 It's National Wheaties Week Yes, it's National Wheaties Week and Wheaties present Joel McCrae and tales of the Texas Rangers On stage tonight transcribed from Hollywood another in the Wheaties big parade of exciting half-hour presentations Texas Rangers starring Joel McCrae as Ranger Pearson Texas more than 260,000 square miles And 50 men who make up the oldest and most famous law enforcement body in North America The files of the Texas Rangers come these stories based on fact only name dates and places are fictitious for obvious reasons The events themselves are a matter of record Case for tonight quick silver At 1130 on the night of May 22nd 1947 the Stockholm Ranch Located in the middle of Carson County, Texas was darkened for the night when the occupants were awakened by the barking of a dog Jim Jim wake up What's the matter Flo you hear Jeep bark? Well, kind of half asleep. It's funny. He barked and then shut up real fast I might have took off after something kept on barking then it sounded like it'd be quiet a second See don't hear him anymore. Yeah What are you gonna do? I'm gonna take a look see it ain't like Jeep to bark at nothing then shut up Jim Jim. What's the matter? Jim somebody came in the house. Oh, you probably just heard the kid tossing in his sleep. No, I Got a funny feeling. All right. I'll put on a light and have a look. I'm coming along I want to go and see if anything It's national Wheaties week time to buy Wheaties eat Wheaties buy more Wheaties eat more Wheaties Time to join America in a brighter morning. Sure. It's national Wheaties week Everybody's eating them. You have some to have them for fun have them for flavor have them for feeling good and working good and looking good Have Wheaties for any reason at all, but get them whole wheat crisp whole wheat Golden whole wheat. There's a whole kernel of wheat in every Wheaties flake you try them See how Wheaties at 7 can help at 11. It's national Wheaties week On May 29th 1947 the bodies of Jim and flow stock home and their ten-year-old son Carl were discovered by a playmate of Carl's Sheriff Lockins notified the Texas Rangers and ranger Jase Pearson was assigned to the case Raises just like it was Jase set them for the bodies And I'm a mess isn't sure yeah all three of them in their night clothes you said This here is Jim and flows bedroom. I see They've closed must up whoever did the kill and woke him up likely the dog woke him Oh, yeah Jeep you said found him dead a piece from the house clubbed over the head Okay, let's say flow and Jim stock home were awakened by the dog Jim would get up to see what was a matter Flow went with him probably to see if the kid Carl was okay They didn't get no further than in this room here right outside the bedroom. Yeah all three of Funny Jim stock home didn't have a gun. Yeah, if he thought somebody was in a house or prowling around outside He'd have grabbed his gun unless something stopped him. What are you thinking about Jase just at the killer might have got in Carl's room That's right over here Maybe Carl spotted the killer hollard and that'd make both Jim and flow jump fast Jim wouldn't think of grabbing his gun This window here has been jimmied up. You see that yeah, I guess you're right killer coming this way Kids saw him yelled tried to get out got as far as the room out here Here's what they were killed with Jason Flat iron no old-fashioned flat iron. Yeah, he was as a doorstop killer grab didn't used it Wonder why he didn't shoot How far away is the next ranch sheriff six miles at least why just figured maybe the killer didn't want to risk the noise of shots Must have picked up the flat iron. I kill a little kid, too Didn't want anybody to be able to identify him. Yeah likely well What now Jase I'd like to find comb this house for fingerprints meantime. I got a few things I'd like you to find out in town There were no fingerprints anywhere except those we knew were the murdered people The motive for the crime was robbery Jim's stock home kept fairly large sums of money on and to pay cash for whatever he bought We didn't find a penny in the house The whole thing looked hopeless Like the sheriff said when he came back to the stock home ranch There a car and I can't give us much Jase ain't no way of telling how long they've been dead We could find out what day the murders were committed. We'd have something not much but something yeah But how are you gonna find that out? Nobody saw the stock homes before they were killed for sure Jim went into town on the 22nd week ago out here if nobody sees his neighbor for a week Ain't nothing thought about it. So the murders could have been committed anytime between the 22nd and the day the bodies were discovered That's the way it sizes up Jase killer's got at least a week to make tracks for Well, Texas is big And sheriff that fence there near the corral. Well, it's a hog pen. It's Hey The hogs are gone. Yeah, bust it through. Come on. I never noticed it before Never thought about looking for the hogs who would Look here sheriff where the fence is busted through look at these here hog bristles lots of them caught on the broken part of the rail Hogs broke out and pushed through here. Yeah, but look here Jase What's it got to do with what we're after? What made these hogs go wild and break out? It's my guess. They got awful hungry Sure, and we're looking for something to eat. Come on We're going to the barn and take a look at the hog feed then we're going into town We found three sacks of hog feed in the barn two of