Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
Ambushed by robber dressed as a woman
ROSALIA — The day was August 14, 1935, when alarms sounded throughout the town while bank robbers fled, killing the local town marshal.
Marshal Albert “Bert” Lemley, 58, fired shots at the desperadoes in the Bank of Rosalia’s window. However, a single shot of a 32-caliber was fired, striking Lemley in the back, penetrating the shoulder, heart and lodging in the ribs. He was killed instantly.
An article written by the Spokane Chronicle reports that Lemley was ambushed by a third robber dressed as a woman at the point across the intersection on Main Street where the bank was located.
Lemeley’s body was transported to St. Ignatius Hospital, where x-rays identified another shot to his leg.
According to an article from the Colfax Commoner published on Thursday, April 18, 1935, a fire was started to burn a local house down as a distraction while the robbers entered the bank.
Reports say that as Marshal Lemley assisted at the fire scene, a citizen informed him of the bank robbery. Upon his arrival at the bank, he found all doors locked and all the occupants lying on the floor. The bank manager, Matthew Elliot, unlocked the door, and as Marshal Lemley entered. Lemley, drawing his revolver, fired three shots, and the suspects inside began firing.
Elliott was also the former assistant cashier of First Savings & Trust Bank in 1932, where he was reportedly involved in another hold-up where a gun was pointed at him with his hands uplifted. This time, Elliott was reportedly used as a shield as the bandits emerged from the bank with about $7,000. Elliott was forced into their car. Reports say the suspects drove around the block and then traveled rapidly north.
The suspects were followed by an enraged community as small caliber bullets from a rifle in the hands of Merle Lemley, son of the marshal, were fired. He reportedly borrowed the rifle in a store after leaping into a car with John Knott and many others.
Elliot was released about one mile outside of town.
With inflation, the purchasing power of $7,000 in 1935 equates to about $160,240.45 in 2024.
The suspects placed tacks across roadways, causing three flat tires for Deputy R. L. Waller and Police Chief Benton.
Vehicle license plates were reported incorrectly while the suspects sped off, leading detectives to Raymond L. Carter, of Colfax, who was in Clarkston at the time of the robbery, and a Snohomish County man who was in Seattle.
Reports say Lemley’s killer was an escaped North Carolina convict who was apprehended two years later in 1937. Reese Bailey, 30, received a life sentence after he was convicted of first-degree murder. Bailey had already started a 20-year sentence in Alcatraz for a shooting affray with government agents who captured him in Chillicothe, Ohio. He also had other sentences pending.
The government reportedly had enough evidence to support that Bailey, who had rented a farm in Spangle, was one of three participants in the Rosalia bank robbery.
Reports say he was paroled on December 1, 1956, and later died of a heart attack on January 6, 1977. He is buried in Yancey, North Carolina.
Bailey was the son of a prominent North Carolina family who reportedly formed the Bailey Gang with his brother.
A second suspect, Frank Baird, was apprehended, tried and acquitted. Reports say that just a few months after his acquittal, Baird was charged and prosecuted for stealing sacks of grain.
Although others were involved, no one else was ever charged or prosecuted.
Lemley served two years on the police force in Rosalia before his murder and was survived by his wife, Lela May Harper-Lemley and his children, Earl, Howard, Fern, Ethel, Merle and Evelyn.
After an investigation, Sheriff Walker believed that the robbers might have been the same that robbed the Farmington State Bank in 1933. Sheriff Walker pointed out in that robbery, another vacant house was burned as a distraction.
Olivia Harnack is a Journalist at the Whitman County Gazette. Olivia is enrolled at University of Idaho and is majoring in digital film studies. She serves in the United States Army National Guard and is proud to serve Whitman County.
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