The evening world., 1894-05-28
SAY She WAS INSANE.
Drs. Macdonald, Flint and jacob
Testify fer Mrc. Fitzgerald.
Mrs. Eustis Tolls OF tn, Accused
Woman's Sutfer,nss.
Evidence All In and Summing Up
Begins Tomorrow.

The taking OF testimony in the trial
Of Mrs. Catherine NJ. Fitzgerald for
shooting Mrs. Carrie Pearsall was
concluded to-day before Judge Cowing In
Part II. Of the Court Of General
Sessions.
Mrs. Minnie Eustis, OF 10S West One
Hundred and Second street. who was a
witness for the people at the Coroner's
Inquest, was called as The first witness
this morning for the defense.
In esponsa to the question OF Fred
erick b. House, Of counsel for Mrs. Fitz-
gerald, she said she had known Mrs.
Fitzgerald some years.
Late last summer when Mrs. Eustis
returned from Lakewood, she was STAR
tied by the appearance Of Mrs. Fitz-
gerald.
She looked III. Her eyes were dilated
and staring" said the witness. "shs
was excited and hysterical.
The first part Of September called
and hysterical. She walked the floor,
eyed. She held her hands to her head,
said she had not slept IN weeks and
Then she told me how. she. had dis
covered that her husband had been at a
hotel with another woman as his wife.
sef s9'd and " '?'f was ss0r sSfra SS' 1t l w trie i1c to
pacify her. / thought she was mad. l
had known her for man years, lived
In the same house with her n never
her. l could make nothing out of it all.
l thought she imagined it ALL"
gerald showed the first signs Of emotion:
She moved uneasily In her chair and
muttered, to herself, holding the back OF
one hand to her temple. Her faithful
an expression Of alarm. on her kindly
face, but the distracted woman made
no demonstration.
DR.. Carlos F. Macdonald, President
Of the State Commission in Lunacy. was
the next witness. He and DR.. Austin
E. Flint were. employed. by District
Attorney Nicoll last Fall to visit the
Tombs and make an examination, of
Mrs. Fitzgerald's mental condition.
They reported that Mrs. Fitzgerald was,
at the time of the shooting of Mrs.
pearsall, n for a lon tim before
DIR. Macdonald said that in his judg-
ment Mrs. Fitzgerald was insane, sur
ferins from that form Of insanity known
~lucination that she was being perse-
cuted. II had existed for a considerable
number of months"
Il do not think she was in a condition
on Oct. 2 to determine right from wrong,
nor to judge nationally of the conse-
quences OF her act" said DR.. Macdonald
in reply to the statutory question.
Mr.. Davis. who could not consistently
call other experts to oppose the testi-
mony given by his own appointees, now
o the anomalous position OF a cross
to make the jury question the thorough
ness OF the examination OF the patient.
DR.. Austin Z. Flint was even more
emphatic in his declaration OF the IRE,
CnnnGthilifv NJ MIRO EifzUaraId IIA oatI
that she was insane In December. insane
at the time Of the tragedy and had been
insane for a year or more before hat.
ing, although her understanding was
cloudy, so cloudy and indistinct that
do not think. she contemplated or gave
any thought to the consciousness to her
ton.
DR.. George w. Jacob, of 63 Madison
avenue another famous alienist and
eases in the women's Medical College.
testified as to the results Of examina-
ton OF Mrs. Fitzgerald. that she was In
sane, and had been for years. She had
and she was incoherent and full OF
decisions. In DR.. Jacobs opinion, at
the time OF the tragedy Mrs. Fitzger-
a aIa Sas hon Oh OF the so eonsequ .G ees% Of her her
act to govern her at all. and was not
competent to distinguish between right
and wrong. She was suffering with
mitted the tragedy.
DR., Langdon c; Gray. professor in
mental diseases at the College OF Physi.
the conference OF medical men q the
United States, soon to meet in Wash
ington, testified after recess that he be-
lieved that Mrs. Fitzgerald was ire
for a long time before n after 1t.
To another question he said:
Il examined Mrs; Fitzgerald again last
week and | found her sanity restored,
though she yet has a tendency 10 delu-
sions."
DR.. Charles l.. Dana was the Nth OF
the scientists to testify that Mrs. Fitz-
accountable for shooting Mrs. Pearsall in
a homicidal turn Of her mental disorder,
Or. Dana's Observations" OF Mrs,
Fitzgerald began Oct. II, nine days after
Oct. 2 she was utterly incapable of dis
,inguishing between right and wrong
or of controlling her act,
East Twen,y-nin,h street, intorsed the
Hamilton first saw Mrs: Fitzgerald
within twenty-four hours after the HON.
icida. He examined her. in Harlem
| prison Oct. 3, and testified to-day that
she was insane at that time, the day
before and for some time prior to that,
Mrs. Mary MCGOWAN, sister of the de
llNihitA ~" 80 ''N'N '''' '''
| cousin had been insane. and her
son is now an inmate Of an insane hos
! pital. His a~iltlenI was melancholia,
| which developed violence four years ago,
Mrs. MCGOWAN told Of six weeks III.
ness her sister suffered in the Spring of
1893, when she was mentally unbalanced
| She said that Fitzgerald was brutal 10
her, and thought she had no right TO be
sick.
Two lays before the tragedy. she
| said. Mrs. Fitzgerald appeared with
an empty satchel. She said she didn't
know where she was going, but II didn't
make any difference, as she was dead
She had no heart, she said, so she must
he dead, and opened her dress to show
! the hole where her heart had been.
After the shooting, when Mrs. Me
Gowan FASTENED to the police station
where her sister was. Mrs. Fitzgerald
embraced her smilingly and said, Katie,
take ms home" seeming not to know
why she was in prison,
Mr.. Davis did not ask a question, and
that completed the testimony OF both
| sides.
mr.. oioat.- .aa..... zoz--a