Trial of harry thaw

Thaw from Pittsburgh. Thaw's interest in Nesbit seemed to have its source in Thaw's obsessive hatred of Stanford White, who he believed was blackballing him from New York City clubs he sought to join, and who he considered to be a "wholesale ravisher of young girls.

In , "Mr. Munroe" finally succeeded, through an intermediary, in arranging a lunch date with Evelyn. Meeting her for the first time in a restaurant at high tea, "Mr. Munroe" fell to his knees, kissed the hem of Nesbit's dress, and pronounced Evelyn to be "the prettiest girl in New York.

In April of , while nearing the end of her term at boarding school, Nesbit developed acute appendicitis requiring live-saving surgery. Thaw rushed to her hospital room and kissed Evelyn's shaking hand. During the operation, Thaw and Mrs. Nesbit discussed Evelyn's future. A few months later, in what Evelyn later would call "the worst mistake of her life," she and her mother and Harry Thaw sailed from New York for an extended vacation in Europe.

In a Paris hotel suite, at Thaw's urging, Evelyn Nesbit told the story of her champagne-fueled deflowering two years earlier in Stanford White's mirrored bedroom.

As she did so, Harry shuddered, gaped, whimpered, and went limp. Over and over again he said, "Poor child! Poor child! Oh, God! Weeks later, after her mother had sailed back to the United States, Evelyn found herself with Harry in a rented castle in rural Austria. In her biography of Nesbit, American Eve, Paulu Uruburu describes the castle as "a huge Gothic nightmare of cold stones and dimly lit, drafty passageways, grimmer than anything in the Grimm brothers' tales.

Harry, then tore the nightgown off of the bleeding Evelyn and proceeded to rape her, screaming all the time about Stanford White and his debauchery. One would not think, after that nightmarish assault in a castle, that a marriage between Harry and Evelyn would be possible. Yet it happened. Two years of non-stop pursuit, aided by a more solicitous tone, lavish spending, and considerable attention to her mother, landed Thaw his prize. Harry K. The couple moved into the large, depressing Pittsburgh mansion that was also home to Harry's mother.

For the next fourteen months, Evelyn spent much of her time feeling like a bird in a gilded cage. In the spring of , Evelyn and Harry decided to take a trip to England. Harry scheduled a June 28 sailing on a German luxury liner from the port of New York. Plans were made to spend a week in the city before heading off across the Atlantic. In the course of a dinner at Cafe Martin shared with two friends, Evelyn was startled to see Stanford White, accompanied by his son, walk into the restaurant.

In spite of the near-record heat of the day, Evelyn, as she recalled later, "went cold with fear" for her husband's reaction if he were to spot the architect. Sensing a change in his wife's mood, Harry asked Evelyn if anything was wrong. She scribbled a note: "The B was here but has left. Harry slammed the hat on to his head with such force as to crack the brim. As they left the restaurant, Harry announced he had bought tickets for a new musical, Mamzelle Champagne , playing at Madison Square Garden's open-air rooftop theater.

Sometime during the show, Harry learned that Stanford White planned to catch part of the show. Later, witnesses reported seeing Thaw pacing around the rear of the theater "like a caged tiger. It took Harry a few minutes to become aware of his arch-enemy's entrance, but once he did, he stood up with a dazed look in his eyes. Evelyn suggested that they leave, and they began heading towards the elevator.

As Evelyn conversed briefly with a friend, Harry slipped away. As a line of chorus girls sang "I Could Love a Thousand Girls," the audience heard a burst of gunfire, followed quickly by two more shots. Evelyn knew immediately what had happened. As the architect's blood poured on to the tablecloth of his overturned table, Harry Thaw shouted his triumph: "I did it because he ruined my wife! He had it coming to him!

He took advantage of the girl and then deserted her! The first shot was fired from a distance of about twelve feet, after Thaw had made a beeline to White's table and then pulled a revolver out from under his coat. The second and third shots came from even closer range, perhaps two or three feet away. Chaos ensued. Some members of the audience screamed, while others rushed for the exit. Meanwhile, L. Lawrence, manager of the show jumped on a table and commanded that the show go on.

