{"id":1417,"date":"2013-09-09T12:02:00","date_gmt":"2013-09-09T12:02:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/?p=1417"},"modified":"2015-01-06T19:02:55","modified_gmt":"2015-01-06T19:02:55","slug":"murder-in-the-city","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2013\/09\/09\/murder-in-the-city\/","title":{"rendered":"Murder in the city"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\" <\/a> <\/div>
\"\" <\/a> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Harry <\/a>
Harry K. Thaw in court in White Plains, N.Y., in 1912, during one of the hearings on his sanity. (Acme photo) <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Evelyn <\/a>
Evelyn Nesbit Thaw, wife of Harry K. Thaw, in an undated photo. <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Harry <\/a>
Harry K. Thaw at the home of his mother in the East End section of Pittsburgh, 1915. (Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh photo) <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Harry <\/a>
Harry K. Thaw during a housewarming at his new Philadelphia home, Oct. 1940. (Acme photo) <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Harry <\/a>
Harry K. Thaw during a housewarming at his new Philadelphia home, Oct. 1940. (Acme photo) <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n

Harry Kendall Thaw was well-known in Pittsburgh at the turn of the 20th century for his playboy lifestyle as the heir to a multi-million dollar mine and railroad fortune.<\/p>\n

“The parade of newsprint happened almost with his birth in 1870 in the old Thaw mansion on Downtown Stanwix St.,” an article in The Pittsburgh Press stated.<\/p>\n

His antics included lavish parties, drug use, and participation in high-stakes poker games (for which he was reportedly expelled from Harvard). He spared no expense in wining and dining the ladies. In 1901, he met then 17-year-old Evelyn Nesbit, a Pittsburgh girl labeled by New York artists as \u201cthe most perfect model in America.\u201d The two were married on Christmas Eve 1905.<\/p>\n

Nesbit had previously gained the attention of noted New York architect Stanford White, with whom she used to \u201csip wine in his apartment.\u201d Their relationship was something that caused Thaw great agony.<\/p>\n

On the night of June 25, 1906, the newlyweds gathered with other wealthy socialites on the roof of Madison Square Garden in New York for the premiere of a musical show. That\u2019s when Thaw spotted White, walked over to his table, and calmly shot him three times for \u201csome real or fancied wrong that White had done Evelyn Nesbit \u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

Thaw was arraigned the following morning and reportedly admitted to the murder, saying, \u201cThat man ruined my wife. \u2026 That man ruined my home. I guess he won\u2019t ruin any more homes.\u201d<\/p>\n

The resulting trial was one of the most sensational of the century, with Thaw pleading temporary insanity and his wife claiming White had previously drugged and raped her.<\/p>\n

After an initial trial yielded a hung jury, a second acquitted Thaw but ordered him to a New York asylum for the criminally insane. In 1913, he escaped from the asylum, fled to Canada and was quickly captured. However, in 1915, he was ruled sane by the New York Supreme Court and walked away a free man, 9 years and 21 days after the start of his first trial. An article in the Press stated, \u201cHis return to Pittsburgh was hardly triumphal, although a parade was arranged from the East Liberty station to his home.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thaw made headlines in the coming years for a number of incidents, including the kidnapping of a young boy, which once again landed him in a mental institution. In 1940, he opened his new Philadelphia home to \u201cladies over 16 and gentlemen over 18\u201d to visit him. It was his last major public appearance.<\/p>\n

He lived a relatively quiet life from then until his death in February 1947 at his vacation home in Miami Beach, Fla. At the time, Ms. Nesbit, 62 and living in Atlantic City, said she was \u201cvery depressed and sorry to hear the news\u201d about her ex-husband, who once killed another man for her love. She said she would not attend the funeral.<\/p>\n

Thaw was buried in Pittsburgh\u2019s Allegheny Cemetery.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Harry Kendall Thaw was well-known in Pittsburgh at the turn of the 20th century.<\/p>\n

Look at the picturesMurder in the city<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":1419,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"gallery","meta":{"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[947],"tags":[1206,1036,1039],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/tumblr_msnvpdebqh1rr5swxo2_1280.jpg?fit=1280%2C909&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2533,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2012\/09\/11\/march-10-1951-wabash-railroad-station-and\/","url_meta":{"origin":1417,"position":0},"title":"Wabash Railroad Station and Building","date":"September 11, 2012","format":"gallery","excerpt":"Built at the intersection of Liberty Ave and Ferry St, currently known as Stanwix St, the building served as a station of the Wabash Pittsburgh Terminal Railway.","rel":"","context":"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/tumblr_ma049mwdsC1rr5swxo1_1280.jpg?fit=1200%2C953&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2413,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2012\/10\/16\/circa-1916-allegheny-observatory-allegheny\/","url_meta":{"origin":1417,"position":1},"title":"Allegheny Observatory","date":"October 16, 2012","format":"gallery","excerpt":"Allegheny Observatory marked its 100th year of exploring the night sky over Pittsburgh.","rel":"","context":"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/tumblr_mbr3s4Cj9Y1rr5swxo1_1280.jpg?fit=1200%2C985&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2400,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2012\/10\/19\/the-wabash-bridge\/","url_meta":{"origin":1417,"position":2},"title":"The Wabash Bridge","date":"October 19, 2012","format":"gallery","excerpt":"The rail cars were from the Wabash-Pittsburg Terminal Railroad, an ill-fated venture by George Jay Gould to compete with the Pennsylvania Railroad in Pittsburgh.","rel":"","context":"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/tumblr_mc3hybsuae1rr5swxo2_1280.jpg?fit=1200%2C709&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":7337,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2017\/04\/04\/rudolphs-big-day-in-the-city\/","url_meta":{"origin":1417,"position":3},"title":"Rudolph’s big day in the city","date":"April 4, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"A teenager gives his 11-year-old brother a tour of Pittsburgh","rel":"","context":"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/Digs.JoeKatrencik001-e1490813185342.jpg?fit=1200%2C791&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1256,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2013\/10\/30\/possible-mad-butcher-victims-in-mckees-rocks\/","url_meta":{"origin":1417,"position":4},"title":"Possible \u2018Mad Butcher\u2019 victims in McKees Rocks","date":"October 30, 2013","format":"gallery","excerpt":"A search of other cars in the yard turned up two more bodies, also headless.","rel":"","context":"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/10\/tumblr_mvfvvrbyTW1rr5swxo3_1280.jpg?fit=1152%2C734&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2666,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2012\/08\/07\/oct-31-1980-ronald-reagan-visits-pittsburgh\/","url_meta":{"origin":1417,"position":5},"title":"Reagan campaigns in Pittsburgh in 1980","date":"August 7, 2012","format":"gallery","excerpt":"On that Halloween in 1980 Reagan spoke at a Station Square rally on the South Side, accompanied by Sens. 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