The Last Laugh of Charles Nordstrom
As the Seattle Star reports on May 15, 1899, condemned murderer Charles Nordstrom sits in his cell, seemingly indifferent to the death warrant signed that morning. While the legal machinery grinds toward his execution for the murder of a police officer, one man’s sarcastic smile and contemptuous silence speak louder than any final prayer.
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.
MURDERER NORDSTROM AGAIN SENTENCED TO BE HANGED
Charles Nordstrom was this morning sentenced to be hung August 11. Judge Jacobs signed the death warrant at noon today, and it was read to Nordstrom by Prosecuting Attorney Hart.
The prisoner appeared unconcerned and stood with hands in his pocket, looking out the window, only occasionally directing his glance toward Mr. Hart and around the courtroom. Once in a while a sarcastic smile would play upon his lips and the sneering in his face denoted contempt.
Preceding the signing of the warrant considerable argument was had on the question of the court's jurisdiction in passing sentence. Col. J. Hamilton Lewis held that the supreme court is a court of correction, that it has no power to render final judgment, but issues its mandate to the inferior court, directing that court to pass judgment. He claimed that the mandate of the supreme Court in this case was not on record in the superior court, but only a certified copy, certified to by the clerk of the federal court. Prosecuting Attorney McKelroy held that that was all that was necessary, and Judge Jacobs sustained him.
After the signing of the warrant Col. Lewis moved for an appeal to the supreme court, on the grounds that the judge erred in the passing of sentence, that the prisoner was entitled to an open trial by jury as to his insanity.
The execution of Charles Nordstrom remains a dark chapter in Seattle’s legal history, marking one of the last public hangings in the city before the state moved to electric chair methods. The case is notable not just for the crime—a fatal shooting of a police officer during a robbery—but for the intense media scrutiny and the controversial legal battle over jurisdiction that followed, highlighting the fragile nature of due process in the late 19th century.
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