The Dead Give-Away: Tales of the Texas Rangers (December 2, 1951)

“The Dead Give-Away” is an episode of Tales of the Texas Rangers, the old-time radio show, first broadcast December 2, 1951. Listen free on Stupid Potato.

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What happens

On the night of December 4th, 1945, a young woman calls the sheriff from her farmhouse near Ashton, West Texas, reporting someone prowling outside trying to break in. When the sheriff arrives, he finds Mrs. Deneen and her four-month-old baby dead from gunshot wounds. Ranger Jason Pearson is called to investigate what appears to be a senseless killing with no clear motive or sign of robbery.

A farmhouse four miles from the town of Ashton in West Texas, December 4th, 1945, in the early morning hours.

Characters: Ranger Jason Pearson, Sheriff Ross, Mrs. Deneen, Mr. Deneen, Ted Mullen

Listen for: Pearson and the sheriff discover a suspicious piece of bailing wire shaped like a key near the broken side door, but when tested it proves too weak to turn the lock, suggesting the killer had a real key. They track footprints westward from the house to an old wagon road where they find fresh tire tracks, indicating the killer used a car for escape.

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.