A Family Tragedy in Walla Walla
An intoxicated man hunts down his grandfather, killing him and burning the family home to the ground.
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.
B. F. Royce, a well-known farmer, was shot and killed at his home twelve miles from Walla Walla by his grandson, Frank Royce. Frank Royce had left the city in an intoxicated condition and, after an altercation in the town of Dixie, arrived at the elder Royce's home with a Winchester rifle. In the darkness, the younger man fired into the house, striking his grandfather, then proceeded to set the dwelling on fire, cremating the victim. The assailant was captured the following morning while asleep at his own home near Waitsburg.
“The murderer is 30 years old and has a wife and five children near Waitsburg. His reputation has been bad throughout Walla Walla county for many years.”
This horrific domestic violence incident from 1900 highlights the recurring issue of firearms access and substance abuse in rural settings, which remains a challenging dynamic in contemporary civic discourse regarding public safety and mental health.
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