Discovery
In New Brunswick, New Jersey on September 16, 1922, a teenage couple was out on a morning stroll when they came across the bodies of a man and woman lying side by side underneath a crab apple tree. A single bullet had ended the mans life, while the woman had been shot 3 times and slashed from ear to ear. The bodies were also found posed. Both the man and the woman’s feet were pointed towards the apple tree, with the man’s hand on the woman’s neck and her hand on his knee. A hat was placed to conceal the man’s head and his card was propped against his foot. As for the women, a scarf was wrapped around her neck and an autopsy later revealed that her tongue had been cut out. Surrounding the bodies were torn up love letters.
Backstory
Later on the bodies were identified as Reverend Edward Wheeler Hall and Eleanor Reinhardt Mills. The two were lovers, but it was a complicated love affair. Mills was married to the church’s janitor and Hall was married to Frances Stevens Hall. Frances was seven years older than her husband and what she lacked in feminine charm, she made up with in wealth. It was no secret that he married her for money.
Investigation
From the start of the investigation, everything was a mess. The crime scene was contaminated by souvenir hunters, so the police had no solid evidence to go off of until Jane Gibson came forward. Gibson was a hog farmer who lived near the crime scene and was known as the “Pig Women.” She said on the night of September 14th, she saw four people, two men and two women in her cornfield. Assuming it was a thief she hopped on her mule and went to figure out what was happening. Upon arrival she saw a parked car and then heard a heated argument between the four people, one with white hair like Mrs. Frances Hall. Suddenly she heard a women yell, “Explain the letter!”, followed multiple gunshots, shrieks, and a woman screaming “Henry!” (Henry was the name of one of Frances Hall’s brothers). In fear, Gibson jumped on her horse and rode home. With all of this in mind the grand jury decided not to indict.
Four years later, a maid who had previously served for the Halls confessed that the reverend wanted to annul his marriage and elope with Mills. This angered Mrs. Hall causing her to go after her runaway husband with her two brothers Henry and William Stevens. The case sprung back to life and Mrs. Gibson was called once again to testify, but her testify was deemed inaccurate. It did not help that throughout her entire testimony, her mother was sitting in the front row mumbling, “Liar, Liar.” Once again the jury acquitted Mrs. Hall and her brothers. The trial was over, but the mystery of who killed the couple still lingers.
Works Cited:
https://www.nydailynews.com/news/justice-story/90-year-mystery-killed-pastor-choir-singer-article-1.1160659
This case was really interesting as I live in New Jersey! I never heard of this case, but it is similar to other cases of two lovers find themselves dead together. It seems quite clear that it was Mrs. Hall and her brothers, but because of the messy crime scene and eye witness testimony nothing could be definite.
This case was very interesting as it has no real leads or killers yet there seems to be a strong link to who did it. Even though implicitly it seems like we know who did it, there are still mysteries regarding the accuracy of the killings and who did them. These killings seem definitive but also it is hard to actually know who killed them with the inaccurate testimonies.
This case is incredibly infuriating! It seems like there is such an obvious answer, but the police (as seen in way too many cases) seem to not do their work properly. Unfortunately, also, it was the 1920s and there was pretty much no way that the jury would indict a woman for murders, even with probable cause. This is incredibly well written, and super fascinating!!
I also live in New Jersey, only about 40 minutes away from there. I lvoe hearing about these crimes. I used to watch the buzzfeed unsolved videos all the time.