Fatal Shooting in the Auburn Woods Ruled Justifiable
A jury exonerates John North for the killing of Charles Paulson after hearing testimony that the act was carried out under the direction of the city marshal.
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John North, who killed Charles Paulson Monday evening in the woods near Auburn, has been exonerated from all blame. The jury found that Paulson came to his death from a gunshot wound inflicted by North under the direction of the city marshal of Auburn. Several letters were found in the pockets of the dead man's clothes. One was from a sister in Oakland, California, and there were a couple from his mother in Sweden. The remains will be held here until his relatives can be heard from. John Anderson, a companion of Paulson, who was arrested for an assault at the McNeil place, was released, as the witnesses testified that he took no part in it.
“The jury found that Paulson came to his death from a gunshot wound inflicted by North under the direction of the city marshal of Auburn.”
This incident reflects the raw, often extrajudicial nature of law enforcement in early 20th-century Washington, where private citizens were sometimes deputized to carry out lethal force. Today, the location near Auburn is a bustling suburban landscape, a stark contrast to the lawless woods of 1904.
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