New-York tribune., 1901-12-31
WIDOW TELLS OF MURDER.
BEGGED MASKED AssAssINs TO CEASE
SHOOTING HALLENBECK.
SHERIFF SAYS SHOES OF BRUCE AND THE
VAN wORMER BROTHERS FIT THE
sLAYERs' TRACKS

VAN woRMER BROTHERS FIT THE
sLAYERs' TRACKS.
Hudson. n. Y. Dec. 3o-The confession OF
Harvey Bruce. one of the four young men unoer
arrest for the murder of Peter Hallenbeck at
Greenport on Christmas Eve. caused an enor-
nous crowd to assemble when the coroners IN
quest was resumed to-day The courtroom be-
came go crowded that the coroner announced
that owing TO the illness of the widow and the
advanced age Of the mother of the murdered
man. court would adjourn to the private office
OF the District Attorney for testimony. The
confess.oE OF Bruce has not been made public
fl SetaiI.
The testimony Of Mrs Margaret l. Hallen-
beck wife OF the murdered man. to-day, showed
that four men engaged in the killing. offsettlng
the previous belief that one held horse near
the barn. while three others went TO the mouse.
She and her mother-in-law alone were in the
house with her husband. He called her atten-
tion 10 a wagon passing on the highway, ana
twc men walking behind it. Soon afterward
four men came walking back. their coats turned
inside out. They passed down the road toward
the church. Hallenbeck herself and her
rnother-in-law all saw them from the window.
Her husband said they must be chicken thieves
and watched them out Of sight. Shortly after
ward there knock at the Kitchen door
Her husband went 10 open it, and she went to
the door with him AS ne opened the door four
pistols were thrust in MS face and all fired
Her husband jumped back and pushed his wife
out OF the way. The four men jumped into the
room after him and all fired again. Mrs. Hal
Ienbeck said her husband turned toward the
stairway for his gun. when all his assailants
fired again. The men wore masks, and had
their coats turned inside out. One was tall
two were Of medium size, and one was short
WIFE BEGGED THEM TO STOP.
sI begged them not to Kill my husband" she
continued Seeing that I could not do any
thing. I ran to the next room and upstairs. The
men kept shooting 1 met my mother-in-law on
the stairs and pushed her back. / could not
recognize any Of the men They ran through
the house and departed.
The evidence Of Mrs Alemina Hanenbeck'
mother OF the murdered man. who is eighty
years old. bore out the testimony of her daugh-
fer.in-layv concerning the happenings Of the
evening Of the tragedy
In the afternoon session Sheriff Harry ]. Best
testified TO having visited the Hallenbeck house
on the night of the tragedy. He examined the
various footprints and wagon tracks in the
snow that had previously fallen. their location
and the direction of the footsteps TO and from
the house He told how he and his assistants
went to Kinderhook on Christmas Day, and ar
rested the three Van Worrler brothers and
Harvey Bruce The officers searched the house.
finding three revovers. The fourth was found
the next day by Deputy Sheriff Drum Three
of the weapons were 30 calibre and one SO The
prisoners all wore shoes when arrested, but
none wore rubbers. These shoes Sheriff Best
took down to Hallenbeck's house on Christmas
Day, and in the presence of other witnesses
1tted them in the snowprints noted the night
before and other tracks found the next day.
SHOES FITTED IN TRACKS.
The four pairs of shoes fitted perfectly the
tracks through the orchard where the men walked
abreast toward where the murder com
Tnitted. 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 peculiar
impression though the shoe had a heelplate,
while the other prints indicated shoes of Bull
Dog pattern. The Sheriff was directed to pro-
duce the shoes in court. He identified the four
pairs. each OF which of different make and
shape. One had on the tetale steel plates and
the others were the same previously de-
scribeo, and they fitted each point without ex-
ceptfon. He identified each pair as belonging
TO the four prisoners individually. The four
revolvers found at the homes Of the boys were
produced Each had five chambers. The Sheriff
said they had been freshly cleaned and reloaded
before he found them.
The Sherifs testimony in relation to the
shoes fitting the footprints was corroborated by
Edwin II. Hallenbeck ana Louis ]. Elting. farm
ers. who saw the measurements made
George Greenwood, Of Stockport testified that
on Christmas Eve he say Harvey Bruce, with
whom he was well acquainted, get out of a
wagon at the Brookside Hotel Stockport He
spoke to him by name but received no answer
Bruce returned 10 his wagon. driving in the
direction Of Hudson. As the top was over the
wagon and the side curtains down Greenwood
could not tell If others were in the wagon
Greenwood's evidence has important bearing
On the case, as II was at the hour that Green
wood says he saw Bruce at Stockport that Mrs
Van Wormer swore that all four boys We're at
home eating supper.
Burton Auerton brought into court a pieee of
hunalo robe cut in the shape of chin whishars
which ne found near where the horse Of the
murderers was tied when the deed was commit
ted This is like the chin whiskers asked for BY
the Van Wormers when the masks were pur-
chased in KnderHook. which he could not fur
nish, but which they said they could make
themselves with a piece OF robe
The inquest was adjourned until 10 o'clock to-
morrow.
Rumors are afoat that other arrests will fol-
low Bruce's statement OF Saturday. The coroner
has refused TO allow the counsel retained nv
the men under arrest 10 interview or consult
with them.