attorney who represented dr de. kaplany in 1963 trial in san jose california

by Adolfo Spencer 9 min read

When was De Kaplany convicted?

Why did De Kaplany not plead guilty?

When did De Kaplany go to Taiwan?

What is the name of the Hungarian physician who emigrated to the United States in the late 1950s?

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Why was Geza de Kaplany called Doctor?

The hypocritical audacity of de Kaplany continued in that interview when he insisted on being called “Doctor, Doctor Geza de Kaplany, because he had both medical and philosophical doctorate degrees. The seventy-six-year-old then blamed the parole board for why he left the country.

Who was the acid doctor?

The Acid Doctor: The Most Horrendous Murder in American History, 1962. On the left, Hungarian born Dr. Geza de Kaplany during his trial in January 1963. One of the most painful and horrific murders in American history was committed by Hungarian born Dr. Geza de Kaplany, whose jealousy and insecurities led him to torture his young wife ...

What did the man say before adding "I was insane"?

He then begged the reporter not to publish his story. “It would ruin my life.” He said before adding “I was insane.”

Was De Kaplany paroled?

As the Mercury reporters revealed in their 2002 article, de Kaplany’s parole was a fiasco from beginning to end. The wife-killer had secured the support of several Catholic priests and one archbishop who lobbied the parole board, in secret, on the doctor’s behalf.

Was De Kaplany guilty of murder?

During his trial, de Kaplany pleaded not guilty and not guilty by reason of insanity.

When was De Kaplany convicted?

He appealed his conviction in the California state and federal courts, but the Ninth Circuit ultimately upheld his conviction in a 1976 opinion that issued after de Kaplany had already been granted parole and left the United States.

Why did De Kaplany not plead guilty?

De Kaplany pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. His lawyer, Edward de Vilbiss, claimed that he suffered from multiple personality disorder and that the crime was committed by his alter ego, "Pierre de la Roche.". Prosecutor Louis P. Bergna brought a witness, Ruth Krueger, a former lover who testified otherwise.

When did De Kaplany go to Taiwan?

The parole board under Procunier allowed de Kaplany to travel to Taiwan on November 13, 1975, to work as a medical missionary doctor serving poor patients in a Catholic hospital in Lutsao.

What is the name of the Hungarian physician who emigrated to the United States in the late 1950s?

Geza de Kaplany. The native form of this personal name is Kaplany Geza . This article uses Western name order when mentioning individuals. Geza de Kaplany (born June 27, 1926) is a Hungarian -born physician who emigrated to the United States in the late 1950s.

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Overview

Legal proceedings

De Kaplany's trial commenced on January 9, 1963. He was initially charged with attempted murder, and was later charged with murder by torture after his wife died. De Kaplany pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. His lawyer, Edward de Vilbiss, claimed that he suffered from multiple personality disorder and that the crime was committed by his alter ego, "Pierre de la Roche." Prosecutor Louis P. Bergna brought a witness, Ruth Krueger, a former lover who testified otherw…

Early life

De Kaplany was born and raised in Hungary, in a wealthy family. He lost the sight in an eye during a beating by his father, who died in 1938. He studied medicine at the University of Szeged and graduated with honors in 1951. He went into practice in Budapest as a cardiologist, but clashed with officials in the Hungarian Revolution of 1956, fleeing after it failed. He visited England and Denmark, writing a book called Doctor in Revolt about his alleged experiences as a freedom figh…

Marriage

In June 1962, he met Hajna Piller, also from Hungary. She was 25, a former fashion model, showgirl at Bimbo's 365 Club and beauty queen, daughter of György Piller. The two had a whirlwind courtship and married that August. A few weeks after their marriage, de Kaplany heard from a woman friend that his wife was having an affair.

Murder

On the evening of August 28, 1962, de Kaplany carried out his plan to punish his wife for her supposed infidelity. He tied her to the bed in their apartment, played loud music and disfigured her body with a scalpel. He dabbed a mixture of hydrochloric, sulfuric and nitric acid in the cuts, causing her to suffer third degree corrosive burns over most of the front of her body. After three hours, he called police. He told police that he had wanted to destroy her beauty, but not kill her. S…

Parole

In 1975, de Kaplany was granted parole in a controversial decision marked by accusations that postmortem photographs of his victim were removed from his file by Raymond Procunier, the chairman of the California state parole authority for men, prior to review of de Kaplany's case by the parole board. As a result, the ability to be paroled while under the sentence of life imprisonment was removed.

Later life

He re-surfaced briefly in Munich, Germany in December 1980, where a hospital fired him from a staff position after a German women's magazine happened to publish an article on infamous crimes including his case.
For a time in 1983, he worked in the U.S. Army Health Clinic in Grafenwöhr, Bavaria.
In 2002, reporters for the San Jose Mercury News located the 75-year-old de Kaplany and intervie…

External links

• CRIA image search (Trial-related images)
• Shearer, Lloyd (7 April 1963). "Dr. Jekyll or Mr. Hyde?". Independent Star-News. p. 102. Retrieved 26 February 2014.
• Kaplan, R. (2007). "The clinicide phenomenon: An exploration of medical murder". Australasian Psychiatry. 15 (4): 299–304. doi:10.1080/10398560701383236. PMID 17612882. S2CID 32708259.