The New York herald., 1922-09-18
SLAIN RECTOR'S WIFE
ADMITS Being AWAY
AT TIME OF MURDER
Tells Prosecutor She Sought
Husband in Church; Re-
turned at 2::30 A. M.
HER FAITH UNSHAKEN
Sexton Whose Helpmeet
Was Killed Tells Also of
His Night Search.
BELITTLES LOVE LETTERS
New Brunswick Congregation
Revercs Memory of Man Once
in Grace Chapel Here.

Special Dispatch to THE NEW York HERALD.
New BRUNSWICK. N. j.. Sept. IL
Mrs. Frances Hall, widow of the Rev.
Edward H. Hall, the murdered rector
of the Church Of st. John the Evan
gelist. whose body was found yester-
day morning In field two miles from
here beside the slain body of Mrs.
James Mills, leader of his choir. came
strongly to the defense of her husband
to-day and announced her implicit
faith In his honor and integrity. Not
"ithstanding the circumstances sur
rounding the double murder and the
gossip that has been rife ever since
the bodies wore found Mrs. Hall says
and repeats that she believes in her
husband.
But the authorities have been work.
ing diligently all day, and are over
looking no angle of the case. 1t was
with this in mind that Al M. Beekman,
Prosecutor of Somerset county, with
George Totten, county detective, went
the first thing to-day to the Hall home
to interview Mrs Hall. They ques-
toned her at length. The family
lawyer of the Hall and Stevens
families. William f. Florence, State
Senator. was present during the
greater part of the interview.
Police stiu Mystiaed.
While their work has continued with
out intermission as far as Totten Is
concerned. the authorities say they are
no nearer a solution OF the mystery
than they were last night. They have
developed certain facts. however, which
may have an important bearing on the
case.
1t appeared improbable this evening
that any arrests would be made soon.
One strange factor SO far Is that despite
thirty-six hours of investigation, no new
figures have been brought into the af-
fair.
one remarkable coincidence appears
AT almost precisely the same hour, and
Oh their own statements, without any
knowledge Of intimation of what had
happened, Mrs. Hall and Mills left
their respective homes and went to
seeking their respective spouses. Mills
says he opened the church. went In and
turned on the lights. Mrs. Hall says
she found the church dark. looked and
went home. The two did not meet, and
there Is no confederation of either story.
Beyond establishing this fact no de-
velopments of the day bore directly on
the mystery. What purported to be an
autopsy was held by DIR. William Fl.
Long. Coroner's Physician. at Somerville
fifteen miles from here. but his most
recent examination Of the bodies served
to throw little light on the tragedy.
One shot Killed Woman.
Long found. so he says, that the
woman had been shot only once and
not three or four times as the super
ficial examination had seemed to indi-
cate. The physician expressed the be-
lief that the bullet was Of 80 caliber.
1t entered her read about two inches
above the nose and came out above
the right ear. According to Long. his
autopsy did not clearly disclose whether
the wound on the woman's neck had
been made by knife or was the re-
suit of her scarf rubbing on the neck.
The coroners physician was equally
vague as to the wounds in Halls head.
He says the bullet entered Halls head
on the side. behind the right ear. He
found also wound In the neck which.
he says, may have been caused by an
other bullet, but he Is not certain. He
also found a slight abrasion on Halls
right wrist, but how 1t had been caused
he was unable TO tell
The two bodies were brought back
from Somervlle to New Brunswick late
to-day. Tho funeral OF Hall will take
place tomorrow morning at noon In
the church Of which he was rector. The
funeral of Mrs. Mills will be held at an
undertaking establishment on Bayard
street on Tuesday at 1890. At the
latter ceremony Canon Welles of Tren-
ton will officiate and Mrs. Mills. in ac-
cordance with request she made when
In a hospital last February, will be
Couttuued nm Pare Five