100 years ago in Spokane: Two San Quentin escapees were nabbed for shooting a local sheriff’s deputy

The two desperados wanted for shooting a Spokane deputy were arrested in Des Moines, Iowa, following a “sensational automobile chase.”

Thomas Walton and George P. Burt, convicted murderers, had left a trail of crimes after escaping from San Quentin prison.

Their Spokane crime spree began when they stole a couple of cars. Burt then convinced Gladys Homer, a diner waitress, into going for an auto ride.

She soon had reason to regret that plan. She became so frightened of Burt’s reckless driving – and so fearful of his possible intentions toward her – that she jumped out of the speeding car just a few miles south of Spangle. Witnesses tended to the injured girl and notified police.

Spokane deputy Dick Cashatt stopped Burt following a chase, but Burt then swung around and shot Cashatt in the lung. Burt sped away and was picked up by Walton in another stolen car. Both Homer and Cashatt survived their injuries.

Police all over the country were then alerted to be on the lookout for the two men. The search lasted for weeks, but they were finally spotted in Iowa and arrested.

The two men were going under false names – Fred Fletcher and Jack Haines – but fingerprints identified them as the escaped murderers. They would probably be returned to San Quentin to serve out the rest of their life sentences.

Also on this day

(From onthisday.com)

1920: Joan of Arc is canonized as a saint.

1927: U.S. Supreme Court rules bootleggers must pay income tax.