In the quiet, still-developing community of Federal Way, Washington, a young man named Edward Morley was working his shift as a gas station attendant. It was Monday, February 7, 1955, a day that would end in a senseless act of violence, cutting short the life of the 25-year-old male. His death would later be understood not as an isolated tragedy, but as a single chapter in the violent story of a serial killer who had moved quietly into the Pacific Northwest.
That evening, during what
police believed was a robbery, Edward was shot and killed. The crime was committed by Harvey John Collins, a man whose life had taken a dark turn after serving as a U.S. Marine in World War II. Collins, who had fought in the Battle of Iwo Jima, used a Japanese pistol he had kept as a war trophy to end Edward Morley's life. After the murder, Collins vanished, leaving the community to grapple with the sudden and brutal loss.
For weeks, the case remained unsolved. The investigation into Edward’s death took a sudden turn the following month. On March 21, 1955, in the nearby town of Milton, Collins surfaced again. He attacked Anna Stolen, the 67-year-old owner of a motel, and when her 74-year-old husband, Andrew, intervened, Collins brutally killed him. Anna, despite her injuries, survived the attack and was able to provide authorities with a description of her assailant and a partial license plate number. This crucial information led police directly to Collins, who was arrested within an hour of the attack.
In the custody of the King County Sheriff's Office, the full scope of Harvey John Collins's violence began to unravel. During interrogation, he confessed to the murder of Edward Morley. He also admitted to the killing of Andrew Stolen. As investigators delved deeper, Collins also confessed to a third murder, one he had committed two years earlier while stationed at Fort Knox, Kentucky. On May 15, 1953, he had beaten and stabbed a 37-year-old waitress named Edna Iona Hall after she rejected his advances.
Collins’s background revealed a man who was once considered an upstanding member of society but who showed signs of psychological distress after the war. Following a suicide attempt and a subsequent dishonorable discharge from the Army, he had moved to Puyallup, Washington, to live with relatives and work in a dairy shop, placing him in the region at the time of Edward's murder.
The trial for the murder of Andrew Stolen proceeded quickly, with prosecutors seeking the death penalty. Collins was found guilty of first-degree murder and sentenced to death. While his attorneys filed appeals, Collins seemed to accept his fate. At one point, he and six other inmates escaped from jail, but Collins surrendered himself two days later, reportedly stating he had "thought things through."
On December 3, 1957, Harvey John Collins was executed by hanging at the Washington State Penitentiary in Walla Walla. His final words were reported to be, "I ask forgiveness for everything I've done." With his execution, the legal chapter on his violent spree, which included the murder of Edward Morley, was closed. While the justice system held the person responsible accountable, it could not return the lives he had taken or erase the pain inflicted on the families and communities left behind. Edward Morley's life, like those of the other victims, was tragically cut short, a stark reminder of the human cost of one man's descent into violence.
