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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1888 | 1 |
| 1892 | 3 |
| 1893 | 6 |
| 1894 | 6 |
| 1895 | 4 |
20 stories matching mortem
- A Bereaved Husband, a Faithful Dog, and a 25-Cent Room
Daniel Bauman took morphine in a downtown lodging house after his wife died at the county farm. His little black dog stayed beside the body and fought off anyone who came near.
- A Funeral with Flowers, a Minister—and No Mourners
Vina Kelly's funeral became a public spectacle when her family failed to appear. Then the coroner's post-mortem answered a rumored pregnancy and found pneumonia.
- The Jesuit Who Shot an Archbishop: A Murderer’s Cold Confession on the Way to Prison
Frank Fuller, convicted of killing Catholic Archbishop Seghers in the Alaskan wilderness, speaks to reporters as he is transported by steamship from Port Townsend to McNeil Island.
- An Elder Left to Suffer
A Native American elder, brutally assaulted at a local ranch, is left on an island without medical care by city and county officials.
- The Brutal Killing of Mike Ivancovich
A grocery store owner in Anacortes is murdered in his home by a man known as 'Charley Sam,' sparking threats of vigilantism in the community.
- A Brother's Bullet: Deputy Marshal Dies, and the Accused Killer Asks Only for a Match
Shot by his own brother at Pioneer Place and James Street, Deputy U.S. Marshal Edward Minsch lingers a day and dies at Providence Hospital — while Frank Minsch, cool and indifferent in the city jail, shows no grief and admits only that he is 'subject to epileptic fits.'
- A Widow’s Armed Vigil at the Grave
After her husband’s suspicious death, a Seattle woman takes up arms to stop authorities from disturbing his remains.
- The Missing Penknife and the Body in Lake Washington
Coroner Horton ruled Michael D. Warren drowned himself at Madrona Park, but the cuts on his body and his vanished penknife kept the case uneasy.
- The Tragedy on Howard Street
A household servant disappears after a toddler dies from arsenic poisoning.
- The Tragic End of a Kalispel Valley Love Triangle
A farmer takes his own life after murdering his neighbor in a crime born of betrayal and a hidden cache of letters.
- The Tragic Shooting of Edward Minach
Frank Minach is bound over for trial after shooting his brother in a local incident that stunned witnesses.
- The Seattle Editor Who Worked Himself to Death in a Bathroom
George H. Heilbron, editor-in-chief of the Post-Intelligencer, was only 38 when apoplexy killed him at his Cherry Street home. His doctor blamed years of nervous exhaustion from overwork.
- The Collapse of the Pacific Northwest League
A post-mortem on the professional baseball association in Tacoma and Seattle highlights the 'salary evil' that led to its ruin.
- A Ghastly Discovery in Tacoma
A railroad laborer found dead in a lodging house was subjected to post-mortem indignities, raising questions about his final hours.
- The Murder Charge That Vanished
A Seattle man was cleared of murder after his accuser admitted she didn't know what she was signing when she filed the warrant.
- The Woman Who Wouldn't Die
A Seattle family waits in terror as a woman remains in a mysterious, death-like trance.
- The Collapse of a 'Rotten' Bank
A post-mortem of a defunct banking institution reveals a web of insider lending, conflicts of interest, and empty promises that devastated local depositors.
- Camp Kelpie: A Seattle Hunting Party in the Last Great Bear Country
In 1895, Seattle sportsmen pitched camp on Hood Canal between the Duckabush and Hamma Hamma rivers and found a wilderness thick with black bear, salmon, and one very unlucky tenderfoot.
- A Sudden Death at the Masonic Temple
A janitor who kept the furnaces running at the Second and Pike building dies quietly while at his post.
- The Mysterious Death of a 'Well-Known Character'
When Mary Todhunter was found dead in a locked room in New Westminster, her complicated past as an alleged heiress and runaway brought a dark local scandal to the surface.
Also about this, in other words
- The Untimely Death of a Spiritualist's Patient
A coroner investigates a woman's death after she was treated by a spiritualist practicing in the Kline & Rosenberg building.
- The Watches, Pipes and Toothbrushes of the Unclaimed Dead Go Up for Auction
Two years of the coroner's unclaimed effects — purses, cuff buttons, knives and one gold timekeeper — will be sold at the courthouse door on July 7. Their owners died violently, died poor, or were pulled from the bay and written down as 'unknown.'
- An Embarrassing Resurrection
A logging partner walks into the coroner's office to find his own death certificate being prepared.
- A Marriage Cut Short by Tragedy
A young bride dies suddenly on her second wedding anniversary, triggering a callous rumor mill that the press quickly works to correct.
- The 'Corpse' Who Sat Up and Ran for the Bay
A wharf loafer mistaken for a corpse startled undertakers when he sat up in the receiving box, bolted for the water and fled uptown.
- The Last Breath in Walla Walla: A Mother’s Collapse as Her Son Faces the Gallows
In May 1888, John Ham was sentenced to death for murder in Washington Territory. His mother, Mrs. Pyle, broke down in court, while their co-conspirator fled the state, leaving the family to face the ultimate penalty.