100 years ago in Eastern Washington: Delinquency charges were dropped after the court ruled the older groom was ‘an industrious man’

The state dropped all charges against John Capelli in the Chewelah elopement case.

Capelli had been charged with contributing to the delinquency of a minor after he and Lucy Myers, a 17-year-old Lewis and Clark High School student, were married in Chewelah. He was subsequently arrested for contributing to the delinquency of a minor.

The prosecutor said he “investigated Capelli’s record and has found him to be an industrious man of good habits,” who can provide for his new bride. His bride was also satisfied that Capelli would support her.

From the crime beat: The final mystery in the Mary Fett murder case was now solved. A body found in the Spokane River at Nine Mile Falls was positively identified as Fett, through dental records.

Police believed that her husband, Charles Fett, had murdered her and disposed of her body in the river. Then he ended his life when officers showed up at his door.

“There is nothing more to do,” the coroner said. “So far as we are concerned the case is officially closed.”

On this day

(From Associated Press)

1940: During World War II, Norway surrendered to the Nazis, effective at midnight.

1943: President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Current Tax Payment Act of 1943, which reintroduced federal income tax withholding from paychecks.

1973: Secretariat won the Belmont Stakes, becoming horse racing’s first Triple Crown winner in 25 years.