The Marion daily mirror. (Marion, Ohio) 1892-1912, 1907-03-05
In Court by Saying thai
Thaw Is Insane.
EXPERT WAGNER,
An AIienist Testifying for the De.
! Tense, Aids The Prosecutions
Side Of the Case.

New York. March "a long stride
forward IN the trial of Harry X. Thav
was taken Monday when District At
torney Jerome announced that his cy
haustive cross-cxamination of DR.. Rrit
Son D. Evans, one of the alien,sts fol
the defense, had been concluded Dr.
Evans bad been under fire since We'd
nesday morning last. He WAS succeed
ed on the stand by DIR. Charles G.. Wag
ner, OF Binghamton, \. Y. who accom-
panied DR.. Evans on most OF his visits
10 'Thaw in the Tombs. Mr.. jerome in
dicated by his questioning of DR.
Wagner that ho may conclude with
the witness to-day
Mira William Thaw Is expected tc
be the next figure in the witness chair
With Mrs. Thaw's testimony In, the
defense will practically have complet
ed it, case and II seems likely that the
states case in rebuttsl may be begun
before the end OF the week
Just what District Attorney Jerome
will be able to prove on rebuttsl re.
mains quite as much . mystery az
ever. He complained Monday In seek.
ing broad Interpretation of the rules
Of cvidence by Justice Fitzgerald. that
II he should call any of the defense's
alienists In rebuttal they might refuse
on the ground of professional privilege
30 answer the questions put to them
This seems TO indicate that Jeronie's
threat TO call Allan McLanc Hamilton
In rebuttal carries With II the possiDil
jty that DR.. Hamilton may not testify
for at the time he made the cxamna.
tion OF Thaw In the Tombs he was in
the employ of the prisoners counsel.
DR.. Evans left The witness stand
subject to recall for redirect eyamina.
tion. He protected The interests of the
defense quite keeriy throughout his
ross-examina.ion and at auu times ap
peared match Cor the district attor.
ney. Dr. Evans admitted. however
that Thaw had an insane knowledge of
what he was doing the night he killed
Stanford White. Tho New York stat
utes prescribe that to be exempt from
punishment for crime an insane per
son must be SO demeDted as not to
know the nature or quality Of his act,
or know that the act Is wrong.
In explaining Thaw's actions subsc.
Qu0EL W tuC ohoOtihh ph'tt VIC
meanor. his directions as to whc;
should be done with his wife and who
should be sent for--Dr. Evans declared
that as soon as Thaw shot Stanford
White the. brain storm subsidized an6
his senses began 10 recognize them
selves so that the man knew quite well
what he was about. He also knew he
was attacking Stanford White wheE
he shot, DR.. Evans admitted, but the
knowledge was that of an insane mar
and the act was the result of insane
reasoning,
DIR. Wagner declared that Thaw had
irrational knowledge OF what was
transpiring on the roof garden. lie
believed the mans insaniay dated
from the time Evelyn Nesbit told him
her story in Paris in 1903. DR.. Wag
ner created quite n stir in court by
using the present tense In responding
to a question by District Attorney
Jerome as TO what form Of insanity
'rhaw has Or had" DR.. Wagner de
clared Thaw lis suffering from symp
toms which lead toward q melancholic
state and state Of demcntia praccox.
When asked to describe the latter
phase. DR.. Wagner said it covered
such wide field OF demcptia as to be
dificult of strict definition.