The Accused Killer Who Wrote to Seattle Police

Murderers sometimes use pen and ink to throw the officers off the track. Chief of Police Rogers now has in his possession a letter written by Tony Miller, who is wanted here for killing Oluf Ellingson November 12, 1890. In the letter, which has been withheld from the public in the hope that Miller might yet be run down, the accused murderer gives an account of his movements and promises to return, but has not done so.

On Thursday, November 13, 1890, the mutilated body of a man was found on the shore of Lake Washington some distance north of Madison street, with the throat cut from ear to ear and three ghastly holes in the forehead—one over each eye and the third directly over the nose at the edge of the hair. This turned out to be the remains of Oluf Ellingson, a laborer. The body was lying face upward, with the hands across the breast, the right hand grasping an open razor. It was evidently the intention of the murderer to give the impression that the man had committed suicide. The motive for the deed was robbery, as Ellingson was supposed to have had $630 on his person.

The day after the discovery of the remains the entire police force of the city was confident that Tony Miller, who had disappeared the day the murder was committed, was the guilty man. Miller, although he had been known to steal money and articles from Ellingson more than once, was accepted by the murdered man as his friend. He was seen at Lake Washington on the morning Ellingson disappeared, and the same night was seen on Columbia street, near West. Despite the vigilance of the police in all the cities on the Coast, Miller made his escape, and the only trace ever received was the letter already referred to. It was dated Sacramento, Cal., November 18, 1890, and is directed to Chief of Police Monroe.

In it Miller protests his innocence and says Ellingson had told him he carried all his money with him. He describes their last days together—riding the cable car, visiting the Salvation Army hall, going to the First National bank—and then the fatal Wednesday, November 12, when a stranger met Ellingson on the road and Miller went into a store for chewing gum. When he came back, both men were gone. Miller says he thought Ellingson had left with the stranger, and he took the next train for Portland. 'And now to my horror I see that Ellingson is murdered and I am looked for as his murderer,' he wrote. 'I can't express how sorry I am, because Ellingson was a good friend of mine and industrious and sober.' He promised to take the Haytian Republic from San Francisco for Seattle to prove his innocence, but he never arrived.

Among the relics at police headquarters now are a murderous-looking knife with which the wounds in the head were inflicted, and the razor with which the murdered man's throat was cut. It is thought that Miller went from California to Oklahoma. Although he has not yet been found, some of the officers at headquarters are confident he will be caught. One of them said only yesterday: 'Miller will grow over-confident and then he will fall into the clutches of the law.'