 This is your FBI, the official broadcast from the files of the Federal Bureau of Investigation presented transcribed as a public service by the American Broadcasting Company. Tonight the subject of our FBI file, bank robbery, it's titled Death in the Desert. Thirty months have passed since the outbreak of the Korean War, but there is a war going on in the United States as well, a vicious, sustained battle in which the decent people of the nation are pitted against unscrupulous criminals, criminals who man an army of nine and one-half million. It may not have occurred to you that there are nine and a half million persons with arrest records in the nation, but it is a fact that out of every 32 people, and that includes our men, women, and children, there is one person who has been convicted of a crime. That fact concerns you because in almost every crime, you are the victim, you the decent law-abiding citizen. Tonight's file opens in a remote section of desert country in one of our southwestern states. A young photographer Tony Spencer and his wife are walking across the wasteland. It is twilight. There's our tent. Yeah, I must say it looks pretty good. Tired, honey? Kind of. We shouldn't hike so far, I guess. I loved it. I think we got some pretty good pictures today. Yes, I'm dying to see other shots of the maze that turn out. Oh, hey, where are those rolls of film? Oh, I have them right here. Oh, good. Give me a hand. Okay. Home at last. Oh, yes. Hungry? Starved. Well, you start a fire and I'll go down to the spring and get some water. Right. What'll it be tonight? Beans or beans? I don't care. Surprise me. Okay. Hey, where's that precious wood? Right beside the car. Oh, huh? Tony, come here quickly. Well, what is it? Come here to the spring. What's the matter, honey? Look, Tony, that man there on the ground. Hey. He's bleeding badly. Yeah. Well, he's still alive. What can we do? That's a bullet wound in his chest. Shouldn't we take him to a doctor? Honey, we're not exactly around the corner from the hospital. Let me wash his wound and take a look at it. I'll wet this scar. I wonder who he is. I wonder how it happened. I don't know. And from the looks of that wound, we may never get the answer. In the town of Jasper, some 50 miles away from this desert camping ground, FBI Special Agent Jim Taylor is just entering the office of the local sheriff. Pull up a chair, Mr. Taylor. Thank you, Sheriff. You made a good time getting down here. Well, I started as soon as we received your call. Any new developments in the case? No. I'm sorry to say there aren't. Oh, I wonder if you'd mind reviewing the facts. I didn't get many details. All right. Suppose I start right in the beginning. I'll be fine. At 12 30 this afternoon, three armed men entered the First National Bank here in Jasper. It took 12,000 in cash. And when a teller named Blaine attempted to send out an alarm, one of the men shot and wounded him. I see, go on. The shot was heard on the street and the crowd gathered. When the bandits left the bank, they couldn't get to their getaway car and they were forced to separate. What happened? Well, there was quite a bit of shooting. One of the bandits was definitely wounded while driving away in a stolen car. How about the other two? As far as I know, they were unharmed. What reports have you had on them since? Nothing at all. You set up roadblocks. Mm-hmm. You have all that completely covered. Well, let's see. It's a little over six hours now since the robbery occurred. That's right. We're not too disappointed, though. You see, time has a different meaning out here. Criminals have plenty of wide open country to roam in. Catching up with them is a matter of days, not hours. I see. The bandits still have the money, I suppose. As far as we know, yes. Oh, excuse me. Sure. Hello? Hello, Shire. This is Bill Holt. Yes, Bill. Mm-hmm. And near where? All right. Be right out there, Bill. Want some more bandage, Tony? No, this should do it. How is he? Well, I've just about stopped the bleeding, but I'm afraid he's in pretty bad shape. Oh. Susan, you were right. I think we should take him to a doctor. Where? Jasper's in Eristown. That's about 50 miles from here. I know. Well, do you think you can find your way there at night? Oh, sure. Now let's see how we're going to move this fellow to the car. You ain't moving him. Huh? You're staying right where he is. Who are you? His brother. He's badly wounded. He needs a doctor. Mm-hmm. I was just going to take him into Jasper. I know. I heard you talking about him. Well? He's got to stay where he is. But you can't... Shut up. I'll look, Mr. You can't... Shut up, both of you. Tony, he has a gun. That's right. You put on this bandage. I did. When did you find him? Less than an hour ago. How come you're to be here? We're on a camping trip. Hand me