New Britain herald., 1922-10-09
Clifford Hayes, Admirer of Girl Who Found Bodies, Thought Hall and Mrs. Mills Were Another
 Couple. /.
SLEUTHS ARE NOT
 WHOLLY SATISFIED

New Brunswick, N. J., Oct. D. Clifford Hayes, 19 year old admirer of Pearl Banner, who found the bodies of Rev. Edward Wheeler Hall and Mrs. Eleanor R. Mills, choir singer was arrested today and for- mally charged with first degree nur- der.
 Schneider Accuses Hayes.
 Raymond Schneider, who was with the Bahmer girl when the bodies were found, was held as material witness. Prosecutors Beekman and Stricker of Middlesex and Somerset counties, say Schneider signed a 300 word statement accusing Hayes of the crime.
 Mistaken Identity.
 According to Schneider's statement, the double staying was the result of mistaken identity. He had gone out with Hayes on the night of the mur- ders, he said, trailing a man who &C., companied the Banner girl. Seeing a couple beneath crabapple tree, he said, Hayes opened fire.
 Announcement of the arrests was made at 1145 o'clock today by Prosecutor Stricker
 The announcement, issued jointly by. Prosecutor Stricker of Middlesex county and Beekman of Somerset county, reads:
 Arrests Are Made.
 Upon information in the prosecu- tors office obtained from Raymond Schneider and other witnesses we feel obliged under the circumstances to prefer a charge of murder against one Clifford Hayes. Raymond Schneider will be held as a material witness, awaiting further developments in the case.
 Process will be issued out of Somerset county where it apears the crime was committed and consequent iy the prisoners will be detained in the Somerset county jail"
 The prosecutors would not say whether the arrest of Hayes had eliminated the Halls and Mills fami- lies from further consideration. No further arrests were contemplated for the present, they said
 Denies His Guilt.
 Hayes when confronted with Schneider as the latter re-told his story, exclaimed:
 He is liar"
 According to Schneider, who ad- mits he is in love with the Banner girl, he was standing on a street cor ner with Hayes and Kaufman when they saw the girl pass with her step father, Nicholas Banner. He was jealous of the stepfather, he said, and when he told the others of his sus- picions they agreed to follow the pair.
 See Couple Under Tree.
 They searched first through Buc- clech park, when Kaufman left them Schneider and Hayes then proceeded to the nearby Phillips farm About Il o'clock Schneider said they approached the crabapple tree under which the bodies of MT. Hall and Mrs. Mills later were found, and Hayes pointed to the two figures beneath the tree, explaining:
 There they are, Now we'll fix them"
 Hayes. Schneider declared, whip- ped out a pistol and began to shoot.
 Discovers Mistakes.
 When the pair collapsed, Schneider said, he went forward, struck match ing:
 Great God man! You've made a 
 The two then fled, according to the 
 Schneider said he did not know how the throat of Mrs Dils was cut or who had laid the bodies under the tree carefully adjusting their cloth- ing after they had been slain.
 He nor his companions, he assert ed. had touched the bodies, and they saw nothing of the love letters writ ten by Mrs. Mills which were found scattered about the scene.
 Sleuths Not Satisfied.
 Detectives continued vigorously to work on the case clearly indicating that they did not believe the double staying had been wholly cleared up by Schneiders statement.
 It was Schneider and Pearl Bah- ner who first told the authorities of he presence of the two bodies on the Phillips farm They told q policeman hey had discovered the bodies while hunting mushrooms. This was two lays after the slayings occurred, on he night of September l9. Schneider n his statement today said he was going back to the scene with the Banner girl partly out of curiosity md partly because he wanted to show Ter how near she had come to death because of her walk with her step- ather.
 Wife is Gratifed. a When word of the arrest was taken 0 the home of Mrs Frances Hall