Los Angeles herald., 1907-03-01
HARRY THAW
ISSUES OPEN
STATEMENT
|iSOner Scores Mr..
Jerome
ised Man Says Attorney Cannot
Realize Mrs. Thaw's Real Good
ness-Allenlsts Take
the stand
associated Pre- IS.

associated Press.
5w YORK. Feb. 2s-Harry K.
1haw enlivened an extremely dull ses-
sion OF his trial today by giving out
brief statement in which he accused
District Attorney Jerome of having
made unprofessional remarks in court,
asserted that his wife's testimony was
absolutely true and In conclusion de-
clared that Mrs. Thaw's natural real
goodness was above the comprehen-
sion Of the prosecuting officer.
1t was just before adjournment, and
after many hours of expert testimony
as to the meaning of extracts from
eight letters written by the defendant
with relation to the sanity or insanity
of the writer, that Thaw gave his
statement to the reporters. 1t follows:
Thaw's Statement
with chances millions to one against
her after the catastrophe in 1901 it els
wonderful that Mrs. H. X. Thaw pre-
vailed in the cross examination against
the prosecution backed by 'blacklegs.
Her testimony was absolute truth.
"Our evidence was of conversations.
The cross examination has proved the
exact facts under oath.
''Mr Jerome, finding his informants
in certain lines falsifiers, concluded by
more usual methods, which is to his
credit.
moreover, from some of his ques-
tions and some of his unprofessional
remarks In court, 1t appeared clearly
that the natural and real goodness of
the witness is above his comprehen-
sion"
Thaw began to prepare his statement
yesterday afternoon. One of the news
paper tables adjoins the table occupied
by his counsel and reporter sitting
near the defendant read over the lat
ter's shoulder the two opening para
graphs.
Takes Reporter to Task
When the papers appeared yesterday.
with the extracts from his statement
printed in display, Thaw was much
chagrined. Today in court he took the
reporter to task. He said he had not
intended to make the statement public
until the end of the trial. He further
asserted that many mistakes appeared
in the portion of the statement that
was published and added that he might
make a correction later
Last night in his cell in the Tombs
Thaw completed his statement and to-
dav he handed the original draft to
q reporter he has known for yea(s and
in whom he has confidence. He also
handed the newspaper man brown
envelope.
Seal up the statement in this en-
velope," said Thaw, land write your
name across the flap. I am going to
have some typewriter copies made.
and when they are completed l want
YOU to compare them with the original
and if they are all right they will be
given OUT
O'ReiIIy Is Defiant
Daniel O'Reilly, one of Thaws law
yers. said that ne also had a copy of
Thaws statement but would not give
1t out until the defendant directed him
to do so.
Late this afternoon the typewriter
copies suddenly appeared in court. At
tention was at first attracted to them
by Thaw handing a carbon copy to his
newspaper friend and asking him to
compare it with the original -Four or
five copies lay on the counsel table in
front of the defendant. One of the re-
porters reached over, picked up copy
and hastily left the court room He was
quickly followed by other reporters,
and so the statement was flashed into
newspaper offices throughout the coun-
try, and Thaw then said he was content
to have the statement released as cor
rection to the garbled statement which
appeared this morning
Clifford Hartridpe, of Thaw's counsel,
and Mr.. Delmas declared later they had
no knowledge of tpe sta tement having
been prepared or Liven out.
DR.. Britton D. Eyans, the alienist,
was in the witness chair all day under
going cross-examination by District
Attorney Jerome. The prosecutor said
he would probably keep DR.. Evans on
the stand throughout tomorrow. This
makes indefinite the time when the de-
fense will rest.
DIR. Evans and Mr.. Jerome spent the
entire day in going over eight letters
written by Thaw and cutting out some
excerpts on which DR.. Evans based his
belief that they were written by per-
son of unsound mind.
do you mean an insane persona"
asked Mr.. Jerome.
yes" replied the witness. "but not
In the sense that the person might al
ways remain insane"
This was the essence of the days
work Mr.. Jerome seemed as interested
as the expert In searching out the
phrases In the letters which might be
construed as the writings of an insane
man, and for the first time the jurors
were permitted thoroughly to examine
the Photographic copies of the letter.
AS the witness and the prosecutor
pored tediously over the documents the
Jurors were enabled to follow them
closely The district attorney appar-
entity wanted the letters to be thor
oughly scrutinized and understood by
the jury.