speaker 4 (24:14):
From her point, it was all quite innocent. She didn't
know it was in his mind. He didn't go too
far with her, just enough to produce some convincing bruises.
Speaker 3 (24:23):
Then he took her to the doctor and paid the bill.
Speaker 6 (24:26):
That was all true, Well, you.
Speaker 4 (24:29):
Remember, he admitted at that time, doubling his wife's insurance.
Then he sat back to wait till he felt the
moment had come to kill her.
Speaker 8 (24:39):
Assuming you're right, there's the burkwoman. If he never saw
her again, how did he know where to find it
to appear for him?
Speaker 4 (24:47):
He didn't look for her, sir, she was telling the truth,
but he knew where to find all right, those three
witnesses did the job for him. His sister, he'll always
find the doctor easily traceable and medical directory. But miss
Burke a girl like that might prove, but well she
might move about a big deal. She did, so the
(25:10):
method he adopted to keep in touch with her was
to send her ten pounds a month anonymously.
Speaker 3 (25:17):
So long as she kept him.
Speaker 4 (25:18):
Notified as to her whereabouts, he would continue to send
her the money.
Speaker 8 (25:22):
But if she had to notify him when she moved,
surely she must have known who he was.
Speaker 4 (25:28):
Not at all, Sir, a post office box under an
assumed name. He kept it up for three years and
she didn't ask any questions. Why should she blast? You're
certain of all this, I'm afraid, I answer, And it
seems a pity you didn't have the information during the trial.
Speaker 8 (25:44):
We didn't know anything about her until mc cray brought
her in. And we can't try Mason again for the
same offense. He's done it Peyton, the perfect murder.
Speaker 4 (26:03):
It was about two months later that I saw the
paragraph hidden away on an inside page.
Speaker 3 (26:07):
Of the Times. I made a.
Speaker 4 (26:10):
Telephone call and then went to the office of the
Director of Public Prosecutions. I'll be blown And it appears
that mister Edward Mason had been staying at a little
hotel in Cornwall and yesterday when the maid came in
with his morning tea. She found the window unlatched and
the balcony rail broken, the fifty foot drop to the
rocks below.
Speaker 3 (26:29):
Mason, he wasn't in his room. We found the body below.
Speaker 6 (26:35):
I'll be blessed, Hm Justice, I'll be blessed. Suicide do
you think?
Speaker 3 (26:42):
I don't know.
Speaker 4 (26:44):
Probably an accident since there was no sign of foul play.
Possibly he stumbled and fell. But there is one curious coincidence.
Speaker 3 (26:54):
What's there?
Speaker 4 (26:56):
The dead woman's brother kept her easterly. Yes, well, it's
rather curious coincidence. Hick to Easterday.
Speaker 3 (27:08):
Occupy the room next door.
Speaker 1 (27:29):
Suspense presented by Autoli Tonight Star Mister Herbert Marshall. This
is Harlow Wilcox again. Remember you now have a wonderful
opportunity to do your favorite local or national recognize charity
the favor of a lifetime. If you're one of the
twenty five persons selected in a huge Auto lighte Family
(27:50):
charity drawing, you can name any recognized charity you wish
to receive a big share of one hundred thousand dollars
in cash. Those charity can be schools, hospitals, churches, the
national Tuberculosis Association or any other recognized charity. So if
you're eighteen years or over, visit any of the following
(28:12):
Autolite family car showrooms DeSoto, Hudson, Plymouth, Studebaker, Dodge, Willis, Nash, Packard,
Kaiser or Chrysler. Print your name and address on the
drawing registration form and have the car dealer sign it.
That's all nothing to buy, try or solve. So visit
any Autolite family car showroom and sign up.
Speaker 6 (28:34):
Tomorrow.
Speaker 1 (28:42):
Next week a story based on fact, the search for
an animal capable of destroying a city whose bite, if
not immediately treated, is one hundred percent fatal. It's called
the Barking Death Our star mister William Powell.
Speaker 6 (28:56):
That's next week. On suspense, Murder.
Speaker 1 (29:02):
By Jury was written by Michael Gilbert and adapted for
suspense by Anthony Ellis. Suspense is produced and directed by
Elliot Lewis from music composed by Lucian Morrowick and conducted
by Lud Bluskin. Featured in the cast were Joseph Kerns,
Ben Wright, William Johnstone, Herb Butterfield, Richard Peel, Norma Barden,
Betty Hartford and Keith McConnell. Herbert Marshall may soon be
(29:22):
seen co starring with Janety and Tony Curtis in the
Universal International CinemaScope Technicolor.
