The sun., 1910-01-26
MURDER SUSPECT A LUNATIC
WAS CONFINED AT MIDDLETOWN
ASYLUM FOR EIGHT YEARS.

Doctor Who Had Charge Of DennIsOn Says
lie Was n Dangerous Patient Had
Hatred Or Magistrate BarIOw--IndeF
close Guard In Police Court Prison.
DIR. Reeve Turner Of 2Os East Seventy
second street had Herbert Jerome DEN
nison. the man who is charged with shoot
ing Robert Lomas and Arthur Shibley.
under his care at the Middletown State
| Hospital for three years. He says that
Dennlson was one OF the most danger
Gus patients that they had and that ne
cannot imagine how he got free. DIR.
Turner left the hospital in February
1905. and Dennison was an inmate then.
For year or so after he left. the doctor
said. Dennison's mother kept pleading
with him to recommend To the authori-
ties OF the asylum that her son be dis
charged on condition that she place him
! in private institution i'm Connecticut.
He always refused. as he thought that
the man should he confined in a State
institution. where the discipline was more
severe than in private ones.
Dennison. he said. was suffering from
dementia precox. form of paranoia.
He had various delusions. among them
hatred for children. a belief that he
was descended from an old Spanish
family. a belief that some one kept cover
ing his face with mask and a deep rooted
enmity for Magistrate Barlow DR..
Turner said that had he known that
Dennison was at liberty he would have
felt justified in warning Magistrate Bar
low that his life was in danger. Denni-
son had distinct homicidal tendencies
the doctor said. and frequently threat
ened to get even with Judge Barlow"
Inspector MCCaferty spent almost the
entire day yesterday working with de-
te0fives of the Harlem branch on Den
nisOn's case. When he came back TO
Police Headqua rters he said that he was
not shaken in his belief that the man was
the one they wanted.
The police say that they learned that
the prisoner was accustomed to the use
Of "A revolver and that he onOe owned a
weapon similar 10 the one found in the
park near the scene OF the shooting.
The police do not put great deal Of
faith ia the statement Of Vito Guarineillo
barber at 23+3 Third avenue. who says
that he is positive that he shaved Dem
nisOn the day after the murder They
are going TO have him try To identify
the prisoner.
Dennison. in his cell in the jefferson
Market prison. was kept under close
watch by Warden Mallon yesterday
WaiAch nt 10
end his life and instead Of relying on the
regular visits OF the keeper in making
his rounds Of the Oells. the warden had a
man stationed by the cell all day.
MIDDLETowN, n. y. Jan. 25.-Hs rbert
jerome Dennison, who is charged with the
murder of the Shibley and Lomas boys
was an inmate OF the Middletown State
Hospital Tor eight years, having been
committed TO that institution from New
York in 1900, At the State Hospital it
was said to-day that Dennison was Of a
morose, sullen disposition and afflicted |
with a homicidal mania. He was a most |
difficult patient to care for. as he attacked |
his attendants at every opportunity. |
When he first became patient his mother |
visited the institution every day and |
annoyed the physicians in charge by |
talking with them about her son. Finally |
she was restricted to two visits week.
During the first few years that Dennison |
was at the Middletown State Hospital his |
mother was allowed to take him out on |
the streets, but when his condition became
worse an attendant was sent along. The
mother, believing that her son would he |
benefited by a change, removed him from
the Middletown State Hospital to a private
sanitarium at Green Farms, Conn in the |
latter part OF 1908 The records state
that Dennison was in an unimproved
condition at the time he was discharged |
from the Middletown State Hospital.
HARTFORD, Conn, Jan. 25-Herbert |
jerome Dennison was formerly in a Hart |
ford retreat for the insane. He was trans |
ferred TO Norwich Insane Hospital and let |
go from there