them were full unopened The third had just about enough mash taken out for one feeding Sheriff Larkin's and I went into town then the sheriff asked a few questions I wanted answered and I checked at the feed store Sure, Jim stock home about all his feet in here Ranger. You remember when he was in last ma'am bet I do it's the last time anybody saw him the 22nd. That's it. What do you buy? Three sacks of hog mash Got all the information you wanted Jason thanks sheriff now ma'am is there anything else you can remember about that day Stockholm seemed troubled or anything No, I'm just stopped in for a minute all he said was he had to get back with the mash He was all out. Are you sure that I'm just as sure as I'm standing here and you're sure it was the 22nd I can make it real sure ranger Got all my sales in this book Yeah, here it is 22nd three sacks of hog mash to Jim stock home. Thank you ma'am. Let's go sheriff sure welcome ranger You helped a lot What have you got Jason the stock homes were killed on the 22nd. How do you know? Jim stock home bought these three sacks of feet on the 22nd. He said he was all out at the ranch He had to get home and feed the hogs. We found two of the bags unopened Yeah, and a third with only about enough mash out of it to give the hogs one meal Which means he fed the hogs on the 22nd, but he didn't the next day or the next cause he was dead. That's it Now we got a lot of checking to do and it's all gonna hinge around the 22nd We questioned everybody, but it all added up to a big round zero Everybody knew Jim stock home and liked him. He didn't have an enemy Everyone we questioned could account for his time on the 22nd. Nobody'd seen a stranger in town So I played a hunch sheriff Larkins and I rode over to the stock home ranch trying to pick up anything Then about eight miles north of the ranch. We got a break Hey Yeah, sure What do you got sheriff? Looks like ashes empty being in there, too Looks like somebody cooked himself a meal here horses tracks around here to one horse Yeah, like they might be about a week old might not mean a thing chase could be anybody's horse Sure could but nobody in town saw a stranger little town like that people notice a stranger right away But if a man came riding from this direction chances, I nobody'd see him still could be anybody. I know I'm gonna take a real close look. Okay. I'll cover this part good Sheriff come here get something. I think so look Tied his horse to this mesquite. See Horse stood here piece of mesquite broken off Here's something else take a look Dirt just ordinary earth take a good look Different from the earth around here sure is different color and different texture Sheriff I got a hunch this dirt scraped off a boot when he got back in the saddle scraped off by a stirrup Here's a bigger hunk of it. Yeah reddish color. You ever see dirt like this around here No, that hunk's got a funny shape Backed in against the instep of a booty that take this shape you have any rain around here lately that dries up bone There's only one way earth packs up in an instep if it's wet Man who left this couldn't have come far Come on. Let's see if we can find a couple of his footprints We picked up a few prints I took their measurements and we went back into town I asked some more questions Meantime I sent the earth samples to the lab for analysis by the time I got back to my headquarters captain stinson had the report Looks like this earth came from Southwest Wheeler County, Jase At least the lab thinks so Wheeler County Southwest well kind of fits captain fits what? That part of Wheeler County is not far from Stockholm Ranch No, it isn't just about as far as it would take wet earth to dry out and get hard enough to scrape off a man's boot Yeah, I see What else you got a few horse hairs I picked off in the skeet bush looks like the fellow was riding a sorrow It's something else Plaster cast of his boot prints It's a pretty big booth big man, maybe six two or three You're right, but the no fingerprints is no real evidence this fellow whose boot prints you got He might have been anybody might never have gone near the Stockholm Ranch Yeah, I know that captain. He didn't pick up any of his boot prints around the house. Did you know place was pretty messed up A lot of people got there before I did. Yeah, that's one break a criminal always gets if only people would stay away Only they'd have enough sense to realize sure, but they don't they don't mean any harm though Okay, what's next look for a man six feet two or three riding a sorrel. I'd like to captain starting where Well, Texas I guess It's national Wheaties week Yep, yep, yep, and in celebration of National Wheaties week when everybody eats Wheaties even trombone players Here's that well-known radio musician Abe Lincoln Honest his name really is Abe Lincoln and here he is stepping off from behind the scenes to say get your Wheaties Oh, come on Abe. You didn't come out from your trombone to say just that. No, but that's the idea Folks the Wheaties big parade has been bringing you some pretty solid entertainment this summer I can say it because I've worked along with all the other fellows helping put this entertainment on the air and Now it's National Wheaties week and we hope that every one of you who's enjoyed these programs will go out and get your Wheaties The backstage folks like me the people whose voices you usually never hear We'd sure like it if we thought you'd enjoy our programs enough to go out and get some Wheaties If you like the Texas Rangers