The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1903-10-01
1 murder in which they were Jointly con-

: 81 {
oerned.
On q Christmas Eve. 1901, with their
cousin, Harvey Bruce, the three brothers
drove from their home .sin kinderhook,
sone fourteen miles, to the hamlet OF
Greendale, in Columbia county, where
lived Peter A. Hallenbeck, the uncle OF
the Van Wormers. On the way they
stopped at the Greendale church, where
they stole from the vehicles OF the farm
ers a number of robes and whips. Thence
they went on to the sIIallenbeck house.
where Mr.. Hallenbeck, his wife and his
aged IN other were sitting In the lamplight
in their living-room. Both the women
saw them drive past. Hl SO {
Shot Their Uncle. 80. .
H A few moments later. there was knock
at the door, and Mr.. Hallenbeck answered
It, to find masked men before him. armed
with reyolyers, Burton Van Wormer led
the way, and with him the old man CRAP
pied. At once all four began q fusilade
OF pistol shots, which fairly riddled the
body Of Hallenbeck.
Mrs. Hallenbeck the wife, ran into the
kitchen and the brothers shot at her but
missed. Her husband ordered her to flee
and she ran upstairs, whittier the older
woman had preceded her, and the two
barricaded themselves in the attic. -.
Mr.. Hallenbeck, altho mortally wounded,
broke away from his assailants and went
to the landing Of the stairs, where he
kept a LOADED shotgun. The assaiants
saw him get the gun and fled.
The old man fell to the floor and died.
The four young men were soon after
arrested betrayed by their foot prints In
1.-The snow. and because they were known
Ito have harbored bitter feelings and to
have made threats against their uncle.
They were brought to trial before an
extraordinary term Of the supreme court
appointed by Governor Odell and presided
over by Justice Alden Chester of Albany,
ION March so, 1902.
Turned States Evidence.
Harvey Bruce turned states evidence
and it was to a large extent upon his
Testimony that the conviction Of the Van
Wormer brothers was secured. He swore
that upon the ride back from the scene
of the crime each of the brothers boosted
of having shot the uncle.
1t was shown that the bitterness which
the brothers felt toward their uncle was
due chiefly to his having foreclosed a
mortgage upon the property In Greendale
owned by their step-mother, the loss: OF
which compelled their removal to Kinder
hook.
Brothers Found Guilty.
On April IS all three men were found
guilty and sentenced to be put to death In
the week ending May 30 1902. Their ap-
peal to the court of appeals acted as q
stay and the case went over to the pres
'ent year. Judge O'Brien. in writing the
unanimous opinion Of the higher court
against the appeal. pronounced incredible
the main plea Of defense, that the expe-
dit1on Of the four to Hallenbecks house
was in the nature Of young mans prank
the fatal outcome Of which had not beer
a part Of the plan.
The court fixed upon the week Of July
t6h for the carrying out Of the death sen
,tence, but the Van Wormer's have beer
twice respited by Governor Odell. Excep
for the efforts of Judge Cady in their be
half, and for the futile attempt by Mrs
Van Wormer, the step-mother Of the con
demned men, to appeal to Governor Odel
no voice has been raised in their behalf
1t is known that Governor Odell woul(
have welcomed any plausible ground upol
which to commute the sentence, as HI
felt that little good would result to tn
public mind from the morbid interest at
taching to the triple execution.
Bruce Gets 10 Years.
Harvey Bruce. their fellow In the Grim
for which they died to-day was tried alon
and was sentenced to imprisonment TO
eighteen years.
Mrs Hallenbeck soon followed her hus
band to the grave, as also did the age
mother of the murdered man. A brother
George A. Hallenbeck, survives, but he /
broken In health and nerve by the awfu
tragedy enacted almost within his hear
ing.
The triple execution og To-day raised
a total Of seventy-th three the list Of muir
derers who have died in the electri
chair.
The simultaneous execution of thre
brothers is not unprecedented in the his
tory of New York state altho to find tn
parallel one must go back to June
1926, when three Brothers, Nelson, Israe
Jr, and Isaack Thayer, Of the town {
Boston, Erie county, were hanged stimuli
taneously on a triple gallows erected g
the west side of Niagara square in the cit
OF Buffalo. The crime for which tn
Thayers died was the butchery of pee
der named John Love.