A Flag, a Revolver, and a Red-Headed Man: Newport's Strange Tuesday Manhunt
A woman under morphine delusions armed herself with an American flag and a loaded .38, then walked Washington Avenue looking for a red-headed man she meant to kill.
Saturday Marshal Mills was summoned to the residence of Alfred Larson on Union Avenue by Mrs. Larson, and it was apparent from her remarks that she was under delusions brought on by over-indulgence in morphine. Mr. Larson, who conducts a saloon in Old Town, was notified to care for her, but refused to do so, stating that the woman was not his wife. He was therefore arrested, charged with lewdness and fined $100 and costs, which he paid. He promised furthermore to see that the woman was cared for.
Tuesday afternoon the woman appeared on Washington Avenue, carrying an American flag in one hand and a .38-calibre revolver fully loaded in the other. She said she was looking for a red-headed man and meant to kill him. Fortunately she did not meet a man with that color of locks. At the Star livery stable she was disarmed by Marshal Mills and Deputy Sheriff Hynes and taken to the city jail.
She was taken to Colville Wednesday afternoon by Deputy Sheriff Hynes and will doubtless be committed to the insane hospital at Medical Lake. After being taken to the jail she was under the hallucination that she was under sentence to be hanged.
“She said she was looking for a red-headed man and meant to kill him.”
The incident is a reminder that early-century Newport had few safe options for people in acute mental distress; the jail and asylum were the default. Today the same questions about crisis response, addiction, and who gets care still shape small-town life.
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