A Son Takes the Stand Against His Father in a Seattle Murder Trial

The second trial of William A. Wilcox for the murder of old Charlotte Fetting moved into its second day in the superior court before Judge Humes yesterday, and from the start the prosecution pursued a theory different from the one it offered at the first trial. Instead of treating Wilcox as solely responsible, the state set out to prove that the killing was the result of a conspiracy between Wilcox and James King, the victim's son-in-law, who was afterward found murdered in an out-of-the-way place in Tacoma.

To connect King with the crime, the state called Charles King, his 17-year-old son; Louis Bohn, his stepson; and Ernest Fetting, the murdered woman's son and King's brother-in-law. Prosecutors attempted to show that the elder King came to Seattle on the day of the murder and, while Wilcox prepared to kill the old woman, took Ernest Fetting to the cemetery so that he would not be near home. At the first trial no conspiracy was alleged; the state then assumed Wilcox was solely responsible.

The day produced two new witnesses, a man and a woman, who had not appeared at the former trial and who testified that they saw Wilcox in Seattle on September 4, 1893—Labor Day and the day of the murder. The defense badly shook the woman's testimony on cross-examination. She admitted she had had three husbands, had lived with two of them before marriage, had divorced two, and was now separated from the third. She refused to say whether she was a fallen woman, for fear of incriminating herself. It was also brought out that she had once not been on speaking terms with Wilcox, but afterward showed great fondness for him, visited him in jail with fruit and flowers, and attended the first trial without ever revealing what she knew.

Frank H. Noble, a former real-estate dealer of Tacoma, gave the most damaging testimony of the day. He said he was in Seattle on the afternoon of Labor Day, September 4, 1893, and saw Wilcox on Front street near the site of the old Occidental Hotel. Wilcox was with another man; they stopped and had a short conversation. Under cross-examination Noble could not remember how he had come to the city, whether there was a coal palace on Pioneer Place, or where he had lunched or dined. He remembered seeing Wilcox because Wilcox had been arrested for the crime. At one point Wilcox himself rose and asked Noble a question, creating a dramatic flutter in the courtroom, but the exchange did not change the witness's account.

Dr. George M. Morton, the coroner, and several officers testified about the finding of the body, the condition of the cabin, and a bottle containing chloroform. Dr. Morton said death was due to suffocation, not to the blows on the head. Louis Bohn, of Tacoma, King's stepson, described a conversation in the Hunter's Home saloon in which Wilcox, James King and another man discussed establishing a shingle mill. King suggested that Wilcox get some money from Mrs. Fetting, but Bohn said he did not believe the old woman would put any of it into a shingle mill. Bohn also testified that weeks before the murder he saw Wilcox at the bank draw out money, and later learned that Mrs. Fetting kept her money in a small box and that King knew of it. On the morning of September 4, King left the Hunter's Home early.

Charles King, the 17-year-old son, testified that on the evening of September 3 he saw his father and Wilcox in the Hunter's Home saloon. His father said he intended to go to Seattle the next day, and Wilcox answered, 'What's the matter with me alone?' On the morning of September 4 the witness again saw the two men at the saloon and heard his father tell Wilcox that he would meet him at the wharf. The witness did not see Wilcox again until after the murder. He also testified that his father and Wilcox had several conversations afterward at the Hunter's Home; when he entered one time they changed the subject and began talking about a shingle mill. His father gave him 'two bits' and told him to go and get some bread. On cross-examination the son denied disliking Wilcox and admitted that Wilcox had been kind to his father, once loaning him $15 and another time giving him $6.50 to buy the witness a pair of shoes.

Ernest Fetting, the victim's son, testified that on September 4, 1893, James King came to Seattle, visited the Fetting home and took him about the city. They went to the Occidental block to see a lawyer, then took a streetcar to Pike street and went to the cemetery to visit the grave of King's wife. They returned between 5 and 6 o'clock, had a glass of beer, went to the Fetting cabin for supper, and later went uptown for more beer. About 7 o'clock they went to the basement of the Standard Theater, then upstairs to see the show, King paying for both. About 1 o'clock in the morning they started for the South Seattle home. As they approached the cabin the witness took the lead. The window was open. He told of the discovery of the body, the condition of the room, and the fact that a sum in gold was missing from the trunk. King, he said, did not have any money and was 'busted,' having had no work for about a year. While traveling about the city with King, the witness had not seen Wilcox.

Milton Messena, a Tacoma barber, testified that he had bought bay rum and chloroform for Wilcox, who said he intended to use it for a private disease. Wilcox did not make the purchase himself because he owed a bill at the drug store. Mrs. Phoebe Didio, who in September 1893 lived at Sixth and Columbia streets and formerly lived in Tacoma, said she saw Wilcox in Seattle on the day of the murder. While walking up Front street between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m., she saw him in front of a cigar store at Front and Cherry streets, walking north with a heavy-set man who had a mustache and wore dark clothes. She did not speak to him. On cross-examination she admitted three marriages and other details of her private life, and refused to answer whether she was a common prostitute. She admitted she had once had trouble with Wilcox at a ball over a young lady, and that she had visited him in jail and brought him fruit and flowers.

Other witnesses placed King and Wilcox together after Labor Day. William Doucett, of Tacoma, testified that on the night James King was murdered, King and Wilcox were in the Hunter's Home and had a conversation; King left the saloon first, Wilcox followed a few moments later, and shortly afterward came news that King had been murdered. The witness said he heard what he believed was a shot from the direction Wilcox had taken. W. H. Johnson, crossing the Grant street bridge on the night of September 4, saw a man who resembled Wilcox but would not swear it was him. W. L. Meredith, a former Chinese inspector, saw a man resembling Wilcox on the hill near the Fetting cabin but could not identify him. Former jailer W. T. Monroe testified that before the first trial he had, at the request of detectives, told Wilcox to hand over his coat and vest; Wilcox protested but finally did, after calling other prisoners to examine the garments and see that there was no blood on them. Chief of Police D. O. Smith, of Tacoma, and other Tacoma witnesses testified about Wilcox's movements, the ticket he said he had lost on the train, and the large sums of money he was seen displaying after Labor Day. Capt. Devereaux, of the Tacoma police, testified about the chloroform bottles in the case and was badly tangled under cross-examination.