Albert Fish

Signs of Psychosis

Eventually, Dempsey had a chance to attack the prosecution alienists.  Dr. Charles Lambert, after a three-hour interview with Fish," pronounced him a "psychopathic personality without a psychosis."

Dempsey asked Lambert, "Assume that this man not only killed this girl but took her flesh to eat it.  Will you state that that man could for nine days eat that flesh and still not have a psychosis?"

Lambert answered, "Well, there is no accounting for taste, Mr. Dempsey."

Dempsey persisted:  "Tell me how many cases in your experience you have seen people who actually ate human feces."

"Oh, I know individuals prominent in society...one in particular that we all know who used it as a side dish in his salad," Lambert remarked casually.

Dempsey had better luck with one of the other defense alienists, who could see signs of psychosis in Fish's behavior.

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1. A Knock at the Door
2. New Recruits
3. Gracie
4. Vanished
5. Without A Trace
6. Where Have You Gone Billy Boy?
7. The Boogey Man
8. The Manhunt
9. A Letter From Hell
10. A Clue
11. Albert H. Fish
12. Confession
13. One-Way Ticket
14. Savagery
15. Finding Gracie
16. A Criminal History
17. The Unspeakable
18. Cannibalistic Cravings
19. The Alienists
20. A True Sadist
21. "Pins and Needles"
22. Legally Insane?
23. The Trial
24. Testimonies
25. On Hands and Knees
26. Signs of Psychosis
27. From the Frying Pan into the Fire
28. Bibliography