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Hellraisers Journal – Tuesday March 16, 1920
Montesano, Washington – Seven Centralia I. W. W. Defendants Found Guilty
From The Butte Daily Bulletin of March 15, 1920:
(Special to the Bulletin.)
Montesano, Wash., March 15.-Ignoring Judge Wilson’s instructions that their verdict must be either acquittal or first degree murder, the jurors in the trials of the 10 I. W. W. charged with killing Warren O. Grimm during the rioting which resulted from the attack of a group of legionnaire paraders on the I. W. W. hall at Centralia last Armistice day, late Saturday night brought in verdicts of acquittal for Elmer Smith, Mike Sheehan and Loren Roberts and second degree murder in the cases of Britt Smith, Ray Becker, James McInerney, Bert Bland, Eugene Barnett, John Lamb and O. C. Bland. Robert’s acquittal was based on the grounds of insanity.
The verdict was the second returned by the jury in the case, the jurors having come in earlier in the evening with the announcement that they had found McInerney, Becker, O. C. Bland and Bert Bland and Britt Smith guilty of second degree murder, and Eugene Barnett and John Lamb guilty of third degree murder. On this occasion Judge Wilson refused to accept the verdict and ordered them to return and deliberate in accordance with his instructions, holding that a verdict of third degree murder was not permissable under his instructions.
Immediately after the last verdict was read to the prisoners and the court, Sheriff John Berry of Lewis county immediately rearrested all of them on charges of having murdered Arthur McElfresh, who also was killed during the Armistice day rioting.
It is considered probable that Attorney George F. Vanderveer, chief counsel for the defense, will file notice of appeal to the Washington state supreme court in the cases of each of the men found guilty.
Warrants for the killing of Grimm were originally issued for 13 members of the I. W. W., who were alleged to have been concerned in the defense of the I. W. W. hall on Armistice day. John Doe Davis and Ole Hanson were never apprehended, while Bert Faulkner was dismissed because of lack of evidence when the state rested its case at Montesano.
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[Photograph and emphasis added.]
From the Cleveland Toiler of February 27, 1920:
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SOURCES
Quote Wesley Everest, Died for my class. Chaplin Part 15
https://www.iww.org/history/library/Chaplin/centralia-conspiracy/15
The Butte Daily Bulletin
(Butte, Montana)
-Mar 15, 1920
https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045085/1920-03-15/ed-1/seq-1/
https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045085/1920-03-15/ed-1/seq-4/
IMAGES
Centralia Trial, IWW Defendants Names, Spk Chc p1, Feb 7, 1920
https://www.newspapers.com/image/562031885/
IWW Centralia Trial, Attorney Vanderveer, Toiler p2, Feb 27, 1920
https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/thetoiler/108-feb-27-1920-toiler.pdf
See also:
Tag: Centralia Armistice Day Conspiracy of 1919
https://weneverforget.org/tag/centralia-armistice-day-conspiracy-of-1919/
The Centralia Conspiracy
-by Ralph Chaplin
Pub’d by “Loggers of the Northwest” -1920 Edition
https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/003903589
http://archive.lib.msu.edu/AFS/dmc/radicalism/public/all/centraliaconspiracy/AEO.html
Pub’d by Chicago GDC, 1924 Revised Edition
https://books.google.com/books?id=llVSAQAAMAAJ
Was it Murder?: The Truth about Centralia
-by Walker C. Smith
Northwest District Defense Committee, 1922
https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/unions/iww/1922/murder.pdf
IWW Centralia Prisoners, fr Walker C Smith p2, 1922
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Better World A Comin’ – Woody Guthrie