The Big Story: The Loneliest Man on Earth (EP4937)

Welcome to the

Great Detectives of Old Time Radio. From Boy Seattle Hold, this is your host, Adam Graham.

In a moment, we're going to bring you this week's episode of The Big Story,

but first I do want to encourage you, if you are enjoying the podcast, please follow us

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today. I'm highlighting the old time radio snack wagon snack wagon dot net where every

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These are rare and tricky little bits of old time radio. You can find it at snackwagon.net

or wherever you get your podcast from. But now from October 12, 1949, here is the

loneliest man on earth. The Big Story

Three men landed the cozy carnipography in West Mullen County, Pennsylvania at 1 a.m.

You'll keep it. Yeah, that's right. Okay, let's have it. Or what do you do? The cash register

keeper, the cash register. What are you waiting for? He's laying on the cash register.

We'll push him off. You got a hand. Hey, there's money in that register.

There was money in that register. $8. The three men left leaving keiver behind.

Yet.

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The story of a murder and of a reporter who befriended the loneliest man on earth.

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The story is it actually happened.

Ray Sprigel's story as he lifted.

This was before you won the Pulitzer Prize, Ray Sprigel, reporter for the Pittsburgh Post Gazette.

Before your brilliant and humane work on behalf of the underprivileged of America.

But even then, a few years back, the same unmistakable signs were there. The perception,

the respect for facts, the sympathy for other human beings. The woman at your desk,

sitting on the edge of her chair was 35. Maybe she was younger. What she'd been through made her

look like while 35. And the story came out haulingly. As if it hurt to open the wound, she

carry. Her name was Hortens Grayson. That name Grayson doesn't mean much to Mr. Sprigel.

I don't think so. No, I guess almost nobody remembers. Six years ago, Mr. Sprigel, my husband

was arrested for robbery. He broke into a doctor's office and he had two other children.

Grayson, that's right. You said robbery isn't murder. That's right, Mr. Sprigel. He has a life

sentence for murder. A murder he never committed. Maybe I'll tell you first why it came to you.

You see, your name, well, maybe it's not like anything to you, but I've spread your articles

to Mr. Sprigel. Well, we can skip that. No, I'd like to say. I think if there's anyone in

Pittsburgh who can do anything, you're that name. I don't say your husband. Let's get back to the

story, shall we? I told you my husband was a robber. I told her that he was arrested for a murder

which he never committed. I want to tell you this too. I divorced him three years ago.

Well, what's a woman who divorced her husband doing fighting for his release?

And the answer is just that I know his innocent. He didn't do it.

Well, suppose you tell me all about it now.

My husband and these two other men, Kramer Jensen, were picked up after they robbed the

doctor's office. That was in Cambria County. I was no question about his guilt. The trial was

quickly for the next 10 years too. He hadn't been in prison a week when witnesses came forward

and testified that he and the other two men that robbed the doctor's office of him also killed

this man, Kramer and his barbecue place three weeks before. The other two were guilty. They're

now in jail, but Kramer, Kramer wasn't at Kramer's place that night. I was sick and bed in it. He took care of me

and there were two other people in the house playing cards with Kramer. They swear he never left the house.

Is there any evidence outside of the state that you've made?

That's the terrible part. You see Kramer, one of the men who killed Kramer, he admitted that Kramer

wasn't there that night. He wrote out a confession and Jensen, the other killer, he admitted it to

me that Kramer wasn't there, but he wouldn't write a confession and the court transferred. If you

read the transcripts, the way the witnesses changed their mind, the innocent was just sprinkled and I

can't do anything about it. Are you pardon this question? This is, first of all, so this is me.

Do you have anything besides your word for all this?

Well, I've brought it off and just sprinkled transcripts, the confession statements, the witnesses.

I don't even read it. I don't know. Write a story.

Okay, just put it down in the desk. I'll read it and maybe I will write a story.

Now tell me one thing. Why did you divorce it?

I don't want to talk about it. You'll have to talk about it.

No, that's okay. That's okay.

