The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1911-12-21
NOTED ALIENIST SAYS RICHES0N
 IS NOT INSANE
Dr. Mcdonald Believes Re- morse or Sympathy Prompted Minister to Mutilate Himself Claims if Guilty of Murder He Would Have Powerful Motive in Doing Something to Save His Life
tspecial. from United Press. j

New York, Dec. 21-That the act of Rev c. V. T. Richeson in mutilating himself, yesterday, was that of an in- ter purpose is the belief of pr. Carlos Frederick Macdonald, noted alienist psychologist and physician. { Dr. Mac Donald was called to Buffalo to ex- anime Czolgosz, assassin of President Mckinley, was medical examiner for the state in the trial of Harry K. Thaw and is an international author ity on mental diseases.
 Dr. Macdonald today prepared for the United Press the following state- ment on the case,
 (By Dr. Carlos Frederick MacDon- aid, Copyright, United Press, 1911)
 It is an extremely difficult thing to formulate theory as to the Rev. C. " T. Richeson's mental status or the impulse by which he was actuat- ed when he used a piece of tin, as am told, which he had carefully sharp ened, to wound himself in manner that was extremely painful.
 I have never seen Richeson nor, in. deed. even a good photograph of him and. since I am in possession of no facts concerning his history or career, beyond what I have casually read in the daily papers, l would say, before 
 ductions and theories are formed solely from published reports of the man. the alleged crime and informa- tion coming through the usual chan nels of publicity.
 So far as I have been able to gath CT, there is nothing in the history of Richeson to indicate insanity of any form. His face, if published photo- graphs are accurate, is not that of a man who tends4to insanity but, on the contrary, it is the face of a weak man.. The lines. of expression are not lines of strength and the caste of the features is not that. of dominant man but that of one who might be subjected and swayed by sudden temptation. ! Richeson'ss type is that of man who would commit an act and then be deeply. overcome by retaorsa but he is not Of the type to search. through self abuse, to relieve himself of his thoughts Therefore. these hypothes- es are within the realm of possibility in Richeson's case.
 , Further, his act may have been prompted by the weight of guilt rest ing upon him, bringing with it re- morse sufficiently poignant to cause him to commit self humiliation.
 Second. with the transition from pulpit and high responsibility to. a Jail cell and disgrace. together with the influence naturally exerted by his ministerial calling, his training, his belief in a hereafter and the sense of having betrayed his cloth, there might have come, through days spent alone in his cel1 breeding over his predicament, resolution in the form that he would be driven by fear of his own weakness and lack of will power. to mutilate himself This, however, is improbable since Riche- son., so far as I have gathered by the fragmentary information which has come to me- is not a man who could or would endure intense physi- cal pain through a high sense Of duty.
 Third he might be insane but I do not think so.
 Fourth, he might, if he is guilty, be laboring under a distorted idea that his acts would so react as to save his life or even free him.
 Judging again =by my uncertain in- formation, Richeson is a man who is not brave in a sense of enduring physical pain. He is the sort of a man who would shrink from an un- pleasant ordeal. Were Richeson in- nocent-he may be, of cOurse-it seems hardly likely that he would commit there would be no reason for 1t. Were he guilty, he might, under the weight of that knowledge and fear of expos ure and punishment, be nerved up to wound himself.
 He would have a powerful motive for doing something that would save his life or liberty, while, if he were innocent, the natural normal tendency would be to stand firm and rely up- on his faith in his religion.
 The character and history of the man make most reasonable the theory of remorse Or more probably an in- tention to excite sympathy and to lay a foundation nDOn which mako . fight on the plea of insanity
 Then, too, Richeson's act in mark ing verse from the book of St, Matthew may show that he was suf- fering from remorse occasioned by a religious Authorization.