The Murderer Who Bought His Freedom: Angus McClain Bailed Out in Shelton
After three years of legal maneuvering for the murder of hotel keeper Harry Conner and arson at Shelton’s Grand Hotel, the convicted killer is finally released on $1,000 bail.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
OLYMPIA, Jan. 27.—[Special.]—The celebrated Angus McClain murder case, that has excited much attention in Western Washington for the past three years, practically came to an end yesterday at Shelton when Judge Irwin admitted the prisoner to bail in the sum of $1,000.
At the October, 1887 term of court for Mason county, held at Shelton, Angus McClain was tried and convicted on a charge of murder and of burning a hotel at Shelton, at which fire Harry Conner lost his life. McClain was sentenced to be hanged, but a stay of execution was granted pending an appeal to the supreme court for a new trial, during which time McClain has remained in custody.
The Angus McClain case is a stark example of how the legal system in the late 19th century could delay justice for years through appeals and bail. Today, while pretrial detention laws have changed, the tension between public safety, the right to bail, and the efficiency of the courts remains a hot-button issue in Washington State and nationwide.
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