The Indianapolis journal., 1890-10-28
A INDUSTRIOUS CRIME.
T. j. Blount Brutaily Murdered by a Man Who
should Have Protected Him.

7. j. Blount Brutaily Murdered by Man Who
Should Have Protected Him.
On the 2Sd of last month Thomas Jay
Blount was admitted to the Richmond Hos
pital for Insane. He had been of unsound
mind for about two years and half, and
was, some eighteen months ago. under the
care for brief time, of DR.. w. B. Fletcher,
of this city, who pronounced him incur
able. saying q foreign substance of some
sort was growing on his brain, which would
eventually kill him. The patient was
taken back to his fathers home in Blount-
Vile, where he remained until little more
than month ago. when he was. as noted
above. sent to the Richmond institution.
He was in poor health. not at all
strong and there IS no evidence
to show that he was In any
way violent. His only offcnse was, accord
ing to the reports of attendents. that he
was loquacious and boisterous not an es-
peciaily grave crime, it must be admitted.
He was given chloral and bromide to in
duce sleep, this treatment being continued
several nights. On Thursday night, Sept.
25, he complained that an attendant named
Woods had abused him, which the latter
denied. According to the officials Blount was
all right until Saturday, the 27th. when.
during the temporary absence of the at
tendanr, ne tried to get out of bed, and was
found on the floor. On Sunday. Sept. %.
they allege. his condition had changed re-
markably for the worse, and on Monday.
toward midnight. he died.
The story told by Thomas Harmon, how
ever, has q decidedly different color. Mr..
Harmon, who came to the institu-
tion the same day as did Mr..
Blount, was, soon after his arrival, given
the liberty of the hospital and discharged
Oct. Is as cured. He was injured by fall
ing out of barn loft and striking on his
head, the injury unbalancing his reasoning
powers temporarily. but in no way affect
in his faculties OF observation or memory.
mons room was almost directly across
the corridor from that of Blount. and upon
the night of Friday. Sept. 26, he charges
that. while the latter was standing by his
door in his night-clothes. Wood ordered
him to stop talking. and followed up the
order with a savage assault.
WHAT HANNON SAW.
Harmon ran part way across the
dormitory hall, which separates the rooms.
and says the sight he saw and the
sounds he heard he will never forget. The
dormitory is brightly lighted by electric
ity, incandescent lamps being used, and he
could see into Blounfs room. the panels be-
ing left out of the doors for the purpose of
permitting the attendants to watch the pa
tients. He heard Blount gasping for breath
and crying to Woods not to kill him.
Horrified aud afraid to venture further be-
cause of the presence of three other at
tendants. who stood looking on In stold
indifference. Harmon says he stopped in
the center of the dormitory and saw Wood
repeatedly kick the limp and PROSTATE
figure of the poor maniac. the sickening
sounds of the kicks striking terror
TO his heart. He said they
made O crunching noise. and that when
Woods finally desisted Blount appeared
pretty nearly dead. How long the victim
remained unconscious Harmon does not
know, because he retired to his room and