The Big Story
Murder and a Frustrated Father
Sam Melnick, Kansas City, United Press
par The Big Story
The Big Story presents dramatized accounts of news stories and the reporters who uncovered them. This episode follows United Press reporter Sam Melnick in Kansas City as he reports a tragic family murder involving a jealous, controlling father and his daughter, Lula Mae. After she refuses to end her relationship with a returning veteran, her father shoots her while she tries to shield the man. As the police close in, the story reaches a grim conclusion.
The account also traces Melnick’s later life after he leaves newspaper work for a public-relations career in Los Angeles. He becomes involved in a fraudulent scheme to promote a nonexistent municipal monorail in Kansas City, leading to a criminal trial and prison sentence. The episode connects the reporter’s work on a devastating local crime with the unexpected turn his own life takes afterward.
The program’s documentary-inspired dramatic style brings a real news story to radio, combining crime, personal tragedy, and the consequences that follow. The television adaptation later used the title “The Case of the Phoning Father.”
This recording is part of the Old Time Radio collection.