The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1909-08-13

- ---- In Them. TO his room, with the bed
% its sole article Of furniture, and re-
r-a+1 there in darkness ten hours from 3
p M
Thaw Not d Criminal.
ain considering this narrative. doubtless
sH0vauce must be made for the effect on
m mothers feelings. II must be under
.-7od Thaw is not in the hospital as a
criminal TO undergo punishment. The jury,
inc supreme authority in the matter, has
t- lis verdict declared ThaW innocent Of
srv crime in the matter Of the homicide,
and that verdict must be respected az
last by all public OIncldls. In the nos
,sra1 he must be regarded as an untOr-
innate person afflicted with mental de-
Tsrgement; there not to be punished Tor
any crime, but solely to be cared IoI,
protected and guarded so that he may
ror injure another or himself, hut always
with the distinct hope that he may uitl-
rrateIv be cured, however great or small
thar hope really may be.
III is well, doubtless, that care should
be exercised by the authorities that IhaW
~ not favored because of the wealth and
social position of his family. 1t is equally
we'll however, that care be exercised that
he be not treated any worse on those &C
counts It may we'll be that this court,
i1 the exercise of its plenary Chancery
powers, has the authority by order 70
make specific directions as to the treat
ment Of any inmate in such an institution.
Suggestion to Authorities.
However that may be. I venture to
suggest TO the authorities there that when
h. is returned TO their custody the privi-
Iagss- so-called, which he was permitted
10 enjoy in his first three months stay
he restored 10 him. If such procedure
r. not found TO be clearly Incompatible
with due discipline; and further that his
venerable and most estimable mother be
81 all times treated with the utmost con-
sdera ton. Her sorrO Wtul condition COM
mauds the prOfOundest sympathy or every
normal minded person.
Having out Of consideration Tor the
mothers feelings" continued Justice
Mills. permitted her as a witness TO
make at viii her plea for her son and I'm
so doing TO give certain incompetent testl-
r7ouv which embra Ced criticism of Mr.
Jerome. I deem it my duty TO say that
these criticisms seem TO me TO be mis-
taken and unwarranted, although doubt
less sincere. In the very complete record
before me, I find no evidence OF any
heartlessness or undue zeal upon has part.
IL he made the remark remembered by
Mrs. Thaw, that he has said her son
would never be released from MatteWan,
/ am confident 1t was made as the eX-
preston not of a hope, but OF a conVlc-
tlon that he would not recover
After discussing the evidence, Justice
Mills draws the following conclusion:
Conclusions of the Court.
First conclusion: The insanity with
which Harry X. Thaw was afflicted on
June IS. 1905, at the time he committed
the homicide, was the kind known as
chronic delusional insanity or paranoia.
This conclusion rests upon the following
facts, which appear to me to be clearly
proven:
There was, in his ancestral stock, a
substantial but not very strong trace OF
insanity. By not very strong is meant
the fact that no one of his direct ancestors
was ever insane. On the maternal side
two uncles were Of unsOund mind; each,
at least. for a portion of his life; and on
his fathers side an aunt was at least an
epileptic and perhaps insane; and some
more remote relatives were undoubtedly
insane, though as to them the evidence is
not clear but there had been insanity in
one of their ancestral lines not common
20 the prisoners own descent
las a young child he was physically
weak and puny, exceedingly nervous and
abnormally wilfuL Older he was subject