Maybe it's as funny as a three-dollar bill. But even if it is, even if everything she says is pure

unadulterated fabrication, the pretty good story. The host woman seems to free ex-mate. Not bad.

Not bad. And on that somewhat cynical, somewhat casual note race,

big old, you get involved. Where else was my little start here?

The confession of George Bremen.

A few minutes before the clock, they told him, give us what's in the register.

He went for gun and Roger shot him. But we left the town at the moment. It was eight-thousand.

So me and Jensen and Roger's went home.

Clem Grayson wasn't there.

Depositions of convicted men aren't very much, you know.

But when a man in prison for life at Mitzi was involved in a murder,

and thereby jeopardizes his chance for parole or part, hey, maybe there's something here.

Sworn Stephen. Robert.

My brother Robert, I played both the regular with Ben Grayson.

The night of the key we were killing, we started at 9.30 in his kitchen.

His wife was sick in the bedroom, we played at 2.15.

We remember because when we were finished, I said to my brother,

five hours to lose 35 bucks. Same very smart.

Transcript of testimony in the case of a common local Pennsylvania versus Clem Grayson.

Ah, here's the section.

The attorney of Annex Salmon, the witness, please.

You positively identify that if Clem Grayson is one of the trio.

Yes, sir. I was eating a barbecue sandwich.

But you didn't identify Grayson when you were first taken to the county jail.

Well, I have to acknowledge I was a little confused.

But now you're absolutely certain.

Absolutely. The reason I didn't then was I guess I was slightly muddled.

What makes you certain now?

Well, I thought it over and I had a talk with a sergeant in charge and he convinced me and now I'm

absolutely sorry.

I just won't be the sergeant and thought I was muddled before now.

I'm absolutely certain it gets more interesting and more.

That's testimony of Nellie Swinson, waitress, posing for the bomb.

Did a black man swim in the door ask for the preliminary hearing?

Can you tell who was standing in the doorway with the gun?

Yes, sir.

What did you say?

I said I couldn't tell exactly because you see he had his coat collar up and his hat down and I

didn't watch his face. I watched his gun.

That's what you said at the preliminary hearing some weeks ago.

Now what did you testify to a few minutes ago?

I can't exactly remember.

I shall refresh your memory.

You said, quote, the man I saw was Clem Grayson, unquote.

Is that correct?

Yes, sir.

How do you explain your revamping your testimony?

I can't.

During the recess a few minutes ago,

did you talk to the prosecutor in this case?

Yes, I did.

Louder, please.

Yes, I did.

Would you please tell the court what it was you talked to the prosecutor about?

I object.

The court sustained the objection on the grounds of the content of the conversation was immaterial.

Immaterial, it's the most material thing on earth.

This is fantastic.

Ebna, Ebna, get me Mrs. Grayson on the phone.

Mrs. Grayson, if I look like a man who's controlling himself, that's just what I am.

I've seldom seen anything so blatant, so open, and shut, so...

What are you crying about?

It's nothing.

It's just that I've...

I've no luck with that.

No, no, no, I'll cast that out.

It's just that you're the first person in six years.

Mr. Stewart.

You've been on this six years?

First I took it to the prosecuting attorney.

He told me to take it to the sheriff of Westmore.

I went to the sheriff.

He told me to take it to the state police at Harrisburg.

At Harrisburg, they told me to see the governor.

Governor's a busy man.

I saw the second assistant to the lieutenant governor.

He told me to take it to the prosecuting attorney.

And that's what you've been doing for six years.

Six years, five months, 19 days.

Now tell me why.

Why talk?

You know what I'm talking about.

Why after being divorced do you keep the name?

A murderous name.

Why have you kept going at it for six years, five months and 19 days?

I love the guy.

No.

But this was a movie that would be the reason.

I don't love Clem because I haven't loved Clem for a long time.

The reason is Kathy.

Kathy's are gone, Mr. Spriggler.

Wild horses couldn't get me home.

But after the way you've talked up, I think you ought to know.

Kathy was about four at the time.

Clem was sent up.

You see, I found out that a grown woman can put a man out of her life.

If she wants to,

that a child can.

