Los Angeles herald., 1907-03-27
INQUIRE into
THAW'S SANITY
.LUNACY COMMISSIONERS ARE
NAMED
Prisoner Hears News from His Wife
and Receives the Announcement
ophlealIy-Expects to
Be Declared Sane
TRIO OF N0TABLES
WHO WILL SETTLE
IF THAW IS INSANE

l. Former Justice O'Brien is one =
j. of the trustees with Grover Cleve- :
i land of the Hyde stock in the =
i EQUITABLE Life Assurance society =
i purchased by Thomas F. Ryan \"
i Just prior to the insurance inVesti- Z,
4 cation. When he was candidate :
!. for reelection to the bench in =
+ 1901 as Democrat, Justice i
i O'Brien was unopposed. President i
j. Roosevelt made a. trip from !.
J. Washington to Oyster Bay to cast Z
4 his ballot for, him. 7
r Before being elected district at =
X torney of New York county in i
!. 1898 Mr.. Olney had been member !
i. with William G. Whitney Of the !
i commission appointed in 1889 to =
i revise the laws of the state af- !
i fecting public interests in New !
]. York city. He is graduate of !
i Harvard. !
!. Mr.. Putzel is graduate of !
4 Bellevue Medical Hospital school I
| i and has had a long experience in !
i that institution. He is qualified !
j. before the state medical board as i
i an examiner in lunacy. !
i j !. j i !. !. i ! i i i i i j !. i
BY Associated Press.
NEW YORK, March 26.- Harry K.
impaneled more than nine weeks ago to
try him on the charge of murder in the
first degree.
Justice Fitzgerald today unexpectedly
ordered commission in lunacy to in
qTire into the present state of mind of
Stanford Whites slayer.
The decision of the three disinter-
ested men named to conduct the in
quiry will guide the future action of
the court as to ordering Thaw to an
insane asylum or directing that the
trial shall proceed.
Justice Fitzgerald announced the ap-
pointment of the committee privately
in his chambers.
Evelyn Nesbit Thaw was there with
the lawyers and it became her task
to break the l-eWs to her husband in
the Tombs. fearful when she left the
judges rooms in the criminal court
building, the young woman was smil-
ing and cheerful when Thaw was
brought to the hospital ward of the
prison to meet her.
Mr.. Thaw, who received the courts
decision philosophically, said he no
doubt the commission would declare
him a sane man.
The commissioners appointed are
Morgan ]. O'Brien, former justice of
the appellate division of the supreme
court; Peter B. Olney, former district
attorney of New York county and a
lawyer of high legal attainments, and
DR.. Leopold Putzel, practicing ply
sician and authority on mental dis
order.
The Thaw jury was ordered last Fri
day to report before Justice Fitzgerald
tomorrow morning at 10:30. At that
hour there will be a brief court pro-
,,a., In,
definitely. Whether or not Thaw will
be brought into court remains to be
seen.
No date has been fixed for the first
meeting of this commission. There will
probably be some definite announcement
on this point tomorrow, however, for the
laws under which the commissioners
were appointed direct that they pro-
ceed with their inquiry forthwith.
Justice Fitzgerald said it would rest
with the commission as to whether or
not it's hearings should be made public.
In the last case of this sort in this
jurisdiction the inquiry into the mental
condition of Josefina Terranova, who
killed her aunt and uncle, the commits
sion's inquiry was secret. The girl
was declared sane and subsequently
was acquitted by the jury.
Jerome Will Attend
The Thaw lunacy commission will be
attended by District Attorney Jerome
The lawyers for the defendant will
also be present, and the commission
may direct and compel the attendance
of any witnesses it may desire.
1t is probable that Thaw will be
asked first of all to submit to a rigid
physical examination. Having under
gone several of these since his incar-
ceration, he is somewhat nervous on
this subject, but II was said tonight
by his counsel that he would do any
thing in his power to aid the commits
sion with it's work, and that he hoped
for an early opinion as to his sanity.
Thaw's lawyers and the defendant
himself were downeast when they were
first made acquainted with Justice
Fitzgerald's decision, but all were
manifestly pleased when the later an
nouncement as to the personnel OF the
commission was made.
Mr.. Delmas In particular declared
that Justice Fitzgerald could hardly
have selected a more generally satis-
factory commissioners whose de-
ciSlOn Would command more confidence