Circumstantial Terror

Originally Aired: March 8, 1954

Suspense #542, "Circumstantial Terror," stars Ronald Reagan as Frank Thompson, a desperate man caught in a nightmare of circumstantial evidence. After months of unemployment following a boiler explosion at his workplace, Frank loses his temper with Sam, a rude liquor store owner, during an argument over cigarettes. Later that night, feeling guilty about his outburst, Frank returns to the store to apologize—only to hear a gunshot and see an unknown man flee the scene. When he rushes inside, he finds Sam dead behind the counter.

Before Frank can call the police, witnesses arrive who had overheard his earlier threats against Sam. Despite his protests that he saw the real killer escape, the evidence mounts against him: the murder weapon bears only Sam's fingerprints, money is scattered across the store suggesting a robbery gone wrong, and his desperate financial situation provides a clear motive. As Frank faces a grand jury indictment for first-degree murder, even his assigned public defender Ernest Gibbons struggles to believe his story. With no one willing to accept the truth about what he witnessed, Frank must find a way to prove his innocence before it's too late.