Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1902-05-29
FROM SEATTLE.
The Case Of Hamilton, the Convicted
Murderer.
,rc tho t,l;tor oe tbo I-roa Dro.s.

To the Editor of the Free Press:
Seattle, Wash. May II, 19O2-In a few
days Alfred Hamilton, the murderer OF
ID. NJ. Woodbury. of Barre, Vermont, viii
be hanged at Whatcom. Washington. This
execution will not only witness the exter-
miuation of the head and shoulders Of the
gang known as the fsh-trap robbers and
murders, but will also write "finis" in the
matter of executions in our county jails
Hearafter all convicted murderers will be
legally murdered inside the big walls OF
the state penitentiary at Walla Walla
In MY last letter l gave you some par
tiCuars Of the crime for which Hamilton
will give up his life incidentally / men
toned the fact that Hamilton was confined
in the county Jail here because the sheriff
OF Whatoom county, in which the murder
WAS committed, feared a plot to release his
prisoner At last Hamilton has beer
transferred to Whatcom, where he is under
guard of several deputy sheriffs appointed
for this special purpose. Hamilton has
been very busy in the last two or three
weeks and it is more by good luck than
anything else that he has not escaped, OIL
killed himself. or killed his guards.
Right here In Seattle. where we have
more desperate criminals in the county
Jail than in all other parts of the state to-
gether. excepting of course the penitenti-
airy, Hamilton got a revolver and had a
llCt plol ldlu 10 get lHe IlSnI l,
open the steel tank. Fortunately the
scheme became known and the Jail was
searched with the result that the revolver
was found You may wonder how the plot
was discovered; well, is was the old story
one thief played against another, and yet
you hear about honor among thieves. 1t
is all bosh. one thief tips off another thiei
to the police in order to keep out of trouble
himself. When Byrnes was head of the
police in New York he made much use OF
this "stool-pigcon" system, where one thiel
is used to keep track of his kinsmen il
crime. That system still prevails all ovel
the country and always will. even il
Josiah Flynt does evolve new theories.
The policeman laughs at Conan Doyle's
Sherlock Holmes detective Stories bu
reads them with interest. Why does ht
laugh? Because it is easy to draw many
other yet equally sensible deductions from
the given premises AS a rule hne-spur
theories have little place in police worl
as related to big criminal cases; it is hard
hard work that tells.
Hamilton and his friends have not beer
able to find out who gave them away il
their plot to open the King county Jail
1t might have gone through were 1t no
for the fact that they planned too mucl
blood shed. They were going to rap thu
jaier on the head. After he was out o
the way they were going to use the rcvol
themselves they fell into the ditch.
| No sooner had Hamilton been placed II
| the Whatcom Jail than he commenced ask
| ing for a certain pipe. Sc persistent wa
| he that it was thought best to humor him
and letter was sent to Seattle for the pip
| Someone suggested that there must b.
| something behind Hamilton's persistence
and sure enough when the pipe was thor
oughly examined, large dose of morphin
WAS discovered at the bottom OF the bow
under some tobacco. 1t was undoubtedly
| Hamiltons intention to commit suicide.
Although under the very shadow Of tn
gallows hamilton remains indifferent. an
even brutal in his temper. Tho sheriff
gave him some reading mater mostly o
a religious character
Ugh said Hamilton; I'VE used sue
stuff as that in the King county Jail t
| cook food with
The scaffold used in this city to han
Charles w. Nordstrom, Washington's mos
i notorious murderer will do service a
| Whatcom, for Hamilton.
i PORTUS BAXTER