@article{ref1,
title="Paranoia as it relates to homicide [1905]",
journal="Buffalo medical journal",
year="1905",
author="Putnam, James Wright",
volume="44",
number="7",
pages="419-426",
abstract="There is no form of insanity which is of greater impor- tance in criminal jurisprudence than paranoia. This state- ment is made because the paranoiac remains so often undiag- nosticated until some act of violence, which results in the serious injury or death of his victim, calls the attention of medical men to his condition.  The examination of such criminals requires not only a pains- taking study of the prisoner's history as it relates to his victim, but must include inquiry likewise into his heredity, his youth and, indeed, his whole life up to the time of the examination. The diagnosis of other types of insanity is comparatively easy. The recognition of paranoia is frequently extremely difficult; and oftentimes the demonstration of it to the satisfaction of public, judge, and jury is impossible even in well marked cases.  Lest I should be accused of exaggeration, I may refer to the case of Prendergast, the assassin of Carter H. Harrison, Mayor of Chicago, as recorded by H. M. Bannister. Prender- gast was born in Ireland, and came to this country as a baby; his father was an inebriate, and several of his parental ancestors were insane. His mother was a strong woman, with no bad heredity that was ascertained. In early childhood he sustained a head injury by falling that made him unconscious for several hours. This was followed by more or less headache. As a boy he showed peculiarities, was very irritable, and did not care for the companionship of other boys.   He went to school for a fewyears, and made very good progress. He became a newsboy and did quite as well as such boys generally do, but was rarely on good terms with the other boys. As he grew older he delivered daily papers on a somewhat secluded route, and did this work to the satisfaction of all. About the age of 15 he began to develop delusions of persecution; thought the other newsboys were combined against him, that they were making misrepre- sentations about him, and that his mother and brother were also against him and constantly trying to do him harm.  A little later, there was much agitation in the Chicago papers about the dangers of railroad grade-crossings and the neces- sity of stopping the loss of life by track elevation. Then Pren- dergast became possessed of the delusion that he was God's ap- pointed agent to bring about this important work. To do it, he conceived the idea that he must be made the corporation counsel of Chicago. As soon as Mayor Harrison was elected he applied to him. After Hon. A. Krauss had been appointed, he called upon him and several times demanded the office as his, by right of being the Almighty's agent. At the time of the assassination he went in the early evening to the Mayor's residence and made the same demand. Being refused, he shot Mr. Harrison, and imme- diately thereafter went to the police station and gave himself up. At the station he was regarded as insane, and at first it was determined to send him to the Detention Hospital for the Insane. At the police station Prendergast insisted that he did it; that he was the divinely appointed agent to elevate the rail- road tracks, and in order to do it properly he must be corporation counsel. The mayor refused to comply with his request, and the Lord had commanded him to remove him. He seemed sorry enough, but said he must do as the Almighty demanded. In various interviews he always admitted the killing, and always justified it by his delusions ; he seemed to be very sorry that it had to be done. Upon other topics he talked as well as could be expected with his limited education,.showing a good memory and emotional control. He had numerous stigmata of degeneracy.  After two jury trials he was condemned and in due time hanged.  No postmortem was permitted...<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="1040-3817",
doi="",
url="http://dx.doi.org/"
}