The Deadly Gilman Saloon Brawl
After a brief trial, a local man is found guilty in a fatal shooting sparked by a dispute at a Gilman establishment.
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.
John C. Braekle was convicted of murder in the second degree in Judge Humes' department of the superior court. The jury reached a verdict after only thirty minutes of deliberation. The crime involved the killing of Nicholas Straussner at Gilman on November 9. According to testimony, a fight was in progress involving the Sutti brothers and Straussner when Braekle intervened to assist a man named Dobson. A shot was fired during the melee; Braekle was found with a pistol in his hand, and Straussner was dead. While Braekle claimed he wrestled the gun from John Sutti to defend himself, and other witnesses corroborated the flight of the Sutti brothers, the jury remained unconvinced of his innocence. Defense counsel E. P. Dole expressed astonishment at the verdict, noting the state failed to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, and announced plans to apply for a new trial.
“It is one of those unexpected and unaccountable verdicts of which every lawyer has seen occasional examples.”
Gilman, the site of this 1893 tragedy, is modern-day Issaquah. While the town has transformed from a coal-mining outpost into a suburban tech hub, public fascination with trial outcomes and the 'unexpected verdict' remains a constant in local news coverage.
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