The Mad Sculptor (49 page)

2
.
New York Post
, June 28, 1937, p. 1; Gathje,
A Model Crime
, p. 159.

3
. Leibowitz,
The Defender, Casebook II
, p. 324;
Charleston Gazette
, June 28, 1937, p. 1.

4
.
New York Daily News
, June 28, 1937, p. 6.

5
. Ibid.; Leibowitz,
The Defender, Casebook II
, p. 324.

6
.
New York Daily News
, June 28, 1937, p. 3;
New York Herald Tribune
, June 28, 1937, pp. 3 and 7; Gathje,
A Model Crime
, p. 160.

7
.
New York Daily Mirror
, June 28, 1937, p.14;
New York Post
, June 28, 1937, p. 3; Reynolds,
Courtroom
, p. 158.

8
.
New York Post
, June 28, 1937, p. 2.

9
. Valentine,
Night Stick
, p. 183; Reynolds,
Courtroom
, pp. 123–124.

10
. Wertham,
The Show of Violence
, pp. 101–106; “Statement of Robert Irwin, at Police Headquarters, June 28, 1937,” Box 21, Folder 10, Papers of Fredric Wertham; Reynolds,
Courtroom
, p. 128.

11
.
New York Post
, June 30, 1937, p. 6.

12
. All citations are from the following newspapers:
New York Sun
, June 28, 1937, pp. 1, 2, and 3;
New York Post
, June 28, 1937, pp. 1, 2, and 3;
New York Daily News
, June 28, 1937, pp. 3, 6, 9, 10, 11, 14, 22, 24, and 25;
New York Herald Tribune
, June 28, 1937, pp. 1 and 3;
New York Daily Mirror
, June 28, 1937, pp. 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 12, and 14.

13
.
New York Times
, June 28, 1937, p. 6.

14
.
New York Post
, June 29, 1937, p. 8.

15
. The AP story was syndicated in newspapers around the country. This quote is from the
Moberly [MO] Monitor-Index
, June 28, 1937, p. 1.

16
. “She Spotted Killer Irwin!,”
Inside Detective
, October 1937, p. 49;
New York Daily Mirror
, June 28, 1937, p. 9;
New York Daily News
, June 29, 1937, p. 8;
New York Sun
, June 28, 1937, p. 3, and June 29, 1937, p. 2;
New York Daily Mirror
, June 30, 1937, p. 5; Gathje,
A Model Crime
, pp. 168–170.

17
.
New York Daily Mirror
, June 30, 1937, p. 5.

18
.
New York Times
, June 30, 1937, p. 46.

19
.
New York Post
, June 28, 1937, p. 8.

20
.
New York Herald Tribune
, June 30, 1937, p. 4.

21
.
New York Daily News
, June 28, 1937, p. 14.

22
. See Martha P. Nochimson,
No End to Her: Soap Opera and the Female Subject
(Berkeley: University of California Press, 1993), p. 21.

23
.
New York Daily Mirror
, July 2, 1937, p. 6.

24
.
New York Daily News
, June 29, 1937, p. 8.

25
.
New York Journal-American
, July 4, 1937, p. 1-3.

26
.
New York Daily Mirror
, June 28, 1937, p. 14.

27
. Ibid., p. 5.

28
.
New York Sun
, June 30, 1937, p. 7;
New York Post
, June 30, 1937, p. 6;
New York Daily Mirror
, July 1, 1937, p. 3; Dan T. Carter,
Scottsboro: A Tragedy of the American South
(Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 2007), p. 367.

29
.
New York Daily Mirror
, July 2, 1937, p. 8.

30
. Wertham,
The Show of Violence
, p. 139.

31
.
New York Daily News
, June 28, 1937, p. 3;
New York American
, June 28, 1937, p. 3.

32
. See Leibowitz,
The Defender, Casebook II
, p. 348.

33
.
New York Daily News
, July 29, 1937, p. 29.

Chapter 26. Lunacy

1
. A typescript of Leibowitz’s talk is filed in Box 21, Folder 5, Papers of Fredric Wertham.

2
. Reynolds,
Courtroom
, pp. 130–131; Wertham,
The Show of Violence
, pp. 151–156.

