Radio doings (Dec 1930-Jun1932)

NICHOLAS B. HARRIS My Interview With HICKMAN NICK Harris, detective, has been telling his absorbing stories to thousands of radio listeners for the past seven years. Harris tempers his thrilling tales with a kindly, human interest philosophy that has made him loved and eagerly listened for by radio fans throughout the West. By JAMES WICKIZER //| ITTLE MARION PARKER might never have been murdered ^™ if she and the school teacher who allowed her to leave the school grounds had been schooled in crime prevention; and little Marion would be alive today if William Edward Hickman himself had been taught that to play crime's game is to court indisputable death. "We are placing too much emphasis upon the capture of criminals and not enough on straightening the brains of the criminally inclined." This is the opinion of Nick Harris, famed detective, who has been urging crime prevention measures over the radio for the past nine years. His messages are especially directed to young boys and girls, it being Harris' contention that through pointing out to young and impressionable people the pitfalls of crime, and how to prevent themselves from being the victims of criminals, he is accomplishing more good for humanity than by a widespread explanation of how best to track down a criminal after the crime has been committed. It was his interest in warning young people of the dangers of crime that led him to interview William Edward Hickman on March 15, 1928, while the fiendish slayer of Marion Parker was on trial for his life. Frank De Warr, then County Jailer, in conversation with Nick Harris one day during the Hickman trial, told the detective of the profound influence his radio talks had had on his daughter, a girl of high school age. "If she is going to a dance or a party on the night of one of your broadcasts, she won't leave the house until she's heard your talk," De Warr told him. Believing that a statement from young Hickman, setting forth his advice to young people, would have a great influence in deterring some of them from a life of crime, De Warr urged Harris to interview Hickman and broadcast the statement over the air as a warning. Harris agreed, and it was arranged that the interview should take place in the Chief Jailer's office. The interview took place, but the statements made by Hickman to Harris were never broadcast over the radio. Now for the first time Nick Harris tells RADIO DOINGS of this famous interview and reveals Hickman's advice to the youth of today. "De Warr was sitting at his desk and I sat opposite him. A large table sep arated us. We had arranged that young Hickman should sit facing us so that the light from the window would fall full upon his face, to enable me to study his facial expressions while I remained in the shadows. "An attendant brought Hickman into the room and he sat down in the chair as we had planned. He was dressed in a dark, well-fitted suit; his hair was carefully brushed and everything about his personal appearance was commendable. He was really quite an attractive looking youth and on first meeting him it was hard to realize that he was the arch fiend who had so brutally killed Marion Parker. "That Hickman was conscious of his guilt and apparently realized the seriousness of his horrible crime was easily recognized in his face. He could not RADIO DOINGS Page Twenty-six