Jim Kershner’s this day in history

From our archives, 100 years ago

A railroad station agent named E. B. Irwin was shot to death in his lonely station just over the Idaho line, 33 miles east of Spokane.

His body was found in his room in the station, clad only in his nightgown. He had been shot with his own gun three times. The screen was torn off the window, and police believed that the murderer entered through the window and attempted to rob the agent. 

A freight train crew discovered the body at 2 a.m. after they failed to get a signal from the station. They found Irwin’s body on the floor, apparently dead at least two hours.

Police were seeking an itinerant telegraph operator named Anderson for questioning. The operator had failed to find work on the railroad, and Irwin took pity on him and allowed him to stay in the outer room of the station for several nights while he looked for other work.

 Anderson was under suspicion mainly because of his sudden disappearance. Nobody had seen him since the afternoon before the murder. He had been trying to borrow money from several people in the days just prior.

Also on this date

(From the Associated Press)

2003: The Bush administration defended the war against Iraq, saying that information on Saddam Hussein’s alleged illicit weapons programs was solid even though one of President George W. Bush’s claims – that Iraq had sought uranium from Africa – was based on faulty evidence.