At three a. Evelyn managed to escape the press she earned the name "the Girl Houdini" and spent two sleepless nights holed up at the apartment of a friend in the theater district. Meanwhile, the city was abuzz with rumors about possible motives for the killing, and Thomas Edison's studio worked overtime to rush a film version of the Rooftop Murder into nickelodeons.

The original strategy of District Attorney William T. Jerome was to have Thaw declared legally insane and shipped off to an asylum. The state would save a great deal of money, and the theory seemed consistent with a defendant who shot his victim in front of one thousand witnesses and then used every opportunity to boast about his good deed.

Thaw's original attorney, Lewis Delafield, seemed content to go along with the district attorney's approach, concluding it to be the only sure way his client could avoid the electric chair. Harry Thaw, however, wanted no part of an insanity plea, and quickly labeled his attorney "The Traitor" for even suggesting it. Three weeks after Delafield took the case, Thaw dismissed him.

Harry looked forward to his trial and his chance to expose the "set of perverts" who preyed on young girls and deserved nothing less than death. Jury selection began in January After questioning six hundred prospective jurors, a jury of twelve men was finally seated. Meanwhile, the proud Thaw family, unable to stomach a traditional insanity case, settled on proving, through their new team of lawyers, that Harry had experienced a "brainstorm," a brief bout of temporary insanity that could be expected of almost any American male put to the same stresses.

Evelyn Nesbit in Profile. Evelyn Nesbit, the celebrated ideal Gibson Girl of New York society, in a romantic profile portrait holding a rose. She was involved as a young girl with the noted architect Stanford White, who kept many very young, beautiful mistresses and aided them financially.

Later her wealthy, eccentric husband, Harry K. Thaw, shot White to death, motivated by jealous obsession. Evelyn Nesbit Sitting with Sculpture on Table. July 31, - Evelyn Nesbit, 69, who nearly 50 years ago was one of America's top show girls ant the central figure in the Harry K. Thaw shooting of Architect Stanford White, has been in Los Angeles for the past 6 years teaching ceramics and sculptor. Shown in her small studio here, Miss Nesbit revealed that the younger generation are not aware of her past but their grandmothers chat with her about it.

Architect Stanford White. Stanford White, the famous architect, later slain by Thaw. White is shown as he was at the height of his fame. Frequently his guests were girls of tender years. Suddenly a beautiful year-old girl, scantily attired, burst through the crust, and after posing for an instant, she joined the guests.

Evelyn Nesbit was born near Pittsburg on Christmas Day, Her father died when she was 12 years of age, and about three years later her mother, who has been referred to as a frivolous and extravagant woman, married a Pittsburg broker named Charles Holman. As Evelyn was a remarkably beautiful child she earned considerable money by posing for artists in Pittsburg and afterward in New York.

She subsequently became a chorus girl. In the spring of Evelyn met a wealthy married man named James Garland, and shortly afterward she and her mother were his guests on a yachting trip.

Later Mrs. Garland sued her husband for a divorce and Evelyn Nesbit was said to have been mentioned as the reason. About one month after the first meeting, White invited her to the tower at the conclusion of the Florodora performance in which she was a chorus girl. She claimed that White represented that three other girls would be in the party.

When Evelyn arrived at the studio White stated that the other girls had disappointed him, but he invited Evelyn to remove her hat and take a glass of champagne. She reluctantly accepted the invitation, and after partaking of the wine she immediately lost consciousness.

When her mind again cleared she found herself in the bedroom of the suite, the walls and ceiling of which were covered with mirrors. Realizing that an assault had been committed upon her, she became hysterical, but White finally succeeding in pacifying her and then exacted a promise that she would never tell her mother of what had just transpired.

For several months afterward White met Evelyn clandestinely and the intimate relationship continued. Thaw and several children. The latter was a wild, eccentric youth with such extravagant habits that his father provided in his will that Harry should receive only a monthly allowance. He had a penchant for chorus girls, and in that manner met Evelyn Nesbit some months after her first experience with White in the tower.

They became very friendly, and Thaw showered her with tokens of his regard. About this time White gave a dinner to which several guests were invited, including Jack Barrymore the actor, and Evelyn Nesbit.

Cobb, a reporter in , explaining why the trial of Harry Thaw for the murder of Stanford White was "the trial of the century. One beautiful girl, two extravagant and prominent men.