100 years ago in Spokane: Even more details emerged in the Frank Brinton killing, and they didn’t help the suspect

A fellow soldier and friend of Frank T. Brinton testified that Maurice P. Codd showed no remorse for allegedly throwing Brinton over a railing to his death at the Granite Building.

Even while Brinton lay dying in an ambulance, Codd said he “didn’t give a damn.”

Codd also said he “didn’t give a damn about the entire police force” and he would “get even with them if it costs me my last cent.”

Several soldiers testified that they were in Room 327 when they heard a commotion between Codd and and the Granite landlady. Brinton went in the hallway and attempted to get Codd, whom he did not know, to leave.

Codd’s defense attorneys tried to get the soldiers to say that they had been in the hotel because they were drinking and trying to “find some girls.” The judge did not allow that line of questioning.

The altercation between Codd and the landlady had apparently begun when Codd tried to see someone in Room 328 and the landlady would not let him. The defense tried to imply that there were some girls in that room.

“Why did Brinton want to keep Codd away from Room 328, where Codd said he was going?” asked Codd’s attorney.

“I don’t know that he was trying to keep him away from that room,” one of the soldiers said. “He merely told him to leave the hotel before he made trouble.”

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(From the Associated Press)

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