An Orting Barn Burning Sparks Courtroom Insults
A defense attorney’s explosive courtroom conduct highlights a bitter family feud behind an arson charge in Orting.
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.
A large proportion of the old residents of Orting are in attendance at the trial of George Freeman, a resident of that town, who is accused of burning Joseph Krondak's barn. Many witnesses have been subpoenaed on both sides. With Freeman yesterday in court were his 3-year-old son and his wife, formerly Miss Rosa Krondak, whom Freeman met and married in 1899. After being injured in a tunnel accident while working as a railroad engineer, Freeman purchased a farm near Orting. C. O. Bates appeared for the prosecution, while J. H. Easterday and Walter Christian defended Freeman. Mr. Bates argued that Freeman, incensed by family conflict and a separation from his wife caused by his mother-in-law, Mrs. Krondak, had threatened to burn the barn. The defense attorney, Mr. Easterday, countered by calling the presiding Justice of the Peace, J. M. Carson, an 'old woman with pink whiskers' and suggesting that Mrs. Krondak, described as a 'fanatic,' might have set the fire herself to frame her son-in-law.
“Considerable feeling was manifested by Attorney Easterday as he referred to Justice of the Peace J. M. Carson of Orting as 'the old woman with pink whiskers and wearing a night-cap.'”
This courtroom drama captures the intense, often litigious nature of small-town life in the early 20th century. The vitriol exchanged between attorneys remains a timeless feature of high-stakes local disputes, even as the rural landscape of Orting has shifted toward suburban development.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.