The Hatchet (Tales of the Texas Rangers): radio western of 1951

Original Airdate: Feb. 11, 1951
The Hatchet (Tales of the Texas Rangers)

Starring: Joel McCrea with Tony Barrett, Parley Baer, Mike Barrett, Sam Edwards, Gerald Mohr, Joe Duval, and Tom Cook
Producer/director: Stacey Keach, Sr.

It’s a Sunday morning in Rock Point, Texas and a family is preparing for church. The son had been out again late on a Saturday night gallivanting with his girlfriend and his pa is not too pleased. On their way to church they stop to pick up their son’s English teacher, but he isn’t answering his door – he’s dead. A bloody scene greets Texas Ranger Jace Pearson who surmises it was probably done with a blunt instrument such as a hatchet. But who could have done such a thing in such a quiet town and what could the motive possibly have been?