This day in history: Exotic bird on the lamb showed up in Chewelah. Paulsen Building safecracker arrested in Illinois

Sun., May 3, 2026

Safecracker Isadore “Izzy” Edelstein, out on bail after a conviction in Spokane stemming from thefts from safes in Spokane's Paulsen Building in 1922, was accused of robbery in Springfield, Illinois, the Spokane Daily Chronicle reported on May 3, 1926. (Spokesman-Review archives)

By Jim Kershner The Spokesman-Review

From 1976: Did Willie the Wily Parrot make another appearance in the Inland Northwest?

Perhaps.

Mrs. Ed Massey of Chewelah reported a “huge, lovely, green and yellow parrot” flying around her home.

“He wouldn’t have anything to do with us,” she said. “He just sat up in a tree and squawked. We had a very cold rain and he was quite upset, quite irate.”

For the past two years, numerous people in the region had reported seeing a similar parrot.

A British Columbia man said his parrot “Willie” had escaped from his coop in 1974. He believed that Willie was responsible for at least some of these sightings.

In earlier sightings, the bird squawked what sounded like the word “Help!”

But Mrs. Massey said this bird didn’t say anything intelligible – “at least not in English.”

From 1926: The colorful career of master safecracker Isadore “Izzy” Edelstein took another twist when he was reported to be under arrest in Springfield, Illinois, as a robbery suspect.

After two safes were “blown” in Springfield, “Bertillon records (fingerprint records) from St. Louis were used to identify Edelstein.”

This arrest had repercussions in Spokane, because Edelstein was out on bail for his conviction in the sensational Paulsen Building heist, and was also awaiting another trial in Spokane as a habitual criminal.

There was apparently still some question about whether the arrested man in Springfield was actually Edelstein.

“We will proceed with our case here just as though nothing had occurred in the East, should the man arrested prove to be Edelstein,” said Spokane County Prosecutor Charles Leavy.

“If Edelstein is not able to appear here for trial, prosecutor Charles Leavy will ask that $30,000 in bond money, which he was released, be forfeited,” said the Spokane Chronicle.

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