A Convicted Killer Gets a Second Trial on a Legal Technicality
James Murphy, convicted of shooting Philip Dawe across the counter of a Seattle saloon, won a new trial and was being brought back to face the charge again.
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.
Five convicts left the city last evening, chaperoned by Deputy Jack McDonald, for Walla Walla, to serve out their respective sentences. They are: For burglary, Harry Cleveland and Denny Harridan, three years each; Thomas Voight, one year; John Grainade, five years; for grand larceny, Eugene Kelly, three years. McDonald will bring back James Murphy, convicted of murdering Philip Dawe, who secured a new trial on a legal technicality. Murphy killed Dawe about two years ago by shooting him across the counter of the bar of the Copper Chief saloon on Washington Street. An eye-witness claimed that there was no provocation for the deed, while Murphy alleged self-defense.
“Murphy killed Dawe about two years ago by shooting him across the counter of the bar of the Copper Chief saloon on Washington Street.”
A saloon shooting on Washington Street and a retrial granted on a legal technicality show how long the road from arrest to final sentence could be in 1900. The item also captures the era’s casual bundling of prisoners bound for Walla Walla, where the state penitentiary held the convicted.
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