And Clem was in her life,

whether I liked it or not.

And if she grew older, she's 10 now, 10 and a half.

I got to be a lot of questions.

Other girls have father.

She has no father.

And what am I going to tell her when she grows in the young woman hood?

What's she going to tell her friends?

That her father is a convent?

That he's in prison for murder?

She'll have to lie and obey the thing.

That'll work.

I don't want that.

I don't want that, especially because her father's innocent.

So you see, I didn't solve anything by divorcing Clem.

I'm beginning to understand.

And if he's freed, what would she be of this?

She'd say, my parents are the worst.

My father and mother never got along.

I live with my mother, but I hear from my father all the time,

working in Cleveland as a foster, our partner.

If she can say that, let's just speak up.

I thought, why won't you?

Yeah.

Well, suppose we see what we can do, Mrs. Bryson.

Let's see if there really is such a thing as power to...

It's a good story and a big one.

And you, Ray Sprygold, reporter for the Pittsburgh Coast Gazette,

do it in three installments, three big half pages,

setting forth the affidavits, the confessions, and the conflicting testimony.

And you'll wait and see what the power of truth is.

You also go a step further.

With Mrs. Bryson, you help prepare the papers for the pardonable.

Don't worry now, don't worry.

I think we've got one of the finest cases ever presented.

Let's go in Mrs. Bryson.

After due and careful consideration of this pardon board,

it is our considered judgment that the confession of the convicted murder

or a cramer is inconclusive.

That internal conflict within the testimony of witnesses has been demonstrated

for this insufficient.

And let it be remembered that the prisoner seeking this pardon claim,

Bryson, is not only an admitted robber, but has been found guilty of murder by a jury of his peers.

Pardon denied.

Now you'll begin to understand those six years, five months,

19 days.

This isn't a matter of simple justice.

This isn't a matter of the power of truth or the press.

The law is a highly technical, complex, careful business.

And so you bring into the case an old friend, Tom and her lawyer.

It's a good case, Ray, good, but not good enough.

What more do you want, Tom?

Well, if you could get the jury, each one of the jurors, that would be something.

If you could show about six more cracks in the testimony of the witnesses,

that would be something.

If you could get Jensen, the third guy to confess, that I guess would be almost conclusive.

Almost.

That's what I said.

Oh, what are you trying to do?

Make it tougher than it is.

No, my friend.

I am nearly trying to make it precisely as tough as the pardon board made it.

Okay, I think you understand.

Now about you.

What about me?

Will you see this thing through with me?

What do you think I'm doing here, twirling myself?

There's no money, Grayson hasn't got any.

Neither is Mrs. Grayson, and all I can do is take you out for a shot once in a while,

and as far as publicity goes, you guys need publicity.

Don't kid me, Tom.

You might come in for some, shall we say adverse publicity?

What are we standing around talking for?

The guys in jail.

You move now, first in the West Mall and County Dives,

four rooms, club houses.

And there, when you ask the question, you get a common man said.

The kid in bed, Grayson never done that job.

There was Rogers.

Rogers all the way.

Cramer, Jensen, and Rogers.

Everybody says the same thing.

Tom, everywhere I go, Cramer, Jensen, and Rogers.

What about Rogers?

He's the third of the trio.

No, I know that.

I mean, what's he doing now?

Well, the court didn't believe he was mixed up with a killing,

so he never went to jail.

Now he's a small town, political often,

and came here to come.

Didn't he get anything on him?

Sure, a friend out there.

You mean what I just told you was no good?

It's common.

Gossip, Rogers, did it?

Look, I'll say it to you once more.

The law is no layman's game.

Specific, full-blown evidence is needed.

What's gossip, what they say in the gin mills,

and the club houses doesn't go very far in court,

or with a park tour.

Try your share, friend.

Break down, Rogers.

Get Jensen to admit that Grayson wasn't in on him.

Then come back.

We'll talk about what to do.

Hey, this is tough.

You move again.

This time, more slowly, carefully.

And it takes time,

a month, six months, a year, two years.

