The Ted Forstek and Ruth Ballard Murder Case: Broadway Is My Beat (June 9, 1950)

“The Ted Forstek and Ruth Ballard Murder Case” is an episode of Broadway Is My Beat, the old-time radio show, first broadcast June 9, 1950. Listen free on Stupid Potato.

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What happens

Detective Danny Clover investigates the murder of Ruth Ballard, a young woman shot to death in a parked car alongside Ted Forstach, who survives the attack but remains unconscious. As Clover notifies the grieving families and searches for answers, police trace a vehicle involved in the crime to a delivery truck registered to someone named George Kilbert.

New York City, including a secluded road used as a lover's lane, police headquarters, the Ballard home, the Forstach candy and stationary store on Amsterdam Avenue, and a hospital.

Characters: Danny Clover, Ted Forstach, Ruth Ballard, Mr. Ballard, Mrs. Forstach, Mr. Forstach, Sergeant Chino, Dr. Sensky

Listen for: The atmospheric description of Broadway and the city at night; Clover's difficult notifications to the families; the clues emerging from the crime scene including tire marks and paint scrapings; the discovery of the registered vehicle at a cleaning establishment.

Written from the episode itself; it never gives away the ending. Every recording is remastered for the stream: cleaned of rumble, hiss and mains hum (and the old TV whine where we found it), then levelled in two passes to steady broadcast loudness, so one show is never quieter than the next.