New-York tribune., 1922-09-24
confidence Boundless
and Unshaken,'' Mrs.
Hall Says in First State
ment Made Since Crime
Authorities Quiz
Widow Two Hours
Her Views Incline Them
to Blackmail Theory:
Choir Factions Recalled
BY Boyden Sparkes

After being taken to the Office Of Pros
ecutor Joseph Stricken and interro-
gated for two hours and fifteen min
utes, Mrs. Frances N. Hall returned
10 her home this afternoon and issued
the first direct statement that she has
made to newspapers since the bullet
pierced bodies of her husband, rector
of the Church of st. John the Evan
gelist, and Mrs. Eleanor Mills, choir
singer, were found a week ago, side by
side, near a deserted farmhouse out
side of town.
Far statement, made against the ad-
vice of her lawyer, William Florance,
men from the day before her hus-
band vas killed to the day his body
was found. At the close of her signed
statement Mrs. Hall said: "Mr. Hall
had no private enemies. | can form no
conjecture as to the motive of the deed
or the perpetrators. Our life together
has been absolutely happy and sympa-
| thetic. My confidence in him is bound
less and mistaken"
Widow Sees One Reporter
Tonight Mrs. Hall agreed to grant
a personal interview to one newspaper
man representing all the reporters
here. 1t was brief conversation. Her
gray hair brushed back from her fore
! head and wearing a mourning frock,
cut square at the neck, the widow en-
tered the drawing room of her home
on the arm of Miss Peters. The other
person there was her cousin, Lieu
tenant Commander Arthur Carpenter,
U. S. N.
"Did you have any feeling OF enmity
or jealousy toward Mrs. Mills? Did
you ever have any quarrel with Mrs.
Mills 2" she was asked.
absolutely not" Mrs. Hall was
sharply emphatic.
"You have stated that you do not
know the perpetrators of the crime
Do you know anybody who might
have done this or have you any idea
es to the motive? 2"
"Not the slightest" Mrs. Halls
spectacled eyes filled with tears then,
as she added: 81 have the utmost
trust and confidence in my husband
and know of nothing wrong that he
had ever done"
Says No Gossip Reached Her
"Did any gossip ever come to you
concerning Mr. Hall and Mrs. Mills
or any one else?"
"None at all" Mrs Hall replied
with convincing deliberateness.
"Do you know who it was that tele-
phoned to your husband on that
Thursday night, September 24?"
~ do not know"
"Mrs. Jamisson. of the choir, is re-
ported to have said that Mr.. Hall
brought her some flowers about 8
.>'o hot dow Of
"It is possible" said Mrs. Hall "She
had been i'll and Mr.. Hall had been
taking flowers to the sick" Mrs. Hall
was asked if she did not feel that she
should offer reward or engage private
detectives to hunt the murderer down.
IL have no statement to make about
that" she replied.
Miss Peters, fearful of putting any
! additional strain on the nerves of Mrs.
Hall, then suggested that the inter
view be ended. There were hundred
questions the interviewer would have
liked to have asked, but it had been
agreed that it would end when Miss
Peters signifed.
81 want to thank the newspapers -
said Mrs. Hall then, "for their cour-
tesy to me. Publicity is distasteful to
me-"
Parishioners Are Dubious
Mrs. Halls expressed faith in her
husband is serving more than any
other thing to direct the officials into
channels of investigation away from
the two homes that were bereaved by
the double murder. Not all of the
church congregation share Mrs. Halls
faith. This was demonstrated last Sun
day, when only few more than score
appeared for service. 1t was again
demonstrated the following day when
only a minor portion of the congrega-
tion attended his funeral.
Hut the work of nearly hundred
Investigators, official and unofficial,
have failed in a weeks time to show
that there was justification for the
lack of faith in the rector's integrity.
More and more the officials are inclin-
ing toward belief that Mr.. Hall was
shot down by persons who had tried
unsuccessfully to blackmail him, or
rob him or buy his silence about some
shameful act of another. What part
Mrs. Mills played is puzzle which,
worked out, probably will contain the
kew to the mystery.
Those notes of hers, obviously writ
ten for the minister, were not likely
to be carried around by him, if they
had ever been delivered to him. On
the word of Mrs. Mills's husband and
daughter, she was accustomed to carry
about with her bits of romantic and
sentimental writing. Who, the au-
thorities are asking, could have got