Evan E. Filby - American Sherlock: Remembering a Pioneer in Scientific Crime Investigation

Cases Overview

T he history of Luke Mays casework falls roughly into three periods: (1) before 1920, (2) from 1920 to World War II, and (3) during and after the war. The Luke S. May Papers do not contain a formal log of his cases before the move to Seattle in 19191920. So that period has been re-created from news reports, a small number of case files, and Mays book, Crimes Nemesis.

After Luke and his wife moved to Seattle in 19191920, May began to log every case. For most, he included a case number, short descriptive title, the kind of investigation(s) performed, and often the name of the client. Dates were either recorded or could be inferred from the assigned case number. (For every case discussed in the book, dates were confirmed by newspaper reports.) During and after World War II, May continued to assign case numbers but no longer included a title and other information on the master log. Those details were retained only in the case files themselves. As mentioned earlier, I copied some of those files and took brief notes on many more. Again, newspaper reports were used to confirm and supplement the information from the Luke May Papers.

A combination of all this information was used to create the list shown below, which classifies his cases by type of investigation. Death cases have been further assigned into subcategories. Within those divisions, I have also tried to list the cause of death. Note that Homicides is used to describe deaths that resulted in charges for murder or manslaughter. Hit-and-run and other death-causing incidents are listed separately. Bludgeon may refer to any blunt-force trauma methoda blow with some weapon (tire iron, fist, etc.) as well as when the victim is slammed against a hard object.

Before 1915, Mays cases were all in Utah and mostly in Salt Lake City. After he moved his headquarters to Pocatello, he handled cases all across southern Idaho, plus one death case in Philipsburg, Montana (about fifty miles southeast of Missoula). During this time, newspapers and Mays few case files identify just twenty-two cases. However, other documents show that May was doing well financially in the period after about 1914. It thus seems certain that he and his agency handled many more cases for which we have no records. In any event, the cases we know about break out into the following groupings:

After May moved to Seattle, most of his cases were in Washington. Many were in Seattle, but he also had cases in large and small towns all over the state. Several others were in Oregon, and he even investigated an accidental death case in California. In total, he logged 438 cases.

During this period, May logged 366 cases. That was down quite a bit from the previous span. However, the number and percentage of QD and death cases increased. Also, May was no longer called to investigate incidents of sabotage. Again, most cases were in Washington (with many around Puget Sound), but he also had several death cases in Idaho, two in Oregon, and one near Peace River, Alberta, Canada.

A total of 280 cases were logged. The number of cases for this four-year span was down even further, and May no longer showed any liquor-related investigations. The percentage of QD cases increased, but the big factor was the surge in death cases. The range of locations outside of Washington was considerable, with four cases in Idaho, and one each in Oregon, Utah, Wyoming, and Alaska.

A total of 224 cases were logged. The further decline was at least partly because he did not take private cases in King County while he was chief of detectives for Seattle. He continued to handle cases at a wide variety of locations. That included ten death cases all across Montana, four in Idaho, three in Oregon, and even one from Tampa, Florida.

A total of 195 cases were logged. The continued decline in the number of cases was probably the result of Mays increasing involvement with the U.S. Naval Reserve. The vast majority of his cases were in the Puget Sound area, but he had others all across the state. He also had death cases in Montana (2) and Oregon (3). He even performed evidence tests for a death in San Juan, Puerto Rico.