Who Was the Ragged Stranger?- Episode #3

The Mystery of the Ragged Stranger Podcast

This podcast aims to take a deep look, at what was one of Chicago’s most famous crimes. In 1920, on a quiet North Side street, three people entered a tiny vestibule of a two-flat. Ten gunshots later, only one person emerged. This is the true story. Episode #3- Who Was the Ragged Stranger? In the immediate aftermath of the shooting the police tried to identify the unknown man in the morgue at Ravenswood Hospital. He was a white male in his early 20’s with a pale complexion, freckles, and light reddish-brown hair that was longer than the style at the time. He had brown eyes above a broad nose centered on a long face with a high forehead. He stood a bit short of six feet tall and weighed 150 pounds. He wore ragged clothing described as "well-worn and dirty" and of "cheap material" that included a dark coat, a tan army shirt, "bluish" cotton socks, and grey trousers tied up with a safety pin. A black cap was not upon his head but had been brought to the morgue along with his body. He needed a bath yet recently had had a haircut, shave, and manicure as his head was lice free, his face smooth and his hands immaculately clean. The only money found on the man was 20 cents; one dime, one nickel, and five pennies. He carried commissary ticket #729 in the name of E. Masters issued from the John Robinson Circus dining car and a button for Chicago Chauffeurs Union Local 706. A Colt M1911 revolver with serial number #C2282 was at his side. His dead body had four bullet wounds from a .45 revolver shot at a range of one to three feet. That was all that was known. This project aims to fill in the gaps where there is unknown, correct false narratives that have branched away from the truth, and most importantly, to entertain and enlighten. The Mystery of the Ragged Stranger is written by Michael Hendrychs and produced in partnership with ChicagoNow. It has been sourced from research for my upcoming book Kisses for Julia, Bullets for Ruth: The Mystery of Carl Wanderer & the Ragged Stranger. More information on The Mystery of the Ragged Stranger can be found on our blog at www.chicagonow.com/the-ragged-stranger/ And on our website at theraggedstranger.com/ On Instagram www.instagram.com/raggedstranger/ Facebook www.facebook.com/ragged.stranger.54 Twitter twitter.com/Ragged_Stranger Our intro theme music for the podcast is The Crocodile by the Wiedoft-Wadsworth Quartet. Written by Otto Motzan and Harry Akst and recorded March 1, 1920 in New York City. The performers credited were- Harry Askt on piano, Carl Fenton also on piano, George Hamilton Green on the xylophone, J. Russel Robinson again on piano, F. Wheeler Wadsworth on alto saxophone, and Rudy Wiedoeft also on alto saxophone. Usage via Public Domain. Our outro theme song is The Butcher's Boy (The Railroad Boy) by Buell Kazee and is used courtesy of June Appal Recordings in Whitesburg, Kentucky. Kazee, a Baptist minister, recorded this haunting song, compiled from a collection of British ballads, in New York City on January 16, 1928. The recordings for Buell Kazee (catalog no. JA009) were made by Mark Wilson, Buell Kazee, and Kentucky Educational Television, and were compiled and produced by Jonathan Greene, Loyal Jones and John McCutcheon for June Appal Recordings. The album was preserved and re-released by Appalshop Archive in 2007 and can be purchased here- www.appalshop.org/store/june-appal…lf-titled-album/.