My Son Must Die: Have Gun, Will Travel (July 31, 1960)

“My Son Must Die” is an episode of Have Gun, Will Travel, the old-time radio show, first broadcast July 31, 1960. Listen free on Stupid Potato.

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What happens

Paladin's fishing trip with a young boy in the California mountains is interrupted when they discover a girl being attacked by a man named Carlos who seems determined to kill her. After rescuing Marlene Carter and bringing her safely home, Paladin learns she runs a remote ranch with only an elderly Mexican woman named Toleta for company, and Carlos's violent pursuit remains a mystery.

The San Felicia and Santa Lucia Mountains of California in 1875, near a remote ranch in a heavily wooded valley.

Characters: Paladin, Hey boy, Marlene Carter, Carlos, Toleta

Listen for: The answer to why Carlos is so desperate to kill Marlene Carter, and what threat she poses that makes her life in danger.

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.