Omaha daily bee., 1908-05-16
DOCTOR CALLS THAW INSANE
superintendent of Mattsawan Regards
Him Menace to Society.
TELLS PRISONERS STATEMENTS
Thaw steadfastIy Refused 20 Talk of
the Shooting of whfe, Act
ing Under ADVICE OF
Counsel.

at Matteawan testified in the Thaw case
today that in his opinion Thaw is insane
Or. Baker said that in his opinion It would
be dangerous to public safety to have Thaw
go at large.
Dr. Carlos F. Macdonald, the alienist,
testified that in his opinion Thaw is an
! incurable paranoiac, whose confinement
s demanded by consideration Of public
safety.
DR.. Baker was the first witness to take
the stand today. He was called by District
Attorney Jerome, not as an expert, but to
give tie court a statement of Thaws con-
duct during the three months he was In
the Matteawan. institution, beginning Feb
ruary 1, iBOs
A. Russell Peabody, Thaw's counsel in
his last trial for killing Stanford white,
was quoted today as saying Thaw would
go on the witness stand to testify in the
habeas corpus proceedings now in progress.
DR.. Baker related conversations with
Thaw in which the latter told of epilepsy
and nervous ailments suffered by a sister
and uncle. Thaw, the witness said, also
told of the desultory way in which his
education was acquired. At Z years Of age,
he said, he had Saint Vitus dance. He de-
scribed an attack of pneumonia at Monte
Carlo concerning which he did not agree
with the diagnosis OF MS pnyblCldnS'
Thavv's Youthful Habits.
Thaw told DR.. Baker the latter said, that
he used tobacco at IS, used alcohol in
moderation and denied ever using drugs.
The witness said Thaw described his move
ments preceding the shooting of White
his return from Europe and marriage to
Miss Nesbit He gave his age 81,
though he was "a when he entered the hos
pital. Thaw told the witness that at his
trial some of the doctors had greatly exag-
gerated their estimates OF his condition;
that they had in mind a nephew of his
whom they had examined who Travelled
under the same name and was often taken
for him. He said that his lawyers and
doctors did very clever work in his de-
fense.
DR.. Baker said that Thaw said to him:
III l was ever insane in my life, the at
tack began one minute before l shot White
and ended half a minute afterward."
The doctor repeated a description which
Thaw gave him of the house alleged to
have been maintained by Stanford White
and others. He said that these men
plotted to put him in an asylum to prevent
him from exposing their alleged misdeeds.
On Brink of Precipice.
HE told me that he appealed to Miss
Anthony Comstock." said DR.. Baker.
"Thaw said detectives employed by him to
watch White and the latter's house in
formed him that he was in danger"
When the witness asked him TO give the
substance of the detectives reports he re-
fused to answer, "by advice of counsel"
He said that his physicians and lawyers
had advised him not to discuss what had
occurred on the Madison Square roof on
the night he shot White. He volunteered,
however, this much: He compared his
situation at that moment to that of a
man standing on the brink OF a precipice
seized with an irresistible impulse to jump"
StImuIants n Necessity.
While Thaw had said he did not want to
be shown any favoritism, yet he was
peevish when not given a stimulant and
the opportunity to smoke.
On one occasion Thaw said Roosevelt
took office as president October IS, 1905
He solved a mental example in arithmetic
fairly well. but he was mixed on many well
! known dates.
! Dr., Baker said that a physical examina-
tion Of Thaw showed him to be generally
/ normal Referring again to his acquttal
DR.. Baker quoted Thaw as saying: 'T was
! not insane when acquitted and should not
! have been committed TO a hospital. My
| lawyers made a mistake in not applying
for habeas corpus Immediately after the
| trial. 1 came here with the understanding
| that was TO be under observation thirty
! days and at that time discharged on a
| certificate of sanity
ION February 25 there arrived at the
! hospital 200 chocolate eclaires," said Dr.
! Baker. II found that Thaw had ordered
them and wished them distributed among
! the attendants, who were to have a dance
| that night"
Mr. Jerome by questions to the witness,
| brought out the testimony OF Evelyn Nesbit
| Thaw I'm one of the former trials that she
was very fond of chocolate ecaires and
| had enjoyed eating them at one of Stand
! ford Whites parties.