Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1895-04-01
Oliver r. Gooding Declared Insane
BY a Jury.
has A DANGEROUS DELUSl0N
Believes the President and Others
Are Conspiring Against Him.
lis QUIET OTHERWISE

What may have developed into another
Guiteau case was prevented this afternoon
when a marshars jury decided that Oliver
Paul Gooding, formerly Of st. Louis. Mo-.
is of unsound mind, and directed his in
generation In an insane asylum.
The Investigation was held by Marshal
Wilson and a jury at the city hall. The
attorney for the District, Mr.. 8. T. Thomas,
examined the following witnesses: Drs. w.
w. Godding. D. P. Hickling and ]. R. New
lit, Newspaper Correspondents O'Brien
Moore and Walter B. Stevens. Detective J.
w. Mattingly, A. J. Wood and Charles w.
Terry.
The physicians stated that they had ex-
concluded that he was insane, suffering
from decisions that he was the object OF
great conspiracy to destroy him, the Pres
ident and the Missouri politicians being at
that Gooding had published two books OF
several hundred pages each. detailing the
movement against him. the President being
particularly referred to therein as the arch
conspirator. DR.. Godding explained that
the man appeared to be a second Guiteau,
and he considered him to be dangerous
person to be at large.
Mr.. Thomas read extracts from the later
book, from which 1t appeared that the man
was under the delusion that the President
had promised him an appointment as a
brigadier general on the retired list, but
had refused to make good the promise. and
was now endeavoring to have him muir
dered. The President was also charged
with the destruction of the Old Ford Thea
ter building, in order to have Gooding
killed with the unfortunate clerks. The
public men who died during the past year
or SO were declared by the author to have
been poisoned by the conspirators. as we'll
as the many men prominent In private life,
here and abroad.
He Went Armed.
Correspondents Moore and Stevens stated
that they were well acquainted with Good
Ing who had formerly been a police COM
missioner in st. Louis. He was a man Of
education. they stated. and was prominent
years ago in Missouri politics. About 1887,
they said, Gooding became possessed of the
delusion that he had been prevented by a
great conspiracy from marrying a promi-
nent st. Louis lady. Then he became pos
sessed Of the idea that President Cleveland
was under many obligations to him for
services rendered during the campaign of
1884.
1t was stated that the mans brother had
given him funds with which to live here,
and the man had become a great nuisance
to Missourians In Washington. 1t was I'M
derstood that Gooding went armed, al
though Messrs. Moore and Stevens believed
him capable of being easily frightened OF.
Declared Insane.
Detective Mattingly stated that he had
Swallowed the man during the past two
years. and believed him to be insane. He
thought it not unlikely that Gooding would.
on provocation, or impulse, commit vio-
lefce. The man had become greatly excited
by the Ford's Theater disaster, and be-
lieved the President and other public men
to have designs on his life. Mr.. Terry
stated that his firm had printed the second
be ok written by Gooding.
Mr.. Wood testified that Gooding was a
guest of the Oxford Hotel and when not
laboring under his delusion respecting the
conspiracy to murder him. appeared to be
perfectly rational. He was wen behaved.
quiet end paid his accounts promptly
Formerly the man had gone armed. but not
lately.
The jury returned a verdict at once, de-
claring the man to be insane, and without
family or estate. Marshal Wilson stated
that he would at once take Gooding into
custody, preparatory to placing him In st.
Elizabeth's Asylum for treatment It is
said that the man served in the federal
army during the war, and was quite dis
tingutshed soldier.