The Suspicious Death of the Mull Baby
A coroner’s inquest is ordered to investigate conflicting medical reports over an infant's sudden death in Walla Walla.
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.
Investigation concerning the death of Mrs. Addie Mull and her baby daughter Gussie continues. Saturday morning, Coroner Hoye will hold an inquest to determine the cause of the child's death. The report from City Chemist Bogardus only shows that no poison was in the child's stomach when analyzed, but medical experts present at the autopsy disagree with his conclusion of ptomaine poisoning. The child's kidneys showed hemorrhaging, which physicians argue is indicative of an irritant poison rather than natural causes. Coroner Hoye stated, 'The result of the chemical analysis does not prove that poison was not administered to the baby. I am not satisfied by any means with matters as they now stand.'
“The result of the chemical analysis does not prove that poison was not administered to the baby.”
This 1903 tragedy reflects the early limits of forensic science and the public's hunger for accountability in unexplained child deaths, a recurring theme in local crime reporting where medical experts often clashed with law enforcement.
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