Waterbury evening Democrat., 1907-03-27
O'BRIEN, OLNEY AND PUIzEL NAMED
Justice Fitzgerald stops Roof Garden Murder Trial and Excuses Jury Indehnitely-Accus ls
 Not Afraid.

lndennttely-Accused ls
 Not Afraid.
 NEW YORK, March 27.-Harry K. Thaw may never again face the jury impaneled more than nine weeks ago to try him on the charge of murder in the first degree. Justice Fitzgerald un- expectedly handed down a decision or. dering a commission in lunacy to in- quire into the present state of mind of Stanford Whites slayer. The decision of the three disinterested men named to conduct the inquiry will guide the ing Thaw to an asylum for the insane or directing that the indefinitely inter- rupted trial for his life shall proceed.
 Justice Fitzgerald announced the ap- pointment of the commission privately in his chambers. Evelyn Nesbit Thaw was there with the lawyers, and it be- came her task to break the news to her husband in the Tombs. Fearful when she left the judges rooms in the crimi- nal courts building, the young woman who has been such conspicuous fig ure in the trial from first to last was smiling and cheerful when Thaw was brought from his cell to the hospital ward of the prison to meet her. Thaw accepted the courts decision philo- sophically and once more declared he had no doubt the commission would declare him a sane man.
 The personnel of the commission named by Justice Fitzgerald lends q new distinction to this already notable case. The men who will determine Thaw's mental capacity are:
 Morgan J. O'Brien. former justice of the appellate division of the state supreme court
 Peter B. Olney, former district attor- ney of New York county and lawyer of high legal attainments.
 Dr. Leopold Putzel, a practicing phy- sician and authority on mental disor- ders.
 Former Justice O'Brien is one of the trustees. with Grover Cleveland. of the Hyde stock in the Equitable Life As surance society purchased by Thomas F. Ryan just prior to the insurance in vestigation. When he was candidate for reelection to the bench in 1891 as a Democrat, Justice O'Brien was unop- posed. President Roosevelt made trip from Washington to Oyster Bay to cast his ballot for him.
 Before being elected district attorney of New York county in 1883 Mir Olney had been a member with William c. Whitney of the commission appointed in 1879 to revise the laws of the state affecting public interests in New York city. He is a graduate of Harvard.
 Dr. Putzel, the third member of the commission, is a graduate of Bellevue Hospital Medical school and has had a long experience in that institution. He is qualified before the state medical board as an examiner in lunacy.
 The Thaw jury was ordered on last Friday to report before Justice Fitz- gerald this morning at 10:30 o'clock. and at that hour there was brief court procedure. the jury being ex- cused indefinitely.
 Tt is all right, dearie," Thaw said to his wife. "I am not afraid of a commission. I am sane man now. just as sane as the judge himself, and am sure that any fair minded com. mission will so declare me"
 Later Thaw sent out a statement in which he said:
 "Everything is perfectly satisfactory to me. am sure I will be able to satisfy the commission that I am sane at the present time. Anything Justice Fitzgerald does is all right. He has always acted in a fair and impartial mopnor"