Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1908-01-14
Defense in Thaw Trial Int
duces Evidence to Show Men
tai Defects in Family
DEFECTIVE ON BOTH SIDES
Jerome Succeeds in Having Testimony
Thrown Out Pertaining to PaternaI
Cousin Of Defendant = Several
AIienists Present in Court and Ready
to Testify.

New York, Jan. John T. Dee
mar, Thaw's family physician, was the
first witness called to in the Thaw
trial today He treated ,Thaw for st.
Vitus' dance and measles. He repeated
this testimony and told also of attend
ing members of the Copley family, the
mothers branch of antecedents.
Deemar said the brother Of the older
Mrs. Thaw became an imbecile. DR..
c. G. Wagner, Of Binghamton, N. Y,
and DIR. Smith Eli Jelliffe, two alien
lists OF the defense, were present when
court opened today.
present mental condition and the
whereabouts of John Ross, paternal
cousin Of the defendant, but District
Attorney Jerome objected on the
grounds that the doctor obtained the
information while acting in profess
sioffal capacity and it would require
waiver from the client before he
could testify. Justice Bowling sus-
tained the objection over the protest
of Littleton. On cross examination
Attorney Jerome drew out the fact that
Henry Copeley, while incapacitated for
mental work, was never confined.
DIR. l.. S. Foster of the Norfolk. Va.
eastern state hospital for the insane al
Williamsburg, Va, where William
: Thaw, cousin Of defendant, is con-
ter was asked to identify the records
of the asylum as to the admittance OF
William S. Thaw and did 50. When
the record was offered in eevidepce
Jerome objected on the ground that II
was incompetent testimony and he was
sustained. Littleton then recalled DR.
Deomar and succeeded in circumvent-
ing the former objections of the dis
trict attorney as to the case of John
Ross. DR.. Deemar said he ceased to
be Ross physician after the latter had
been committed to the hope institution
for feeble minded and was allowed to
tell of Riss' mental condition. He de-
clared the unsound symptoms as be-
ing maniacal.
LittIeton's Opening Address.
After the state had presented it's di-
rect case yesterday and Assistant Dis
trict Attorney Garvin had presented
the killing of Stanford White as "a
premeditated, deliberate and cowardly
murder" Martin w. Littleton for the
defense made the opening plea for the
prisoner His promise of new evidence
was sensational and held the supreme
attention of all in the court room.
District Attorney Jerome, seemingly
taken by surprise, seated himself in
the witness chair, the better to hear
the outcome of the new defense. Mr..
Littleton promised to forge a chain of
circumstances and to produce the line
of testimony which will prove Harry
Kendall Thaw undoubtedly insane at
the time of the homicide Evidence of
hereditary insanity and Of strange. un-
usual acts of Thaw not even hinted at
during the first trial was told of by Mr..
Littleton, who said that the physicians
and nurses who had attended ThaW
were hurfying here from Europe; that
teachers of the defendant in childhood
would be on hand to give their i'm
pressions Of q "wild-eyed, distant" boy.
Mr. Littleton's speech fairly bristled
with surprises. He startled 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 physicians,
who labored over him all one night
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 stated
at the beginning of the trial that Mr..
Jerome would fight this year to ex-
clude the testimony of young Mrs.
Thaw. Mr.. Littleton spared neither
Thaw nor his family in his recital of
the defendants life history During
the speech Thaw sat wide-eyed and
pallid, looking ixedly at his counsel.
Toward the close he seemed rather
displeased with something that was
said, and, leaning forward, scribbled
off note. Mr.. Littleton's speech was
somewhat dramatic and impassioned
at times and was keenly followed by
the jury despite the rather frequent
objections from the states attorney,
despite the flights of oratory.
Thaw's ancestry, marked by decid-
ed tants of insanity. marked on both
the fathers and mothers side, accord
ing to his chief counsel, was drawn
with great care, and then the defend
ant himself was pictured as irrational,
erratic and insane as boy, who, oscil-
lating between brilliance and dark
ness, fought unavailingly against the
fever of insanity which coursed in his
blood at birth.
'I make no claims for this defend
ant above those of the average man as
to morals or virtues" declared Mr. Lit