The Big Story
Deadline Murder
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In this episode of The Big Story, reporter Rolf K. Mills of the Minneapolis Morning Tribune recounts a murder case that unfolded over just eight hours in late April 1943. After a drunken quarrel with his girlfriend, cab driver James Talbot believed he had beaten and strangled Ruth Shableau, then buried her at a city dump. She was likely still alive when he left her there and died by suffocation. Shableau’s husband was overseas in the armed services, and she had filed for divorce years earlier.
Mills was assigned the story by chance, filling in for the regular reporter. He and other investigators worked to identify Shableau through interviews with her family and neighbors. Talbot’s body was later found hanging in his garage, along with a note confessing to the crime. The episode follows the reporting and investigation behind the case, bringing the urgency of a newspaper assignment to a dramatic radio account.
This recording is part of the Old Time Radio collection.
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