that wet cloth, lady. He needs more than that. I know. I think you stop breathing. Johnny. Johnny. He has stopped breathing. He's dead. Yeah. Tony, I don't want to stay here any longer. Let's go away, please. Wait a minute. What? You ain't going no place. You stay in here. Over here, Jim. Put him down into the ditch, huh? Evidently on purpose. My deputy tells me the car was out of gas. Oh. Can you see all right, Jim? Yeah. Yeah, I've got my own flashlight in it. Oh, good. The car's already been gone over for fingerprints, eh? Mm-hmm. We've got some pretty good impressions. Well, I'll send them on to our laboratory. Honey, a blood stain in this front seat must have been pretty badly wounded. You know, Sheriff, from the descriptions you got on those three bandits, I'm almost certain they were the Wallace Brothers. You say they're wanted for another bank job up north? Yeah. That's right. We've been looking for them for over three months now. Well, the one who was driving this car couldn't have gotten very far. No. Sheriff, does anyone live around here? No. This is just plain desert, country. There are plenty of places for him to hide. And plenty of ways for us to find him. Rather, he was out here than sticking on the road. You're going to start looking tonight? No, wait till morning. I'll organize a posse as soon as it gets light. What if he did stay on the road and tried to commandeer another car? Well, we still have our roadblock. I'll get the local radio station to send out an alarm warning motorists to beware of anyone walking the highway. Sheriff! Yeah? Your office is going on your car radio. Oh, thank you. Come on, Jim. This may be word in one of the other two bandits. I hope so. I told my office to contact me out here if anything came in. Sheriff Lake here. Did this happen at Hamilton's home? All right, we'll drive over and see him. Oh, get your coat. Hey, where you going? To my car. Sit down. My wife's cold. I want to get her a coat. Sit down, I said. Sit down, Tony, please. OK. Look, will you tell me why you're keeping us here? We're waiting for someone. Who? My brother. Your brother's dead. This is another one. Why would you be meeting him here? Because we got separated today. We made it up. If we'd got separated, we'd all meet here by the spring. But what's that got to do with us? Wait. Somebody's coming on the horse. Flatten out both of you. Down, I said. Mickey. At you, Sam? Yeah. Johnny get here? Yeah. He got here, but he's dead. Huh? There's his body. Oh. I've seen him get shot when he grabbed that car, but I didn't know. Yeah, who those two? I found them here. Where'd they come from? We're from down in Hastings. My wife and I are on a camping trip. That's your car? Yeah. Mickey, where's the money? I haven't got it. What? I gave it to Johnny. He's bringing it here. I don't see no sign of it. When those two get here? Before you, Sam? Yeah. They found Johnny? Yeah. And they also found the doe. Look, Mr. I... What'd you do with it? I don't know what you're talking about. A bag holding $12,000. Now, let's have it. We ain't got much time. I didn't see any money. Get a lion. He's telling the truth. You keep out of this. Boy, you didn't... Easy, Mr. Gourmet. Easy, Mr. Gourmet. He's going to get a workout until he tells us what he did with the doe. In just a moment, we'll return you to tonight's dramatic case from the official files of your FBI. Have you given blood recently? If you can answer yes, your country is proud of you. But, and yes, there's a but in this message of praise, the need for blood continues urgent. Besides our fighting men in Korea, we have thousands of hospitalized veterans fighting for life. Your blood can help them. In addition, there is a daily demand for blood in civilian hospitals. And beyond all this, we need to build blood plasma reserves against the possibility of disaster or enemy attack. Just one atomic attack on one American city would require vast quantities of whole blood and thousands of units of plasma in the first 24 hours alone. To meet and coordinate those needs, a national blood program has been set up with the Department of Defense, Civil Defense, and the Red Cross cooperating. You can help. Phone your local Red Cross for an appointment. It's easy and painless. Americans are rolling up their sleeves. Join them, won't you? And now back to the FBI file, Death in the Desert. The basis for human relationship in the world today is the family and in ordinary conditions human beings have no greater loyalties than to the members of their own families. But the criminal is not an ordinary human being. For his very means of livelihood depends on his constant violation of everyday conventions. As you can see in tonight's case from the files of your FBI, one of the basic tenants which he violates is that family loyalty comes second to