Finally, four years have gone by,

since Mrs. Grayson first came into your office.

A thing you thought would take a few articles in the paper.

And even now, after four years, all you've got to show is...

Sure, if you've got to get me something on, Rogers, you've got to.

Gray, there's nothing on earth I'd like to do better than,

but Rogers Ray belongs.

I'm sure he was the one who murdered Peter, and you know it.

There's no proof.

Look, I know all about true.

Can't we get something on him?

The past four years I've watched, Rogers.

You know, all I can tell you is that the average choir boy has gotten into more trouble.

Well, if anything shows up, I'll get in touch with him.

What kind of a human being are you, Jensen?

I ain't a human being.

I'm a combat.

I meant the murder.

Look, Jensen, you know Grayson had nothing to do with a murder?

You know, Rogers did it.

Cramer admitted it.

Why don't you give the guy a break? He served ten years?

Yeah.

How long do you think I said?

There's an innocent man rotting in jail.

So I'm a guilty man rotting in jail.

Why don't you try your story on Rogers?

He might listen to you.

Me, I am too big.

Rogers?

My name is Armin T. Rogers.

I like to be called by my name.

You don't mind?

You're pretty sure you're so much.

So think, pretty.

You don't care that Grayson didn't do what he's taken the rap for you.

You don't care about anything.

I wouldn't say that.

It's just pretty good.

I like a good cigar.

I like music.

Can I like fine food?

About Grayson, sure I care.

I care the same way.

It's when a fly gets in my way and I gotta kill him and flip him off.

And it goes on.

Now the four years have become five.

The five have become six.

Every two years you and attorney Tom Endor have gone before the pardon board.

Three times you've gone and three times you've heard the words,

pardon the knife.

Who's there?

It's me.

Oh, well, you'll be pleased to know they've turned us down a third time especially.

What are you smiling about?

What are you smiling about?

You know what they say about women of the spirit.

How about now?

What are you talking about?

About how weak we are.

We can't do anything by ourselves.

What did they go?

I went to see Jenson today.

I told him the pardon board had turned down Clem's sleeve a third time and what he said she did.

You got it?

He said,

jeez, I thought the pardon board would give it to him long ago, but I guess they won't.

So he sat down and wrote a full confession clearing clam.

It's happy.

But you're pleased isn't this what we were after?

Now look, I got a lot older since we first saw him.

Six years ago, I would have turned hands please.

Now I want to be sure.

The confession is great, it's terrific.

But before we go back to that pardon board, I want to have an absolutely air tight case.

What more can we possibly get?

Rodgers.

I'm waiting for Rodgers to cry.

Me time, Clem's in jail.

Please believe me.

Let's make sure we get him out.

So you said, for the sworn confession of Jensen,

making two sworn confessions, that Clem Grayson is innocent and Rodgers is guilty.

You wait for the call which finally comes.

It's Regal speaking.

Right.

I know where I got something to tell you.

Rodgers?

Rodgers?

Rodgers?

And so you finally slipped, Rod.

If you beat up your wife last night, you beat her up and put her in the hospital for a month.

Rodgers, I don't have to sit here and listen to you.

That's where you're wrong.

The sheriffs that stay with them as long as you like, Ray, that's me, Ray.

Till you get just what you want.

And just what I want is a sign confession that you killed Kieber.

You, not Clem Grayson.

I never killed Kieber.

Should I read you the confession of Kramer,

a whole thing with every one of its lousy sort of details?

You want to hear the confession of Jensen?

How he says, you were the one pushed the body off the cash register and took the money out.

I don't care what you got to say.

Shall I tell you what your wife told me in the sheriff about that night, about your alibi?

The liars, both of them liars.

See, Rodgers do it the hard way.

Get in court and face them.

Everything about the murder will come out every dirty piece of it.

A confession would have made it much easier for you, but you won't talk.

Well, Rodgers, it'll be a pleasure, a great pleasure to take you apart.

Bit by bit in a courtroom right in front of the whole world.

And on a winter day, a little later, you and Hortens Grayson wait for the chairman of the

pardon board, says the inevitable words, setting Clem Grayson free.

