The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1901-12-31
Testified at Coroner's Inquest
and Says Four Instead of Three
Men Opened Fire on Her Hus-
band Christmas Eve
EVIDENCE AGAINST THE
PRISONERS DAMAGING
Sheriff Tells of Finding RevoIvers
in Their Homes and of Fitting
Shoes Worn by Them Into Foot
prints in the Snow About the
HaIIenbeCk House

Hudson, N. Y, Dec 3O-The confess
sion of Harvey Bruce, one of the four
young men under arrest for the MUIR
der of Peter Hallenbeck at Greenport
on Christmas Eve, caused an enormous
crowd to assemble when the coroner's
inquest was resumed today.
The testimony of Mrs. Margaret L.
Hallenbeck widow of the murdered
man today, showed that four men took
a hand in the killing, offsetting the
previous belief that one held a horse
near the barn while three others went
| to the house. When her husband went
| to the door. in response to knock, she
accompanied him. AS he opened the
| door. four pistols were thrust into his
| face and all were fired. Her husband
| jumped back and gave his wife push
out of the way. The four men sprang
| into the room after him and all fired
again. Mrs Hallenbeck said her hus-
| band turned toward the stairway for
his gun when his assailants all fired a
| third time. All the men wore masks,
and had coats turned inside out One
was tall, two medium sized, and one
short
Il begged them not to kill my hus-
band" she continued. Seeing 1 could
not do anything 1 ran upstairs. The
men kept shooting. l met my mother
in-law on the stairs and pushed her
back I could not recognize any of the
men. They ran through the house and
| departed
The evidence of Mrs. A Hallenbeck,
mother of the murdered man, who is
old. bore out the testimony Of her
daughter in-laW concerning the events
of the tragedy. She confirmed the
statement that four men entered the
room and that all of them fired.
| The testimony brought out at the af-
| ternoon session of the inquest was con-
sidered by the officials as bearing heav-
lily against the prisoners. Sheriff Harry
j. Best testified to having visited the
HallenDeck house on the night of the
tragedy. He told how he and his assist
ants went to Undertook on Christmas
Day. and arrested the three Van
Wormer brothers and Harvey Bruce.
The officers searched the house and
found three reVolvers, a fourth one be-
ing found next day by Deputy Sheriff
Drum Three of the weapons were of
80 calibre and one of 3S. The prison
ers all wore shoes when arrested, but
none wore rubbers.
These shoes Sheriff Best took down
to Halenbecks house on Christmas
Day. and in the presence of other wit
nesses fitted them in the snow prints
noted the night before and other
tracks found the next day. The fou1
pair of shoes fitted perfectly the tracks
through the orchard where the mer
walked abreast toward where the
murder was committed, and they also
set perfectly into the tracks leading
about the kitchen door and from there
toward the highway and in the vicinity
of the barn.
One of the footprints had a peculiar
impression, as though the shoe had a
heelplate while the other prints indi-
Gated shoes of Bulldog pattern. The
sheriff was directed to produce the
shoes in court. He identified the foul
pair. each one of which was of differ,
ent make and shape. He identified each
pair as belonging to the four prisoners
individually The four reVolvers found
at the home Of the boys were produced
Each one had five chambers, the sheriff
claiming they had been freshly cleaned
and reloaded when he found them.
The sheriff's testimony in relation to
the shoes fitting the footprints was
corroborated by Edwin H. Hallenbeck
and Louis ]. Citing, farmers, who wit
messed the measurements made
! George Greenwood of Stockport tes-
titled that Christmas Eve he saw Har-
yey Bruce, with whom he was well ac-
uuainted. get out of a wagon at the
Rrookside Hotel, Stockport. Going near
he spoke to him, calling him by name,
but received no answer Bruce re-
turned to his wagon. driving in the di-
rection of Hudson. AS the top was over
the wagon and the side curtains down,
Greenwood could not tell if others were
in the wagon.
Greenwoods evidence has important
| hearing. on the case as it was at the
hour Greenwood says he saw Bruce at
Stockport that Mrs. Van Wormer swore
all four boys were at home eating sup
per. seven miles away, and the horse
Twas headed in the direction of the scene
of the tragedy. according to Green
wood.
DR.. Crawford E. Fritts and DIR. L.
Van Hoesen. the physicians who made
an autopsy of the murdered man S
body. described the nature Of the
wounds made by the bullets and which
caused death.
Burton Allerton brought into court a
piece of Buffalo robe cut in the shape
of chin whiskers, which he found near
where the horse of the murderers was
tied. while the deed was being commit
ted This is like the chin whiskers so
much desired by the Van Wormers
when the masks were purchased Of
the notion dealer in Undertook, which
he could not furnish but which they
| remarked they could make themselves
| with a piece of robe.