3
.
New York Times
, July 25, 1937, p. 1; July 26, 1937, p. 1; and July 30, 1937, p. 8.

4
. Reynolds,
Courtroom
, p. 133; Leibowitz,
The Defender, Casebook II
, p. 349.

5
.
New York Evening Journal
, July 2, 1937, p. 4.

6
. Leibowitz,
The Defender, Casebook II
, p. 349.

7
.
New York Daily Mirror
, August 31, 1937, pp. 3 and 6;
New York Daily News
, August 31, 1937, pp. 2 and 16.

8
.
New York Times
, September 1, 1937, p. 20; Reynolds,
Courtroom
, pp. 141–142; Leibowitz,
The Defender, Casebook II
, pp. 355–356.

9
.
New York Times
, August 27, 1937, p. 22, and August 31, 1937, p. 13.

10
. Benjamin Apfelberg, “Experiences with a New Criminal Code in New York State,”
American Journal of Psychiatry
, Vol. 98 (November 1941), p. 415.

11
.
New York Times
, February 4, 1938, p. 22. The only psychiatrist who seems not have been fooled was Fredric Wertham, who insisted that Lavin was “simulating insanity” and was almost “certain to commit another murder.”

12
. Thomas C. Desmond, “New York Smashes the Lunacy Commission ‘Racket,’ ”
Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology
, Vol. 30, No. 5 (January–February 1940), p. 654; Apfelberg, “Experiences with a New Criminal Code,” p. 417.

13
. Wertham,
The Show of Violence
, p. 141.

14
.
New York Times
, March 25, 1938, p. 4.

15
. Leibowitz,
The Defender, Casebook II
, p. 357.

16
. Ibid., p. 360.

17
. Wertham,
The Show of Violence
, p. 142.

18
. Reynolds,
Courtroom
, p. 139.

19
. Archibald R. Watson et al., “The People
Versus
Robert Irwin, Charged with the Murder of Three Persons. Report of Commissioners in Lunacy. In the Matter of the Examination into the Mental Condition of the Above Named Robert Irwin, an Alleged Lunatic,”
American Journal of Psychiatry
, Vol. 95, No. 1 (July 1938), p. 225.

20
. See Wertham,
The Show of Violence
, pp. 144–145.

21
. Reynolds,
Courtroom
, p. 140.

22
.
New York Times
, March 25, 1938, p. 4.

Chapter 27. Plea

1
. For a solid book-length study of the Hans Schmidt case, see Mark Gado,
Killer Priest: The Crimes, Trial, and Execution of Father Hans Schmidt
(Westport, CT: Praeger, 2006).

2
. See Reynolds,
Courtroom
, p. 133; Leibowitz,
The Defender, Casebook II
, pp. 364–365.

3
. For more on Glueck, see Simon Baatz,
For the Thrill of It: Leopold, Loeb, and the Murder That Shocked Chicago
(New York: HarperCollins, 2008).

4
. Hinsie, “The Psychopathology of Murder,” p. 18.

5
. Ibid, pp. 7, 14–16; Reynolds,
Courtroom
, p. 137.

6
. Hinsie, “The Psychopathology of Murder,” pp. 17–18, 20.

7
. Reynolds,
Courtroom
, p. 142; Leibowitz,
The Defender, Casebook II
, p. 372.

8
. Reynolds,
Courtroom
, p. 143.

9
.
New York Daily Mirror
, November 7, 1938, p. 3.

10
. Ibid.

11
.
New York Daily Mirror
, November 8, 1937, p. 2.

12
. Ibid.

13
. See
New York Times
, May 30, 1937, p. 60; August 29, 1937, p. 35; and December 26, 1937, p. 67.

14
.
New York Evening Journal
, July 2, 1937, p. 4.

15
.
New York Times
, September 9, 1937, p. 25.

16
. Gathje,
A Model Crime
, p. 186;
New York Daily News
, November 8, 1937, pp. 3 and 10.

17
. Leibowitz,
The Defender, Casebook II
, p. 374.

18
. Reynolds,
Courtroom
, p. 144; Leibowitz,
The Defender, Casebook II
, pp. 375–376.

19
.
New York Daily Mirror
, November 7, 1938, p. 3.

20
.
New York Daily Mirror
, November 8, 1938, p. 2;
New York Times
, November 11, 1938, p. 52.

