Watertown weekly leader. [volume] (Watertown, Jefferson County, Wis.) 1906-1908, 1907-08-30
IS FLORENCE DUGAH
INSANE, THE QUERY
JURY MUST FIRST PASS UPON
THIS QUESTION.
Trial Will Begin October lSt-
Special Plea of insanity" Enter
ed With Plea of Not Guilty
Schumacher Taken to His Home.

WATERFOWL people are more or less
interested in the coming trial at
GAINESVILLE of Florence Dugan, alleged
to have shot George Schumacher on the
night of April 18th. The parties are
quite well known here, Schumacher
having worked at his trade as painter
here and the Dugan girl having visit
ed the city frequently and at one
time making her home here with her
grandmother. The GAINESVILLE Gazette
in speaking of the coming trial and
the condition Of Schumacher, says:
"Was Florence Dugan insane when
on the night of April Is, she is alleg-
ed to have shot down George Schu-
maker? The jury which is to be
drawn on Saturday, Sept. %, to try
her for assault with intent to kill,
must pass upon this question before
taking up the problem of her guilt or
innocence.
These jurors must not only decide
whether or not she was insane at the
time the act was committed but they
must pass upon her present mental
condition. If is found that she was
mentally unbalanced then, but is III
full possession of her mental powers
now, the case will be at an end and
the prisoner will go free. If she Is
still insane and it will be necessary
for her to be committed to an asylum.
Ii she is not and has not been insane,
or the twelve men cannot agree on the
subject the same jury will tIy the
case de nove-that is all over again,
taking into consideration those which
every attendant circumstance, even
those which point to possible mental
unsoundness. Noted alientists will
undoubtedly be called in to pass upon
the first aspect of the case, there will
be hypothetical questions; the subject
of Drainstorms will be given a thor
ougn overhauling; and in more
particulars than one the course of the
entire legal procedure will parallel
that of the famous Thaw trial.
Information was to have been fileC
against Florence Dugan tomorrow but
owing to the fact that Atty. Thomas
S. Nolan has pressing legal business
in Chicago on that date, the case was
called today. District Attorney j.
L. Fisher filed the brief complaint
and the reading of 1T was waived.
Attorney L. S. Nolan and III. l.. Max
field appeared in court for the prison
er and through the former a plea OF
mot guilty. together with special
plea of insanity, was entered. In the
opinion of the counsel 1t will require
two days to secure jury SO that the
trial will not be on until about the
first of October.
''After four months of suffering
at the Mercy hospital. George Schu-
maker, the man who was shot down
by Florence Dugan on the night OF
April 10, was removed to the home
OF his parents at 405 Western avenue
this afternoon. Every possible pre-
caution was taken by the physician,
DIR. G. C. Waufe, and the nurses
and Russell's ambulance conveyed
him across the city. His people
have desired his removal for some
time past and it has been Schumak-
er's wish to leave the hospital as
soon as possible, but conditions have
not been such as to warrant it up
to this time. The brothers have con-
tributed something each week towards
meeting the expense of taxing care of
him, but the major portion has been
betrayed by the county which will
now be relieved of further RESPONSE
bility in the matter. A nurse has
been engaged by the brothers to look
after him at home.
ct is doubtful whether the man
will ever recover full control of his
lower limbs and internal organs which
are almost totally paralyzed. While
the progress of the gangrene has been
checked, the aperture left by it's raw
ages may never be healed. His par
tial recovery, indeed, is not matter
of certainty and that he lives at all is
due to unremitting care of physician
and nurses.
Information against Florence Dugan,
on the charge of assault with intent
to kill, was filed on Tuesday, Aug.
q, but the trial will probably not take
place until some time thereafter
possibly about the middle OF Septem-
ber-as Attorney 7. S. Nolan who has
just returned from Seattle requires
some time to prepare the case. The
prisoner is a sort of ''trdsty' at the
Jail. She is not confined to her cell
and moves about with comparative
freedom