State of Rhode Island v. Fenik

The defendant was indicted for the murder of his infant daughter, Judith, in the city of Newport March 31, 1920. He was found guilty of murder in the first degree. After denial of a motion for a new trial in the Superior Court, the case is in this court on defendant’s bill of exceptions.

The defence was insanity. The facts in regard to the homicide are not in dispute and are substantially as follows: Defendant at the time of the trial was 33 years of age. He was born in Russia and came to this country in 1914; he was a musician and in New York was employed in the chorus of an opera company. In…