The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1926-11-02

.SuhiefYate. =. j., Nov. a~fD~-i ne
clandrstine affection OF TN EpiScopaii-
IN minister for his sections wife will
bring the reetar's wealthy and arts
tocratic widow. ard three of her male
relatives 70 trial for murder IN this
count scat on November ,, after
four years ri mystery, speculation
and Investigations
j. was because Of this infatuation.
the state will contend, that Mrs,
Frances Stevens Hall. Willie and
Henry Stevens, her brothers. and
Henry larpender, her cousin. became
involved in the slayin. Of the Rev
Edward Wheeler Hall, rector Of the
Church Of st. John The an.e..s,,
New Brunswick, and the lowly Mrs.
4 or Mills, who sang in the church
choir.
four have been indicted for
murder in the first degree but Car
pendcr IS not-ip face trial until the
first three have been tried jointly.
II Wis on the morning Of Scpten
Der liz. la22, that the bodies were
found. laid eat beneath crabapple
tree on the Phillips farm. Just off
DeRusscy's Lane. Strewn about were
torn fragments Of their letters which
had been exchanged through the me
dunn of n church hymn book. Only
one bullet had been fired into the
minister bead. bat there were three
wounds in the head of Mrs. Mills and
in addition, her throat had been cut.
But this latter fact WAS not discovered
until her body WAS exhumed twelve
days after her death.
First Arrest October .
\ dual investigation got under way,
one in MiG6lesex and the other II
Somerset county. New brunswick.
the home Of the victims and all of
the accused. save Henry Stevens is
in the former. while the Phillips farm
where the bodies were found Is jus.
across the line in TINS county. An ar
rest was made Oh October .. but the
Confession on winch II was based was
later admitted untrue and tho accuser
was sent to the reformatory for per-
jury.
Raymond Schneider, who with Pearl
BANNER, had found the bodies. accus-
cd his companion Clifford Hayes Of
the killings. asserting that Hayes had
been jealous OF Sehneiicr's attcn
the rector and Mrs. Mills - mistake
~
and Schneider had followed the girl
and her father TO The Phillips farm on
the night of the killings and that
Hayes was armed.
From the START. Mrs. Hall insisted
that she knew nothing of her hus-
bands interest ii Mrs. Mills and that
she did not believe reports 10 that Of
feet. i month after the slayings. she
demanded that the bancling cease in
the Investigations. and through her
counsel she called on Governor Ed
wards to name IN outstanding inves
tiyasior. Wilbur A. Mott of East
Orange was named special prosecutor.
superscding the prosecutors Of Somer-
set ana llaGiesey counties. Shortly
Thereafter announcement. WAS made
thai Mrs. Hal. had undertaken Z PR
waite investigation ~ hes own cv-
pcnsc.
New Witness Found
Meanwhile. u new witness Ind come
fornaru IN TIE person o. AIRS. Jane
Gibson, who raised pi-s ot il email
farm about 4 mile ami i nai. froa4
the crabarnle tree. sae had beer an
noyea ~ petty fnefts and reported
that while trailing corn thieves.
as.r.de Ter nulc Jenny she came
upon IN encounter oa he Phillips
farm.
Mott WON'T nas discuss her tes,i-
mon. -! IL ~ ~ atassea Is. IN
Official .nse,t.9ato.s that she turned
a shotgun en i photographer. Reports
had il hat she had recognized Nj.
Hall and another nan and later IL
was said that sic saw 4 woman sob
bing beside tbs bodies.
When the grand jury convened.
Mrs. Hall demanded that she be taken
before that body ard questioned. This
request was no. granted and on De
ceneer -. the Jury was dismissed
without taking action. With the cx-
ception Of State Trooper Henry L.
Dickmas, other investigators grad
lilly abandoned their search, and early
in 1923 Mrs Hall went abroad. Re-
turning in April, 1924, she announced
that s..c had been attempting to
trace new clues. While she was
abroad, Dickman disappeared leaving
two months salary behind him.
Rumors Of new leads cropped out
from time to time, but it was not
until July Il, 1926, that Governor a.
Harry Moore revealed that had had
ordered state police and Jersey City
detectives to reopen the case. Dis
closures alleging corruption of Off
cials and the wholesale payment Of
hush money were made in an un-
signed petition filed by Arthur S.
Riehl for annuiment of his marriage
to Louise Geist, who had been /. maid
in the Hall household at the time of
the murder. and who, he asserted, had
given him the information on which
his allegations were based.
Mrs Hall Charged With Murder
Mrs. Hall was reused from bed on
the night of July Is, arrested for muir
Ger, and locked up in the Somerset
county jail. Two days later Supreme
Court Justice Gummcrc permitted her
release in $4,000 bail after hearing
at which Francis !. Bergen, prosecu-
tor of Somerset county, declined to
reveal the nature of his evidence. On