personal possession. For your average criminal is motivated by only one thing. One quality he has in common with those of his fellows who live by the sweat of other people's brows. That common quality is greed. Tonight's file continues at the Desert Oasis. A half hour has passed. Young Tony Spencer has been severely beaten by the brutal bank bandits. He's lying unconscious on the ground, his wife bending over him. Tony. Tony. Oh, you poor darling. Darling, it's all right. Susan. Yes, dear. Susan, where are you? I'm right here, Tony, right beside you. Well, you come too, huh? Yes. Okay, get away from him. You're not going to start again. Get away. Oh, look, tough guy. Shut up and listen to me. I'm not going to start again. There's something you ought to know about that money, too. We grabbed it from a bank. We shot a guy who tried to stop us and tell him this so that you'll know I'm playing for keeps. I tell you, I didn't see any dough. Sam. Yeah? What are you doing? They're going to drive it, Johnny. Oh. Make it a big one. We're getting two more customers. Please, you've got to believe me. We don't know anything about the money. I've been listening to that long enough. Now, who wants it first? Well? Look, do anything you want with me. Leave her alone. Is that how you'd like it? Yes. Okay. Then she gets it first. Mickey. Yeah? I found it. I found the bag with a doll. Where was it? I found it when I was digging. And we found the money. Johnny must have buried it before he passed out. Yeah. Yeah. Looks like it's all here. Now, let's not waste no more time. We better get moving. Okay. Use their car. Come on, you two. Come on, get up. Just take the car. We need cover. Somebody to front. You two coming with us. No. Look. Get into that car. We're heading south. You feel well enough now, Mr. Hamilton, to answer a few questions? Yes. I guess so, Mr. Taylor. Oh, fine. Tell us about the assault. Well, I was out in the back porch when I heard the horses start to fret down the corral. Yeah. Go on, sir. I went down there and found a fellow just starting to saddle one of them. I grappled with him. Then he slugged me with, and I could have been the butt end of a gun. Well, can you describe this man for us? Pretty tall, about six, two, or three. Had light-colored hair. That sounds like one of the bandits, all right. Hell. Mr. Hamilton, your wife said she heard the fight and came out just in time to see this man right over the hill there in back of your ranch. Is there a road back there? More of a trail crosses a section of the desert. I'm familiar with it, Jim. Goes past Lone Spring and hooks up with Route 55 down below. I see. Well, can we drive a car over, chief? Yeah. This man has about a two-hour start, but he's on horseback. If he stays with the trail, do you think we could catch him before he reaches the other highway? Yes, I think we could. Okay, let's go. Yes, honey. How much longer do you think this will come on? I don't know. What are you two talking about? My wife was wondering how much longer we had to put up with this. No, kid. We've been driving for over two hours now. You must be out of danger. Why don't you get out and leave us alone? You just drive south and keep quiet. Where are we going? Hastings. That's where we live. Yeah, I know. You told me. Where are you going there? I mean, Sam, we're going to live with you. This is Sheriff Lake. Come in. Come in, headquarters. We're out here below Lone Spring. We just found the body of one of the bandits, the one who was wounded. We also found the stolen horse. He was abandoned near here. We believe the other two men are now in a car heading south into Route 55. Notify the authorities down there. Tell them to watch out for them. We're going to look around here a while. I'll be in touch with you later. Lake out. Jim? Yes, Sheriff? You examine the body? Yeah. It's one of the Wallace Brothers, all right? And just alerted the police south of here to be on the lookout for the other two. Well, there may be more than two in the car, Sheriff. What do you mean? Well, I found evidence there was a woman here, possibly another man. Really? Oh, what kind of evidence? I found this woman's scarf. I also picked up female heel prints all around the grounds. I see. There have been a tent pitch, too. I discovered the stake marks out there. Here's what may be a real clue for us. I picked it up down with a spring. What is it? Undeveloped roll of film. Sheriff, let's head back to your office. I think we've got some work to do. You busy, Sheriff? No. Come in, Jim. Thanks. Is there any news? No. They haven't only got the jump on us. Must have gotten to Route 55 before we alerted the police down there. No. I've just come from the camera shop. Yeah? I had that roll of film developed. I got enlargements on each print. Put them back with me. Good. All of these