The Double Life of a Murdered Man
A homicide in Tacoma reveals a bigamist's secret life and a potential fight over his estate.
A Spokane Falls man named Grant was murdered in Tacoma the other day by one, Lattin. As two Mrs. Grants have appeared on the scene and claimed the remains, as well as the $5,000 supposed to be on the person of the murdered man, it is quite safe to presume that Grant was a bigamist, and is quite well off as it is.
“As two Mrs. Grants have appeared on the scene... it is quite safe to presume that Grant was a bigamist.”
Bigamy cases often made the papers in the 1880s as a form of moral scandal, though today they highlight the legal precariousness of families before modern record-keeping. The tension between the wives over the $5,000 mirrors the high-stakes probate disputes still common in Washington today.
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