The bloody evidence in the Wilcox murder trial
A courtroom drama unfolds as prosecutors reveal gruesome relics while the defense challenges the integrity of the police investigation.
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 trial of L. A. Wilcox for the murder of Mrs. Fetting continued in Judge Humes' court with sensational cross-examination. The defense accused Detective Cudihee of tampering with the label on a bottle of chloroform found at the crime scene to bolster the evidence of guilt. The most striking moment occurred when the prosecution displayed the bloody garments found on the victim's body. Wilcox sat unmoved, displaying only minor physical tension. Witnesses, including the coroner, described the scene: the victim gagged with handkerchiefs and bound with a stocking, with blood-spattered walls and a broken bottle of chloroform nearby. The jury, comprised of local contractors, farmers, and mechanics, watched as the prosecution linked the physical evidence to a larger narrative of a failed shingle mill business venture involving the victim's son and others.
“The attorney rubbed his hands in glee and thought he had Philbrick sure, but the latter slipped out neatly by saying that he was testifying to the best of his knowledge and not advisedly.”
This trial highlights the 19th-century focus on 'bloody relics' as evidence, a stark contrast to modern forensic standards. The suspicion cast upon police detectives for their handling of evidence remains a recurring theme in Seattle’s long history of civic distrust of law enforcement.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.