The Brother vs. Brother Tragedy
A Seattle jury delivers a verdict in a fatal downtown shooting between two brothers.
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.
Murder in the second degree was the verdict rendered by the jury at 9:50 last night in the case of the state against Frank H. Minsch, on trial for killing his brother, Edward A. Minsch, on Saturday, May 28 last. The jury was out just one hour, in which they took four ballots. The prisoner, Frank H. Minsch, received the verdict in the same stolid manner that had characterized his demeanor throughout the trial. He sat stooped over in his chair, slowly working his jaws, and when the verdict was read his listless face never changed or showed any feeling or emotion. The testimony indicated both brothers were angry and armed, with Frank claiming self-defense after his brother allegedly threatened to 'smash his brains out' if he left the hotel. Witnesses testified to seeing the brothers arguing near the intersection of James Street and Front Street shortly before the shooting.
“I am sorry for what I done, but I had to do it.”
Violent domestic disputes played out in public spaces were a frequent feature of 1890s police blotters in a rapidly densifying Seattle. The intersection mentioned, James and Front (now First Avenue), was the heart of the city's commercial and transit activity, mirroring how modern Seattle street corners remain stages for volatile interpersonal conflict.
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