Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-03-06
THAW WAS NOT SANE
More Expert Testimony Indicat-
ing His Insanity.
ONLY FOR THE TIME BEING
Before and After the Murder His Mind
Was Rational.
HAD INSANE UNDERSTANDING"
Question of Intoxication Arises in the
Case-Mrs. Thaw on the
Stand.
'pecial Dispatch to The Star.

Special Dispatch to The Star.
NEW YORK, March 6-The cross-exami-
nation of DIR. Charles G. Wagner was con-
cluded today shortly before the noon re-
cess of the trial of Harry K Thaw for the
murder of Stanford White. DIR. Wagner
had undergone cross-examination for more
than a day and a half when he finally
stepped down from the witness stand Dis
trict Attorney Jerome sprung a somewhat
new line of attack on the expert today
when he asked him if there was anything
in the incident on the night of the shooting
which pointed to insanity, precluding the
possibility that Thaw was intoxicated, in
stead of insane. when he shot Stanford
White. The expert replied that Thaw S
paleness, the slowness of his actions and
the fact that his eyes were not bloodshot,
but white and staring. precluded from his
mind the possibility that Thaw might have
been drunk and not insane when he killed
White None of the symptoms which Thaw
exhibited, he said, were signs of intoxica-
ton, but they were signs of insanity.
An Insane UnderStap ding.
Most of the morning Mr.. Jerome spent
in trying to get from the witness the de-
termination of whether Thaw understood
the various facts of which he wrote in
the Longfelow letters. According to both
DIR. Wagner and Dr. Evans, Thaw was in
sane at the time of writing these. The
alienist said that although Thaw under
stood the meaning of a kidnapping suit and
Matchmaking schemes and the fact that
some one had told him that Evelyn Nesbit
was a dangerous woman, 1t was an in
sane understanding. DR.. Wagner defined
insane understanding as the kind of
an understanding which an insane person
has"
Dr. Wagner said that, although Thaw
was insane at the time of his marriage
he understood that he was standing up be-
fore minister to be married and under
stood the meaning of the ceremony. OF
most of the other acts which he did during
his mental outbreaks, however, DR.. Wagner
said that Thaw did not have a sane I'M
derstanding.
Before Mr.. Jerome let the witness go he
questioned him about the Preusser case, in
which DIR. Wagner testified for the prosecu-
ton that the defendant Preusser was not
insane. He asked the alienist if he remem-
bered the cross-examination through which
Mr.. Hamilton, the attorney for the defense,
had put him.
rpplfe1 witness.
same Andy Hamilton that was up before
the insurance investigating committee, and
he got his them
With this answer Mr.. Jerome let the wit
ness go.
The mother of the defendant took the
stand this afternoon.
Scandal Mongers Absent.
In anticipation of a continuance of the
expert testimony there were many empty
seats in the court room.
Thaw again came to court laden down
with letters which continue to come to him
from all quarters of the globe. Most of
the letters are in praise of the defendant,
and he manifestly takes great satisfaction
in reading them DR.. Charles G. Wagner
of Binghamton, who has been under cross
examination since Monday, was again called
to the stand and District Attorney Jerome
began to ply him with questions regarding
Thaws will and codicil.
After questioning DIR. Wagner at some
length regarding the letter written by Thaw
in 1903 to Attorney Longfellow. Mr.. Jerome
suddenly asked:
Was there any period, doctor between
1903 and 1905 when this defendant was
in full possession of his facultes?"
DIR. Wagner hesitated a moment, and
then replied
There are several months in that period