Jasper County Democrat, Volume 12, Number 28, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 17 July 1909 — WIFE SAYS THAW THREATENED HER [ARTICLE]

WIFE SAYS THAW THREATENED HER

Told Evelyn He Supposed She Would Have to Die. SHE DECLARES SHE’S POOR Former Chorus Girl Admits That if She Had Received More Money From Family of White’s Slayer She Would Have Been Where It Would Have Been Impossible For the State to Have Placed Her Upon the Stand. White Plains, N. Y., July 16.—Harry K. Thaw’s wife, Evelyn Nesbit Thaw, gave damaging testimony against him. It was the strongest point scored so far by the state In Its fight to keep Thaw In the asylum for the criminal insane at Matteawan. When the day’s session was concluded adjournment was taken until July 26. “Did Harry K. Thaw threaten to take your life?’’ the wife was asked directly by Deputy Attorney General Clarke. Then Evelyn Thaw answered the question, “Yes, he did,” she said in a low voice. “What were his exact words,” demanded Clarke. “He said: ‘When I get out of here I suppose I will have to kill you.’ ” “Why did he say that?’’ “We were discussing his mental condition. I had asked him what he meant and he said: ‘You know I was not crazy on the night that I shot White.’ I asked him again and he said: 'You know that I missed White by two minutes on the day before.’ ” No Physical Examination. Thaw out of court said he was not surprised at his wife’s attitude. He emphatically denied that he ever threatened her life. “Is it true that you made an attempt On White’s life on the day before the homicide was committed?” he was asked, “If I had you would have learned it before this,” he replied. It has been decided to abandon a physical examination of Thaw by the state’s alienists and to confine the insanity test by the experts to the mental examination of Thaw as a witness.

Before leaving White Plains for New York, Evelyn Thaw said: “If the Thaw family had done the right thing by me I would ©ever have taken the stand to testify against my husband. But they would not guarantee me the allowance I asked for when the annulment proceedings were begun. If they had done that I would have been far away from here and Harry would have a better chance of getting his liberty. Wants Place as a'Model. “I don’t know what I shall do n6w. I have no idea what my future course will be. I must go out and get a living somehow. I can’t go back to the stage. My notoriety would prohibit that. The public would say I testified against my husband to make myself notorious. I will try to get work as a model. “Often I feel sorry 1 ever saw the stage at all. As a model I can be a good girl and earn enough to keep me. “My husband cut my allowance to 170 a week and S2OO a month and left me with many debts on my hands. I used my allowance to clear off my debts. My studio costs $95 a month, and I have to buy food and clothing, and the money I get is not more than enough to get along on. “I don’t know whether or not my husband will harm me if he is released.” “Do you think he is Insane?” she was asked. “I cannot answer that,” she replied. “I don’t want to.”