The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1908-01-28
TESTIMONY OF
DEFENSE ALL IN
Today District Attorney Jerome
Will Introduce His Evidence
in RehuttaI.
THAW CASE NEARLY ENDED
WILL GO TO JURY THURSDAY AT
THE LATEST.

New York, Jan. 27.-The Thaw de-
Tense closed its case today with. IMAM
lc-depressive" insanity as the explana-
ton of the death of Stanford White at
the hands of the young Pittsburg mill
honaire. Tomorrow the prosecution
viii begin its evidence in rebuttaI. and
the case will go to the jury by Wednes-
DAY night or Thursday noon. District
Attorney Jerome tomorrow morning
viii apply for the appointment of
commission to take the testimony of
Abraham Hummel, the convicted law
yer who is confined in the peniten-
tiary on Blackweirs island, and who
is said to be too Ill to appear in court.
Prospect Pleased Thaw.
Mr., Littleton of the defense said he
would oppose any such action, where
upon Justice Bowling announced that,
II necessary, he would go to the island
himself tomorrow night, I'm company
with the defendant and his counsel to
preside at the taking of Hummers tes-
umony. The jury, it was said, would
not be compelled to take the night trip
across the river. Thaw seemed de-
lighted with the prospect of the outing
even to the grim shores of New York
City's penal cOlony-and smiled broad
~ at the courts suggestion.
Changed Their Views.
District Attorney Jerome disappoint-
ed a crowded court room when he re-
Trained from his tactics of last year in
batting the expert witnesses for the
defense, three of whom-Drs. Wagner,
Evans and Jeliffe-declared that Thaw,
at the time he killed Stanford White.
was suffering from such a defect Of
reason as not to know the nature or
quality of his act, or that the act was
wrong. The prosecutor contented him
self with drawing from the alienists
the fact that last year they swore it
was during a brain storm" that Thaw
committed the homicide. He also read
from the affidavit made by DIR. Wag-
ner before the lunacy commission last
year, giving conversations had with
Thaw in court which tended to show
that the defendant had a distinct recol-
lection of occurrences on the roof gar
den Immediately preceding the tragedy.
Judge Questioned Experts.
IT was up TO Justice Bowling to
make a most important inquiry of the
Rlienist. He desired to know the exact
nature of "manic-depressive insanity,
and if the attacks were likely TO recur.
He also asked If a person suffering
likely to commit assaults. He learned
that it was a recurrent form of mental
disorder, the attacks coming suddenly
and without warning, a period of in
sanity being followed by a maniacal
outbu- st. then by period of complete
depression and then by another lucid
interval. II seemed that the presiding
judge was securing information upon
which to base judicial action in case of
f1f Of an n
insanity instead of a straight acquit-
tai. Even in this latter event it was
pointed out that Justice Bowling would
have the right to have Thaw commit
ted for examination.
Named by English Physician.
An English physician. one of the
three men of medicine who testified,
first gave the name of "manic-depres-
sive," or "sub-acute MANIA" to Thaw's
mental condition. DR.. Sydney Russell
Wells of London made the diagnosis
during an outbreak by Thaw in Lon
don in 1889 when with a normal tenn
perature Thaw demanded that the
walls of his rooms in a nursing home
be torn down so he might have air, and
that twenty tons of ice be put in the
apartment 10 cool ii.
Mr. Littleton's question, which was
answered by the three experts, was
complete resume of the evidence with
the exception, as District Attorney Je-
rome pointed out, of the testimony of
James c. Smith, brother-in-law of
Stanford White, who talked with Thaw
for fifteen minutes just before the
shooting on the roof of Madison Square
Garden. The question contained some
5000 words.
~-SS-
mi trE oil 4 DACSEn