The Shadow of the Fetting Tragedy
After the mysterious murder of a Seattle woman, the subsequent death of her son-in-law in Tacoma exposes a web of conspiracy, desperate poverty, and local suspicion.
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 murder of James King in Tacoma last Friday evening is considered a second climax in the Charlotte Fetting tragedy, which occurred in Seattle on September 4. Police believe King was killed to keep him from testifying about the Fetting case, especially following a reward offered by William Fetting. King was found in shallow water near a graded walk on the tide flats, having been shot once through the brain. A man named A.C. Morrison was arrested for the crime after acting suspiciously and carrying brass knuckles, but evidence against him remains thin. Theories circulate that King, who was destitute, may have been involved in the original robbery-murder of Mrs. Fetting and was planning to turn state's witness for the reward money. As the investigation continues, family members like Louis Bohn find themselves under intense scrutiny, while police struggle to connect the disparate threads of these two violent deaths.
“It appears that King's body was found in shallow water at the side of a graded walk that crosses the tide flats, and from evidence given by persons living within a reasonable distance it would appear that he was shot and then thrown in the water.”
This 1893 double-homicide investigation highlights the precariousness of life on the tide flats during Seattle's early boom years. Today, the areas where these 'shacks' and tide flats existed are central urban districts, though the underlying theme of violent crime born from economic desperation remains a persistent civic anxiety.
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