The Deadly Trifle: A Pharmacy Scandal in 1887 Seattle
A high-stakes criminal investigation unfolds after a mysterious book agent is implicated in the poisoning death of Richard Lyons.
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.
The circumstances surrounding the death of Richard Lyons have taken a startling turn. It has been revealed that a man named Demaig, who has been frequently spotted at the county jail conferring with the prisoner Bowers, is the central figure in the investigation. Captain of Police Lane arrested Demaig, who confessed to obtaining a supply of cyanide of potassium. About ten days ago, Demaig called at a drug store and represented himself as a doctor, stating he wished to procure a small amount of cyanide of potassium to kill a stray dog. He obtained the poison, which was clearly labeled, and it was this same bottle that led police to confirm Demaig had provided the fatal dose that caused Richard Lyons’ death. Demaig had been posing as a book agent, but authorities now believe he was the primary architect of the tragedy.
“Captain Lane stated that from what he had learned, the man he had taken into custody was the one who had definitely furnished the cyanide that caused Richard Lyons' death.”
This 1887 investigation into a lethal poisoning highlights the early, wild-west era of Seattle’s pharmaceutical regulation. Today, the location near Commercial Street serves as a reminder of how the rapid, unregulated growth of the city’s trade districts often outpaced public safety and law enforcement capabilities.
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