Speaker 6 (29:28):
Picture Man of Iron.
Speaker 1 (29:29):
And remember next week mister William Powell in The Barking Debt.
Speaker 6 (29:33):
This is the CBS Radio Network.
Auto Light and it's ninety eight thousand dealers. Bring you,
mister Herbert Marshall. In tonight's presentation of suspense, Tonight, auto
Light presents a story of justice as we examine a
man who was suspected of having committed a perfect crime.
(00:26):
It's called murder by jury. Our star, mister Herbert Marshall,
this is Harlow Wilcox. Would you like to be responsible
for your local church or hospital getting a big share
of one hundred thousand dollars in cash? Well, a total
of one hundred thousand dollars will go to the recognized
(00:48):
charities chosen by the twenty five persons selected in the
Autolite Family Charity. Drawing to enter is as simple ass
signing your name and address, and that's all you do.
Now it's our to have you hear what the head
of one of America's finest health organizations says about this
great event. Here is mister Mark H. Harrington, President of
(01:10):
the National Tuberculosis Association.
Speaker 2 (01:14):
Auto Light is performing a wonderful service. If you're one
of the twenty five selected, I hope you'll remember the
National Tuberculosis Association, which needs your help to conquer our
number one infectious killer. Good luck in this Autolite family
charity drawing.
Speaker 1 (01:32):
Fill out a registration form at any of the following
Auto Light Family car dealers De Soto, Hudson, Plymouth, Studebaker, Dodge, Willis, Nash, Packard,
Kaiser or Chrysler and sign up tomorrow. And now Auto
Light Presents Murder by Jury, starring mister Herbert Marshall, hoping
(01:52):
once again to keep you in suspense.
Speaker 3 (02:07):
Pardon me, sir, to be sure I understood you.
Speaker 4 (02:10):
You did say a snake, Yes, sir, a snake, possibly,
mister Mason, you could describe the snake.
Speaker 5 (02:18):
Yes, it was gray with a sort of red muttling, dark.
Speaker 3 (02:23):
Plumb colored, I see, go on pears.
Speaker 5 (02:26):
Underneath it was raised up towards me, you know, its
head ready to strike. Well, underneath was grayish but lighter
almost white in the center.
Speaker 4 (02:36):
Now, was there anything else you remember about this snake,
mister Mason?
Speaker 3 (02:40):
It was big.
Speaker 5 (02:42):
It was as thick as my two wrists put together.
Speaker 4 (02:47):
And then, according to your statement of the police, you
seize the snake just below its head with both hands.
Would you kind of show the jury the position of
your hands? Yes, thank you? You say that you squeeze
with your fingers and dug in with your thumbs.
Speaker 3 (03:02):
Is that correct?
Speaker 6 (03:03):
Yes, that's about it.
Speaker 5 (03:04):
And I felt the snake twisting and squirming under me,
trying to get away, you know.
Speaker 3 (03:08):
And then you woke up.
Speaker 5 (03:10):
Yes, sir, I woke up. I was kneeling beside my bed.
It was my wife's snack which was in my hands.
Speaker 3 (03:19):
With her throat I was squeezing. What did you do
when you realized this?
Speaker 6 (03:23):
There was nothing I could do. She was already dead.
Speaker 3 (03:26):
I'd killed her.
Speaker 4 (03:36):
His name was Edward Mason, and he was on trial
for the murder of his wife, Frieda. I was counsel
for the crown in those days. It was just about
the nassiest case I've ever had one. Should I suppose
begin at the beginning?
Speaker 3 (03:50):
That was on the first day of the trial.
Speaker 4 (03:53):
McCrae was defending the accused, and he began his defense
by questioning the police inspector who was in charge of
the case. The inspector was nominally a witness.
Speaker 3 (04:03):
To the crown.
Speaker 7 (04:05):
Would you give us a brief account of your investigations,
Inspector Hey Wilson.
Speaker 8 (04:12):
He accused was residing with his wife at the Clendonian
hotel at Chapamone Sea and Norfolk. On the night in question,
the manager, two servants and some guests were aroused by
horrible screams and the mating from the Mason room. On
reaching said room, they found it to be opened by
(04:34):
mister Edward Mason, who appeared in a state of great excitement.
