Before leaving the Tombs Mrs. Thaw said there was no significance attached to her visit. She said she merely wanted to visit her husband on Easter.
“Harry is cheerful and feels confident the commission will decide in his favor,” she said.
Mrs. Thaw looked exceptionally pretty. She was dressed in a plain brown tailor-made suit. She wore a flat, round hat of black straw, such as women wear in riding costume. Her veil was white and heavy. She looked just a little pale, and her expression was sad, but she said she felt quite well. The trip to and from the Tombs was made in the electric hansom that Mrs. William Thaw, mother of the prisoner, uses in going to and from the courthouse.
Thaw deviated from his usual custom and attended special Protestant Easter services conducted in the Tombs chapel by the Rev. Mr. Sanderson. A special choir and orchestra was engaged for the service. Thaw seemed to enjoy the music and the remarks of the minister.
CHAPTER XIX.
Commission Finds Thaw Sane.
CRISIS IN CASE IS REACHED—BLOW TO JEROME—EVELYN CARRIES GLAD TIDINGS TO PRISONER—THAW EXPRESSES NO SURPRISE—PROSECUTOR THREATENS TO APPEAL, BUT BOWS TO FINDING.
One of the most dramatic phases of the great trial was at hand. The defense suddenly announced it had closed its case before the lunacy commission, and after a private examination of Thaw by the board Dr. Allen R. Diefendorf told the members that Thaw was a paranoic and had not recovered his sanity. “Thaw is insane now,” he swore.
The crisis came on the morning of April 4, 1907. After a session lasting nearly all night the commissioners filed into court and Chairman McClure handed the following report to Justice Fitzgerald:
“After careful examination of the defendant personally and of all the evidence we find the following facts:
“In the frequent and in some cases daily—during the several months last past—intercourse had by the defendant with the Tombs physicians, chaplains, keepers, other attendants, and the probation officer these persons failed to discover anything irrational in his conduct or speech.