The evening times. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1906-1914, 1906-11-14
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER Il, 1905.
Killing With Poison Fine Art
When Doctors Commit Crime
When They Have Subtle Deadly Agencies Command Dan
ger Of Detection Is Minimized.

than injure hair of another persons
head, and more especially Of q person
connected with them not merely by
intimate business relationships but, as
in the case Of Pritchard and De La
Pommerais and Lamson, by the clos
est family ties.
One may very we'll agree with LON
broso, the great Italian authority ON
criminology, that there is some spe-
cial mental evolution or other which
marks the development OF the Grimm
al. The great criminal, In other
words. like the poet, is born, not
made.
There is a kind OF brain twist" 80
to speak, which serves to remove him
SO far from the ordinary run of hui
man beings that the sacredness of life
is entirely neglected by him, and be-
comes. indeed. lost quantity.
.Abnor malMember of Race.
Whoever stands in the way of the
realization Of his dreams or ambitions
may be. according to his view Of
things, legitimately swept out Of ex-
istence. It is this notable fact which
lends support to the view of Lom-
broso and his colleagues when they
demand that the great criminal at
least should be regarded as q highly
abhorant and abnormal member of the
human race.
On this argument 1t might be in
deed easy to found the idea that the
murderer who carefully and resolute-
ly plans the death Of his victim, and
accomplishes by series of prolonged
poisonings. watching his victims tor
lures the meanwhile with unconcern-
ed gaze, is essentially an insane man
insane. that is, from the point Of
view from which we are to regard the
regulation of the normal conduct of
mankind.
It Is very different with the lower
class murderer, who from very dis
tinct motives of revenge, jealousy,
and the like. or who takes red-handed
in the commission, say, Of burglary,
shoots policeman. In such cases
we can all agree with the law which
is bound to make distinctions of very
distinct character between the man
who has, after being insulted or i'll
used. killed his enemy, and another
who has for days and weeks lain in
wait for his victim.
Loses Regard for Human Life.
The essence of the scientific critn-
inal character appears therefore to
me to consist, first, in the sweeping
away from his mind of all that regard
for human life which in the case of
the medical profession constitutes the
very "raison d'etre" of it's existence,
and, second, in the merciless and
often diabolically accurate fashion in
which he not merely times the death
of his victim, but also calculates the
means whereby his end may be ac-
complished with the least risk of de-
lection.
l need not refer here to the cases of
the three medical prisoners above
mentioned. Suffice it to say that De
La Pommerais In France not merely
poisoned his mother-in-law two
months after his marriage. but also
did away with certain Madame de
Paw, the widow of an artist who was
an old friend of the murderer. The
doctor had insured the woman's life
for the sum of 100000. The cause of
death here was the administration of
a very subtle poison, such as, indeed,
only a doctor could procure.
AViSVuS DVy lUE u Alttlc MOuOys
Lamson poisoned his brother-in-
law at Wimbledon. The victim was a
lad of 10 years, and was paralyzed
from his waist downwards. He had
inherited property of the value of
about $500 per annum, half of which
would at his death pass to each of his
sisters, one Of three sisters, of course,
being the doctors wife. A subtle
poison was introduced into a capsule
filled with sugar. sly. diabolical
fashion Of killing fellow-being.
Here We have an exemplification IL
Illustrating Lombroso's view of the ed
ucated criminal. The poor lad, al
ready tortured by illness, is done to
death by a near relative for the sake
Of trifling yearly pittance which
would accrue as the result of his de-
cease.