Library features exhibit on young murderer

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A display for the exhibit featuring Herbert Niccolls Jr., who was convicted of first-degree murder in 1931 at age 12.

A new exhibit open in the Terrell Library makes one wonder how a child accused of murder would be sentenced now, compared to 1931.

“The Case of the 12-year-old Sheriff Killer: Herbert Niccolls and the Washington Justice System” opened Nov. 18 in Manuscripts, Archives and Special Collections (MASC) on the ground floor of Terrell Library.

According to documents in the exhibit, in the early morning hours of Aug. 5, 1931, Asotin County Sheriff John Wormell and his deputies responded to a report of a burglary at Peter Klaus’ People Supply Store.

They found Herbert Niccolls Jr. stealing gum and tobacco while emptying the cash register. As the sheriff interrupted Niccolls and demanded he come outside, the boy drew a loaded revolver and proceeded to shoot and kill Wormell.

“It’s a local story so it makes it personal to us on the Palouse. It causes us to examine our thoughts about what we think justice really is,” Pullman Chief of Police Gary Jenkins said.

During the trial, the public learned Niccolls had been involved in criminal activities from the age of 8, stealing jewelry, money, a teacher’s pocketbook, cars and more. He showed little remorse about shooting Wormell, a well-respected lawman, community leader and state legislator, according to exhibit documents.

On Oct. 29, 1931, Niccolls was convicted of first-degree murder. The jury sentenced him to life in prison, to be served at the state penitentiary in Walla Walla.

Niccolls was the youngest person on record in the state to receive a life sentence.

“State law no longer requires that defendants 12 years of age or older be tried as an adult for murder. I believe it would be unlikely that a 12-year-old would be tried as an adult in Washington today,” Jenkins said.

Chair and professor of the Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology, Craig Hemmens said Niccolls did receive special treatment in jail to protect him from the older population.

“The way he was dealt with in prison was pretty good – housed separately, received tutoring and ate with the staff,” Hemmens said.

Hemmens said that many states today still allow juveniles to be sentenced to very long prison terms, including life without the possibility of parole.

According to the exhibit, Governor Clarence Martin granted Niccolls a conditional pardon Jan. 7, 1941, after spending 10 years in jail. Niccolls died in 1983, after keeping a clean record and holding a job.

Librarian Cheryl Gunselman, who created the exhibit, encouraged students to visit the exhibit; not only because it is an interesting case involving a very young perpetrator and a victim who was an officer. It was also inspired by this year’s common reading book, “Just Mercy,” by Bryan Stevenson.

“In MASC, we try to keep the Common Reading selections in mind as we are planning exhibits, and “Just Mercy” was a challenge. We don’t have a lot of collections with content related to crime and the justice system, but the Niccolls case was an exception,” Gunselman said.

The collection will run through March 26. MASC hours are 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.

“I think it’s good to be challenged to examine our thoughts about what justice really is. While public safety is definitely a primary consideration, as a society we also struggle with prioritizing and balancing punishment and incarceration versus rehabilitation,” Jenkins said.