Speaker 7 (04:39):
I'll continue, Inspector, Yes, sir.
Speaker 8 (04:42):
He was in a state of great excitement, and while
looking he kept looking at his hands and saying, over
and over again, I killed her or I strangled her
one or the.
Speaker 7 (04:54):
Other, Inspector knows her.
Speaker 6 (04:56):
He said both, over and over.
Speaker 7 (04:58):
Then he never attempted to deny that he had killed
his wife.
Speaker 6 (05:02):
No, sir, he did not.
Speaker 7 (05:04):
Thank you, Inspector. That's all cross examination.
Speaker 4 (05:10):
You have before you the statement made by the accused.
Speaker 3 (05:12):
Inspector.
Speaker 4 (05:14):
Yes, sir, I call your attention to the following remarks
made by the accused during your question. Yes, Sir, I
had had a dream about a snake. I tried to
strangle it, and when I woke up, I found I
had strangled my wife. This was a dream that I'd
had before, but I'd never done anything like this. I'd
(05:37):
never killed anyone. Those are the words of mister Edward Mason.
Now they're not, yes, sir, they are What was your reaction.
Speaker 3 (05:46):
When you heard them?
Speaker 6 (05:48):
I thought it was a lot of rubbish.
Speaker 9 (05:49):
Objection, my lord, our objection sustained. They kindly contain your
remarks to a dignity fitting this court, Inspector.
Speaker 3 (05:58):
I'm sorry, my lord.
Speaker 4 (06:00):
I'm of the opinion, my lord, that before the Crown's
cases concluded, the accused carefully prepared statement would be termed
just such a tissue of lies and a complete fabrication.
Thank you, inspector. That will be all, then, missus. Mason's
(06:24):
brother was put in the box. He was a hefty
chap with a bull neck and hands like a pair
of warming pants covered with red hair. His name was
Hector Easterday, and we knew that he didn't like his
brother in law. He didn't like him at all. I
thought he was going to be a strong witness for
the prosecution, and for a time it looked as though
(06:44):
it would be very well.
Speaker 3 (06:46):
Mister Easterday.
Speaker 4 (06:47):
Now tell us where the police made aware of the
fact that Mason had insured his wife's life for ten
thousand pounds.
Speaker 10 (06:53):
They knew, and if you'd known Edward Mason, you'd have
realized it was just like him. He knew what he
was going to do to her a long time ago.
Speaker 3 (07:00):
Do you think that she had any idea of it?
Speaker 7 (07:02):
Mister Protection, the lord counsel is leading the witness.
Speaker 3 (07:05):
The counsel will kindly refrain from leading.
Speaker 4 (07:07):
The witness, Mister Easterday. Had she ever confided and it fears.
Speaker 10 (07:13):
To you, well, I wouldn't say that, but she knew,
she knew, all right, and last year there was another woman,
and between that and the money, that's why he killed her.
Speaker 3 (07:24):
Thank you, mister Easterday.
Speaker 6 (07:26):
That will be all.
Speaker 7 (07:33):
You spoke of a life assurance policy, mister easter Today,
I did. Did you know that they had each insured
the other's life, not an uncommon practice for married couple
of these days. Also that the insurance was by no
means recent. It was taken out when they were first
married and had been successively increased. Yes, but you spoke
(07:54):
of another woman, mister Easterday. Did missus Mason tell you
about that?
Speaker 6 (08:00):
Not exactly, but I knew? Oh and how did you know?
I could tell?
Speaker 7 (08:05):
Or you could tell? You are then clairvoyant, you could tell?
Possibly you hired detectives to follow mister Mason. Possibly you
followed him yourself.
Speaker 4 (08:23):
The defense counsel tore him too, bits made him sound
like a nasty, minded, pruri and busybody who had never
liked the accused and never lost an opportunity to blacken
his character, nevertheless making a fool out of it. This
is a two edged weapon, and I could see that
the jury, although not in sympathy with Easterday, still felt
that there might be more than a word of truth
(08:44):
in what he'd implied.
Speaker 3 (08:47):
You couldn't argue away insurance.
Speaker 4 (08:50):
Mason did stand to correct ten thousand pounds by his
wife's death.
