Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1922-11-02
MRS. HALL SCORES
!: !. IN MURDER QUIZ
,, Defense Tactics Leave Jer-
1. sey Authorities Again in
Deadlock.
WITHOUT NEW EVIDENCE
Reporters, After Interview. Left to
Puzzle Over Mysterious
Sayings.
WITHOUT NEW EVIDENCE
BY ROBERT TOMPKIN>.


2-The defense, has scored another
great psychological victory and the
investigation into the Hall-Mills muir
der mystery dppears to have come to
another dead end.
1t was a bold stroke that placed
Mrs. Frances Stevens Hall. widow OF
the slain rector Of st. Johns, before
tho bar OF public opinion, leaving her
there alone to battle against two
score men and women VIII" had stud
led the case in every detail. Bat II
was a telling move against the prose-
cution.
Mrs. Hall has been the closely hood
ed figure in the mystery ever since
the bodies OF the minister and his
choir singer were found side by side.
She and her family knew full well
that suspicion. and perhaps the con-
domination of public opinion, centered
about this calm. seii-rel!ant. but now
wan and. worn woman. whose gray
hair seems 10 set at an aTstocratic
angle on her head.
The public has wondered what was
Mrs. Halls story? Now they have
1T. AT least they have as much as
the prosecutors. sometimes active and
sometimes not. have been able to get
ti4tif tONStdHl QGtStIpillUs w
the wealthy widow. whose family
connections run all through the bust
ness and social fabric of New Bruins
wick. They know what Mrs Hall has
Iold under the pressure of as much
of, the third degree" as the some
what t!mid prosecution ever has
dared to apply to her For Mrs. Hall,
in facing the battery of newspaper
men and women who have traiied her
from the very beginning OF this baf-
ftng case. stood an ordeal of verbal
battle greater perhaps than any per-
son entangled in the meshes of a
strange crime ever had to endure.
Nothing New Developed.
1t is true nothing new developed
from the questioning But Mrs. Hall
told her story. The bulk of il already
Is known. She answered most of the
questions with an engaging frank
ness. She seemed positively happy to
reply. 1t was only when her opinion
of Mrs. Mills was demanded that she
reserved the right 20 keep that
opinion to herself. She vowed. how
ever. that she had always liked Mrs.
Mills up to the time of the tragedy.
She had never regarded Mrs. Mills as
Il "vamp"
Since the murder, however,?
Mrs. Hall. with a decided sriIness
in her voice, admitted she had
changed her opinion. And why not"
Questioners Il have had much TO
think about these last six weeks
Mrs. Hall left f@r questioners as
puzzled over the mystery as when
She first was ushered into the tiimly
1T library OF her home--the most ex-
elusive and secluded home In all New
brunswick.
The prosecution has yet to learn
that Mrs. Hall ever expressed any
animus against the woman found
murdered beside the rector and hus-
band. The prosecution is unable TO
set UP condition in the Hall house
hold which would have led to muir
der: Mrs. Hall apparently believed
in her husband right up to the end,
for she says she had never seen or
heard of any of the letters which
have been published in connection
with tie case.
Of a crime and quite something else
again to give that theory the neces-
sary support beyond the reasonable
shadow of a doubt" to bring it
before twelve good men and true.
Closely Questioned.
Mrs. Hall in the course of her in
tervfew-the reporters have done
more to keep the case alive than some
OF the prosecutors-was asked some
very searching and intimate questions
as to her thoughts and actions on the
night OF the murder. The reporters
asked questions that would not be
allowed in a court of justice. Mrs
Hall faced them all unf,nchingly.
Her story may not charge the entire
flow of current opinion here in New
Brunswick, but IL will stop "a good
deal Of the speculation and VIII isper-
ing and may in the end turn a hostile
opinion in her favor Mrs. Hail has
had full realization of the position in
which she has been placed She faced
her qu-stioners with the hope Of
clearing up the public mind to some
extent.
She succeeded in establishing the
fact that the prosecution has been
unable to CLEAN anything tangible
from its constant questioning OF her.
She also has established the fact that
out OF the Hall household itself Moth
ing has come or Will come to shed
light of solution over a case which
now is puzzling the best criminal
minds of the nation as it puzzled
some of the smaller fry in the very
beginning.
The prosecution today appeared at
loss az to how to proceed. The
defense" was in the ascendency.
The defense" was the talk of the
town. And those who came in CON
tact with Mrs. Hall Yesterday realized
today that meeting between her
and Mrs. Jane Gibson. the pig wom-
an would leave Mrs. Hall as calm
m victory over her latest accuser as
she was calm in confidence after the
bomhardment of the reportorial "best
mind" In this section of the country.
Mrs. Gibson simply could not stand
against Mrs. Hall The latter is an
imperturbable witness. The pig wom-
an" gets excited and uses shotguns on
photographers This case has brought
about some strange associations, but
the strangest of all is that the pig
woman" and this daughter of New
brunswick aristocrasy ever should be
arrayed against each other.
Defense Ahead in Case.
There was much talk today OF how
the defense" so repeatedly has
scored against the prosecution in the
whole affair The defense" from The
start has been always one step ahead
of the prosecution.
Where the prosecution has hest
:ated or refused to speak. the de
for the defense" have been examined
in camera by the prosecution-and
nothing given out. The defense"
later has told everything that the
prosecution asked and all the an
swers that were given. Cleverness
always has been on the side Of the
defense" Sometimes it has seemed
almost too clever. but the prosecution
has offered nothing to match it.
The idea that there can ever be a
conviction in the case, without a full
and frank confession on the part OF
tho person or persons who engineered
the murder, no longer is entertained
here. Tho chances today pointed in
The direction Of an unsolved mystery.
Whoever committed the crime con-
cealed their tracks so cleverly that
nothing tangible appears to remain
Mrs Halls interview marked a climax
n the case. There is greater quiet In