buy a box of Wheaties on Monday, will you thanks and good night Abe? Remember, it's National Wheaties week I kicked around for a few days covering all the ground I could between the Stockholm Ranch and Wheeler County And then I reported back to Captain Stinson Kind of picked up something interesting captain like what Jason weather reports Here's a map of Wheeler County the places I marked in red had rained within the last three weeks Oh, well, what about it? Well, this place Right here The only spot of the mark places that will show the same kind of earth we had analyzed I checked So it's nearer down to that But you can't arrest a man just because he happened to be in a place where it rained I know i'm working on a shoestring, but there's no other lead nothing Might be I'll hit a stone wall or pick up some poke who just happened to pass through the spot Where we found the prince of earth, but it's a chance cap the only one Well, suppose you chased down that lead in Wheeler County and your man's gone Oh, I don't expect to find him there He left there and landed at Stockholm Ranch maybe and left no fingerprints There's not a single piece of evidence and still the only lead you want to stick to Wheeler County, huh? That's about it captain Maybe pick up a description of a possible suspect. Well, where'd you start? Well, here's what I think the man we're looking for is a drifter Maybe a poke that picks up work here and there where he can get it Fact that he ate a can of beans and cooked it himself means he didn't have a nickel to buy a decent meal Even though he was near a town That kind's usually a drifter made a buck here in a nickel layer. You see what I mean All right, jace play the hunch, but if the lead peters out, I'm hoping it won't see you later Are you keeping touch? Yeah radio or phone so long A little while later I was in Wheeler County southwest I checked one ranch after another some big some small What I wanted to know was had anyone seen a man about six two or three a man who owned a sorrel and didn't have steady work I once read where a man found a needle in a haystack did it on a bet Well, my needle could be in any haystack Then on the Claude Edwards ranch near Ramstow. I ran into something sure I remember a poke about like that ranger big fella had himself a sorrow Did he work for you mr. Edwards a couple of days Grifted in looking for something to do I don't usually have work for more than my own hand, but this fella came in just about when I needed somebody else and what was his name Or or well, yeah, that was it or well now. When was he here? Oh, let me see now That'll be around the 1920s. When did he leave? He'd do something ranger. I don't know mr. Edwards, but I'd sure like to hear everything you know about him Well, he worked for a couple of days then come in and ask him for his pay That was uh, maybe the 22nd. Are you sure put your darn sure. It's awful important. All right. I'm sure We had a spell of rain about him. I had a men in the roof He didn't like it none. Did he say where he was going anything at all didn't say and I didn't ask Just handed him his pay Saw him in town later and dropping it in a card game Then he let out. All right Now I want the best description of him. You can possibly give me everything you can remember what he looked like how he talked acted I'll try ranger But how you're going about finding him by now. He might be clear in the mexico any place I'm gonna do my best mr. Edwards, and I'm not sure that's gonna be enough I got a description of Orwell six feet two dark hair road of sorrow tight lift and not too easy to get along with black moustache Funny how little that people notice things unless it's something they really want to see What description we had was sent out 50 false leads came through 100 But every once in a while one came through that matched something else Captain stinson and I talked it over. Well, maybe it is something jays look A hundred different leads, but there's one that shows up ever so often this one Same description drifter gambles a lot had a dozen different jobs. There's something else jays Now look at the pattern here. Yeah, I am Listen keeps moving southwest always away the others jump around The last report came from san carlo two days ago. Mm-hmm I'd like to mosey into san carlo and see if I can pick up anything from there I figure this Orwell's moving slow. He's counting on being safe by now What if you find him still not much evidence? We'd have to get a confession out of him Nothing we've got'll stick in a court. I got an idea about that Let me try it captain In san carlo, I picked up a few more scraps about or what I'd learned I tried to think like the man I was trailing tried to figure out his next move He gambled a lot. So every time I hit I asked questions went to ranches and asked about poker games and crap games Orwell was like quick silver Yeah, he was here left Uh-huh. He was there left after picking up a few dollars But the pattern stayed the same always moving southwest Then on the mac mallet branch near the new mexico border. Oh, well Uh, you say all well ranger. That's the name. He's riding a sorrow horse Well, I don't like safe as sure But I I took on a fella named of orwell and he did come in riding a sorrow As soon as he hit the bunkhouse. He'd try to shake up poker game. Where is he now? Well, I sent him out this morning to ride fence stock was getting through how long go to leave. Oh Three or four hours Maybe a little more. Tell me something else. Oh sure. What did he have