Speaker 3 (08:54):
But did he murder? That's what they were thinking.
Speaker 4 (08:58):
You could see it, and they waited for him to
take the witness box. When my turn came for cross examination,
I made him go through the whole thing again.
Speaker 5 (09:12):
When I woke up, I was kneeling beside my bed.
It was my wife's neck as it is in my hands,
and it was her throat I was squeezing.
Speaker 3 (09:20):
What would you do when you saw this?
Speaker 6 (09:22):
There was nothing I could do.
Speaker 4 (09:23):
She was already dead and I had killed I see
now you have admitted small quarrels between yourself and your
wife I have married.
Speaker 6 (09:31):
Life is like that.
Speaker 5 (09:32):
You live together, you have differences and then you make
them up.
Speaker 3 (09:34):
Most people do.
Speaker 4 (09:35):
But there were quarrels which were more serious, perhaps less
likely to be made up.
Speaker 3 (09:39):
No, you were happy. I love my wife. You loved
your wife, But you killed her.
Speaker 6 (09:45):
Quite so.
Speaker 4 (09:48):
Now, as far as the insurance is concerned, you gradually
increased it until it reached the amount of ten thousand
pounds on your wife's life.
Speaker 6 (09:55):
Yes, I did.
Speaker 5 (09:57):
As a matter of fact, it was about oh, three
or four years ago that i'd done another well in business,
and that's when I increased.
Speaker 4 (10:03):
The premiumsy But more recently, you've been in some difficulty financially,
I mean things had become rather slow.
Speaker 5 (10:09):
Yes, I couldn't afford to buy any more insurance.
Speaker 6 (10:12):
I know that.
Speaker 3 (10:13):
But you hadn't produced the amount on your wife.
Speaker 5 (10:14):
No, sir, that would have been unsound, quite uneconomical.
Speaker 4 (10:18):
In fact, then your business position would have improved considerably
in the event of your wife's death and the money
received from the insurance.
Speaker 6 (10:24):
I did not say that, sir.
Speaker 3 (10:26):
But is it not the case, mister Mason. Nothing could
be worth the loss of my wife. But you did
kill her, Yes.
Speaker 4 (10:33):
I did do you know the woman referred to by
mister easter Day, There was no woman. Do you wish
to refresh your memory, mister Mason last year?
Speaker 3 (10:45):
Perhaps to escape there was no other woman. You still
maintained that the cause of your wife's death was due
to the recurrent dream you had.
Speaker 6 (10:52):
Yes, I do.
Speaker 4 (11:00):
It went on like that, and I couldn't shake him.
He never contradicted himself and never sounded too glib.
Speaker 3 (11:08):
If he was lying. I knew that the court was
of the.
Speaker 4 (11:10):
Opinion that was some of the most perfect and painstaking
lying they never heard. Then, Mason's sister was called as
a witness. She was a gray haired, middle class intellectual,
about two years older than the defendant. Didn't take long
for her to come to her brother's defense.
Speaker 7 (11:28):
Will you, stating your own words the event took place
between you and your brother?
Speaker 3 (11:33):
Please?
Speaker 6 (11:33):
Indeed, I most certainly.
Speaker 3 (11:34):
Will I think that it's criminal?
Speaker 9 (11:37):
Judt objection sustained, Miss Mason. Restrict adherence to fact is
the object of the court. Kindly abstained from all subdictive feeling, if.
Speaker 11 (11:48):
You will well, I was going to say that when
we were children, he was eight theen I was only ten.
We slept in the same room. And one night, it
was after we'd gone to see a pen and Edward
was frightened by the crocodile. You probably remember how frightening
that was. It was that night that he awakened and
(12:09):
he was dreaming that a crocodile was chasing him, and
he tried to strangle it. And when he woke up,
he was strangling me.
Speaker 3 (12:23):
It was perfect timing. The accused gave Way buried.
Speaker 4 (12:27):
His face in his hands and sobbed as though his
heart would break the jury, even, mister Justice Faubaur, Wherelizabeth
is shaken, I could see the case from the crown
disappearing down the drain. More than that, I could begin
to see a man who had committed a perfect murder.
Speaker 12 (12:47):
Going scot free.
Speaker 1 (13:06):
Auto light is bringing you, mister Herbert Marshall in Murder
by Jury Tonight's presentation in Radio's Outstanding Theater of Thrill's Suspense.
