100 years ago in Spokane: Inmate accused of murder dishes in jailhouse interview

A Spokane Daily Chronicle reporter got a jailhouse interview with Steve Petoskey (previously spelled Potaskey), an inmate accused of murdering jailer W.B. Nelson.

Petoskey had been held in the “dark hole” or “tank” after he had become unruly the night before. When jailer Nelson came into the “hole” that morning, Petoskey claimed Nelson started to “cuff” him. So Petoskey fought back.

“I hit him with my fists five times in the face and head and he tripped and fell, striking his head on the steel floor,” Petoskey said. “I don’t remember very much after Nelson fell, except that I took off one of my shoes and broke a window, and that later some policemen came in and beat up on me.”

The reporter expressed skepticism a man of Petoskey’s size – relatively small – could floor a big man like Nelson.

“Nelson was a strong man all right,” Petoskey said with a smile. “But I have licked better men than Nelson.”

Petoskey said he came to Spokane looking for work and got a job in the woods near Spirit Lake. After a short time he came back to Spokane, where he was arrested for roaming through a neighborhood and acting irrationally.

Police found him standing in a terrified woman’s home, washing his hair. He claimed he wasn’t drunk at the time – he had downed only a single pint of whiskey.

The Chronicle reporter said he “appeared to be rational today,” and that he complained about the jail’s “bum chuck” – that is, lousy food.