Greensboro, June 24—Dr. J.W. Peacock, who was acquitted of the murder of J.E. Taylor, Thomasville chief of police, by a Rowan county jury at Lexington week before last, was committed to the asylum for the criminal insane in Raleigh for the remainder of his life by Judge T.B. Finley after a hearing held here yesterday afternoon, the order being signed by Judge Finley about 3 o’clock.
Dr. Peacock was in the courtroom, being in the custody of Sheriff Fred S. Sink of Davidson county. He did not show very much interest in the discussion but appeared slightly nervous, rubbing his hands together frequently.
In announcing his decision to place Dr. Peacock in an insane asylum Judge Finley declared that this action was not done to punish the defendant who had been acquitted of the charge of murder by a jury but to protect society; that experts had testified that Dr. Peacock was insane, that he suffered from an insidious nervous disease which is progressive; that he is likely to lose his senses on slight provocation on account of the disease from which he is suffering.
Judge Finley declared that the jury acquitted him solely on the testimony of experts who declared him crazy and that if he is not now crazy, as Mr. Raper contended, he is likely to become a menace to society as he could pretend to have a lapse of sanity, perform any crime and plead insanity as an excuse.
No evidence was presented nor was the testimony of the alienists at the trial rad, all attorneys agreeing that Judge Finley, wh presided over the trial at Lexington, was familiar with the case.
Mr. Raper, who was chief counsel for Dr. Peacock at the Lexington trial and whose chief defense in his speech to the jury, it is said, was the plea of insanity, protested vigorously against the commitment order. He declared that there was no evidence that Dr. Peacock is now an insane man. He told the court that he had no doubt but every alienist who testified during the Lexington trial would now declare Dr. Peacock a sane man. He furthermore declared that every expert testifying at the trial admitted on cross-examination that Dr. Peacock was not insane; that he had been only temporarily insane.
Clyde R. Hoey, attorney for the prosecution, according to Mr. Raper, told the jury that Dr. Peacock was a sane man. Mr. Raper asked Judge Finley to forget about the crime. He contended that a jury of men had acquitted him and that for this reason he could not be held liable to any punishment for the crime.
Mr. Raper contended that Dr. Peacock was made temporarily insane by reason of the burning of his barn the night before the murder of Chief Taylor occurred; that on account of the nature of the disease from which the murderer was suffering his mind was unbalanced by the incident. However, Mr. Raper declared that he does not now believe Dr. Peacock is a menace to society and that he believed he would not have any other outbreaks.
Solicitor Bowen spoke but a few minutes. He declared that he was astounded at the remarks of Mr. Raper. Mr. Raper, stated Mr. Bower, hammered the idea of insanity into the minds of the jury and succeeded in obtaining a verdict of not guilty for his client, a man who had committed one of the most horrible crimes occurring in North Carolina in many years. Mr. Raper made the point during the trial, declared the solicitor, that paranoia is a progressive disease. He claimed at that time that the disease, combined with the excitement on account of the fire, caused Dr. Peacock to murder a man in cold blood and yet, said Mr. Bower, this same attorney actually comes before the same judge who presided over the trial and declares that Dr. Peacock is now a sane man; that he is not a menace to society; and that although he admits that one bit of excitement drove him to commit murder he does not believe it will happen again. Mr. Bower declared that it would be a travesty on justice for Dr. Peacock to be turned loose and he asked Judge Finley to merely consider the evidence given by the witnesses for the defense during the trial at Lexington.
H. Hoyle Sink, appearing with Solicitor Bower, stated that one of the principal arguments made by lawyers for the defense during the hearing at Lexington, including Mr. Raper himself, was that Dr. Peacock would be confined in an insane asylum for life if he were acquitted. One of the attorneys for the defense, John J. Parker, told the jury that if they acquitted the defendant he would not ask that he be turned loose, declared Mr. Sink. The jury accepted the statement and acquitted Dr. Peacock, said Mr. Sink, and now one of his attorneys asks that he be turned loose.
Dr. Peacock was taken to Raleigh yesterday afternoon on No. 22 leaving Greensboro about 4 o’clock. He was accompanied by Sheriff Sink. No members of his family were present at the hearing yesterday and only a few people heard the arguments which were made just prior to the convening of Superior court for the afternoon. Judge Finley stated that by the order of commitment Dr. Peacock could be released from the asylum by only two methods. A special act of the legislature would have to be passed or a writ of habeas corpus issued and signed by the solicitor.
From the front page of The Mount Airy News, Thursday, June 40, 1921. Dr. Peacock would escape from the Hospital for the Dangerous Insane at Central Prison in Raleigh in August 1922. He settled in Florida, but when discovered there fled again to California, which refused to extradite him because he'd escaped from a hospital rather than a prison. California didn't allowed him to practice medicine again, but he got a job as a "first aid caregiver at Bully Hill Mine in northern California's Shasta County. Around noon on September 21, 1928, while assisting in the recovery of two derailed ore cars at Bully Hill, the coupling pin attached to a locomotive disconnected, its heavy steel cable striking Peacock across the chest and head. He was transported to Redding, California, where he died seven hours later" Christopher T. Yarbrough wrote on the website Find a Grave. He also said that Wint Capel wrote a book "The Good Doctor's Downfall." You can read more about Dr. Peacock at https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/97263715/james-walter-peacock.
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