Violent Confrontation in a Tacoma Gulch
A long-standing feud between neighbors leads to a gruesome stabbing incident.
Barney Cleary, notorious as a wife beater, was stabbed tonight by Charles McKenna near his home in the gulch in the southern part of the city. Both had been drinking a little and were ugly. They had quarreled before. McKenna drove his pocketknife into Cleary's left side just under a floating rib near the backbone. He pulled the knife around to within a few inches of Cleary's navel, opening up his abdominal cavity and exposing his intestines. Both men were brought to the police station. McKenna was locked up and Cleary, after the rip in his side had been stitched, was removed to the county hospital. McKenna's friends say Cleary had made improper advances to McKenna's wife and that McKenna was justified in his attack.
“He pulled the knife around to within a few inches of Cleary's navel, opening up his abdominal cavity and exposing his intestines.”
This incident reflects the raw, often unpoliced violence of 1890s boomtowns. Today, such a conflict would be heavily scrutinized through the lenses of domestic violence intervention and criminal law.
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