The Trial of George Miller: A Chilling Murder Investigation
A brutal double murder on Lake Washington shocks the city as testimony reveals the harrowing details of the arrest and the suspect's behavior in custody.
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In the ongoing trial regarding the murder of J.M. Colman and his neighbor, George H. Miller's involvement was scrutinized. Sheriff John McGraw, who arrested Miller on the shores of Lake Washington, testified to the suspect's extreme nervousness during his detention. According to the Sheriff, when Miller was brought to the undertaker's shop to view the bodies of the victims, he would not look at them, instead riveting his eyes to the wall, breathing heavily, and trembling. During cross-examination, the defense argued that Miller could not have physically committed the crimes at the time stated, citing a strict timeline of his movements. They further alleged a conspiracy against the Miller family, claiming the prosecution's witnesses, including a local Indian youth, were unreliable and that coercive tactics were used to extract a confession. The trial continues as both sides prepare to present further evidence.
“Look there! See the result of your cowardly negligence.”
This 1886 trial highlights the raw, early frontier justice of King County. Today, Lake Washington is a site of leisure and million-dollar homes, but in the 1880s, the isolated shores were the setting for gruesome, high-stakes criminal investigations that defined the region's early law enforcement.
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