Was the wrong person arrested and nearly hung in the murders of two men nearly 130 years ago as they rowed a boat across Lake Washington? A suspect was arrested soon after the men were killed by gunshots coming from the southern shore of Mercer Island, but the case was never fully solved.
Having done his own sleuthing, Eastside historian Tom Hitzroth will re-examine the case — exploring the crime, the investigation and the court proceedings in a presentation for the Redmond Historical Saturday Speaker Series at 10:30 a.m. Jan. 9, 2016 at the Old Redmond Schoolhouse Community Center, located at 16600 N.E. 80th St.
On the morning of Feb. 8, 1886, James M. Colman and family friend Wilbur Patten left Colman’s home near Kennydale and planned to row themselves (not a rare transportation means back then!) to Seattle.
Patten was going home and Colman was on his way to a grand jury hearing in a legal dispute with George Miller of Enatai over land acquisitions by Miller’s children.
The two were ambushed near the south end of Mercer Island, which locals later referred to as Murder Point. Miller was arrested and tried four times before finally being freed when the judge dismissed the case because some witnesses failed to appear in court.
Many locals were convinced Miller was the murderer but he always proclaimed his innocence and other potential suspects existed — including Miller’s daughter.
Hitzroth approached the case by reading the reports and court documents with fresh eyes and then “asking myself the one question that had never been seriously considered by earlier researchers: ‘What if Miller is telling the truth and he didn’t do it, what changes?’”
Research challenges included “trying to locate the sources of the information that had become part of the story over the years and verify them,” says Hitzroth, who besides wearing a historian’s hat is also chairman of the Redmond Landmark Commission.
Efforts to visualize the murders included “working out a table of distances and times to better follow the different actions and testimony from that time,” says Hitzroth, who learned of the case when he was investigating the murder of Letitia Whitehall, another mystery that he reviewed at a Redmond Historical Society presentation in March 2004.
Colman and Patten are buried in Seattle’s Lake View Cemetery. Colman’s tombstone inscription reminds visitors of his demise: “Assassinated at the south end of Mercer Island, Lake Washington, Feb. 8 1886.”
The Saturday Speaker Series is a monthly program presented by the Redmond Historical Society on every second Saturday from September to May (excluding December). Topics range from local, state and Pacific Northwest historical interest. There is a suggested $5 donation for non-members.
The Redmond Historical Society is a 501 (c) (3) nonprofit organization that receives support from the City of Redmond, 4 Culture, Nintendo, the Bellevue Collection, Happy Valley Grange as well as from other donors and members.
