127 years ago, murderer petitions for freedom

WASHTUCNA — A petition seeking the release of Henry Bley from the Washington State Penitentiary was filed 127 years ago, regarding the infamous double-homicide of the Moritz brothers.

According to the Weekly Commoner, a predecessor to the Whitman County Gazette newspaper in Colfax, dated Friday, Aug. 20, 1897, Bley, who had been imprisoned for nine years, was connected to the infamous Moritz brothers’ murders, and filed a petition for his freedom.

“This piece of criminal history is highlighted by the vigorous efforts which are now being made by citizens of Walla Walla County and city to secure the exercise of executive clemency in behalf of Bley,” the story reports.

Bley was sentenced to 20 years for his role in the double murder of Carl and Peter Moritz on July 22, 1888, at Washtucna Lake.

According to the Weekly Commoner, the altercation began when Carl and Peter Moritz confronted Bley over a young stallion that had strayed into Bley’s corral.

Bley had demanded $30 in damages, equivalent to approximately $1,136.89 today.

When the brothers refused to pay, Peter entered the corral and drove the horse back into the Moritz band. Bley, who was about 200 yards away at the time, mounted his horse, armed with a revolver, and returned to the scene.

Bley and Peter engaged in a verbal quarrel over Bley’s gate, with Bley eventually threatening, “If you do not stop, I will shoot you.”

Peter replied, “Shoot me if you dare.”

Bley then fired a shot, with a bullet entering through Peter’s chin and passing downward into his throat.

“The wounded man reeled and fell backward into his wife’s arms, who asked ‘are you shot, Peter?’, to which he replied, ‘I guess I am,’” the article states.

Carl Moritz then approached Bley and was shot in the left thigh, breaking the bone.

Carl crawled to a nearby barn doorway, where Bley rode around and, upon finding him, said, “You must die, too, you dirty dog.”

Bley fired four additional shots into Carl’s head, killing him.

Peter died shortly after Bley fled, while Carl, aged 30 and unmarried, died after being shot five times, four in the head.

Peter, 35, left behind a wife and three children.

Authorities reported that after the murders, Bley went to Palouse Junction, saying he intended to surrender to the authorities.

The bodies of the victims were buried in Colfax Cemetery.

Bley, a native of Holstein, Germany, was also a childhood friend of the Moritz brothers and related to Peter through marriage.

The petition argues that Bley has endured sufficient punishment for his crimes and has received support from Walla Walla County citizens advocating for his release.

— Crime Corner is a regular column published in the Whitman County Gazette.