The Burglar Who Walked Out
A Seattle convict who claimed he was 'railroaded' into prison for a crime he didn't commit has escaped the state penitentiary.
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.
Information has been received by the police of the escape from the state penitentiary at Walla Walla of Fred Kline, alias Rosenberg, who was carrying a term of seven years for larceny committed in Seattle. While in the engine room of the prison, the guard was otherwise occupied and he walked out of the enclosure. Kline was no sooner in prison than he claimed he was innocent of the housebreaking charges and that he was 'railroaded' by a record-breaking trial. He insisted that the stolen property had been found in a cabin near his own, and he stoutly denied knowledge of the burglaries until the very last. He was arrested on a Tuesday and was convicted on Thursday, and by 11:00 a.m. Friday he was sentenced to seven years at Walla Walla. The police consider him an old-time crook.
“He was arrested on a Tuesday and was convicted on Thursday, and by 11:00 a.m. Friday he was sentenced to seven years.”
The phrase 'railroaded' captures a deep-seated civic anxiety about the speed and fairness of the justice system that persists in Seattle today. Kline’s story highlights how authorities often used the criminal history of individuals to justify swift, potentially flawed, prosecutions.
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