Speaker 6 (13:29):
Say here's a new fifty.
Speaker 13 (13:31):
Four willis stunning, isn't it?
Speaker 6 (13:33):
Mister Wilcom. Oh, Hi, Miss Drake, is this yours?
Speaker 3 (13:36):
It?
Speaker 6 (13:36):
Sure is.
Speaker 13 (13:37):
When I saw this car, I fell in love with it.
And when I saw the price tag, I just couldn't resist.
Speaker 1 (13:43):
Well we're privileged to salute Willis as a member of
our autolite family. So let's hear more about your new Willis,
miss Drake.
Speaker 13 (13:50):
Well, it's not only beautiful and economical, but that wonderful
Hurricane engine is a bundle of power, much more power
than ever before.
Speaker 6 (14:00):
What model is this?
Speaker 13 (14:01):
It's the brand new Arrow Lark. And Willis also has
the luxury hard top Arrow Eagles and the lovely Arrowace
with that unmatched Willis visibility. And don't forget the famous
Jeep and the first all steel bodied station wagon. And
of course you know that all Willis cars come equipped
(14:21):
with Auto Light products.
Speaker 6 (14:23):
I sure do.
Speaker 1 (14:24):
And Auto Light is proud of its long association with
Willis and Willis dealers everywhere. And now Auto Light brings
back to our Hollywood soundstage. Mister Herbert Marshall in Elliot
Lewis's production of Murder by Jury, a tail well calculated
to keep you in suspense, Mister.
Speaker 4 (15:03):
Edward Mason was given half an hour to recover following
his outburst, then the trial continued. His sister remembered every
detail of the matter, and even when I made a
girl through her story again, she remembered he was an only.
Speaker 11 (15:18):
Strong boy, you know, even at eight, very strong. And
I'm sure if nurse hadn't come in when she did, well,
I don't really care to think about what might have happened.
Speaker 4 (15:28):
Would you mind telling the court your age, Miss Mason?
Speaker 3 (15:31):
Oh? Is that necessary? My lord?
Speaker 6 (15:36):
Is it necessary?
Speaker 3 (15:37):
Counsel? There is a point involved, my Lord very.
Speaker 9 (15:40):
Well, Recognizing the delicacy of the question, the witness is
still directed to answer.
Speaker 11 (15:47):
I'm not ashamed a bit of a course, I just and.
Speaker 3 (15:50):
Your age, Miss Mason fifty four?
Speaker 6 (15:54):
Thank you?
Speaker 4 (15:56):
Now you have every detail of your brother's attack firmly
in your mind.
Speaker 3 (16:00):
That is so, isn't it?
Speaker 11 (16:01):
If I live to be eighty, I shall never forget it.
Speaker 4 (16:04):
Yet, this was forty four years ago, and you ask
us to believe that the incident is still indelibly etched
in your mind.
Speaker 11 (16:10):
Indelibly, sir, Absolutely, it was a long time ago, but
such an experience.
Speaker 3 (16:16):
Is not likely to be forgotten.
Speaker 11 (16:18):
Of course, I forgave it what it wasn't his fault,
and furthermore.
Speaker 4 (16:22):
Fortunate that you are still alive to forgive him, Miss Mason,
his wife Marster.
Speaker 3 (16:27):
Pity is not No further questions, Lord.
Speaker 6 (16:31):
The witness may step down.
Speaker 3 (16:41):
It was a telling point for the defense.
Speaker 4 (16:43):
They had proved the jury at least that they accused
her years ago repeated the act of strangulation during a dream.
The next witness, i'd like to forget. She was a
surprise to the crown, and a rather nasty one. Her
name was Amy Burke, an extremely self possessed young lady
in her early thirties. She had already made a tremendous
(17:07):
impression on the court.
Speaker 3 (17:11):
Correct me if I am wrong, Miss Burke.
Speaker 4 (17:12):
You stated in this court of justice that three years
ago you met the accused mister Edward Mason at a
seaside result Broadstairs.
Speaker 14 (17:21):
Yes, sir, I did.
Speaker 3 (17:23):
Was his wife aware of this meeting?
Speaker 6 (17:25):
I don't know.
Speaker 14 (17:26):
Well, I don't think so. She wasn't with him, Like
I told the other gentleman, he was there alone for
a few days.
