100 years ago in North Idaho: Former Wallace mayor on trial for murder says he tried to save wife from alcohol

From our archives, 100 years ago

Herman J. Rossi, former mayor of Wallace, tearfully took the stand at his own trial for the murder of Clarence Dahlquist.

With “handkerchief to eyes,” he told the jury of his great love for his wife and his 10-year battle to save her from intoxicating liquor. He said his young wife was “as fine a looking woman as I ever saw.” When he was a state legislator and regent of the University of Idaho, she was “capable of conversing with the ablest men in the country when she was sober.”

However, he soon discovered that she drank all of the liquor in the house. When he confronted her, she said she had been injured in a basketball game and liquor relieved her suffering. He removed all liquor from the house, but it did no good. She went on benders every month, then every three weeks, and then even more often.

Her in-home nurse (sometimes referred to as her maid) testified that when Mrs. Rossi could not get whiskey, she would drink vanilla extract.

The nurse also testified about the wild three-day-long party that Mrs. Rossi hosted while Mr. Rossi was away on business. Dahlquist supplied Mrs. Rossi with “medicine” – whiskey. The nurse found the house “and the beds were in disorder.” She saw Dahlquist in bed with her. The nurse told Dahlquist not to come back, but he spent most of the day there.