The wheels of justice grind slow sometimes.

In this case, 12 years, five months, 22 days.

But the important thing is, they do grind.

Now we read you that telegram from Ray Spriggle of the Pittsburgh Post Gazette.

Grayson granted full pardon on the murder conviction.

When released, he quickly enlisted in the United States Army and served overseas with the station.

Rodgers, the actual killer, was convicted and sentenced to a long term in the Western

Penitentiary for his complicity in the murder.

And so ends another big story.

In order to protect the names of people actually involved in tonight's authentic big story,

the names of all characters in the dramatization were changed with the exception of the newspaper reporter.

The big story has been a presentation of the United States Armed Forces Radio Service,

the voice of information and education.

Now to the scraps for our credits, the reporter, Ray Spriggle, was played by Bill Smith.

In addition to that, the cast also featured Barbara Weeks, George Petre, Joshua Shelley, Eric

Dressler, Humphrey Davis, and Jim Bowles, and the narrator Bob Sloan also got into the action

playing a voice. And this was another week where everyone including the store was doubling up.

Now, Bill Smith is not one of those that we heard a lot of. He was mainly a supporting actor.

He's been in programs such as Call the Place, but not a lot of storing work.

I thought that this was an incredible story, the information on it from

Dr. Joseph Webb, the stories behind the big story, essentially track with what we heard in the

episode. The name of the robber in this case was Paul Boggs, who was found guilty of a 1931 robbery

of a doctor's office, and he got 10 years. And then they brought this other case against him,

involving the killing of a restaurant owner named Francis McGreevy. The man who actually did

the crime was named Robert Bruner, who admitted that he did it, and he was convicted in 1943.

But Boggs did not get out until 1949. And as Joe Webb points out, a Spriggle wrote that there was

a time when both Boggs and Bruner were in prison, even for the same crime, even though Boggs had

been cleared. And then once when Boggs got released, the first thing he did is he went immediately

down to the draft board and said, let's go ahead. I need you to get me inducted because there's a

war going on and I need to do my part. And he went off and served with distinction. Now interestingly

enough, the big story puts a far more positive spin on the situation than Spriggle himself did,

with their talk about at the end of the day, justice was served. Spriggle had actually written

the big feature item looking back on the story earlier in 1949 entitled They Railroaded Paul Boggs.

And essentially the prosecutors fought this at every turn because getting this overturn wouldn't

just put Boggs out of jail. It would shine a lot on their own misconduct. And when it takes that

long to crack, obvious injustice is it undermines the whole system. I mean the whole justification

of the parole board after all he was convicted by a jury rings hollow if the prosecutors were

coaching and manufacturing evidence pretty blatantly so much that all Spriggle had to do was look at

the transcript. Now it should be noted that this is one of those cases where he just had to

stick with it. And Spriggle kept working on this whole story even while he was doing other things.

He actually won his poll at surprise while this was going on as he uncovered the history of

newly appointed justice Hugo Black as a member of the Ku Klux Klan. He had a very strong career and

took on a lot of risk. Got himself committed to a mental institution in order to report

what conditions were like. And people who listening on the radio would have known him for some of his

more recent work. It was referenced subtly at the start of the episode. He went to the deep south

undercover disguised as a black man. And he wrote a major series of articles on what that

experience was like and letting his readers know what was going on. Now of course the novelist

named John Howard Griffin's efforts are more famous about a decade later and that was published

in the book Black Like Me. Now Spriggle was, we don't know how he felt about the radio adaptation,

but he was not a fan of the television program according to Dr. Joe Webb. He said when it was

adapted for TV in 1955, I think the true story would have made it a lot more effective and

powerful dramatization. And the critic who wrote about the series when Fanning said that

was true of most of the big story TV productions with Fanning writing actually what might be one

of the best programs on TV is one of the worst. Now of course we don't have a ton of the TV episodes

of the big story to judge this by. The one thing that's worth noting is that the big story TV series

had the exact same time slots of around 24 minutes of story time as the radio version. And on

radio you can do a good job breaking down an event and being fairly faithful to it with half a

dozen actors in a studio. On television there are so many other visual elements that you need to

care for. On radio you can have unlimited settings. On television you really do face some restraints

in terms of budget, in terms of talent available. Though it's worth noting the big show ran for

non-season on television so apparently the viewing public was more impressed with it than some of

the critics. All right, listen or comments and feedback now. And we have some comments on Spotify

regarding the bitterest man on earth. Harrison writes, this was one of those stories that frustrated

me due to everyone's conviction that this guy wasn't who he said he was and yet it took the

reporter and not the state that was trying to find out the truth. While I'm enjoying the series,

