The Helen Grier Murder Case Stumbles in Court as the Body’s Identity Remains Unproven
Defense attorneys pounce on a legally flawed exhumation, and a Hoodsport woman is reportedly set to testify against her own mother in a Spokane murder trial.
SPOKANE, Sept. 7.—The defense had things pretty much its own way in the Helen Grier murder case today. The prosecution has blundered badly. It was brought out that the exhumation of the body was not according to law, for the defense, having been given no notice, had no representative at the grave. The identity of the body taken from the grave has not yet been established. Mary Mason, of Hoodsport, Wash., is said to be here to testify against her mother.
“The identity of the body taken from the grave has not yet been established.”
The Grier case is a reminder that forensic chain-of-custody rules and defense notice requirements are not technicalities—they can decide whether a murder prosecution stands. It also shows how 1890s papers covered a family’s catastrophe as a daily courtroom scorecard.
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