100 years ago in Spokane: One of the infamous McDonald sisters was arrested after a fugitive’s life in Mexico

Fay McDonald, one of Spokane’s notorious McDonald siblings, was arrested in Beaumont, Texas, after living the life of a fugitive in Mexico for two years.

She and her sister Marie had been acquitted on charges of murdering W.H. McNutt and burying his body on a Newport, Washington, ranch. They claimed their brother Will McDonald did it, but he fled and was never found. After the murder trial, both sisters were re-arrested and subsequently convicted of forgery because they attempted to cash a check taken from McNutt’s clothing.

Both sisters disappeared before serving their sentences in Walla Walla. No trace of Marie had been found, but a Spokane detective had tracked down Fay working as singer in a Mexican cabaret. The detective tried to arrest her, but Mexico refused to extradite her.

Fay, however, told the detective she was homesick and miserable in Mexico, and wanted to return to the U.S. A year later, that’s what she did.

She attempted to “lay low” in Beaumont, but authorities there were tipped off to her presence and arrested her. Washington authorities were seeking extradition, but Fay said she would fight it.

From the court beat: The second trial of Louis Adams on first-degree murder charges continued in a Spokane courtroom.

The manager of the Spokane Nash Fruit Warehouse testified that he heard an argument, came out of his office and saw Adams quarreling in Italian with Joe Gracio.

After a scuffle, he said he saw Adams “back away from Gracio a few steps and pull a revolver and fire.” The first bullet missed, but then Adams fired a second, fatal shot.

When Gracio’s young son ran on to the warehouse platform, the manager said Adams pointed the gun at the boy and said something to him, and “the boy turned and ran down the alley.”