any money when he left this morning? Funny ask about that ranger Matter of fact, it touched me for a five against any pay he had coming He uh, what'll become back soon now almost time for chow He touched you for five He won't be back for chow I'm going after him I followed the fence riders trail It was well into the afternoon when I spotted a rider up ahead I took off my badge and stuck in my pocket put my guns and my waistband under my jacket and caught up with him Howdy Who are you? Name is pierce. You're orwell, huh? Yeah, why boss sent me out to look for you boss Yeah, foreman back at mallets range. What first? Well, we got to get back to the north fence He wasn't working there when I left Got took on I guess we better get back the north fence boss says it's important. That's so Say come to think of it. You're you're not even on the ranch anymore. I hit the boundary fence a piece back All right. I got news for you mister. I ain't riding fence Now you take off you see about that north fence You mean you're quitting right the first time mister Now so long Hey, hey, hold it a minute. You're downright unsociable. Oh boy. Oh You're downright nosy me I didn't mean to be say you mind if I ride a piece with you. Yeah, I do I'd kind of like company Thought you was just took on at the mallets place Seems to me you're riding wrong mister No, I got no hankering for work either not with 500 in my jeans 500 That poke like you with 500 got lucky in a crap game night for last And why'd you take the job? Oh man can always use a couple more bucks. Well, I guess I'll be riding on. Hey, hey, wait Huh? Okay I kind of like company myself You want to ride a piece with me? It's okay We rode on the rest of the day and I found out Orwell was planning to head into mexico We bedded down early And along toward midnight when Orwell thought I was asleep He raised up and moved toward me Pearson Pearson You're sleeping Something you want my saddlebag or will I thought you were sleeping. No Don't reach for it. Orwell. I'll blow your head off What are you getting sir head up about Man starts to go through my saddlebags when I'm sleeping I get touchy I'm just looking for cigarettes No need for that gun. Yeah Sure Wasn't looking for 500 will you you call me a crook? You name it Orwell You you are touchy Okay, okay Put that gun away Pearson. You're acting like a kid. I tell you I was just looking for cigarettes Sure. I guess I did maybe bust a strap Okay, bring that saddlebag cigarettes are in it sure Left or right one. All right Hey, uh You open it this time What's gotten there? Stuff Okay, the cigarettes are wrapped up in that piece of blanket. Help yourself. Oh, thanks Hey Cigarettes in here Feels like a ton of iron Could be Anything wrong Orwell? It's a flat eye. Uh-huh Funny thing to be carrying around why I knew a man once carried around a cow skull tied to his saddle horn Why are you carrying this? No, no. Why are you asking who? Who are you? I told you names Pearson jace Pearson Cigarettes are there help yourself. I don't want any suit yourself Mind handing me that flat iron Orwell. Why I just want it Go on go on hand it to me. Oh Hey Hey, you're looking real pale You're not scared of coyotes. Are you shut up? Iron makes a good nutcracker. Maybe I carry it for that shut up. I said go on Orwell Hand me the flat iron pick it up. It's not so heavy. It's heavy enough Man could pick it up like this lift it up over his head and bring it down Why not? Unless I have to who are you Pearson Texas Rangers Figured I did caught up with Yes, we better start going Orwell You're not hurt too bad Shooting by moonlight kind of spoils a man's aim Come on. Let's go William Orwell confessed to the murders of Jim and Florence Stockholm and their son Carl On july 15th 1947 Orwell was convicted his sentence death in the electric chair Joel McRae your texas ranger has asked me to ask you to have some wheaty Yes, have some wheaties because it's national wheaties week The week when everybody goes out and buys a box and enjoys a dish of america's famous whole wheat flakes Start early in national wheaties week So you'll have time to buy them and eat them and buy some more and eat some more Wheaties that is And while you're enjoying them partner, you're getting wide awake energy whole wheat energy There's a whole kernel of wheat in every wheatys flake Begin a better breakfast with wheaties and see if you don't find yourself striding high wide and handsome ride through the morning Rangers can ride better salesmen can sell better plumbers can plum better with a better breakfast Milk and fruit and wheaties get yours breakfast of champions. It's national wheaties week Next week Joel McRae and another authentic re-enactment of a case from the files of the texas rangers Joel McRae will soon be seen starring in the mgm production stars in my crown Tonight's cast included Tony Barrett, DJ Thompson, Byron Kane, Lou Krugman and Russell Simpson This story was transcribed and adapted by Russell Hughes and the program was produced and directed by stacey teats Hal give me speaking And this is the Wheaties man Frank Martin inviting you to listen on Tuesday night to the penny singleton show on the Wheaties big parade See you then remember it's national wheaties week. Come on everybody to the Wheaties party Eat a lot of Wheaties sector champions do dance together cheek to cheek. This is national Wheaties week Eat a lot of Wheaties sector champions do Wheaties are breakfaster champions Tomorrow Sigmund Romberg conducts the summer symphony on NBC