Evening star., 1926-11-24

l
to prompting Simpson and reading
love letters and other testimony. took
up the cross examination in a loud
| voice.
| His questioning was directed to the
point that it would not have taken the
girl and her companion two hours for
the short ride. His manner of uues-
| tioning brought a protest from the de-
fense.
Talked With Defense.
| Bergen asked the witness if any
one from the defense had talked to
her and she replied Mr.. Watson, one
of the defense counsel. She denied
that Watson suggested to her that she
was married now and it would lcok
bad for her to say that she stopped
| Willard Stout next testified that,
last August, Ehrling said to him:
STOUT. If you will say that you were
! in De Russey's lane the night of Sep
tember IA, 1922. you can get some
money"
| On cross-examination Stout said he
! was in De Russey's lane the night cf
September 13, but denied ever t'l;ing
police he was there on the night "f
the 14th.
Ferd David. one Of the chief in
vestigators of the crime soon after
| it was committed. was called next
| by the defense to make further as
sault on the story told by Mrs. Gibson
and also to help the defense in it's at
| tempt to discredit the calling card in
| troduced by the State as having been
| found at the scene of the crime and
as bearing the f1ngerprint of Willie
| Stevens.
He said the exhibits in the case had
{,1r 20 +; j,,f
sex County prosecutors office after
they had been found at the scene Of
! the crime. The exhibits included sew
eral of Mr.. Halls visiting cards.
Found No Fingerprints.
He examined them for fingerprints,
| he said, but found none.
Then Case passed to the story of
| Mrs. Gibson.
vestigation in 1922, of having confer.
! ence with Mrs. Gibson. in company
| with Mr.. Totten Middlesex County
| detective) and having Mrs. Gibson go
| over at night the route she said she
! went over the night of the murder?'
II do
Regarding this night, did she tell
you that while riding her mule along
| the lane she saw a flash and heard
shots?"
Yes, sir
Did she say that after hearing the
| shots she proceeded home without
| getting off her mule?"
| She did"
| Mrs. Gibson testified for the State
| that she heard the shots after she
| had dismounted and tied her mule.
Then, at the end of one of the hard
est fought legal battles of the day,
David testified that Mrs. Gibson. in
| 1922, had said at the Middlesex prose
cutor's Office. in New Brunswick. that
she could not identify Mrs. Hall and
| Willie and Henry Stevens as the per-
sons she had seen at the crabapple
tree.
Mrs. Hall Present.
'On or about October II. 1922, did
Mrs. Gibson tell you at the prosecu
tors office In New Brunswick that
she could not identify any Of the three
defendants here before you?" Case
asked.
"she did," replied David very posi-.
lively.
WAS Mrs. Hall present at that
| time?'
She was. She was in one room and
Henry and Willie Stevens were in
another"
On cross. examination. David. after
hearing read excerpts from his testi-
mony before the first grand jury in
vestigation of the Staying in Novem.
ber, 1922. said he had testified at
that time that he was present when
Mrs. Gibson first identified Henry and
Willie Stevens.
The witness then was asked
| whether he took any sworn statement
! from Mrs. Gibson and answered that
| he had not. adding. shed told me
| several different stories as to the MUIR
| der"
The witness said that in the original
! investigation he had no dealings with
| Di Martini and Mrs. Halls lawyer and
that they offered no aid to the in
! vestigatdrs.
Watch Never Found.
| DR.. Halls watch was not among the
| exhibits, the witness said.
The minister's watch was never
| found after the murder and the de.
| fense has intimated several times that
| it might present the contention that
| the Staying was committed by hold.up
| men.
David said he had seen several of
! Mr.. Halls visiting cards found at the
| scene Of the murder. but that he saw
| no smudges on any Of the cards
| There were smudges on the card in
| troduced by the State as bearing the
| fingerprints of Willie Stevens.
Case then took the witness again.
Mrs. Gibson told you several diff
| ferent stories?"
"Yes"
"Were they conf1icting?"
"Yes, she would add to or take away
| from what she had previously said"
John Pomfret. administrator of the
estate Of the late Thomas F. McCran,
attorney general at the time of the
| killings, testified that search
! through the personal papers of Mr..
McCran had failed to reveal trace of
several letters written him in 1928 by
| Timothy N. Pfeiffer, member Of defense
counsel and Mrs. Halls attorney
four years ago.
Simpson in the questioning of wit
| nesses has several times stressed the
point that neither Pfeiffer nor Mrs.
Halls detective, Felix Di Martini
| gave the authorities any help four
years ago.
.. Says Widow Broke Down.
Rev. Thomas A. Conover. rector of
st. Bernards Episcopal Church, Ber.
| nardsville, then told how Mrs. Hall
| met her great sorrow" He said
that she broke down while receiving
communion on the day Of the funeral
| and that he observed no scratches on
| her face in the three times he saw her
Immediately after her husbands
| death.
| When did you first see Mrs. Hall
after the killing?" Case asked.
"On Saturday. September 49," re-
piled the minister. Mrs. Hall tele-
phoned me at about II o'clock, saying
Edward has disappeared and 1 said
would come to see her"
| This was before the bodies were