The Fourth Victim 

Dillon has to find and stop a serial sniper in Dodge who has been killing one man per night with a silencer equipped .30 caliber rifle.

Director:

Bernard McEveety

Writer:

Jim Byrnes

Stars:

Milburn Stone, Ken Curtis, Buck Taylor

Cast

Episode cast overview, first billed only:
Milburn Stone	...	Doc
Ken Curtis	...	Festus
Buck Taylor	...	Newly
James Arness	...	Matt Dillon
Biff McGuire	...	Potter
Leonard Stone	...	Ray Price
Ted Jordan	...	Burke
Paul Sorensen	...	Bill Saxbe
Howard Culver	...	Howie
Woody Chambliss	...	Lathrop
Victor Kilian	...	Homer Jones (as Victor Killian)
Lloyd Perryman	...	Henry Meeker
Frank Janson	...	Jeb Nelson (as Frank K. Janson)
Al Wyatt Sr.	...	Earl Haines (as Al Wyatt)
Ben Bates	...	Second Matt

Storyline

Late one night, a man (seen only from the shoulders down or in silhouette) enters the Dodge House Hotel, swipes a room key, lets himself into the room and goes back to return the key. A few minutes later, the room's occupant comes in. As he shuts the door, he looks up and sees the silhouette -- pointing a rifle at him. The slug drills him through the heart, but there is no sound of the shot and he's not discovered until the next morning. Newly thinks that someone could fashion a device to silence muzzle blasts. Matt sends word throughout Dodge and the nearby communities to form a street police force. But the killer strikes again the next night, and the next. Matt's now convinced that the serial killer is choosing his victims for a specific purpose -- most likely because they served on a jury. Matt questions Doc, who's lived in Dodge the longest, about the juries he remembers serving on and whether he remembered the men who served with them and who they judged. From Doc's information, ...

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Plot Keywords:

number in title | 

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Genres:

Western

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

4 November 1974 (USA)

Filming Locations:

CBS Studio Center - 4024 Radford Avenue, Studio City, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

CBS Television Network

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Alex Sharp, who played the third Matt, had been a stuntman for 10 episodes from 1957 - 1968 on the show.

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Goofs

When the second victim is shot, the long camera shows Festus and four men run up from the left followed by one man from the right. Making Festus and five men. When the scene changes to a close up shot, there is Festus and only four men.

User Reviews

One of the best Gunsmoke episodes

I really like this story, it is just packed with action and intrigue between the commercials. The killer is actually using a silincer that really works. The humt to find the killer includes some tedious detective work and there are efforts to trap the killer. To Doc's dislike, Festus is his bodyguard for part of the time. There is even a look back to others who have left the series. Mentioned are Chester and Quint. It is a darn good supurbly written episode. The acting of the regulars is as great as always. Take the time to watch this one. The ending you should get to on your own with no spoilers. Enjoy!