Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1917-11-24
HYP0THYREOSlS
Caused Mrs. De Saulles
to Shoot Husband
Affection Of Thyroid Gland Produced
State of Mental Infirmity Her At
torneys Contend-De Saulles' Al
ieaed infideIities Figure in Trial
Battle with Medical Teehnicalitles
Likely

ireOSiS," which ne termed an dleCtioh
Of the thyroid gland and which event
iialiy produced a state of mental IN
| trinity, was today given by her attor-
ineys as the disease from which Mrs.
Blanca De Saullcs as suffering When
she shot her divorced husband, John
l. De Saules, at his Long Island home
the night Of Aug. g.
, This definition OF The cause Of the
defendants alleged temporary loss OF
accountability was given by Henry a.
! Eterhart in outlining the case he VIII
Iondeavor TO prove in justification OF
the Chilean heiress on trial here
charged with murder. The trial began
in supreme court here Monday and the
prosecution rested at noon today.
Domestic Relations Taken Up
Causes contributing to Mrs. De
Saulles' impaired mental condition Mr..
Cterhart said he would show are TO be
found in history of his C<$ts do
mestic relations with her folTre. nus
band. A fracture on the skull suffered
several years ago left a bit of bone
pressing upon Mrs. De Saulles' brain
and this served to aggravate her al
legged mental ailment. he said.
With announcement by the defense
that Dr.. Smith Eli Jeliffe. an alienist.
would testify in Mrs De Sa;-e' be-
half together with DR.. Louis &. John
son Of Johns Hopkins University.
whom Mr.. Cterhart termed "physio-
logical chemist" it seemed certain that
. long battle in which medical tcchni-
calities will figure will precede the
placing of the case in the hands of
the jurors.
Mr.. Utelllart took more than an
hour to sketch the defendants early
life, her marriage to De Saulles, their
martial troubles which ended in her
securing a divorce. ard her version of
what occurred at her former husbands
home. The Box" near Westbury,
Long Island, on the night of the trag-
edE.
Among those who testified today
were Marshall a. Ward, self-styled in
innate Of John l.. De Saulles: Mrs.
Caroline DC Gener, De Saules sister,
and his father. Major Arthur B. De
Saulles, all Of whom were at The
Box when the shooting took place.
Their accounts were contradictory in
itftllOI " 4hTS. lie S3ulIeS HrSt remarks
when she entered the home Just before
De. Saulles was shot. District Attorney
Charles r. Weeks for the prosecution
sought to show these remarks indicated
she went to the place seeking her Tor
mer husband. This, if Established, would
serve to corroborate the states claim Of
deliberate and premcditated murder.
/ The defense on the other hand attempt
cd to prove that Mrs. De Saulles said
when she entered the residenc, Where s
jack-I have come to take him home
with me"
Although it had been stated previous
during the hearing Of Mrs. De SauIles'
suit for divorce would become public
during the trial. a large part of At
torncy Uterhart's opening statement CON
corning De Saulles' alleged nfdelties.
Dancer Frurea in Case
Among those named by Uterhart in ar
raigning lie saulles was Joan Sawyer a
dancer, whom he said De Saules ZEN
! tertained' in a New York apartment
during one winter The Duke of Man
chester, whom Uterhart STYLED as De
Saulles ''inseparable companion" was
another mentioned as being associated
with the husbands so-called broadway
past"
"On one occasion, while Mrs De
saules was out on August Heckscher's
yacht on Long Island sound, said Ctes.
hart, they came up to 2 yacht the
Duke had hired ami never paid for anr
there. standing on the quarter deck, was
the noble lord and John l.. De Saul1es
surrounded by a bevy Of Broadwa.
beauties.
The Heckschers. it was explained. arr
relatives Of the De Saulles family.
Giving his version of the converse :
I ton that ensued between the parents
before the shooting. the attorney en-
phasized the positive nature of De
Saullcs' refusal to accede to the moth
er's pleadinSs that she be given her
boy He reached the climax of his ad-
dress when he declared:
she saw q peculiar look come over
her husbands face. She knew that
look--it meant trouble-shc had learn
ed its meaning through six long years
Of Indifferent neglect. \ great pain
shot through her brain. Everything be-
came blank before her. That was the
last she knew until she awakened in
the Nassau county Jail"
Uterhart said: The defense will not
be based on any hypothetical claim of
brain storm or emotional insanity
and that there would be no appeal un-
der the unwritten law
Our case will he founded" he said.
con the written law--the law of the
State Of New York which says a per-
son should not be convicted of a deed
committed when suffering from such
a defective reason as not to know the
nature of the quality of the act or
that it was wrong"
No Session Of Trial Saturday
There will he no session OF the trial
tomorrow the court having taken a
recess until Monday at the close of
Uterhart's statement. This was done
at the request of the defendants coun-
sci, who said he desired to place Mrs.
De Saulles on the witness stand when
there would he enough time TO ensure
her completing the story of the shoot
ing without interruption.