The Disappearing Witness in the Minkler Murder Trial
The Lewis County Sheriff orders the release of a key witness against Dr. Minkler, raising local alarms about justice.
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.
Chief of Police Jackson received a telephone dispatch from the sheriff of Lewis county last evening, directing him to turn B. J. Lather, one of the principal witnesses in the Minkler murder trial at Centralia, loose. The request was complied with. The action of the Lewis county officials in allowing a principal witness against Dr. Minkler, who has been granted a second trial, to escape their clutches when there is absolute proof that he was offered money to keep out of the way, is considered very peculiar by Chief Jackson.
“The action of the Lewis county officials in allowing a principal witness... to escape their clutches... is considered very peculiar.”
The suspicion that money influenced the justice system in the 1890s echoes modern concerns about court integrity and witness tampering. The case highlights how early Washington authorities often struggled with the tension between local law enforcement and the state's judicial processes.
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