The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-02-14
WILLIE" GIPP AWAKES
BUFFALO BOY WHO MURDERED HIS
MOTHER SLEPT THREE YEARS.
Came to His Senses i'm the Hospital
"A Puzzle for AIienists.
New York Herald.


suddenly by murder mania, William Gipp,
of Buffalo, a boy of twenty. murdered the
mother whom he loved, almost murdered his
father, and then relapsed into chidishness,
into drowsiness, into coma. He slept
though his eyes were open sometimes-for
three years and two months. never speak
ing. having no moment of consciousness,
recognizing no one, nos even the girl sweet
heart, love for whom, it is thought, played
some part in the tragedy. Then he awoke,
rubbed his eyes, as one who has slept over
long, and asked where he was, and where
his mother was. He knew nothing of the
murder. 1t had been blotted out had
three years of life. Alienists expected he
would die month or two after the murder.
In many ways the case presents entirely
new phases When he awoke the other day
from the long dreamless sleep which was
so near an approach to dissolution memory
brought back to him no suggestion of the
terrible day when he murdered his mother
shot his father and beg anne a child, sim
pie child who had lost his hat, and Yves
crying because he could not find 1t. willie"
Gipp was twenty years old when something
in his brain went wrong three years ago,
and when he awoke on Jan. he believed
he was only twenty STILL AS far as can
be learned there is no faint of insanity or
epilepsy in the family. Well reared by low
ing parents, the boy, when he was grown,
obtained employment as a car inspector for
the Lehigh Valley Railroad. He worked
hard and steadily. and assisted in support
ing the home which he shared with his par
ents. So far commonplace.
But the boy of twenty fell in love with
Miss Mary Drews, who was twenty-three
There was some talk at home about his be-
ing too young to devote serious attention
to a woman, but the boy was determined
to marry, and knowing his parents thought
he was too young he anticipated row
when he told them of his decision. The
matter weighed upon his mind. He was
firmly decided to marry, but he feared the
consequences of announcing it to his par
ents. He was but twenty. 1t stood thus
when he went to his work on Nov. /, 1894
1t was cold, and at 1 o'clock on the follow
ing morning he told his companions that
he would go home and get his heavy over
coat. His mother left her bed to admit
him, and when he had the coat and was GO
ing she followed him into the Kitchen IN
tending to lock the door after him Up to
that moment he was the loving, stalWart
son. Then, as she moved into the kitchen
behind him something in his brain worked
chine is destroyed by defective bolt or
cog. Suddenly he turned, drawing pistol
and without word shot her through the
head. So suddenly was it done that the
woman was dead before she could scream
at the horror of reading murder on her
boys face. The noise of the pistol br"ueht
the father to the kitchen. His son stood
above the mothers body, pistol in hand
silent, ready for another crime. One glance
and the elder Gipp ran straight at the pis-
toll The maniac's aim was true and n
penetrated fathers h1It
he closed and seized the weapon. The
maniac seemed capable of fear There was
a brief struggle, in which he lost the pistol
Then he dashed through the kitchen door,
scaled the fence and was gone in the dark
ness
HIS SENSES GONE.
The father gave the alarm and the city
was searched, the police by hundreds look
ing for a desperate murderer. They found
after twenty-four hours, forlorn human
being crouched in a barn, man in frame
child in intellect. Murder frenzy, fear
childishness-these had come in turn as the
poor wrecked brain worked on like Grip
pied engine.
i've lost my hat" he said piteously as
they rushed upon him. please find it for
me-" And he fell to mumbling incoherently.
The expression on his face was that of q
troubled child Later it became less intelli-
gent; The lines which made the face seem
[
give the effect of flabbness. In the face
there was no trace of horror at any time
only one OF trouble and bewilderment. will
lie Gipp existed no longer
Some mental arrangement had slain him
before he killed his mother. In law there
was no one to expiate the crime, and be-
cause we are a kindly folk and do not de-
stroy lives which are useless, but have lum-
per rooms and storerooms in which to pro-
long them I'm they moved the helpless creature
TO the State Hospital for the Insane and
waited for him to die.
Ihey who wonder about the soul NAV
wonder about the immortal part of Gimp
during the long trance which was so like
the sleep of death i'm its destruction of
memory and Inconsistencies of surround
lnSS. FROM the moment of his aDprehen-
sion he relapsed quickly into coma, as one
VINO Is utterly weary and must rest no
matter what befalls. They lifted him into
a cot as II he had been a patient under
ether, and thenceforward voltion seemed
TO nave left him forever. He never spoke
he never moved, except when the attend
For perhaps half of the time he lay on his
pack, MS eyes fixed upon the ceiling, but
with vacant gaze. A child would have fol-
lowed with his eyes the strategic march
lngs Of flies upon that ceiling vaguely, but
consciously. Gipp, it seemed, saw nothing
certainly not the kitchen of his home,
from which they had carried out his moth
er. No, he had forgotten even the hat he
lost when he became a child that day.
wonderful as 1t appeared to the doctors,
and die, he neither lost nor gained weight
Physically he remained what he was when
they carried him to his cot. In the mat
ter or food he swallowed what was placed
IN his mouth and ceased to swallow when
they put in no more That he had any feel
ing In the matter no one could say.
Some who saw him held the theory that
his sense of motion and speech We're
chained, but that he was aware of all that
passed about him, remembered the killing
OF his mother and lay there day after day
month after mouth, going over and over the
terrible events, unable to do anything but
think. This the doctors said was not pos
think at ALL they said, his condition being
one OF anaesthesia, due to shock.
END OF THE LONG SLEEP.
And then, on Jan. last, three years and
two months after the tragedy. willie,
Gipp awoke The brain for a time almost
readjusted itself into the perfect machine it
had been before his crime. An attendant,
busy in the dormitory at o'clock in the
morning, heard an unexpected noise behind
him, and, turning suddenly saw Gipp walk
ing toward him. His face wore a bewil-
dered expression. His hands ran through
his hair and rubbed his eyes. His glance
swept the room wonderingly, as one never
seen before. The attendant gazed at him
in wonder and fear, he was so like one risen
from the dead. The boys eyes fixed them
selves upon the nurses face, and he said
in low. hesitating tone, as one unused to
speech, Where am ~
The attendant made no reply, but ran in
search OF Drs. Frost and BoWerman. All
three returned in a minute and found Gipp
tents with interest. The physician led him
10 his cot and seated him upon 1t.
DO you know where you are?' doctor
asked.