The Druggist and the Masked Robber
A Tacoma druggist’s assailant is sentenced to 14 years after pleading guilty, closing a violent chapter on Tacoma Avenue.
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.
John Burke, the assailant of Siver Larson, the Tacoma Avenue druggist, was sentenced to 14 years in the penitentiary at Walla Walla this morning. He was brought before Judge Snell and when asked what he wished to plead, he said he desired to plead guilty. In passing sentence the court said: 'Mr. Burke, you have been charged with an attempt to commit murder. I believe that you have been given all the leniency in this matter that you are entitled to. It is only through the leniency of the Great Master who rules over all that I can give you a penitentiary sentence.' Burke took the sentence with little show of emotion. Siver Larson was shot through the abdomen on the night of February 12 by a masked robber who entered the drugstore. Burke was arrested the same night and identified by Larson at the hospital. Burke stated that he pleaded guilty not because he was guilty, but to prevent the police officers who arrested him from testifying and collecting witness fees.
“It is only through the leniency of the Great Master who rules over all that I can give you a penitentiary sentence.”
Violence in local pharmacies remains a flashpoint for public safety, though the legal justifications for guilty pleas have evolved far beyond the avoidance of police witness fees. This case offers a glimpse into the early 20th-century administration of Tacoma justice.
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