The Axe at the Hearth
A domestic tragedy in Walla Walla ends in a fatal confrontation, but a coroner's jury clears the husband of wrongdoing.
A man named J. O. Leonard, living not five miles south of the city, killed A. G. Beer on Friday last. Beer had been planning an elopement with Leonard's wife and went to his house on Friday to consummate his plan. While there, Leonard, who had just been grinding his ax, came into the house and commenced whetting it. Beer insultingly said that he was going to take his wife away and asked what proportion of the property Leonard intended to give her. Leonard replied that if the woman wished to go, she could, but she could take no portion of the property. Beer then drew a revolver and snapped it at Leonard; the pistol missed fire. Leonard arose and struck Beer with the ax, inflicting a wound from which he died in a few minutes. Leonard was arrested, but after an examination before Esq. Horton on Saturday, the evidence showed the act was done in self-defense, and he was discharged. The community in general justifies him in the act.
“Leonard replied that if the woman wished to go with him he could take her, but that they could take no portion of the property.”
This 1864 incident reflects a period where property and marriage were legally inseparable and violent defense of the home was socially sanctioned. It stands in sharp contrast to modern approaches to domestic disputes and the legal definitions of self-defense.
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