The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1896-03-19
THE CASE OF MRS. BEARD.
Can She Be Held If Not Insane at
This Time.
She Believes That She Is Now Perfectly
Well in Body and Mind, and So Told
Sheriff Duff.
ESPECIAL. TO THE PREss.1


ESPECIAL TO THE PREsS1
Old Orchard, March 1s.-Deputy Sheriff
]. W. Duff, has just returned from Au-
gusta, and while there he visited the
asylum for the insane, and had talk
with Mrs. Frances r. Beard of Andover.
Mass
1t will be remembered that last summer
Mrs. Beard was taken suddenly insane,
and made an attempt to kill her daughter
and another young lady. They were bad
ly injured, and the daughter fingered for
long time between life and death, but
in the end recovered.
The sudden cloud of insanity passed,
OF seemed to pass at the time as suddenly
from the mind of the mother as it had
come over it, and she went with her
suffering daughter to the Maine General
hospital, and manifested the GREATEST in
terest in her. She had no recollection of
the assault.
She was brought before Justice Yates,
and WAS committed to the charge of
Sheriff Duff. and was later under an
order Of justice of the Supreme judicial
court committed to the asylum for the in
Sane.
A sensational feature connected with
the case was the fact that other members
of her family had previously died in a
mysterious way, and she was suspected
of their murder. After she was COM
mitted to the care OF Sheriff Duff she said
to him: 81 never believed 1 killed them,
but now fear that might have. " That
fear rested on her mind, and added great
~ to her troubles.
Mrs. Beard is woman of considerable
property, and at tho asylum has private
attendant. She mas recovered her health
in remarkable degree, and in CONVERSE
ton with Sheriff Duff said: 1T am now
we'll physically and mentally"
There seems to be no doubt that she is
now sane, but then there was no doubt
in the minds of medical men last summer
| that she was sane the day before she
made the murderous assault on tho two
girls, and that she was also sane as soon
as the mental delusion under which she
was laboring passed away. In other
| words she was sane at all times except
brief and very widely separated periods
during which she labored under insane
delusions of homicidal nature.
The question may become of some i'm
| portance: "What is to be done in her
caser' 1t is said that members OF her
family do not believe that she should be
| allowed to go free, and that physicians
believe that her insane delusions might
return even after years OF continuing and
perfect sanity.
1t is thought that possibly an attempt
will be maze to obtain an order of court
for her removal to some private asylum
where she could receive the attention OF
the members of her family, while at the
same time all danger would be forever re-
moved of her again injuring anyone in
the event of the recurrence of the peculiar
insane decisions under which she has
labored at various times.
| Last summer Mrs. Beard apparently
| ullyHagreed with others rega riding the
necessity of her being placed under re
straint, but from what she said to Sheriff
| Duff she now believes that she is COM
| pletely cured. Sheriff Duff is himself of
the opinion that she is now perfectly
sane. The case promises to oontin ue to
be of great interest many questions re-
lating to the duration, nature and
probable recurrence of her insane delu-
sions being involved.
| 1t may be question whether the Su-
| preme court of Maine would allow of her
removal while she has not been tried, or
any other disposition made of her case,
even to an asylum, if outside of the juris-
diction of the court.