WA WA/ID/CA - Walter Andrew “Bluebeard” Watson, bigamist & SK, 1917-1920

[MadMcGoo]

I couldn’t decide whether or not to create a thread about these cases, or where to even put it. I stumbled upon one short article about this guy and the murders of several of his wives and was surprised to subsequently find many, longer, articles about him.

I’m not sure where to start, but from what I’ve read so far there are at least a couple of still missing (and presumably murdered) women out there. Unfortunately, several of them involve large bodies of water, so they may never be found. I searched briefly through the UID forums for any that might match the missing women, but didn’t find anything that stood out to me. I guess I’m mostly posting this in case something does come up. Hopefully people will remember these women.

These newspaper articles date back to the early 1900s so it’s difficult to screenshot them in a way that allows for them to be read...the quality just isn’t great.

James P. “Bluebeard” Watson (1871-1939) - Find A...

His Find-a-Grave will lead you to those of several of his wives. There are dozens of articles on newspapers.com and more to be found by googling any of his aliases or victims. Fair warning, if you Google the name of his last victim, you will find GRAPHIC photos.

100 years ago in Spokane: Murder indictment expected for Huirt after Spokane woman’s body identified

100 years ago in Spokane: Bigamist-murderer confesses to killing 1 wife after she found out about another

100 years ago in California: Admitted wife-slayer ‘Bluebeard’ Huirt leads searchers to body of Montana woman

Quiet Man Left Trail of Dead Wives

Sacramento Union 5 May 1920 — California Digital Newspaper Collection

Bluebeard buried wife in valley | Vancouver Sun

I feel like, at the very least, these women’s remains have yet to be located or identified:

• Alice M. Ludvigson of Seattle, married at Port Townsend, Wash., October 6, 1917, drowned under heavy logs at the St. Joe River, Idaho.

• Bertha A. Goodnick of Spokane, Wash., married at North Yakima, Wash., June 11, 1919, drowned in Lake Washington, Seattle.

• Agnes Wilson of Calgary, Alberta, Canada, married at Vancouver, Sept. 20, 1918; drowned in Lake Washington, Seattle.

• Eleanor Frazier of Calgary, married in Seattle, 1919; thrown into the Spokane River, near Spokane city, believed by the murderer to have been carried over the falls and crushed on the rocks below.

• Marie Austin of Calgary, beaten with a rock and drowned in Lake Coeur d'Alene, Idaho.

• Mrs. M.A. Watt, Box 793, Winnipeg, Canada, drowned in Lake Coeur d'Alene, Idaho.