The Birmingham age-herald., 1921-08-11
HALL MUST FACE A JURY ON CHARGE OF. MURDER AUGUST IS
Enters Unique Plea of Not Guilty By Reason of
 Insanity

RusselNille, August 10.-tSpocialO The Franklin county grand jury to- day returned an indictment against Fred R. Hall, charging murder in the first degree. his victim being Miss Martha Henderson of Dallax, Tex, and St. Louis, Mo-. on the even- ing of April l2. 1921 in the front door Of the F. R. Hall Grocery com pany of this city. The indictment was placed in the hands of Judge c. P. Almon al 11;sO o'clock this morn ing and the sheriff was immediately ordered to bring Hall into the court room
 After Solicitor Henry D. Jones had read the indictment to Hall, the de- fense through Attorney W. l.. Che nault entered for the defendant of plea of Not guilty and not guilty by reason of insanity
 The court then set Thursday, August 1S as the date on which Hail must begin his battle to prove him. self innocent of the crime with which he is charged, and the state. through Henry D. Jones, circuit solicitor, will ask for his conviction.
 One hundred men have been sum moned for jury duty and many out siders express doubt as 10 whether a jury of 12 men win be secured out of this number.
 Nation Wide Case
 The Hall- Henderson case has nt- tracted nation wide attention and at the time of the shooting of Miss Hem derson, this city was thronged with people for more than week roiio~ ing, owing to the fact that the body of Miss Henderson remained hero during that time because the author ities were unable 10 locate relatives of the young woman.
 All that was known of Miss Hen derson was the fact that she had known Hall for several years and was known in Florence and Sheffield as Martha Henderson and the woman of mystery"
 No reliable information of any of her people was ever obtained pre- vious to the tragedy and it was only through a girl friend in Chattanooga, Tenn, that her father w. A. uen- derson, travelling salesman of Dallas, Tex, was finally notified Of the shooting and that the body of his daughter was held In this city.
 Trunks of Miss Henderson were found in St. Louis, Mo, In an apart ment house. These trunks were lo cated through a St. Louis woman. room mate of Miss Henderson. The trunks were opened in St. Louis and many letters and other information from Hall was found in the trunks A number of these letters were pub lished in St. Louis papers and caused much excitement.
 Father of Woman
 The father of Miss Henderson came to Russellville and claimed the body of his daughter, whom he stated he had not seen Or heard from In over three years, and that his last nfor- nation he had from her was that she was being entertained in New York city. Miss Henderson was y2s years old, attractive and seemingly we'll educated
 Fred R. Hall is man of family and is the son of MT, and Mrs. John w.. Hall of this city one of the city's most highly respected families. Mir. Hall and his sons having engaged in business here for many years. M. w. Hall brother of Fred. is at present in the furniture business. Mrs. Hall wife of Fred Hall, is pro- prietor of the Hall Millinery sto e.
 Since the date of the Hall trial has been announced, and the hour when many curiosity seekers will be given an opportunity to listen to the evi- dence introduced, one of the lar sest crowds ever seen in and around the courtroom is expected here next 
 It is believed that the trial will the better part of a week. | Many out-of-town witnesses have been summoned. and both sides seem ready 10 begin the battle
 w. A. Henderson 1of Dallas is cx- pected to arrive in this city .one time nextfweek to assist in the pTo os- scution.
 Halls confinement does not seem 10 have effected his physical condi- Lion in the least and many people were in and around the courtroom his morning to get a glimpse of the ,ne-time prosperous merchant. Iali s represented by some Of Alabama's most able attorneys, while the state s equally well represented,
 -------.s.---------------