The Jailer’s Trust: A Domestic Tragedy in Tacoma
A prisoner allowed a day-pass to visit his wife leaves behind a trail of blood and a horrific crime scene after a fit of uncontrollable jealousy.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
On the 6th of November, a terrible tragedy occurred in Tacoma, involving a prisoner named Kletschmidt who was serving time in the county jail. Kletschmidt, having been granted frequent furloughs to visit his wife, spent the afternoon of the 6th with her. Under the guise of a routine visit, he obtained a razor, entered a room, and perpetrated a ghastly assault on his wife, nearly severing her head from her body, before ending his own life in the same room. Mrs. Kletschmidt was discovered in the hallway with blood flowing from her face and breast. While she survived the horrific attack after a grueling three-hour operation by Dr. Armstrong, the prisoner, Kletschmidt, was found dead across his bed, his own throat cut by the razor he had used on his wife. The tragedy shook the local community, as Kletschmidt had been a trusted prisoner, often allowed to leave the jail to attend to his affairs and share meals with his spouse.
“The razor with which he had done such bloody execution was still in his right hand, which had fallen to his side. The bed and the floor were flooded with blood.”
This story highlights the volatile intersection of the penal system and domestic space in late 19th-century Tacoma. While the 'furlough' system is more formal today, the cycle of domestic violence and the tragic consequences of unchecked jealousy remain a persistent, dark undercurrent in Pacific Northwest reporting.
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