Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1873-12-06
Suicide no Evidence of Insanity.

A case of great Importance has just
been decided in the United States Cir
cuit Court of Iowa. The deceased, one
@. L. Hogan, was about forty years of
age. For five years he had been ex-
press agent at Boone, Ia. He was a
iovial, light-hearted man, a man of good
habits, never in his life known to be
sick. October 1S, 1871, he committed
suicide. The coroner's jury found that
he died from the effects of revolver
shot fred by his own hand. At the
time of his death he had two policies
of insurance upon his life-one issued
by the Mutual Life Insurance Company,
of New York. This policy contained a
clause providing that the policy should
be void if the assured should die by
his own hand. Proof of death was for
warded to the insurance company. They
refused to pay on the ground that the
assured had died by his own hand,
without the meaning of the proviso
in the policy. Suitwas brought against
the Company by the administrator,
who, in his petition, alleged that the
said Charles L. Hogan, "while tenn
porarily insane, and being cognizant of
the act, took his own life." The de-
fendant admitted that the deceased died
by his own hand, but denied that he
was insane, and the case was tried up
on the issue. Before proceeding to
trial the counsel for the defense, after
stating the case to thejury, asked them
if any of them had the preconceived
opinion that q man was conclusively
insane merely because he committed
suicide. Some of the Jurors answered
in the affirmative, and these men were,
on defendants motion, excluded from
the jury, and their places filed from
the panel. The plaintiff produced
several witnesses, who testified that q
great and marked change had come
over Hogan the latter part of his life
that for the last six months prior to
his decease he had been moody and de-
spondent at times; that he acted as
though he had "the blues ;" that from
an affectionate parent and husband he
had changed to a morose, irrita-
BILE man, subject to fits Of anger; that
during the latter years of his life he
had complained of heavy pains in the
back part of his head quite frequently
that at such times he was very violent
in his manner, striking his wife, threat
ening her life, and treating her harshly,
and afterwards denying all remem-
brance or knowledge of such actions.
Physicians were also introduced who,
as experts, testified that in their opin-
ion Hogan was insane. The defense
admitted that deceased was at
times respondent during the last year
of his life, but explained the cause by
showing that his family relations at
home were very unpleasant, and that
his pecuniary embarrassments alone
were of so severe q character that they
were sufficient to account for his moody
and melancholy fits that he was de-
faulter to large extent to the company
for which he worked that he had en-
bezzled a $500 money package, and
that the express company were tracing
the matter, and that exposure was i'm
minent at any moment. Then he tried
to borrow money of various persons to
make up his deficit to the express COM
pany. That he stated to one of his
most intimate friends the day before
his death that he must have this money
or he was a ruined man. That he failed
to get it. That the morning of his
death a superintendent of the express
company came to Boone, very unex-
pectedly to Hogan, to exame Hogan's
accounts. That at about eleven o'clock
that day he committed suicide. That
he gave as a reason that his family re-
lations were unpleasant that he had
no money and no friends, and had made
up his mind to end his life. The jury
were out about half an hour and re-
turned general verdict for the defend
ant, and answered as special findings
that Hogan voluntarily and willfully
took his own life, and that he knew at
the time he shot himself that the act
would result in his own death. The
plaintiff made motion for a new trial,
which came up before the Court and
was overruled and Judgment entered
upon the verdict.