The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1908-01-17
Declares THAW
WAS BORN CRAZY
ATTORNEY LITTLETON MAKES
HIS OPENING ADDRESS
FOR DEFENSE.
Promises New Evidence-Heredita
Insanity Proof and Strange Acts
Hitherto Untold Will Be Related,
Says the Lawyer.

New York, Jan. 14-The Thaw trial
moved with rush Monday. After
the state had presented its direct
case and Assistant Attorney Garvin
had characterized the killing of Stan
ford White as premeditated, deliber-
ate and cowardly MURDER Martin w.
Littleton, for the defense, made the
opening plea for the prisoner. His
promise of new evidence was sensa-
tional and had the supreme attention
of all in the courtroom.
District Attorney Jerome, seeming
ly taken by surprise, seated himself
in the witness chair the better to hear
the outline of the new defense. Mr..
Littleton promised to forge chain
of circumstances and to produce a
line of testimony which will prove
Harry X. Thaw undeniably insane at
the time of the homicide. Evidence of
hereditary insanity and of strange,
unusual acts of Thaw not even limited
at during the first trial was told of
by Mr.. Littleton, who said that physi-
clans and nurses who had attended
Thaw were hurrying from Europe,
that teachers of the defendant in
childhood would be on hand to give
their impressions of ''the wide-eyed,
distant boy" In conclusion Mr. Lit
Teton challenged the district attor-
ney to produce single reputable ply
stefan who would say that Thaw was
not insane at the time he killed the
noted architect.
Says Thaw Poisoned Himself.
Mr.. Littleton's speech fairly bristled
with surprises. He started the court
room by declaring that after Evelyn
Nesbit had told him her story in Paris
in 1903, Thaw, "drenched himself
with a poison" and would have died
but for the heroic work of three ply
sicians, who labored over him all of
one night. Mr.. Jerome had his sur
prise to offer, too, and when Mr.. Lit
Teton started to launch into the rela-
lions of Stanford White with the girl
whom Thaw married, the district at
torney was on his feet with an OBJ
lection. Justice Bowling sustained
him and the name of the architect was
not linked again with that of the
defendants wife. Mr.. Littleton
touched but lightly upon the girls
story, as she told it to Thaw, but
careful as he was on this point, he
again drew an objection from the
prosecuting officer, who said: "Mr.
Littleton is now straying into field
of stuff which in my opinion will be
excluded"
Again Justice Bowling sustained the
objection. 1t was reported at the be-
ginning of the trial that Mr.. Jerome
would fight this year to exclude the
testimony of young Mrs. Thaw.
Defendant Not Quite Pleased.
Mr.. Littleton spared neither Thaw
nor his family in his recital of the de-
PENDANTS life history. During the
speech Thaw sat wide-eyed and pallid,
looking fixedly at his counsel. To-
ward the close he seemed rather dis
pleased with something that was said
and leaning forward, scrubbed off a
note. Mr.. Littleton's speech was
somewhat dramatic and impassioned
at times and was keenly followed by
the jury.
After his speech Mr.. Littleton was
asked in what manner he would at
tempt to prove Thaw sane at the pres
ent time, if he offered such an accu-
mutation of evidence as to progressive
insanity up to the time of the killing.
Il can only say that l will cross
my bridges as / come to them. A
man can't ride two horses going in
opposite directions at the same time"
he replied.
The outline of the defense was
generally considered as rejecting a
determination on the part of Thaw's
attorneys to prove him insane in 1906,
regardless of all consequences.