The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1893-09-10
Mr.. HALLIDAY HAD WARNING
,s u,rE OFTEN SPOKE TO HIM OF
COMMITTING MURDERS.

um n, T,me.-Tho Inquest Yesterday.
M,pprErowS. Sept a.-In searching for
nsi,Ia motive that may have influenced Mira.
,,iinv 10 murder her husband, old Paul Hal
~ and Mrs. McQuillan and the daughter OF
,,,,er acme facts have been discovered
uo r,ate IL seem probable that the woman
", ,i,,I,n Of A kind Of puerpcral hysteria- and
,h., Il was while suffering from insanity aris-
Wv, rom this cause that she committed the
,.Ich,tul crimes OF which che Is accused.
~ halliday WINS married to and lived with
-. ponl Halliday about three years. In that
.,me as has been stated in THE Sun. Halli-
s.vs house, barn. and grist mill were burned.
Iils balt wittcd son. whom the woman hated.
"a. burned to death. She stole team OF
ssrs.e was arrested. and was placed In an
.r,u,, when the doctors pronounced her In
30 and not responsible for her acts. The
rs. bprn. and mill on the Halliday place
-. burned all within short time.
A.. halliday was suspected OF tho crime.
-, tho moral proof OF her guilt was conclu-
.,,. Int there was no legal evidence that
.ouId convict her. 1t has been learned that
=, tbs time these crimes were committed she
/, . delicate condition. At the time
y, the horse stealing incident she was In
th. same condition. She was raving mo-
,I., when she was taken to the asylum.
Ifterward she became perfectly sane and was
discharged.
Now 1t is learned she is in the condition she
90. IN when she committed the other crimes.
mr. conclusion 10 that ny at eria transforms her
.,nroI beine and makes her capable Of COM
lifting any crime. no matter how terrible. 1t
MI, her even hunt for victims to satisfy her
in,.ne cravings II on her trial her lawyers
.ro able to prove the facts as stated. In all
n,ohahility the woman will again escape tho
sor..ouenoes OF her acts with a short term In
w. ,s,lum for the criminal insane. and In the
and will be turned loose on the community.
7, .he told old Paul Halliday tho truth. the
.brae murders she ts known to have com.
nitted aud the one THAT OF the half-wltted
howl she is suspected OF having committed.
arc not tho only ones to her charge. She told
old Paul that she had had q husband In Ire
land and that she had tired OF him. and had
hm,.d him IN a most brutal manner. The story
I. rensated by Robert Halliday. q son OF the
oId man. What he SAYS bears on tho subject
~ h.r insanity ut the time Of the last three
murders He prefaced his story with little
history OF the old mans matrimonial ventures.
His first wife died ten years ago. the son
s,ys The old man started out Immediately to
.ook for q second He won't to Now York.
vhere no formed the acquaintance OF Hannah
Planning. She came here to be his house,
keeper and he married her. She was drunk
Ard. and he got tired OF her and threw her out.
She went back to New York. and died on
Blackwells Island. Next no met Mary Muir
ply Of this city. He did not marry her but she
iyed with him until she contracted consump-
zion and died. Whom she was on her DEATH
bed the old man was digging q grave for her
in tho Walker Valley Cemetery. She never oc-
cupied It, for her friends In this city went and
got her body.
He visited Mlddletown again and found
housekeeper in o woman variously known
As Dutch Mary" Little Butter" and
"Soapy" He married her. and one nightShe
nearly hammered his life out Of him and left
him. Then came the present Mrs. Halliday.
the murdercss. Robert says OF her:
He found her In Newburgh. The gypsy
story told about her Is not true. for she came
from the same county In tho north OF Ireland
that father camo from. Her name was Lizzie
Brown. She was his housekeeper for month
and then they were married In Middletown by
the Rev. B. Il. Bench. They got along well to-
gether for time.
Then she became Respondent My father
told me this. When he asked her what was
the matter she told him that she did not like
him any more. and that she would fix him
some time Just like she had fixed another man
My father asked her what she meant. but
she would not tell him. He kept at her and
him ii he would promise never to tell anybody
Then she said that when she was girl at
homo she met a man who made love to her.
married You. she said. She lived with, him
said. Then she turned to dislike him, and to
hate HI bin Just as hato YOU she said
And then en- Killed Killed him. she said
killed him, She waited until he as in bed
measured of the size with her hands She
took this stone into the house: and with 1t she
"She told father this story. and it worried
him and he told me; told him then to leave
her, that she would Wind by Killing HIN
me that she had said to him:
-, am one Of the most remarkable women
out can do anything. The greatest de.
ways fool them. i can Xii people and they can
never find the body. have great power. over
people fol all the tps she said
she had come to like him again. and she
wouldn't harm him for all the world. He be-
Another time when they were driving By
the Sl.ddletown asylum she pointed to 1t and
fooled ali tho doctors, in there; I can
pretend t 9 I'm insane and fool them all. The big.
Il talked to father then. and told him that
he emgst not live with her any more. He said:
her md;h boy, t knew she had Killed her own
like Napoleon. She's got two skulls.
whI ne was proud Of her. and used to to braG OF
and We couldn't induce him to leave her"
When the doctors made the autopsy on the
1ld mans body they made report only on the
bullets that were found and the crushed
skull. ALI dozeD men who were present
SAID Yesterday that. besides these injuries re-
Ported S, officially. the old mans body was mutt
Killing II her first husband.
NJ The facts aDout the proposed lynching OF
Sir. Halliday before she was removed to the
Monticello Jail are lust coming out Her
Escape was narrower than was supposed.
yRhnchl1g party was actually organized on
thursday. shortly after the old man Halliday's
993ny was found. 1t was made up Of men who
altht do any OF the talking about the town
n nPtSl Some OF he party came from the village
81 walden, and the rest from Bloomingburg,
He nearest railroad town to Birmingham.
jthe Walden contingent had 4 rope prepared
MIN a moose and sonpcd to make It slip easily.
Inc Two parties were to meet under the horse