Great Falls tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1921-current, 1922-10-16
BY EDMUND HUXLEY
Special csrrssesndsnt Of Tn. Great Falls TrIs

of the fashionable Episcopal church OF
st. John the Evangelist, and leading
member of the church choir, walked
down Derushy lane. which threads It's
way through a field of goldenrod, to
the lonely old Phillips farm.
A quarter of an hour later the Rev.
Edward Wheeler Hall, rector of st.
Johns and husband of n of the
weaithiest women in the community,
strolled nonchalantly down the same
lane.
Neither returned.
1t was s O'Clock Of o wonderful sum
mer evening. Several persons saw and
recognized Mrs. Mills and DIR. Hall.
Some two hours or more after they
had left the main thoroughfares. four
shots were heard by householders hv-
ing on the edge of the city park. There
was a scream and all was silence. The
night was one of v~elvety darkness.
Two days later the bodies of the
rector and the choir singer were found
lying side by side under an old crab
apple tree within tossing distance of
the farm house. About them there was
no sign of a struggle. The minister's
glasses were on his nose. His hat
was pulled down across his face. His
right hand lay in an affectionate caress
upon the shoulder of the dead woman.
One bullet wound was in the minis
ter's head; three clean-cut bullet holes
had been drilled in the woman's fore
head. not more than an inch apart.
Murder and suicide.
Murderer Showed irony
The accusation ran through New
Brunswick and all the northern part
r. ~, ,totn puf tharp was no re-
volver about; only empty shells from a
.32-caliber automatic pistol as it shot:
There was none of the confusion OF
tbe usual murder and self-destructlon.
Instead both bodies apparently had
been carefully placed side by side. The
woman's skirts had been smoothed
down.
But most significant of all. a half
dozen love letters, written by Mrs
Mills to the minister. were found scat
tered over the bodies.
Against the heel Of the minister was
propped one of his personal calling
cards. There was studied irony ev-
erywhere.
1t is only too plain to those who
knew the early facts that IN the
double murder there had been an m
pelling motive. delay and vengeance.
1t was apparent that the lalson be
between the minister and the cholr
singer, which had been going for a
year or more. had come to the knowl-
edge of others. In the four weeks
that have elapsed no tangible clue to
murderer or ~murderess has been
found. Even the pistol with which the
crime was committed has not been To-
Gated. The bodies were hurried or TO
burial. The rector was given an I'M
pressive funeral from the church
where he had served. The vestrymen
met and passed resolutions express
ing their entire confidence in the muir
dered minister as a man, as a rector
and as a husband.
Mills Funeral Unpretentious
The woman in the case was buried
from an undertaking establishment,
although she, too. had been prominent
in all the work of the church. Only
her husband. the sexton, and her 10
year-old daughter, Charlotte, appeared
as mourners.
Investigation Jagged. The authori-
ties were slow and apparently reiuc-
tant to move. The common people
of New Brunswick began to talk.
They said the influence OF great
wealth and politics was hushing up
me tTiljiP. men INpOAN'Io wi -
New York papers and other out of
town correspondents arrived. Things
began to happen. Charlotte Mills
wrote to Governor Edwards. who now
is running for the United States sen
ate, and pleaded with him in childish
frankness TO please find the murderer
of her dear mother.
The governor sent state troopers
and they have been here ever since,
although their activities have done lit
lie more than the local authorities
had achieved toward a solution of the
great mystery.
Publicity began to accomplish
much. 1t resulted. first of all, in an
elimination of the bodies and a thor
ough autopsy-a small detail which
had been neglected in the first place.
With the new autopsy came the start
ling evidence that Mrs. Mills throat
had been cut from ear to ear. sup
posedly after she was dead; evidence
of n further act of revenge on the
part of those who perpetrated the
crime.
Probe Runs in Circle
Mrs. Hall. widow of the rector;
James Mills. widower of the choir
singer; willie Stevens a ''dumbelr'
brother of the widow. all were ques-
toned by the authorities as to their
knowledge of the crime, Mrs. Mills
and the sexton had spent most of the
night of September II looking for
missing husband and wife. They had
met at the church. Their stories did
not altogether jibe in every detail. but
the authorities accepted what they
said.
Stories continued TO circulate that
two men and a woman were seen leav-
ing the scene of the murder il a
sedan car.
Pressure for action became greater
and greater. The crime took its place
in the politics of the state. Governor
Edwards sent the commanding officer
Of the state troopers to New Bruins
wick and told him not to return to
The state capitol at Trenton until the
murder had been solved.
Tuesday morning came the arrest
of the murderer" Poor little 81
year-old Clifford Hayes. a boy of good
reputation, was locked up, charged
with the crime. His pal, Raymond
Schneider, a boy none too bright, had
confessed" the authorities said, that
he was with Hayes and that Hayes had
shot the couple by mistake, thinking
the rector was a bartender and the
woman the b~artender's step-daughter.
1t was the most fantastic confession
ever conceived in the brain of a half
wit detective. The arrest gave the
n.% 49,