Page:The Great Harry Thaw Case.djvu/265



"When Thaw saw White he walked quietly and slowly down the aisle until he faced White and then fired three shots.

"He then slowly and deliberately turned away—and I wish to call your attention especially to this circumstance, aparently slight, but to my mind of the utmost importance, and testified to by the defense. Mr. Meyer Cohen, one of the witnesses, said that as soon as he heard the shots he looked and saw Thaw standing facing the audience with his arms spread out in the form of a cross, a circumstance which has not been dwelt upon by any of the learned experts for the State.

"Mr. Thaw stood as a priest might have stood after some ceremony of sacrificial offering, saying, 'All is over,' and dismissing the congregation. He turned his pistol barrel down to indicate to the audience that there was no danger to them.

"He then walked slowly to where his wife stood, and when she said, 'Oh, Harry, what have you done?' he replied: 'It is all right, dearie, I have probably saved your life.' As he said this he stooped and kissed her. When he was disarmed he said, 'He has ruined my wife.' When the policeman came he said: 'He has ruined my wife.'

"I have dwelt upon these acts and declarations of Mr. Thaw at that time to call your attention to the fact that the safety of his wife was menaced by the man who had followed her to the garden, the same man who had followed her to Dr. Delavan, the same man who had said to Mae MacKenzie he would get this young wife away from Thaw.

"What condition of mind must Harry K. Thaw have been in when walking down the aisle he turned and suddenly saw the form—the hideous form—of the man who had caused so much unhappiness.

"If you have been near death you know that at such