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47 stories matching killer
- The Chemist Who Couldn't Name the Killer's Weapon
In a Seattle courtroom drama, defense attorney John Y. Torum argues that the poison used in a murder was too obscure for any professional chemist to have selected—unless the killer had access to something far more common.
- The Traveling Show at Yesler’s Hall
A rare Seattle appearance of the Lilliputian Comic Opera Company promises a spectacle of stature—from 28-inch performers to a 600-pound giant.
- The Dynamite Fiend of Oilman: A Lynch Mob’s Tragic Mistake
When a violent feud in King County’s coal fields ended in a massacre, the community turned to vigilante justice. But when they hanged the wrong man, the real killer walked free.
- The Accused Killer Who Wrote to Seattle Police
Oluf Ellingson was found on the Lake Washington shore with his throat cut and a razor in his hand. Four years later, suspect Tony Miller’s letter still insisted he was coming back to clear his name.
- The Invisible Killer in Your Milk: Seattle’s Health Officer Warns of Tuberculosis Cows
With consumption rates soaring and no dedicated veterinary inspector on staff, local officials admit the city is dangerously unprepared to stop diseased cattle from entering the food supply.
- Four Killers Confined in Pierce County Jail
A grim summary of four separate homicide cases in Tacoma, as of August 1892, including one death caused by a drunken assault.
- A Funeral Crowd Calls for a Killer's Neck
Thousands filed past the bodies of Philipina Miller and her child as Seattle police rushed the accused murderer to the county jail to stop a lynching.
- A Gunfighter Imported for a Seattle Primary
Sheriff Woolery and saloon-world fixer John Considine tried to seize a First Ward Republican primary—and brought a jailed gambler along to help.
- The Hammer in the Woodshed: Henry Creamer's Death Sentence
A Seattle jury convicted a foreign-born laborer of Mrs. Meller's murder on circumstantial evidence, while his lawyer insisted the real killer—or at least a missing witness—was in the room.
- The Strange Tale of Henry B. Mayo
A Seattle death, a suicide note, and a landlord's theory that a man took his own life to save a condemned killer from the gallows.
- 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.'
- The Body in the Box: A Political Murder Haunts Spokane County
Charles F. Gloystein crossed the Freeman's Protective Silver Federation and disappeared. Now his neighbors are offering a $1,000 reward—not for a killer, but for the body.
- The Sheriff Deputized a Killer to Keep the Peace at a Seattle Primary
A Republican primary in Seattle's First Ward turned into a street fight between the sheriff's men and city police—and the Post-Intelligencer laid the blame squarely on Sheriff Woolery.
- ‘You Are Hanging an Innocent Man’: A Condemned Killer’s Last Words Before 4,000 Witnesses
Ezra Snoderly, one of the Cummins murderers, is hanged in Dayton’s courthouse square — insisting to the very end that he dies for another man’s crime, while the crowd judges him ‘game.’
- The Ghost of a Kennewick Murder
A brother arrives in Walla Walla to identify the body of a man found dead near the tracks in Auburn, convinced that enemies from the Tri-Cities followed him to his grave.
- An Unidentified Tragedy on the Tracks
A well-dressed, unidentified man is found murdered near Auburn, leaving local authorities with few clues and a growing sense of alarm.
- Fatal Ambush on the Northern Pacific
A railroader and a brakeman are gunned down in a mid-transit robbery that leaves investigators baffled.
- A Confessed Killer, a Small-Town Jail, and a Mob Talked Down
Robert Day, held for murder near Woodland, is spared a lynching by 'cooler heads' at a Kerns mass meeting — but Cowlitz County's anger is barely contained.
- The Price of a Human Life
A Seattle newspaper critiques the wildly inconsistent sentencing for murder in Washington Territory, highlighting how local bias and venue changes drastically altered justice for accused killers.
- The Mayor and the Murderer
A scathing editorial questions the ethics of Mayor Ronald defending a local killer while in office.
- The Hidden Killer in Tacoma's West End
A local health inspector finds a dairy operating in conditions 'too filthy for belief,' threatening a typhoid epidemic for families across the district.
- The Hammer in the Kitchen
A killer waited until the men left for a labor-hall meeting, then entered a Seattle house, beat Mrs. Miller and her baby to death, looted a valise, and set the place ablaze.
- The Third Time's the Charm: Tacoma Court Begins Murder Trial of Mortgage Foreclosure Killer
William M. White faces his third trial for the fatal shooting of James McMillan over a farm dispute in the Puyallup Valley, a case that has dragged on since 1886.
- The Murderer Who Bought His Freedom: Angus McClain Bailed Out in Shelton
After three years of legal maneuvering for the murder of hotel keeper Harry Conner and arson at Shelton’s Grand Hotel, the convicted killer is finally released on $1,000 bail.
- The Shadow on the Great Street Bridge
A murder trial reveals the dark final hours of a man named Schoberbring, whose death on a lonely Seattle road sparked a search for his killer.
Also about this, in other words
- A Christmas Eve Killing in the Woods
A railroad foreman is murdered in a Pe-Ell camp, sparking a failed attempt by a lynch mob to claim the shooter.
- A Killer's Calm: Craemer Hears His Death Sentence Without a Flinch
Convicted of murdering a mother and her child, the stoic German prisoner awaits a new trial while his lawyer hunts a missing alibi witness in the mountains.
- A Deadly Labor Dispute Over Wages
A trap-line worker is killed in his cabin by his stepson following a quarrel over unpaid labor.
- The Neighborhood Chicken Killer
A mysterious dog leaves a trail of devastation across North Yakima, slaughtering prized poultry and angering local residents.
- The Cold-Blooded Murder at the Copper Chief
A Seattle bartender is gunned down over a dispute about drink tabs, leading to a grim scene at the local undertaker's.
- A Convicted Killer Gets a Second Trial on a Legal Technicality
James Murphy, convicted of shooting Philip Dawe across the counter of a Seattle saloon, won a new trial and was being brought back to face the charge again.
- The Deadly Logic of the Cabin Trap
A man sets a shotgun trigger to protect his home, with fatal consequences for a stranger.
- A Deadly Encounter in a Roslyn Coal Camp
A miner returns home to find an intruder in his bed, resulting in a violent stabbing that leaves his wife at death's door.