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Fritz Anschlag, a German Farmer in Los Angeles county, California, in 1888 murdered Charles Hitchcock and wife, a highly respected couple living at Garden Grove in that county, to obtain possession of their farm, for which a deed had been executed to him, but not delivered, awaiting payment. He was tried, convicted, and sentenced to hang, but defeated the law by committing suicide.
Jailor Russell swung open the iron door of the death-watch cell and allowed the reporter and the Professor, accompanied by his wife, to enter, and then followed himself. As the little party entered the place of confinement, Anschlag looked nervously around, and seeing the visitors, frowned and mumbled some incoherent words in German.
Anschlag, on the other hand, shows a good development in front of the ears, sufficient memory, sympathy and observation to display more than average intelligence on some points.
As this was done before he was proven guilty, and upon mere knowledge of the accusation, it is significant in showing that the whole family were as deficient in the social propensities as was Anschlag himself. A Phrenologist Examines the Murderer's Head. The Brute Becomes Angry at His Visitors, But Says Nothing A Report of the Examination.
"What distinction do you make, Professor, in the case of Anschlag or this murderer, and a case of total idiocy such as we all recognize?" "The difference is partly in degree, and partly in the fact that a man may be idiotic in one faculty and have all or a majority of the other faculties in the mind in good working order. Cases of color-blindness furnish a familiar example.
The physical fact remains, however, that to give Anschlag correct judgment on any question involving property, ethics or the consequences of his own acts to himself or others, his head would have to be enlarged at least an inch in the occipital region and the posterior part of the crown. A Scientific Estimate of the Murderer's Brain What Prof.
The reporter was asked to speak to the murderer in German and make known to him the object of the morning's visit. Anschlag at first was not willing to have his head examined, but when assured it might be for his benefit, he readily consented.
"Do you consider Anschlag insane within the meaning of the law as to responsibility for crime?" "He is idiotic in the particulars mentioned, and is incapable of exercising moral responsibility in any case. He is likely to commit homicide upon any occasion which may seem to him to be expedient.
This morning, through the kindness of Jailor Henry Russell, an Express reporter was allowed to enter the cell of Fritz Anschlag, the condemned murderer of Charles Hitchcock and wife, of Garden Grove, to witness an examination of Anschlag's head by Prof. William Windsor, assisted by his wife.
"Anschlag is a moral idiot," said Professor Windsor, in answer to the first interrogatory of the scribe. "He belongs to a class of beings who, from the circumstances of birth and education, are destitute of the requisite amount of sense necessary to form a correct judgment on moral questions as well as many others.
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