Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1901-07-31
LOWRY SANE WHEN he
KILLED VIM. TRAVIS,
But HE Is INSANE NOW, IN THE
OPINION OF THE CRIMINAL
COURT JURY.
WILL BE SENT TO AN ASYLUM,
hut May he Tried for His Crime mt
Some Future Time - Verdict
Avaiis Him Nothing IL he In
Feigning Neutrality-suspicious. Evil
dence aud the Arguments in the
Casc-The Instructions.

Tom Lowry was sane on May 25th
when he shot and killed William Travis.
but he is now insane.
! This was the verdict OF the jury which
decided the inquiry into the question of
his sanity.
1t is the verdict which Prosecuting At
rorney Nesbitt asked the jury to give.
Its effect will he the commitment of
| Lowry TO an insane asylum. II Lowry
has been feigning insanity. as many
! persons believe. the verdict affords him
no loop-hole for escape. The indictment
! for murder still hangs over his head,
and II he should be adjudged sane at
any future time he may be tried for the
| offense he committed,
The case was given to the jury in the
/ a =ternoon and at the hour for adjourn
ment no verdict had been reached. A
night session was ordered. About S;45
o'clock the jury had evidently decided
upon one point-that Lowry was sane
ON May 25th The jury inquired If that
verdict would be sufficient, and Judge
Hugus sent them back to reach YER
| dict as to his present nben.sl condition.
Ii was nearly ten O'Clock when the jury
returned with the verdict mentioned in
the opening paragraph in this article.
Lowry was Immediately remandad to
jail and as soon as the proper papers
are made out he will be sent to one of
the hospitals for the insane,
Judge Hugus instructed the jury to
find verdict that Lowry was sane May
25th and sane now; or that he was In
sane May 25th and is sane now, or that
he was sane May 25th and is insane
now.
The inquiry into Lowrys insanity
continued all day. During the morning
session of court, Lowry caused some ex.
element II was while Mack Lane was
t.estifying as to what occurred on the
| night Travis was killed. Lowry cried,
and then suddenly exclaimed:
They're telling lies on me. Let me
out"
Springing to his feet he tried to get
out of the court room. Sheriff Irwin
caught him by the arms and held him.
Then he cried and raved, and Judge
4iugus ordered him removed to jail.
After about quarter OF an hour he was
Gained sufficiently to be brought back
into the court room.
The defense introduced George w.
Mercer. who was guard at the Column
bus panitentiary when Lowry was con-
fined there in 1928 for forgery. Mer
Ger said the prison authorities believed
him to be insane. He had occasional
bad spells and always warned the au-
thorities of the prison when he felt them
coming on. and he would be locked in
cell until the danger was past For
this reason no hard work was assigned
to him.
Mercer was asked about the nature
of the fits. and described them as SINH
lar to those Lowry had in the Ohio
county Jail. he said Lowry would have
been severely punished II the prison au-
thorities had thought he was feigning.
When Mercer concluued his testimony,
Mack Lane was put on the stand by the
State lie boarded with Lowry and
| never noticed anything peculiar about
him except his rough talk and con-
duct.
Walter Sneed said he had known
Travis and Lowry but few days. On
the night of the shooting Travis and
Lane went to bed and Lowry came in
half hour later lie laid down and turn
ed the light low Travis and Lowry
swore at each other and Lowry struck
Travis. Then he got his gun and run
| Travis out of the room. They grabbed
| at each other in the hall, and Travis
went on his knees. Then Lowry shot
Witness said he saw nothing peculiar
in Lowry's manner, nothing to make
him think Lowry was insane. After
Lowry came out of the river witness
! took the gun out of his pocket and
Lowry said he was trying to commit
suicide.
officer Michael Mullarky. who arrest
| ed Lowry, told his story substantially
as it was given in the Register on the
morning following the murder. When
Lowry came out of the river he put the
| nippers on HIM. -le said they had made
| him do what ne had done, and asked
witness not to hit him on the head, as
he had a silver plate there. He acted
like he was scared, and said he had just
got out of the insane asylum.
Dick Comfort who accompanied Null
larky on the chase after Lowry, told
substantially the same story,
Sheriff Irwin said that after court
adjourned Lowry asked to nave his law
yers sent to him.
! Attorney ] J. O'Brien then took the
stand and said he had no conversation
| with Lowry after court adjourned.
Judge Hugus limited the arguments
| to one hour on each side. Mr.. Brien
| opened for the defense. He sympa-
/ thized with the relatives of Travis, but
said the point to be determined was
whether Lowry was insane or feign-
ing. He made the point that If Capt.
| Travis believed Lowry to be insane at
a time when he could have had no mo-
tive in feiging insanity it was strong
evidence that he is not feigning now.
/ The very fact that he boosted OF taking
| insanity was proof of mental unsound-
ness. Mercer, the Ohio penitentiary
stuard. testified that he was treated as
an insane man while in that institu-
ton. The facts of his assault in Man
nington, and his killing of Travis, both
without provocatlon, were in themselves
proof of insanity.
Mr.. O'Brien argued that it was impos-
sible to successfully feign insanity for
two years. He said the evidence that
he was insane in the Ohio prison was
not disputed He may have been sane
afterwards. but experts say insanity
may lie dormant and reappear after a
time In support of his argument, he |
read from several authorities. His ar
gument was very strong.
Prosecuting Attorney Nesbitt spoke |