A Sailors' Union Man on Trial for Murder
William Gohl, former agent of the Sailors' Union in Aberdeen, is accused of killing Charles Hadberg. His trial is postponed to May 2 in Montesano as union members reportedly raise $5,000 for his defense.
ABERDEEN, Wn., March 22.—When the case of William Gohl, former agent of the Sailors' Union here, who is accused of the murder of Charles Hadberg and suspected of complicity in other crimes, is called in the Chehalis County Superior Court at Montesano May 2, a trial which promises to surpass any similar hearing in this state, if not the country, will commence. On a signed application from the prisoner the trial was ordered continued from March 25 to May 2. Gohl's application for delay stated that the defense was not yet ready to proceed with the trial. In all of the statements Gohl has made since his arrest he has declared his innocence emphatically. A report is current that the Sailors' Union has raised $5,000 to defend their former agent, William Gohl, who is now in jail at Montesano on a charge of murder in the first degree.
“A trial which promises to surpass any similar hearing in this state, if not the country, will commence.”
The Gohl case tied a sensational murder charge to the organized sailors who defended their former agent, a reminder that labor solidarity could be both a shield and a stain. Modern unions still face the question of how far they will go for an accused member—and how the press frames that loyalty.
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