The Brattleboro reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1907-1912, 1907-11-08

much TO blame as | was Miss Mar
tin said that Fairbanks afterward told
her that he was sorry that he killed
Mrs Grout and wondered what they
would do with him. She told of other
conversations regarding food, care
taken of him and the like. On cross
examination witness said that the Of
tieer was in room across the nan
which was four feet in width. When
Iskcd if the officer was about six feet
away she said Eyes, but he could not
hear what was said, " On being in
terrogatcd ON this point she said that
she had not asked the officer If he
could hear nor did he tell her that he
had heard. She finally said that she
did not know whether he had heard
or not.
Further evidence was brought out
Tuesday by the state as to the men
tai condition of the respondent The
non.expert testimony was not partieu'
larly damaging but that of DIR. Z. >,
Pratt, who has had a greater chance
than anyone else connected with the
ease TO observe the accused since the
shooting, and that of DIR. j. K. Hous-
ton, whose opinion is of great value,
made the day look dark for Fairbanks.
Miss Jennie Corey nurse at the Me
mortal hospital, testified simply as to
her opinion Of Fairbanks S mind which
she said she regarded as sound. On
cross examination she said that she
had never taken charge of an insane
patient and that she knew little of the
characteristics of a person out Of hls
head. Miss Celeste Genni, another
nurse who had charge of the patient,
said that she believed the mind OF
Fairbanks to be normal. Miss Flora
Cattanach, still another nurse at the
hospital, was of the opinion that he
was of sound mind. She said that she
heard him say that he was sorry that
he had not finished the job. This was
ruled out as she could not say to what
Fairbanks referred. Once in reading
to him she said that he threw up hls
hands and said, "Oh, my head.
W. L. Walker, a hotel proprietor in
Grafton, said that he had known the
respondent for many years and that
he had had business dealings with
him. He further said that he had
never noticed anything that made him
believe that Fairbanks was insane.
He regarded him as below the aver
age in mental capacity, however.
Joseph Page, father of the dead
girl, testified that he believed that
Fairbanks was of sound mind. o. NJ
Austin, assistant superintendent OF the
Bellows Falls and Saxtons River street
railway. said that he hired the re-
spondent to work for the company at
Barber Park and that he was employ
ed there from Monday morning until
Wednesday noon of the week pre-
vious to the murder. He said that he
thought that Fairbanks was sane.
When questioned by the defense he
said that he talked with Fairbanks
but little and what little Fairbanks
did say had to do with women.
DR.. C. S. Pratt of Brattleboro was
next called to the stand. His lmme-
date connection with the case gave
spectators the impression that his tes'
timony would cover several hours but
contrary to expectations he was CUES
toned less than a half of an hour.
He told something of his treatment OF
the case after the shooting, and what
examinations he had made. His op-
portunity to converse with the patient
and to see him under different CIR
cumstances was also brought out Two
| hvpothetical questions covering three
pages of typewriter matter emoody,
ing the essential facts brought out
by the state during the trial were then
put TO the doctor. Assuming those
things to be true he was asked if he
believed the respondent to be OF
sound mind and if he regarded him
as an imbecile. The answer to the
first question was that he believed the
respondent to be of sound mind; to
the second he said that he believed
that Fairbanks was not an imbeclle'
DIR. J. A. Houston took the stand as
the last witness of the day. Consid-
erable time was spent in qualifying
him. He said, however, that he dld
not regard the respondent as an imbe-
cile and pronounced him to be sane
but below par mentally. lie resumed
the stand Wednesday morning and in
direct testimony brought out points
that the defense felt it impossible to
draw from him on cross examination.
What was of value to the. respondent
was when Dr. Houston said that
Fairbanks might have been in a man
iacal condition at the time of the
murder in May and yet show no symp-
toms of it now. He also said that
Fairbanks might have suffered from
a condition Of the mind that would
follow the effects of syphilis, traumat-
ism and sun stroke and reveal no evl-
dences of it at the examination held
at the Jail. DR.. Houston did say, how
ever. that if he was suffering from
this form of insanity it would be no
ticeable by any intelligent person.
Janet Mcmillan, nurse at the Me-
mortal hospital, said that she thought
that Fairbanks was Every sane.
She further said that she cared fol-
the respondent for Is days in June
On cross examination, however, she
was able to find but one report that
she had signed. Cora Sperry, another
nurse. said that she believed that
Fairbanks was sane but admitted on
cross examination that he was delir
ions when he was first brought to the
bospital and murmured in his sleeI
frequently. Rose Loubet and Mabe
, DeGraux. other nurses at this institu