first two are of the same woman. Do you by any chance recognize her, Sheriff? No. I'm afraid I don't. She could be the woman who was at Long Spring last night. Here's a couple of shots of a cottage. Now, does that look like any place around here to you? No. No, I've never seen it. Half the roll was shot around this cottage the other half in the desert. I get the impression from the pictures that the cottage is the woman's home. No. Here's a long shot of the cottage and some hills in the background there. Yeah. Wait a minute. Let me look at that one again. Sure, here. Mm-hmm. I know those hills. Really? Mm-hmm. Three cone-shaped tops there down in Hastings. Hastings? That's a small town about a hundred miles south here. I think we'd better plan to get down there at once. Pass me them potatoes. You eating more? All right. All right, potatoes. You want some? No, thanks. What's the matter? You didn't eat anything? I'm not hungry. There you go. That's when you don't eat either. How can we with you around? Well, look. Don't start that smart talk again. Sam, hand me some bread. Yeah. You know, I think we're going to stay here a real long time as a girl can really cook. Yeah, wait a minute. Don't you want me to answer it? Yeah. Yeah, you can answer it if people must know your home. Just watch what you say or something. Sure. Hello? Mr. Spencer? Yes. This... Sure, George. Are they...? Yeah. We're just eating dinner. They're armed, I imagine. Yes. I see. That's fine, George. Thanks. Goodbye. Well, George, why? Oh, just neighbor talk. Oh, Susan. Yes, dear? Your beads are all tangled. Let me straighten them out. Oh, golly. Look what I did. I'll pick them up. I'll help you. Down, honey! Look out, boy! Hands down! You're kidding! All right, now, put up your hands, both of you. I'll get the guns. Thanks, Mr. Spencer. Are you two all right? Oh, yes. Yes, thank you. Well, now I'll take your unwelcome borders out of here. Mickey Wallace and his brother were tried for their crimes and sentenced to serve 20 years each in a federal penitentiary. In ending the criminal careers of the Wallace brothers, your FBI once again proved the point that crime does not pay. But in tonight's case from the files of your FBI, the point was proven in an unconventional manner. For this case was not paid. For this case was not resolved because of a clue left by the criminal through any mistake. This was a case that was resolved because a special agent, working on every available angle, found an innocent-looking role of undeveloped film. No clue is too unpromising to follow to the very end. And because of that, this case was closed. It is quite true that the eyes of justice are blindfolded. But crime will never pay because justice has friends. Friends like the special agents of your FBI who see very well. The worst infantile paralysis epidemic in history struck last year, more than 55,000 victims, most of them children. Everyone who needed help got it from your National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis. As a result, not only are funds exhausted, but your National Foundation is now $7 million in debt. Your contributions are needed to continue the help that new polio victims and victims of other years require. Medical care must continue. Crutches, braces, and iron lungs must be supplied. In 1952, medical scientists announced the discovery of an effective temporary preventive for paralytic polio. It is called gamaglabulin. They made great strides toward perfecting a safe polio vaccine. This vital research must go on so that polio can be wiped out and the children of tomorrow saved from its crippling effects. We can't fight this enemy just by wishing. Your dimes and dollars are urgently needed. So give, and give generously to the 1953 March of Dimes. Next week we will dramatize another case from the files of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, its subject, homicide, its title, the red-headed blackmailer. The incidents used in tonight's broadcast are adapted from the files of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. However, all names used are fictitious, and any similarity thereof to the names of places or persons living or dead is accidental. Tonight the music was composed and conducted by Frederick Steiner. Your narrator was William Woodson, and special agent Taylor was played by Stacey Harris. Others in the cast were Ted DeCorsia, Sam Edwards, Catherine Keith, Lou Merrill, Paul Richards, and Carlton Young. Your announcer is Bill Spargrove. This is Your FBI is a Jerry Divine production. Tune in again next week at the same time when over most of these stations the American Broadcasting Company will bring you another thrilling transcribe story from the files of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the red-headed blackmailer on This is Your FBI.