100 years ago in Spokane: The latest offense in an indicted man’s cross-country crime spree was a radio-related grift

A man who claimed he was selling radios in Spokane was arrested for a string of crimes across the country – including “white slavery.”

After collecting money from unsuspecting buyers for the “Dudley-Vought Radio Corp.” – which did not exist – he went to Portland and sold a car, which turned out to have been stolen in Philadelphia.

Then he went to Colfax, accompanied by a woman, where he defrauded some other buyers.

Then went to Bozeman, but was arrested there on charges brought in Colfax.

Now, he had been indicted by a federal grand jury for violating the Mann Act, for transporting a woman across state lines for immoral purposes.

As it turned out, he was also wanted on charges from Boston and Philadelphia.

From the murder beat: A coroner’s jury was probing the death of Jack Richter of Deer Park, and it appeared increasingly likely that his wife would be charged.

A neighbor said that when she went to his house to report the shooting, she said, “Well, I shot him.” But she initially claimed a neighbor was the killer.

Later she said (as if to her dead husband), “It won’t be long until I join you.”

After being held on an open charge for several days, she was escorted into a two-hour meeting with the county prosecutor. The prosecutor gave no comment afterwards, but observers said she “left the office in tears, and it was “generally believed at the courthouse that she had made a confession.”