Speaker 4 (17:33):
Quite so, Now, for my benefit, would you repeat the
incident which occurred during your first meeting.
Speaker 14 (17:40):
Oh, i'd be ever so glad to. We were walking
on the sand, was very nice, perfectly all right, don't
you know? Talking about his wife, as I remember, she
was with friends in Devon. Yes, go on, peers, Well,
it was a hot day and we sat down for
a bit. The next thing I knew he was sleep.
Speaker 3 (18:01):
I believe you said, with his head in your lap.
Speaker 14 (18:04):
Oh no, I put his head in my lap while
he was sleeping. He was getting sand in his hair. Well,
it was all perfectly proper, and all he didn't even
know it.
Speaker 3 (18:13):
I'm sure of that. He's continual.
Speaker 14 (18:16):
Well, I got a bit drowsy myself. And next thing
I knew, I was asleep too, with.
Speaker 3 (18:21):
Mister Mason's head still in your lap.
Speaker 14 (18:23):
That's right, but all very proper. Mister Mason is a gentleman.
Speaker 3 (18:28):
What took place then, Willie?
Speaker 14 (18:30):
He started to choke me. It was something horrible. When
I woke up, he was leaning over me with his
hands about my throat. Now I couldn't breathe.
Speaker 3 (18:38):
But you managed to fight him off?
Speaker 14 (18:41):
Oh yes, I haven't managed.
Speaker 3 (18:43):
What did he say to you after that? Well, it
was like.
Speaker 14 (18:46):
He was just waking up, you know, And oh he
was terribly upset. Tell me about a dream of snake
in it. Of course I was dreadfully angry and frightened,
you can imagine.
Speaker 4 (18:58):
But after he paid your ten pounds to soothe your feelings,
the anger subsided, did it not?
Speaker 14 (19:03):
He was a gentleman about it, if that's what you mean,
so much.
Speaker 4 (19:06):
So that you didn't pursue the matter further. A stranger
tries to murder you and pays you ten pounds not
to report the matter to the police.
Speaker 14 (19:13):
Now it wasn't the ten pounds. He was sorry. It
wasn't well, and I could see that, and I felt
sorry for him.
Speaker 4 (19:20):
This took place three years ago, miss Burke, that's right,
and yet here you are today.
Speaker 3 (19:25):
Nobody is springing to his defense.
Speaker 4 (19:28):
The event must have made quite an impression on you,
or perhaps mister Mason did.
Speaker 14 (19:32):
Mister Mason is a gentleman. He didn't want me to
come here at all. I said I had to after
I read about what happened. Mister McCray over there talked
to him into letting me come here. Ah, he's a gentleman,
he is.
Speaker 4 (19:44):
I put it to you, Miss Burke, that your whole
story is a lie. But it never happened. Although I
don't doubt that you are familiar with the accused, I
put it to you that your testimony has been bought
and paid for, and that you have deliberately purjured yourself
in the witness box.
Speaker 7 (19:59):
That's a ruddy inside the lord I protest counsel is
badgering the witness most unfair silence in the court.
Speaker 9 (20:06):
Mister Peyton, you will confine yourself to stated fact, refrain
from badgering the witness.
Speaker 3 (20:12):
Yes, but.
Speaker 4 (20:14):
Not now, not for a moment, Miss Berg. Did you
see mister Edward Mason again after that day?
Speaker 14 (20:22):
I never set eyes on him again till today in court.
And that's the truth.
Speaker 4 (20:25):
And you ask us to believe that this story you've
just told us is given of your own voration, that
you at no time given a prepared statement by interested
parties that this event actually took place.
Speaker 14 (20:37):
I wouldn't be like to have forget it. It's true,
every word of it.
Speaker 6 (20:41):
Very well.
Speaker 3 (20:42):
That's ormus Berg.
Speaker 7 (20:44):
Witness is excused, Doctor regal to the witness box, please.
Speaker 3 (20:55):
McCrae had us. I knew what was coming.
Speaker 4 (20:58):
It was perfect, and there wasn't a thing that I
could do to prevent it, not to Beriagel was a small,
intense little man with heavy glasses. The jury looked at
him and they were impressed when he said he told
the truth of nothing but the truth.
Speaker 3 (21:13):
They believed him. They would have believed him even if
he had been the biggest liar on us, which I'm
happy he wasn't.
