The Montgomery advertiser., 1907-02-05
INSANITY H Jerome Rests Case of
 State. DEFENSE OUTLINED
 BY THE LAWYERS Evelyn Nesbit VIII Be Witness for
 Husband. Niasteea Year old sen ef staaferd waite Was First witness natro- auces sy Prosecatsen--De-
 fenaant Appsarea
 Desectea.

New York. Feb. 4.--The State laid It's case against Harry K. Thaw today "a plain, unemotionaI story of the shooting on Madison Square Garden roof. leaving the malice and the mo- tive to be inferred from the act--and the defense replied with plea of hereditary insanity.
 It was asserted that rhaw In siay- ing stanford White believed he was act Ing as an agent of Providence. that real or fancied wrongs committed sgatnst him by the architect and for msr friends of his wife had boiled and bubhied in hls brain until at last there rane the explosive impulse to kill. when the deed was done Thaw made no move to escape Its consequences. but holding the fatal revolver aloft he stood as If muteIy proclaiming to the world. 'srhe deed Is done; it was right; it was not wrong
 Thus rhaw's counsel outlined his case to the jury this afternoon after the prosecution had occupied less than two hours of the morning sitting of the court in relating through eye wit nesses the narrative of the tragedy. when the defense had interposed It's plea and outlined it's case an adjourn
 
 ing when the first witness in Thaw's behalf will be heards
 .sxou will hear the story of this taan's insanity." Attorney John Balea- son for the defense promised the jurys .frorn his mother. from hts wife from his relatives and from his physictanss You will judge him by his acts. by tho hereditary and stress which entered in- to his madness, and when you come 10 judge him, you win say to yourself that his act may have been one of insanity, but that 1 was not one of crime.
 Th@svsm Wife a Witness
 That Thaw's wife was to be one of his most important witnesses has long been knowny that his mother was 10 take the stand only became known pos atively today when the court announced the rule excluding from the court room all witnesses save experts. Thaw's mother, at the command. left the room after a moments hesitation. She seemed ,,n willing to be parted from her son in the hour of his need. His wife, too, reluctantly left the room. bestowing q smile of courage and hope upon her husband May Mackenzie also ieit the room. Thaw seemed dejected.
 Many times last week during the dull days of the jury selection, he turn ed to his wife for comfort and found her ever ready with a quick responsive smile. Now that the serious work of the trial was to begin, he was to be de- nied her presence.
 During the opening address by MT: Gleason, Thaw sat with his hushed cheeks, which at times were buried in his hands, and with eyes cast down up- on the table before him. He seldom looked up, just fieeting glance now and then at the man who was making the initial plea for his life and free dom Never once did his eyes go to the jury box.
 White's Son on stand.
 There was another period--during the morning session---when Thaw again looked only at his hands clasp ed before him on the table. This was when Lawrence White, the 19 year old son of Stanford White. was on the stand as the first witness for the pros ecution.
 Young White. who is Harvard student, was not material witness. He was with his father at dinner the evening of the tragedy. but left him before he went to Madison Square Gar den. White was alone; 1t was testi- fled, when Thsw approached slowly fro behind, wheeled. faced him and sent three bullets into his body and brain.
 Thaw's counsel told the story of the e. AH.. .s..t am make his wife. He met Evelyn Nesbit in 1901 and there then began in him an honorable love and regard for the girl. H9 told her mother of his love. The girl was in a precarious condition following an operation in a sanitarium and Thaw suggested to the mother that she take Evelyn abroad to recu- perate.
 1t was arranged that Thaw should accompany the two as the open and ayowed suitor of the daughter. In 1908 he asked her to marry him and she refused. ''The reason for this re- fusal. you will hear from her lips" announced MT. Gleason. Suffice 1t to say the reason had to do with an incident in her life with reference to Stanford White."
 Insanity Hereditary.
 Thus laying the ground for the plea of insanity, the defendants lawyers declared the brain disease had laid hold of Thaw some three or four wears ago. It was claimed there have been many cases where a person has been pronounced insane upon one sub- feet and that alone MT. Gleason cited instances of temporary insanity based upon @ single act.
 We will not base our plea. however, upon a single act" he added. Tt will be shown that there was insanity on both sides of this defendants family. Hereditary has made up what we are. Our case far removed from the much discussed emotional insanity. You must disabuse your minds of all you y,bo have read in the newspapers and especially of the idea that has gone abroad that we are to rely upon some. higher or unwritten law; we rely on xhe constitution and the laws of the amperial State of New York and upon shenn alone. You will understand this Onan's insanity. It will not require sxperts to tell you of it. It is within z.ns. &n 4,,Sw.s' him and you will say