A Pistol Duel at the Freight Sheds Ends in a Manslaughter Charge
A coroner's jury in Seattle rules that W. C. Dudley, a Tacoma man, must answer for the death of Alex S. Smith in Thursday's shootout at the Northern Pacific freight yards — and Dudley, on his lawyer's advice, says nothing at all.
SEATTLE, Feb. 6. — W. C. Dudley, the Tacoma man who shot and killed Alex S. Smith in a pistol duel at the Northern Pacific freight sheds Thursday afternoon, will be charged with manslaughter under the finding of the coroner's jury. Dudley refused to make any statement at the inquest, through the advice of his attorney. He said he would like to, however.
“Dudley refused to make any statement at the inquest through the advice of his attorney. He said he would like to, however.”
A killing between two men at a railroad freight yard, reduced by a coroner's jury to a manslaughter charge, is the kind of case that still turns on how prosecutors read the facts and how quickly a defendant is told to keep quiet. The 'pistol duel' framing — two armed men, one dead — reads uneasily beside today's arguments over gun violence in industrial districts and who gets charged with what.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.