Evening star., 1922-09-17
RECTOR SLAIN WITH
HIS SEXTON'S WIFE

(continued from First Page)
he countered by telling her that his
wife was missing. Mrs. Hall then
went to the police station.
1t was not until nearly twenty-four
hours later today that Raymond
Snyder and Pearl Bahmer went to
stroll in Russeys lane, a quaint. rus
tic way known by young swains OF
the countryside as Lovers lane. The
apple tree midway down the lane was
the objective of their stroll. And there
they found the bodies of the rector
and the sections wife.
Police differed as to whether foot
prints found in the dust at the tree
roots were made in struggle. County
detectives also disagree with Coroner
Long that the shooting did not occur
under the tree.
the notes and cards some distance
from the two bodies. Mills. in his
statement to the authorities, asserted
that he had seen several of these let
ters. and declared that they were
written by his wife to their children
while she was visiting in the south-
ern part of the state this summer
The detectives declare they were writ
ten to the rector.
one OF the letters. bearing no salu-
i'll pencil. read:
"YOur Physical Inspiration"
You are Il true priest. You see
in me merely your physical insplra-
ton. You are the priest. Was tan
religious? God makes his people to
enjoy themselves deeply"
Another i'll the same handwriting
read:
Please do not laugh at this. |
know I'm Il crazy cat. but ] can l
be different Charlotte talks. then
Dan asks questions. then he annoys.
SO how can ! write?
Dan and Charlotte referred to in
the note are Mrs. Mills two children.
Detectives checking up on the
movements of Mrs. Mills after she left
her home Thursday night learned
that she was passenger on an in
terurban trolley car which connects
New Brunswick and several nearby
towns. She rode to the end of the
line. which was reached about 500
O'clock The lines end is a short
distance from farm known as the
Phillips place, which borders Rus
sey's lane.
County authorities promised that
an arrest would be made in a few
hours, but declined to say whether
the person would be a man or q
woman.
Coroner Long, in q statement. said:
There is no doubt this was a dou
body in such way that any theory
that one Of the pair shot the other
and then committed suicide is absurd
I ar of the opinion that the murder
was not committed where the bodies
We're found, but that the bodies were
transferred to the spot in an auto
mobile"
II have not the slightest idea who
committed the crime" said County
Detective George Totten after he had
questioned Mills.
Letter C0nfessea Love.
The county prosecutor ordered an
autopsy on the body of Mrs Mills
after it was learned that she had been
a patient in Middlesex Hospital cur
ing January and February of this
year.
In one of the later letters given
out by the authorities Mrs. Mills the
police said, addressed the rector as
dearest" and referred to their hearts
letter. Mrs. Mills is said to have writ
ten, There isn't man who could
make me smile as you can. have
the greatest of all blessings noble
mans deep. true and noble love, and
my heart is his. I am his forever"
Mrs Hall, said to be woman of
considerable wealth. is ten years her
husbands senior. His age was given
as forty-one. Mrs Mills was thirty
two. The Mills and the Hall families
long had. been close friends. On re-
cent week end, the police said, Mr..
Hall, Mrs. Halls mother and Mrs.
Mills had gone on a picnic to Lake
Hopatcong.' N. ].
Auto Footrest Found.
The county authorities support their
theory that the bodies were brought
to the scene in an automobile on
the discovery near the scene of
footrest used in the tonneau of an
An alarm has been sent
out by the authorities to watch for
a ear from which such a rest is miss
ing.
The police said that the reetor's
gold watch was missing when the
body was found, and that only a few
cents were in his pockets.
The police said tonight they had
found two men who had seen a woman
wearing what appeared to be linen
uuSSSi taioOSA Ni0 6dS0 VI Iuc
Hall home about 2:45 o'clock Friday
morning and enter the house.
They are Allen Bennett, whose
home is near the Hall residence, and
William Phillips. night watchman at
the New Jersey State College for
women, which stands directly oppo-
site the parsonage OF the Church of
St. John the Evangelist.
Saw Women Hurrying.
Persistent barking of dogs awak-
ened him, BENEFIT told the police In"
tending to drive the animals away, he
stepped out on the porch of his home
in night attire. While standing there.
he said. he saw q woman hurry up the
sidewalk, push open the garden gate
Of the parsonage and disappear.
Phillips. the police said, also re-
ported hearing the dogs barking and
also saw the woman open the gate.
He said he was sitting on the steps
Of one OF the college buildings and
that after she passed through the
gate she hurried across the yard and
into the house. Neither Of the two
men could identity the woman nor;
was either certain he had ever seen
her before.
The police guard stationed at the
Hall home earlier In the evening was
later withdrawn and William Stevens,
Mrs. Halls brother, was left to see
that the crowd Of idlers which gath
cred before the parsonage did not
disturb Mrs. Hall.