Studies in Forensic Psychiatry | Page 9

to life imprisonment and transferred to the United States
Penitentiary at Leavenworth. He was readmitted to the Government Hospital for the
Insane on March 25, 1906, from the United States Penitentiary at Leaven worth. No
medical certificate accompanied him on admission and it is therefore impossible to set,
even an approximate date, for the onset of his present mental disorder; but inasmuch as
he had not been in prison even a year before his transfer to our hospital, and as it usually
takes several months to carry out the required legal proceedings, his mental disorder must
have set in quite soon after his confinement in the penitentiary.
He was again in a stuporous condition on his readmission to our hospital, and absolutely
oblivious to his surroundings. For about twenty-four hours he was wholly inaccessible,
would not reply when spoken to, and had to be aroused from a sort of lethargic state
before his attention could be gained at all. On the following day consciousness cleared up
to some extent and he recognized some of the attendants whom he had known on his
previous admission. He remained, however, more or less confused for several days, after
which his mental horizon became clear, and simultaneously with this, delusions of
suspicion and persecution became evident. He did not know how long he had been in this
confused state and had a complete amnesia for the entire period. Stated that he had been
poisoned and that attempts to kill him had been made at the Penitentiary. He knew he had
been doped any number of times. Aside from this paranoid complex he had a complete
left-sided functional hemiplegia with all the concomitant signs. Left visual field
considerably contracted. From May, 1906, to February, 1907, he passed through a
number of stuporous periods, during which he was confined to bed from a few days to a
week at a time. At these times he would lie with a vacant and staring expression, and
questioning would often fail to elicit any reply. At times he would partake only of liquid
nourishment, then again would have to be spoon-fed. During his lucid intervals he would
be up and about and more or less cheerful. Occasionally played games with his fellow
patients. He continued to be very suspicious; frequently spoke of being doped and
poisoned. Refused to take medicine, and at times refused to take nourishment because he
believed it to be doped. A stenogram of February 10, 1907, shows him to have acquired

some grandiose ideas and to be still disoriented to a large extent. Some of his replies were
absolutely unreliable. For instance, when asked how long he had been here he replied: "If
I came on March 25th, I have been here for three hundred and sixty-five thousand days. It
is reasonable but you wouldn't understand it. When a man is answering for something he
should not answer for, every day amounts to a thousand years with the Lord." He stated
that he knew that attempts were being constantly made to affect him with chemical
substances; these were placed in his food and rubbed on the walls of his room, making
him dizzy and giving him a sort of peculiar feeling, etc. He could hear of things occurring
in distant places and even in foreign countries just as though he were there. He could tell
what was going to happen; had no trouble at all to look into the future. He attributed this
ability to some superhuman power, but which was natural to him. This power was
bestowed upon him by the superhuman power itself. In prison every possible means to
kill him were used but without success. They even tried to chloroform him for a day and
a night, but could not kill him.
May, 1907:--Still delusional, hypochondriacal; paralysis very much improved. Complains
at times of quiverings in the right extremities and a numbness of the left side.
August, 1907:--Has been again in a stuporous state for four days. Still entertains paranoid
ideas, hypochondriacal. This was followed by a lucid period which lasted until
November 25th, when he again went into a profound stupor and became totally oblivious
to everything about him.
April, 1909:--Very much disturbed for about a week. Complained that the physicians and
attendants were torturing him in order to drive him insane. Called them brutes and
threatened to starve himself to death.
December, 1909:--Neurological Examination--Hemiplegia almost entirely disappeared,
but numerous physical stigmata still persist. Has been uninterruptedly clear mentally
since his last stuporous state, in November, 1908.
January, 1911:--Clear mentally. Answers questions coherently and readily. Attention
easily gained and held without difficulty. Memory, for both recent and remote events, fair,
with complete amnestic gaps for the stuporous periods. He shows the characteristic
hysterical make-up. He is morbidly suggestible and suspicious. He is