The Jailhouse Recognition: A Killer Unmasked in Seattle
While awaiting his own release, a prisoner in the Seattle city jail spots a familiar face in the next cell and realizes he is sharing space with a notorious fugitive wanted for murder.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
While in the Seattle city jail awaiting trial, a man named H. G. Miller realized he was being held in the same wing as a man he recognized as 'Pata' Green, a notorious individual wanted for the murder of a woman in California, for whom a $500 reward had been offered. Miller, who had been arrested for selling liquor to the Indians, kept his discovery secret until he could speak to the Justice. Miller explained, 'I was afraid to say anything about it while I was in the cell, and the people who were there were a tough-looking lot. When I got to Seattle, I heard of a man being arrested for selling liquor to the Indians and that he was in the county jail in Seattle. Further inquiry developed the fact that this was the man I was looking for. I resolved to go down to the jail. I asked to see the Sheriff, and after telling him what I knew, I was allowed to see the man. I went into the left wing of the jail. I was placed in the cell next to him. I looked to be in the jail wing, but not being locked in, I watched and studied the man, and I have no doubt about him being the notorious Pata Green, who murdered a woman in California.' The Justice commended Miller, noting that the Sheriff would now be tasked with verifying the identity and coordinating with California authorities to collect the fugitive.
“I looked to be in the jail wing, but not being locked in, I watched and studied the man, and I have no doubt about him being the notorious Pata Green.”
This 1887 report captures a moment of gritty frontier justice, where the 'tough-looking' conditions of the old city jail served as a temporary stopover for wandering fugitives. Today, while Seattle’s public safety and carceral systems have shifted dramatically, the city remains a hub where individuals from across the country drift through, occasionally unmasked by chance encounters.
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