Tales of The Texas Rangers Daily · Stacy Keach Sr.

Texas Rangers - Squaredance

April 11, 2026·30 min·2 clips

Mort Rogers confronts the stranger outside and pays for it with his life in a West Texas parking lot.

The episode opens with a scene-setting narration establishing the Texas Rangers as a 50-man law enforcement body covering over 260,000 square miles. On the night of October 14, 1949, a Saturday square dance is underway at the Fun Spot, a barn-dance hall near Bankerville in West Texas. A stranger approaches Mrs. Mort Rogers and forcibly tries to get her to dance, grabbing her arm. Her husband Mort arrives, confronts the man, and orders him to leave. The stranger exits with a threatening remark. Minutes later, Mort goes outside to retrieve his wife's jacket and encounters the stranger again in the parking lot. The stranger taunts him and pulls a knife, fatally wounding Rogers in the throat. Mrs. Rogers' screams bring the crowd outside to find the body. The sheriff locks down the scene and summons Ranger Jace Pearson. Pearson arrives shortly after midnight and examines the body, noting the jugular wound would have spattered blood on the killer's clothing. He orders all 60-plus attendees lined up again for a clothing inspection. A phone report from Austin the next morning indicates the blood on two cowpokes' clothes does not match Rogers' blood type, clearing them. Mrs. Rogers is taken to view a photo gallery of known criminals but cannot identify the killer, suggesting he has no prior record in Texas. The sheriff's deputies phone every person on the dance list to ask about missing items. Rancher Boo Baker reports a new bridle and wire clippers stolen from his pickup during the dance. Ranger Pearson surmises Rogers may have surprised the stranger rifling cars before the murder. A subsequent tip reveals Perny Richards Jr. had a new Lady's Hamilton wristwatch stolen from his glove compartment. The serial number of this watch is immediately distributed to jewelers and pawn shops across the region. Captain Stinson checks Austin's open files and discovers two prior incidents: a stolen radio at a square dance in Elderton where the suspect pulled a knife, and an ejection at Paz Crossing for bothering a woman. The pattern suggests the killer frequents square dances in the region, steals from cars, and becomes aggressive with women. The traceable serial number of the wristwatch becomes the investigation's key lead as the episode ends.

As heard by us

A hard-edged dance-hall crime story built from blood typing, witness work, and patient Ranger logic.

The episode begins at a square dance on the outskirts of Bankerville, where a stranger pushes Mrs. Mort Rogers into a dance and sets an uneasy tone at once.

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Why you'd press play

You want a square-dance murder case solved through blood typing and patient fieldwork.

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