The Marked Five-Dollar Bill That Unmasked a 'Good Citizen'
A trusted expressman caught by a trap bill confessed to a March safe robbery — and a man his friends thought beyond reproach was sentenced to up to fourteen years.
On Monday J. W. Vaughn, the expressman, was arrested on the charge of stealing money from the store of A. Ray Williams. For some time past Mr. Williams had been missing sums of money from the till, and finally, suspecting Mr. Vaughn, who had his office in the same building, he marked a $5 bill and placed it in the till. An opportunity being given, it was soon missing and later found in the possession of Mr. Vaughn. He was arrested and brought before Justice Long, who fined him $40 and costs.
That night Mr. Vaughn confessed to his wife that he was also guilty of having broken into the Williams store and robbed the safe of $100 last March, at the time the bloodhounds were brought from Spokane and placed on the trail.
On informing Mr. Williams of this confession, further complaint was made before Justice Long, and at the hearing Tuesday morning Vaughn pleaded guilty and was ordered taken to Colville Tuesday, and on Wednesday afternoon Judge Carey sentenced Vaughn to a term of not less than two nor more than fourteen years in the penitentiary.
The arrest and confession of Mr. Vaughn came as a surprise and shock to many friends and acquaintances, as he had the reputation of being a good citizen.
“The arrest and confession of Mr. Vaughn came as a surprise and shock to many friends and acquaintances, as he had the reputation of being a good citizen.”
A marked bill planted in a cash drawer is the oldest forensic trick in the book — and it worked as well in 1909 as surveillance cameras do now. But the story's real sting is the gap between reputation and conduct: the neighbor everyone vouched for was quietly robbing the till.
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