Barre evening telegram. (Barre, Vt.) 1898-19??, 1901-12-30
CONFESSION BY BRUCE.
n''nsell and Van Wormer Brothers
Killed Peter A. Hallenbeck.
THIRTEEN SHOTS WERE FIRED
me Foreclosure Of = Mortxare Said
:" nave Led Up to the Fatal
Assault-Plans Made with
Deliberstlon.

Hudson, N. Y, Dec. Boa sensa.
t'ohal episode in one Of the most sen.
sational murders ever committed in
New York state has eliminated in the
confession by Harvey Bruce, aged
twehty'one. in the form of statement
TO his mother and aunt. The state.
ment Is witnessed by Mayor Charles
>. Harvey and County Treasurer
George H. Macy and tells how the
murder Of Peter A. Hallenbeck, the
wealthy farmer Of Greenport, was
committed by himself and Willis, Bur-
ton and Fred Van Wormer, brothers
aged twenty, twenty-three and twenty
SIX, nephews Of the murdered man.
The confession shows that the MUIR
der was deliberately planned. The
prisoners, who all lived In Kinderhook,
eighteen miles from the Hallenbeck
nome, rode in the cool air Of Christ
mas eve to the scene Of the crime, tied
their horse to the barn of their vic.
tim. walked to the rear of the house
IN the bright moonlight raped ON the
door and, when the old man opened it,
shot him to death, firing thirteen shots.
eleven penetrating the body.
The crime was witnessed by Hallen.
beck's wife and old mother. The other
members Of the family were attending
Christmas eve services less than
mile distant.
The Cause Of the Murder.
The Van Wormer family lived until
last fall In house In Greenport, mort
gagged to Hallenbeck The boys, being
somewhat troublesome, the mortgage
was foreclosed and the family evicted.
This Is said to be the basis of the III
will held against the victim by the as
sailants The shots were heard by the
neighbors, who saw the fleeing trio
and. after investigating, gave the
alarm. Suspicion soon rested on the
Van Wormers and on Christmas day
they We're arrested, with Bruce, at
Undertook.
The mother and friends of the pris-
Oners tried hard by testifying before
the coroner to establish an alibi, de-
claring that the boys were home by 9
o'clock Christmas eve. The officials,
however, had strong evidence against
them. The horse which they drove
had peculiar shoe. with short cork.
the same impression being in the soft
earth at the barn where the animal
was tied up. The wagon wheels meas
ured exactly the same as the tracks
in the snow leading from the Hallen-
beck house. One footprint was by feet
wearing bulldog" shoe. another by
shoes having steel heel plates, and the
shoes of the prisoners when arrested
had those characteristics and fitted
the snowprints exactly. The bullets in
the body were 80 and 80 caliber. which
fitted the revolvers found in the Van
Wormers' home.
The Prisoners Purchased Masks.
from notion dealer at Undertook
on the afternoon Of the murder and
the persons who did the shooting wore
masks. Four revolvers were found in
the boys home. The mother in her
testimony swore they spent the day of
the murder cleaning them, that they
were good boys. but never left home
without putting the revolvers in their
pockets. Describing which revolver be
longed to each boy, she said the 80
caliber one was Harvey Bruce's and
the smaller calibers We're those OF her
three sons. The physicians who held
the postmortem say that a 30 caliber
weapon produced the fatal wounds,
the minor wounds being by one of a
80 caliber size.
The first knowledge that something
startling was on foot in the murder
case came out when, on the advice of
the district attorney, Coroner Lisk alb
ruptly adjourned court while witness
was being examined. The news spread
quickly. and soon the courthouse was
besieged by throngs Of people, eager
for information. 1t was readily found
in the room where Bruce was, and the
sheriff had to establish Il line to hold
the people back When they became
convinced that confession had been
made. all seemed satisfied at the
thought that justice was likely to be
meted out.