The Dark Secrets of the 'Bird Family' Murder Mystery
A courtroom in Seattle turns into a theater of intrigue as a defendant’s confession unspools a web of coerced insurance policies, secret letters, and cold-blooded greed.
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.
A sensational chapter in the ongoing murder mystery unfolded yesterday as the defendant took the stand. Under questioning, the accused confessed to a chilling sequence of events: 'I got the party ready to dispose of him, then I turned to insurance policies. I used them myself. Those I gave to Dr. D. were some that Dr. S. had prescribed for my sister. I had them on my person. I don't think that anyone could get in any trouble for the person who furnished me with those, but it is a serious matter. I also took Bowen’s money that was on the office desk after the murder. I likewise forced my sister to give me an order for her insurance policy on the friends of the deceased.' A letter was also introduced, purported to have been written by Benhaycon to a Dimmick, stating that it appeared to be all up with him. The atmosphere in the room reached a fever pitch when a letter from D. Kemp was submitted, reading: 'I am glad you are acquainted with the Bird family. See if you can get the daughter as a witness against the murderer of my sister Cecilia. She was everything to me.'
“I don't think that anyone could get in any trouble for the person who furnished me with those, but it is a serious matter.”
This 1887 report captures the era's obsession with 'true crime' narratives, a genre that remains central to Seattle's media identity. While the legal proceedings described were likely part of a Gilded Age insurance fraud or inheritance dispute, the public hunger for 'murder mysteries' in the daily press mirrors the modern proliferation of serial podcasts and digital investigative reporting in the Pacific Northwest.
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