21
. See Reynolds,
Courtroom
, p. 146.

22
.
New York Daily Mirror
, November 11, 1938, p. 3.

23
.
New York Daily News
, November 16, 1938, p. 23.

24
.
New York Times
, November 15, 1938, p. 1.

25
. Ibid., p. 16; Reynolds,
Courtroom
, p. 147.

26
.
New York Times
, November 15, 1938, p. 24.

27
. Gathje,
A Model Crime
, p. 191.

28
.
New York Daily News
, November 18, 1938, p. 16.

29
. Leibowitz,
The Defender, Casebook II
, p. 383.

Chapter 28. Aftermath

1
.
New York Daily News
, November 8, 1938, p. 3;
New York Daily Mirror
, November 8, 1938, p. 5;
New York Times
, November 10, 1938, p. 22.

2
.
New York Post
, November 28, 1938, pp. 1 and 3;
New York Times
, November 29, 1938, p. 48;
New York Daily News
, November 29, 1938, pp. 3 and 8;
New York Herald Tribune
, November 29, 1938, p. 3.

3
.
New York Post
, November 28, 1938, p. 1;
New York Daily News
, November 29, 1938, p. 3.

4
.
New York Herald Tribune
, November 29, 1938, p. 3; Gathje,
A Model Crime
, p. 193.

5
. The description of Bob’s cartoon comes from Leibowitz,
The Defender, Casebook II
, p. 385. Bob’s feelings about Sing Sing are recorded in a Christmas card he wrote to Fredric Wertham on December 21, 1938. It is filed in Box 21, Folder 4, Papers of Fredric Wertham. All subsequent quotes from Irwin’s correspondence are from the cards and letters contained in the same file.

6
. Wertham,
The Show of Violence
, p. 165; Gathje,
A Model Crime
, p. 194.

7
.
Syracuse Herald
, December 11, 1938, p. 4.

8
. Christmas card to Fredric Wertham, December 21, 1938.

9
. Letter to Fredric Wertham, January 23, 1941; Reynolds,
Courtroom
, p. 150.

10
. Letter to Florence Hesketh, January 25, 1945. The passage was reprinted in Leonard Lyons’s
New York Post
column, “The Lyons Den,” on February 9, 1945, p. 22, and later quoted by Wertham in
The Show of Violence
, p. 183.

11
. See Irwin’s letter to Wertham, January 23, 1941; Wertham’s letter to Irwin, March 6, 1939; and Wertham,
The Show of Violence
, p. 183.

12
. Letter to Fredric Wertham, January 23, 1941.

13
. Christmas card to Fredric and Florence Wertham, December 1942.

14
. Letters to Fredric Wertham, December 4, 1944, and January 25, 1945; letter to Florence Hesketh, January 1, 1948.

15
. Hinsie, “The Psychopathology of Murder,” p. 19.

16
.
New York Post
, April 16, 1951, p. 28.

17
.
New York Times
, August 1, 1940, p. 23.

18
. “The Crime of Appeasement,”
Detective Tales
, September 1940, p. 4.

19
. Theodore Dreiser, “Good and Evil,”
North American Review
, Vol. 266, No. 1 (Autumn 1938), pp. 76–77. A condensed version of the essay forms the epilogue of Dreiser’s 1947 novel,
The Stoic
.

20
. See Randy Hendricks and James A. Perkins, eds.,
Selected Letters of Robert Penn Warren, Volume Three: Triumph and Transition, 1943–1952
(Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 2006), pp. 67–68. The murder scene can be found in Robert Penn Warren,
At Heaven’s Gate
(New York: New Directions, 1985), pp. 360–363.

21
. Thomas Berger,
Killing Time
(New York: The Dial Press, 1967). According to Brooks Landon, “Berger drew much of his information from…Quentin Reynolds’s
Courtroom
and Fredric Wertham’s
The Show of Violence
.” See Landon,
Thomas Berger
(Boston: Twayne Publishers, 1989), p. 67.

22
. “Samuel S. Leibowitz, 84, Jurist and Scottsboro Case Lawyer, Dies,”
New York Times
, January 12, 1978, p. B2; “Jurist Before the Bar,”
Time
, November 15, 1963, pp. 70–71.