Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1915-07-08
DUAL PERSONALITY NOT
BETRA YFD At HARVARD

BETRAYED At HARVARD
CAMBRIDGE. MASS. July 1.-THE
dual personality of Erich Muenter.
alias Frank Holt. was not betrayed
when me was an instructor at Harvard.
The first evidence OF diseased mind
was contained in a pamphlet which he
is supposed 10 have written and mailed
from New Orleans to President Eliot
and members of the faculty after he
had fed from Cambridge in the face OF
charges that he had murdered his wife
with poison.
Considered by his intimates as eccen-
tric, Muenter, nevertheless, was re-
Eardcd as n diliGcnt student and courtc-
Gus gentleman. who was not likely to
do anything to attract particular atten-
ton. The issuance Of the booklet
created advertisement. as it was n bit
ter TRADE against society. threatening
revenge upon the community" which
he declared had uniustly accused him.
The writer gave convincing proof Of
an unbalanced mind.
Mucnter came TO Harvard In 1904
with degree from the University Of
chicago and a record of service AS an
instructor in the University of Kansas.
Entered AT Harvard as candidate for
the advanced degree of doctor OF
philosophy, he received an appointment
as instructor in the elementary German
courses. lie was accompanied here 10y
| his wife, Leone krembs. OF Chica 20, and
their one-year- old daughter.
MENTAL HEALER AND NURSE
ATTEND MRS. MUENTER
ON April 6. 1906. second child was
born. Mrs Muenter. believing in mental
healing. did not call in physical
until just before the birth Of the in =
rant. and tho physician withdrew from
The case when he learned that his oirec-
! lions Were not being followed \
mental healer and Il nurse ATTENDED.
| Mrs. Mucn,cr. At midnight on April
!" Muenter told the nurse to get some
rest. and said he would stay with the
patient. Al o'clock the following
morning, he informed the nurse that
Mrs. Muenter had died.
The physician whose advice had been
disregar''cd refused to issue a death
certificate, and the medical examiner.
believing that the circumstances iusti-
fled an autopsy, sent the woman.s
stomach TO The Harvard Medical ScbooI
for analysis.
III the meantime, Muentcr urged tim
he b" allowed ia take the body 10 Chi
! caro- for burial. and the medical ox
aminer permitted him to do so. and
ISSUED certificate ascribinr death n
stomach trouble. following childbirth.
Nnentcr did not return TO Cambridge.
Nlthin ten days the chemist reported
the presence OF poison in the digestive
organs and the futile search for
M"ch'er was begun. soon afterwards
( grand jury returned an Indictment
y hn tee,
ing poisoned his wife.
RAMBLING ANALYSIS
OF SOCIAL CONDITIONS
Two months after Muenter's disop-
pearancc his colleagues here received
copies of Il pamphlet entitled Protest ;"
which contained a discussion of the
, charges against him, followed nv =
rambling analysis Of existing social
conditions ana the treatment of those
accused OF crime without proof
On the latter subject, the writer
said, in part:
Take my case Even without the
process OF law, the spirit of revenge
an" persecution OF the law. which our
newspapers so brightly and painfully
"'''' mas p'a!Ii!cd me as a criminal
In the eyes Of all who read the afro.
am brutal murderer. a thing TO he
! deSpised and to lie shuddered at. an
outcast OF society, an enemy of the
community. wild beast that must be
c'her hunted down or Gagged ip for
The safety Of the community.
I me lesson that YOU teach me | will
execute, and il shall go hard. but |
/ VIII better the instruction Witbout
knowing whether ! was innocent mr.
guilty YOU have .reviled me- YOU have
cas' mo out II do not strain every
7 nerve 10 get revenge. the bloodiest, the
''"S' brutal KIND of revenge. let me
never respect myself any more. can
never prove my innocence TO YOU. NV
only witness is dead. Hence. if | could
. "hhlhii"ie all of Chicago and Cam
/ hfI"Ge AT one blow. that would be the
'hIns I" do. You wish 20 annihilate
me. must anticipate you"