Speaker 7 (21:20):
Doctor Riggel, Will you tell us if you recognize anyone
in this courtroom?
Speaker 3 (21:26):
Yes, sir, that young lady over there, Miss Burke.
Speaker 6 (21:29):
I believe there is her name.
Speaker 7 (21:31):
Anyone else, the gentleman there, the accused mister Mason.
Speaker 6 (21:35):
Yes, sir.
Speaker 7 (21:35):
Will you tell the court upon what occasion you had
the opportunity of meeting these two people?
Speaker 10 (21:40):
Oh, it was about three years ago. I have the
date my attendance diary. This moment.
Speaker 6 (21:49):
Ah the sixteenth of July. That was it.
Speaker 10 (21:52):
Mister Mason brought the young lady to my office during
the afternoon, Miss Burke, Yes, sir, it was half past three.
He asked me to look at her throat.
Speaker 7 (22:00):
See and what did you find when you look at
her throat?
Speaker 6 (22:03):
Bruises?
Speaker 10 (22:05):
They were not dangerous, but I treated them and after that.
Speaker 6 (22:08):
I never saw them again.
Speaker 10 (22:09):
The bill was paid, Yes, mister Mason paid in cash
before he left.
Speaker 3 (22:13):
Thank you.
Speaker 6 (22:14):
Doctor.
Speaker 3 (22:15):
That will be all.
Speaker 6 (22:16):
Goss examine, no.
Speaker 3 (22:17):
Questions, that was all.
Speaker 4 (22:27):
There wasn't any use in cross examining what was so
obvious in truth. Counsel of the defense made a brilliant
and short summation. I made her not so short, and
I'm afraid far from brilliant summation for the Crown. Mister
Justice Forbaugh gave his instructions and the jury never hesitated.
They were tired for only a few moments.
Speaker 3 (22:50):
With your Worship's permission, we have already reached a verdict.
Speaker 6 (22:55):
Very well, what is your verdict?
Speaker 10 (22:57):
We find the accused, mister Edward Mason, not guilty of
the child.
Speaker 3 (23:02):
He's guilty. He's a dirty murderer.
Speaker 6 (23:04):
He killed my sister, and I say he's guilty.
Speaker 3 (23:07):
He ought to be hands.
Speaker 6 (23:08):
Arched a dance. Put that man under arrest.
Speaker 3 (23:10):
Silence, silence.
Speaker 4 (23:21):
The dead woman's brother thought that Mason was guilty, and
I knew it was one of the most cold blooded
successful murderers we ever failed to hang. It was about
six months later that we found the proof, and then
it was too late. I talked it over with the
Director of Public Prosecutions in his office.
Speaker 6 (23:40):
Nothing we can do.
Speaker 8 (23:42):
I suppose had I been on the jury, I should
have brought in the same verdict.
Speaker 6 (23:46):
We have to assume the.
Speaker 3 (23:47):
Man was innocent. He was guilty, Sir.
Speaker 6 (23:50):
My dear fellow.
Speaker 8 (23:51):
Surely Mason didn't start to plot the murder of his
wife at the age of eight, My dear.
Speaker 4 (23:55):
No, no, but he did decide to about three years ago,
and he took a precaution before he did so. He
knew his sister remembered the strangling incident during their childhood,
and all he had to do was to repeat the
dream strangling with some one else, the burkwoman.
Speaker 6 (24:14):
But how was she?
Speaker 4 (24:14):
From her point, it was all quite innocent. She didn't
know it was in his mind. He didn't go too
far with her, just enough to produce some convincing bruises.
Speaker 3 (24:23):
Then he took her to the doctor and paid the bill.
Speaker 6 (24:26):
That was all true, Well, you.
Speaker 4 (24:29):
Remember, he admitted at that time, doubling his wife's insurance.
Then he sat back to wait till he felt the
moment had come to kill her.
Speaker 8 (24:39):
Assuming you're right, there's the burkwoman. If he never saw
her again, how did he know where to find it
to appear for him?
Speaker 4 (24:47):
He didn't look for her, sir, she was telling the truth,
but he knew where to find all right, those three
witnesses did the job for him. His sister, he'll always
find the doctor easily traceable and medical directory. But miss
Burke a girl like that might prove, but well she
might move about a big deal. She did, so the
(25:10):
method he adopted to keep in touch with her was
to send her ten pounds a month anonymously.
