The Union daily times. [volume] (Union, S.C.) 1918-current, 1922-10-19
NEW TURN IN
MURDER MYSTERY

New Brunswick, N. j., Oct. I8 (B,
the Associated Press. - Affidavit:
have been obtained from two mel
whose identity the authorities refuse
90 divulge, the county prosecutor.
said tonight, which sets forth tha
She double murder of the Rev. Ed
ward Wheeler Hall and Mrs. Eleanor
Reinhardt Mills did not occur in tn,
Somerset county orchard where tht
hodies were found but in barn or
the southern outskirts of New Bruins
wick.
Inve estigation which followed the fill.
ing of the affidavits, the authorities
said, led to the discovery by the DO.
lice of the two handkerchifs, one 8
man's and the other q woman's-helG
to be Important clues in the case.
They were not found on the Phil
lips farm, as was reported at that
time but in the barn which stands on
the opposite side of New Brunswick
Two dark brown combs also are said
to have been found on the first floor
OF the barn. These combs, Charlotte
Mills IS reported to have identified
as having belonged to her mother.
The statement which the authori-
ties allege they have obtained from
the two men is said to declare that
they were driving from Red Bank, N.
j., about IL o'clock on the night of
September Id. Two miles out from
New Brunswick they said they pass
ed the barn, deserted dilapidated
plastered with advertising
posters, which stands in a field close
20 the highway.
From this barn, the men are re-
ported to have said, they heard
'creams issuing, pleas for mercy, and
then one long shrek, murder; "The
police" The men drove through New
Brunswick without reporting the oc-
;'ulrence and an hour later were on
Easton avenue when they were pass
ID by sedan going towards the Phil
lips farm.
In TIE machine, they said, were a
woman wearing a grey coat and a
man.
The affidavit is said to state further
that the men were on Easton avenue
near the park which adjoins the Phil
Ups farm for nearly half an hour
and they say the sedan returning at
high speed. 1t turned from Easton
avenue near the park and disap-
peared
The county prosecutors, in an eff
fort to shrowd their investigation in
4 secrecy which they declare to be
essential to successful solution of
mystery. have removed their head
quarters to the town of Boundbrook,
N. j., where they were in close con-
ference tonight.
In certain quarters the statement
of the two signers of the affidavits
is not being accepted unqualifiedly.
These detractors point out that it
contradicts evidence already taken
FROM .persons ls6e. in, the vicinity
Of the Phillips n6ilie thaI Iuey 'neafd
the screams and shots on the farm on
the night of the double staying.
That the examination of Mrs. Hall,
the widow of the rector, in the pros
ccutors Cffice when she was closely
scrutinized by a woman whose iden-
tity has not been fully revealed was
even more eerie and mystifying than
at first reported, became known in
connection with the announcement of
the obtaining of the affidavits. This
woman, the prosecutors now say, was
only a decoy. Sitting directly across
the room she was supposed to absorb
all of the attention of Mrs. Hall while
the rector's widow was being closely
scrutinized by the two men who are
now said to have made the Sfiidavits
The authorities have declined to make
public the result Of this elaborate
plan for examining Mrs. Hall.
The love notes Of the rector and
Mrs. Mills, shed an entirely new light
on certain phases Of the case, the au-
thorities said. The Minnie" of these
notes, Mrs. Addison 7. Clark, has
been questioned regarding her move
ments, particularly on the day OF
which the bodies of the rector and
the choir singer were found. She was
asked whether size had ever taker
any pastry to Mr.. Hall. This she is
said to have denied, but has admitted
according to the authorities carrying
a. package into the Church of st
John the Evangelist, the day on which
the crime became public"
The authorities said they had not
accepted her explanation that thi:
package contained nothing but th'
vestments of the slain rector.
Word was received from Bound
brook of the continued optimism o.
the prosecutors, which revived sud
denly at the height of preparation!
state authorities on Sunday, wher
promises of definite action were mad,
to Governor Edwards. The governor
is expected in New Brunswick tomor
row but whether directly in connec
ton with the Hall Mills murder coult
not be learned.
Much evidence and many new clues
have been revealed since the grant
ing of grace to the local authorities
Yet, according to the prosecutors
their optimism is based on far mor'
valuable evidence, the nature O
which can not be learned through th'
pail of mystery and secretivenes'
which the prosecutors successful!
have drawn about them.