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301 stories matching insan
- The Insanity Defense in the Lavan Case
A reader challenges the P-I’s skepticism regarding a jury's decision to acquit Patrick Lavan on grounds of insanity.
- The Tragic Cost of a Frontier Head Injury
A young man near Seattle is committed to the state hospital after a workplace accident leaves him with permanent brain trauma.
- Washington's Insane Asylums Need Nearly Half a Million Dollars
A legislative committee reports that the state's two insane asylums require $459,757.55 for maintenance, new buildings, and deficiencies — a staggering sum for 1893.
- Inside the Western Washington Asylum
A biennial report reveals the harsh realities and overcrowding at the state facility for the insane in Steilacoom.
- The Man Who Wasn't Mad: A Civil War Veteran’s Battle for Sanity
James A. Balch, a tall, soldierly old man in a faded uniform, was held at the King County Insane Asylum for five years despite being lucid. His family fought him through habeas corpus, and today, the superintendent admitted he had recovered his reason.
- The Unseen Toll of Seattle’s Great Fire
A Norwegian immigrant, unable to cope with the ruin of his family life following the Great Seattle Fire, is declared insane by the probate court.
- The Tragedy of August Raymond
A proprietor of the Steamboat Saloon suffers a mental health crisis, ending in his transport to the asylum at Steilacoom.
- The Jailbreak at Milton
A man detained by the authorities in Milton on suspicion of insanity successfully escaped by stealing the clothes of his own guard.
- A Machinist Committed to the Asylum
A perfectly rational machinist is sent to Steilacoom despite his protests, leaving behind a wife and child.
- The Tragic Confinement of Madia Joy
A ten-year-old girl is committed to an insane asylum after suffering from a paranoid delusion that her own family was trying to kill her.
- Doctors Find Whisky, Not Insanity, in Chris Albertson Case
After a harrowing suicide attempt, a Tacoma man is sent to the county hospital for treatment rather than jail.
- Two Lives Declared Insane in a Walla Walla Courtroom
Mary Calloway feared everyone meant to harm her; Alexander Clancey believed hundreds of soldiers were hunting him. Both were committed in superior court.
- The Jailhouse Performance of an Insanity Faker
A man accused of horse theft attempts a desperate, bumbling ruse to avoid trial by feigning madness, only to be caught plotting his escape with stolen keys.
- The Horse Thief Who Challenged the Whole Jail to a Fight
Frank Clinefelter escaped during a jailbreak, got recaptured, and now the sheriff wants him declared insane—while he shadowboxes and calls out convicts from Cell No. 6.
- Youthful Offender Under Evaluation for Possible Insanity
A fifteen-year-old boy remains in custody following a series of assaults, with court officials weighing the prospect of psychiatric care over criminal prosecution.
- The Wife-Slasher Who Tried to Play Insane—and the Seattle Jury That Didn’t Buy It
McGee feigned madness so badly that the jury convicted him on the first ballot. A Steilacoom asylum doctor explained why three months of observation found no insanity—only a terrified wife.
- The Desperate Struggle at the Steilacoom Asylum
A man awaiting commitment to the insane asylum attempts to take his own life in the halls of the institution.
- A Rich Lumberman Abducted for $6,000 — and the Kidnapper's Defense Is Insanity
In Mount Vernon, the young man accused of seizing wealthy lumberman E. O. English and holding him for a $6,000 ransom abruptly drops his not-guilty plea and admits the deed — then pivots to an insanity defense.
- The Kangaroo Court’s Cruel Joke
J.J. Sander, acquitted by insanity, was mocked by jailhouse 'kangaroo court' with forged love letters.
- The Tragic Confinement of a Settler
A young woman is committed to the hospital for the insane after a period of profound distress.
- A Family Feud Before the Bench
A husband's attempt to have his wife committed to an asylum highlights a volatile domestic dispute.
- Medical Standoff at the Courthouse
Colfax physicians go on strike against the county commissioners over pay for mandatory insanity examinations.
- The Tragedy of the Romantic Runaway
A young worker’s desperate attempt to elope leads to an asylum, reflecting the era’s harsh social policing of adolescent passion.
- The Insanity Trial of Mrs. Meagher
A mother’s public accusation that her daughter was held in a house of prostitution results in a court hearing to determine her sanity.
- A Family Feud Turned Public Spectacle
A woman’s obsessive search for her daughter in Seattle leads to a public assault on her own son and a charge of insanity.