The Ogden standard. [volume] (Ogden City, Utah) 1902-1910, 1909-08-12

VIC WedltH and social position OF MS
family. 1t is equally well, however.
that care be exercised that he he not
treated as worse on those accounts
II may well be thai this court. In the
exercise of its plenary chanccry pow
ers, has the authority by order. TO
make specific directions as to the
treatment of any inmate In such an
institution
However that may be. venture TO
suggest TO the authorities. that when
Ihaw Is returned 10 their custody. the
privileges, so-oallcd, which he was
permitted 10 enjoy in his first three
months stay, be restored to him, ii
such procedure be not found TO be
clearly incompatible with due disci-
pllne: and, further, that his venerable
and most estimablc mother he at all
times treated with the utmost con
sideratlon. Her sorrowful condition
commands the profound sympathy of
every normal mind
Having out of consideration for the
mothers feelings" continues Justice
Mills. permitted her as witness. TO
make, at will her plea for her son, and
in so doing TO give certain incompetent
testimony which embraced criticism
of Mr., Jerome. ! deem IL my duty TO
say that these criticisms seem to me
10 be mistaken and unwarranted al
though doubtless sincere In the
very complete record before me. | find
no evidence Of any heartlessness or
undue zeal upon his part If he made
the remark remembered by Mrs.
Thaw. that he hoped her son would
never be released from Mattenwan. /
am confident II was made as the cX-
preston. not of a hope, but OF a con
yiction that he would not recover
After discussing the evidence. Jus
lice Mills was of the following con-
cmsion.
The insanity with which Harry
Thaw was afflicted on June %. 1906,
at the time he committed the homi-
eide. was the kind known as chronic
dclusion insanity or paranoia This
conclusion rests upon the following
facts, which appear to me to be clear
ly proven
There was. in his ancestral stock,
a substantial but not very strong trace
Of insanity. BY not very strong is
meant that no one of his direct an
ccstors was ever insane. On the ma,
teTnal side two uncleS were of un-
sound mind, each at least for a por.
ton OF his life, and ON his fathers
side. an aunt was at least an cpilep-
tic and perhaps insane and some
more remote relatives were undoubt-
edly insane though as TO them, the
evidence is mol clear. but there had
been insanity In one OF their ances-
trail lines not common to the prison
cr'S own descent.
AS young child, he was physically
weak and puny, exceedingly nervous
and abnurmally wil(ul Older, he was
subject to violent spells amounting al
most TO paroXysmS Of excitement with
ont any naturally adequate cause
He attended varilus schools for diff
1erent periods from the age of six
upward. but made little progress in
study While at school, especially in
his early years. he had frequent out
breaks of uncomfortable excitement
in which his facial appearance was
wild and staring.
Continuing the history Of Thaws
life, Justice Mills saws:
About 1901 he became enamored
OF a young woman. Miss Nesbt, whom
he afterward married She was. by
common reputation, well known. the
mistress or a mistress of Stanford
White. She soon assumed that rela-
ton TO Thaw, and obviously. TO ac.
count 10 him for her former associa-
tion with White, told him various
grossly improbable stories Of the in
ceptIon OF that relation, Although he,
Thaw, evidently was himself far from
n moral man and was there engaged
or soon thereafter became engaged
in practices of perverted character.
as revealed b. the testimony OF the
Merrill woman, which, with the
confederation afforded by other cvi.
dence in the case, appears credible, he
gave absolute credence to the tales
told by Miss Nesbltt about White He
obtained similar information as to
Whites conduct with few other
young women. either directly from
there or through Miss Nesbitt. all of
which information of the same weird
and improbable character; evidently
to any normal mind. was grossly eXug-
gerated To all, however. he gave
implicit belief HIS mind became alb
not only believed them In their entire.
ly, but he deducted from them con
clusions as TO the practices Of White
far beyond what such belief in a nor
NAL mind would warrant From tho
charges separately made by these few
admittedly immoral women, he con-
Cludcd that White maintained several
places In New York City wherc he ac-
complishcd, by force or by drugs. the
ruin OF respectable young American
girls as 1t were, by Wholesale. Such
belief. to such extreme extent. was
plainly a delusIon,
His delusions as 10 the practices
Of White were not shaken by the fall
uTe oil the Investigations made by the
detectives and public authorities and
his delusive belief in his special mis-.
sion continued to possess his mind
In that mental condition al the roof
garden, he came into the presence of
White. doubtless Unexpectedly. and
publicly shot him 10 death in n spec |
tacular and theatrical manner In so
doing, he believed ne was acting as |
The agent OF Providence and perform
ing a praiscworthN act, like that of |
David In Staying Goliah. or ST George |
in killing the dragon
Regarding Thaw's suspicion OF a !
against MIN by his early |
the court says: