The Jealousy Hunt: A Tacoma Man’s ‘Crime of Passion’ and the Women Who Caught Him
In a scandal that gripped Tacoma in May 1909, George Essel Khrnin was arrested for assault after his wife tracked him down from Seattle. But the real drama unfolded as two other women—accusers and witnesses alike—joined the hunt, turning a domestic dispute into a public spectacle.
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.
George Essel Khrnin, a young man who is said to reside when perfectly at home, was brought before Justice Lawrence today charged with assault. Khrnin, although quite a strong man, is said to be married to his third wife and it is she who undertakes to punish him for being untrue to the vows he made her.
She came over from Seattle a day or so ago and found that he was courting with a girl of the town, preferred the charge and had him. Officers Marhie and McLaughlin went on a hunt for him last night and found him at the home of Maliei Moore, on 1st Street.
The evidence, from what they are willing to testify as to having seen and heard, they say is conclusive. Khrnin was committed to jail in default of bail. J. W. Kok of the casino went ashore bond but three others are required and Khrnin is looking for them.
His wife, who is quite a society little woman, was 'recognized' to come before the grand jury in June.
This 1909 Tacoma scandal reads like a tabloid headline from today: a cheating husband, a jealous spouse traveling across state lines to catch him, and a chaotic police raid on a boarding house. It highlights how domestic disputes were once public spectacles, with the 'society' wife leveraging her status to ensure her husband faced legal consequences for infidelity—a stark contrast to how such matters are often handled privately today.
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