This day in history: 3 were found dead in car in Mead. Co-star of Douglas Fairbanks spent part of childhood near Manito Park
From 1976: A motorcyclist noticed a car parked in an odd location down a dirt road in Mead.
When he stopped and looked it over, he was shocked by a gruesome sight.
Three bodies were slumped over in the car, and a vacuum cleaner hose was connected from the tailpipe to the passenger window.
Three elderly people, two women and a man, were dead at the scene. Police had not yet identified the victims, and did not know yet whether they were investigating a triple suicide or a murder-suicide.
“A note on the car’s dashboard requested a specific Spokane funeral home be called for the bodies,” said the Spokane Chronicle.
From 1926: Julanne Johnston, “a famous dancer and screen star,” had Spokane roots.
In 1911, the young Julanne had a prolonged stay in Spokane, when she and her mother visited Spokane relatives following the death of her father.
“Mrs. Johnston fell in love with Spokane and they made their home there (near Manito Park) for some months,” said the Spokane Chronicle. “Mrs. Johnston has a host of friends in Spokane and was prominent during her stay there. She formed the first parent-teacher association and did a great deal of social work. … Many will remember the pretty little girl who used to romp through the park with her three dogs not so many years ago – that was Julanne.”
Julanne Johnston was best known at the Princess in the 1924’s “The Thief of Baghdad,” co-starring with Douglas Fairbanks.