Murder Suspect in Yale Shooting Is Harvard Divinity School Grad

The wounded wife of a murdered Yale professor yesterday identified a one-time Divinity School student as the killer.

Theodore A. Trent-Lyon, who received his Bachelor of Sacred Theory here in 1945, allegedly shot and killed Dr. Lewis Thorne, Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at Yale, when Thorne answered the door-bell at his New Haven home Sunday. His wife Helen received wounds in the head and chest when she went to investigate the shots.

Trent-Lyon was picked up at Springfield, Massachusetts, by detectives who recognized him from Mrs. Thorne's description. He was placed under arrest on a coroner's warrant and put in jail pending formal charges.

Coroner James A. Corrigan said there was a complete absence of a motive. He added that Trent-Lyon took psychiatric treatment from Dr. Thorne in 1941, but records do not show the exact nature of this care.

Breakdowns

When Trent-Lyon finished Divinity School in 1945, he went to Graduate School for a doctorate in Theology. He did not finish his second year because of nervous breakdowns, an acquaintance of his said yesterday.

He changed from his father's name of Reback to his mother's maiden name, Trent-Lyon, the acquaintance said. She added that after the breakdowns he spent some time in a mental institution.

A graduate of Yale in the Class of 1927 and Yale Medical School in 1931, Dr. Thorne had been associated with Yale since he finished his internship at Johns Hopkins and New York Hospital. He returned to his faculty position in 1945.