I wish it set the stories in the time period when they took place. It's not like it's dragnet

where it's the same protagonist each week so the stories have to take place in the here and now.

It's not like it makes it less entertaining. I definitely understand the concern, Harrison,

and I tend to agree. I think it really becomes an issue when the events of the time would make more

sense of the story like in that story a couple weeks back that ended in suicide understanding that

this was during the Great Depression that they were doing this. It makes a lot more sense. And

there are other events that change the typical behavior like if you think about the the war or

the housing shortage after the war leads to behaviors that don't make sense without the context.

Why are you doing that in 1948 or 1949? I think it tends to complicate the production if you don't

address those because the logic can be weak. Don writes, please don't take this as a complaint. This

was an interesting story but not much of a mystery and not a lot of detection needed. It was

fascinating to see a judicial justice story presented with 1940 sensibilities. Well I'd

definitely understand what you're saying and truthfully the big story is kind of a stretch to our

format. It's the type of series I probably would not have thought I'd end up playing when we

started doing great detectives but it's one of those series that's close enough as we began to run

out of material and certainly not every case is going to fit neatly into a typical mystery bucket.

Although I think there are also several episodes of Dragnet quite honestly that are very entertaining

but don't fit that as well. You take something like the Big Break which is one of my all-time favorite

Dragnet episodes where you're dealing with this fugitive robber and they know who the robber

is they know he did it and it's just a matter of finding him and bringing him to justice and the

same can be true of so many cases where it's just a matter of finding the fugitive and episodes like

that one and this one are about how is it that you are able to correct an injustice and prove to

the satisfaction of a parole board that this man is not guilty and merits a pardon or a new trial.

And then Mechanics 66 writes that Goodwin could have been Tinney and went under different names

at different places. I don't recall any mention of him having any identification under any name.

It's a fair point but there's also not any suggestion that the man whose wife was murdered

was some sort of transient. In fact my recollection is that up until the time of the murder

he was pretty much in an assigned place. As to the identification point it was really not

common in the early 1930s for everybody to carry ID around so it was a lot more informal so the

absence of ID wouldn't really prove anything. Well now it's time to thank our Patreon supporter

of the day and I want to thank Grande Patreon supporter since October 2020 currently supporting

the podcast at the shaman's level of $4 or more per month. Thanks so much for your support and

that will do it for today. If you're enjoying the podcast please follow us using your favorite

podcast software and be sure to rate and review the podcast wherever you download it from. We'll

be back next Tuesday with another episode of the big story but join us back here tomorrow for

Broadway's My Beat Wear.

Any other entrance to this seller than those steps we just came down?

You will see Senor. Look don't make a drama out of it Louise just tell it easy come

there and the big cases stretched out with it dead. Now tell us Luis how did he get in here?

Of him Senor. You see a window through which deliveries are made from the alley.

You know the window is broken through. Take a look at the alley comments.

Okay. You know who he is Luis?

He's Ricardo Miguel, a boy who lives near a boy who works at the pasteleria of Senor Locke.

The bakery shop. Also not far.

Stand four places than I can see. He's the floor show Senor.

Be gone. Yeah.

Decide you cannot take the time to see Senor. It is exciting. Decide you have not the time.

I hope you'll be with us then. In the meantime, send your comments to box 13 at greatdetectives.net

follow us on Twitter at Radio Detectives and check us out on Instagram Instagram.com.

Slash great detectives from Boise, Idaho. This is your host Adam Graham signing off.