Jim Kershner’s This day in history

From our archives, 100 years ago

The mystery surrounding the murder of Anna Weber, 22, continued to deepen.

She had told her parents that she was going to help serve that night at a neighbor’s Christmas party, but there was no such party. Her body was found sprawled on the steep trail between Summit Avenue and the Spokane River, killed by a knife thrust to the head.

New developments, two days after the murder, included:

• Testimony by streetcar operators, who said that Weber had gone downtown, was met by a man, and returned on a streetcar at 11 p.m.

• Her family made “grave charges, or intimations” that someone had been hired to murder her because she “knew too much.” What she knew too much about was not clear.

• Her former employer reported she was “morbid and morose” and claimed to have nothing to live for. She worked as a domestic servant.

• Her father admitted to having “sharp words” with her before she left home, “almost to the point of striking her.”

But none of these clues led anywhere. The prosecuting attorney said it was “the most mysterious case I have ever seen.”

Also on this date

(From the Associated Press)

1520: Martin Luther publicly burned the papal edict demanding that he recant or face excommunication. … 1964: Martin Luther King Jr. received his Nobel Peace Prize.