The Big Story
The Biggest Catch
by
A young reporter from Elkhorn, Wisconsin, notices a gangster and his companions at a country retreat, supposedly there to fish. Looking more closely at their car trunks, he realizes they contain guns rather than fishing gear. The gangster is Roger Touhy, a rival of Al Capone known for kidnapping for ransom and for trying to keep his face out of the newspapers.
The story follows the reporter’s discovery and the events that brought Touhy into public view. Touhy and others were convicted in 1934 of kidnapping Jake the Barber Factor, a relative of beauty magnate Max Factor. The account also traces Touhy’s failed prison escape, his eventual release, and his death soon afterward. Don Morrissey, the reporter associated with the story, went on to work for newspapers in several cities before moving into public relations.
This recording is part of the Old Time Radio collection.