Speaker 3 (25:17):
So long as she kept him.
Speaker 4 (25:18):
Notified as to her whereabouts, he would continue to send
her the money.
Speaker 8 (25:22):
But if she had to notify him when she moved,
surely she must have known who he was.
Speaker 4 (25:28):
Not at all, Sir, a post office box under an
assumed name. He kept it up for three years and
she didn't ask any questions. Why should she blast? You're
certain of all this, I'm afraid, I answer, And it
seems a pity you didn't have the information during the trial.
Speaker 8 (25:44):
We didn't know anything about her until mc cray brought
her in. And we can't try Mason again for the
same offense. He's done it Peyton, the perfect murder.
Speaker 4 (26:03):
It was about two months later that I saw the
paragraph hidden away on an inside page.
Speaker 3 (26:07):
Of the Times. I made a.
Speaker 4 (26:10):
Telephone call and then went to the office of the
Director of Public Prosecutions. I'll be blown And it appears
that mister Edward Mason had been staying at a little
hotel in Cornwall and yesterday when the maid came in
with his morning tea. She found the window unlatched and
the balcony rail broken, the fifty foot drop to the
rocks below.
Speaker 3 (26:29):
Mason, he wasn't in his room. We found the body below.
Speaker 6 (26:35):
I'll be blessed, Hm Justice, I'll be blessed. Suicide do
you think?
Speaker 3 (26:42):
I don't know.
Speaker 4 (26:44):
Probably an accident since there was no sign of foul play.
Possibly he stumbled and fell. But there is one curious coincidence.
Speaker 3 (26:54):
What's there?
Speaker 4 (26:56):
The dead woman's brother kept her easterly. Yes, well, it's
rather curious coincidence. Hick to Easterday.
Speaker 3 (27:08):
Occupy the room next door.
Speaker 1 (27:29):
Suspense presented by Autoli Tonight Star Mister Herbert Marshall. This
is Harlow Wilcox again. Remember you now have a wonderful
opportunity to do your favorite local or national recognize charity
the favor of a lifetime. If you're one of the
twenty five persons selected in a huge Auto lighte Family
(27:50):
charity drawing, you can name any recognized charity you wish
to receive a big share of one hundred thousand dollars
in cash. Those charity can be schools, hospitals, churches, the
national Tuberculosis Association or any other recognized charity. So if
you're eighteen years or over, visit any of the following
(28:12):
Autolite family car showrooms DeSoto, Hudson, Plymouth, Studebaker, Dodge, Willis, Nash, Packard,
Kaiser or Chrysler. Print your name and address on the
drawing registration form and have the car dealer sign it.
That's all nothing to buy, try or solve. So visit
any Autolite family car showroom and sign up.
Speaker 6 (28:34):
Tomorrow.
Speaker 1 (28:42):
Next week a story based on fact, the search for
an animal capable of destroying a city whose bite, if
not immediately treated, is one hundred percent fatal. It's called
the Barking Death Our star mister William Powell.
Speaker 6 (28:56):
That's next week. On suspense, Murder.
Speaker 1 (29:02):
By Jury was written by Michael Gilbert and adapted for
suspense by Anthony Ellis. Suspense is produced and directed by
Elliot Lewis from music composed by Lucian Morrowick and conducted
by Lud Bluskin. Featured in the cast were Joseph Kerns,
Ben Wright, William Johnstone, Herb Butterfield, Richard Peel, Norma Barden,
Betty Hartford and Keith McConnell. Herbert Marshall may soon be
(29:22):
seen co starring with Janety and Tony Curtis in the
Universal International CinemaScope Technicolor.
Speaker 6 (29:28):
Picture Man of Iron.
Speaker 1 (29:29):
And remember next week mister William Powell in The Barking Debt.
Speaker 6 (29:33):
This is the CBS Radio Network.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
CrimeLess: Hillbilly Heist
It’s 1996 in rural North Carolina, and an oddball crew makes history when they pull off America’s third largest cash heist. But it’s all downhill from there. Join host Johnny Knoxville as he unspools a wild and woolly tale about a group of regular ‘ol folks who risked it all for a chance at a better life. CrimeLess: Hillbilly Heist answers the question: what would you do with 17.3 million dollars? The answer includes diamond rings, mansions, velvet Elvis paintings, plus a run for the border, murder-for-hire-plots, and FBI busts.