100 years ago in Spokane: ‘Alexander the Mystic’ accused of advising man to invest life savings in fraudulant mining stock

From our archive, 100 years ago

“Alexander the Mystic,” aka Claud Alexander Conlin, was in legal trouble again. He was arrested on a grand larceny charge stemming from a con game he allegedly pulled in Spokane eight years ago.

In that case, a fortune-teller named “Sahara” and an accomplice conned a Spokane man into investing his life savings in a fraudulent mining stock. The accomplice was sent to prison, but police never found “Sahara.” Now, police were convinced that Conlin was “Sahara.”

Conlin was arrested just as he was about to take the stage in Walla Walla as “Alexander the Mystic.”

Conlin had previously been in legal trouble over a separate incident, in which he was accused of kidnapping his son from his adopted home in Spokane.

From the murder beat: A new arrest was made in the mysterious death of Mrs. Margaret Braun, landlady of the Tourist Hotel.

James Keller, the son of the main suspect, Charles Keller, was arrested after police found a suitcase containing Mrs. Braun’s jewelry and blood-stained clothing. It also contained a suit belonging to James Keller, said police.

Police would not say where the suitcase was found, although it was not at the hotel. They implied that the younger Keller had hidden it somewhere.

A Spokane police detective said that he was convinced that the younger Keller was involved in the incident – but he “is not yet satisfied that a crime was committed.” Mrs. Braun was a heavy drinker and the elder Keller testified that she had become sick that night.