Evening star., 1926-11-04
Heard Shots and Means, But
Recognized No One, States
Witness Declares.
DIDN'T TELL REPORTER
OF SHADOWS, HE AYERS
Woman Describes Appearance Of
Henry Stevens at Her Home
Year After Murders.
By the Associated Press.

By the Associated Press.
COURTHOUSE. Somerville, n. j.,
November A categoric denial that
he saw any of the three defendents
in De Russey's lane the night Rev.
Edward Wheeler Hall and Mrs.
Eleanor Mills are supposed to have
been murdered was made in the Hall
Mills murder trial today by Ralph
V. M. Gorsline, vestryman in DR..
Halls church.
Gorsline, said by the prosecution to
be one Of it's chief witnesses, told in
a low but calm voice how he had gone
into the lane in an automobile with
Miss Catherine Rastall, also of New
Brunswick, about 10 o'clock on the
night Of the murder.
F., AS soon as they got into the lane.
Gorsline said, he turned out the lights
later he heard four shots and then
means from a woman.
well, what did you do?" Special
Prosecutor Simpson asked.
I'VE stayed there for about 5
minutes longer" Gorsline said.
Saw No One. He Says.
Did you see any one?"
saw no SHADOWS
What did you hear first"
"One shot, then screams; three
shots and then this woman's means"
Did you know Mrs. Mills?"
Yes
Didn't see sher?'
mo"
DIR. HALF"
NO"
"Why don't you cut your throat
like you did in the grand jury room"
This, Senator Simpson explained,
referred to a gesture Gorsline was re-
ported to have made in the presence
of one of the grand jurors.
DO you deny that you told a re-
porter on Thursday last that you had
seen shadows"
II do
You never saw Mrs. Mills throat
cut?"
''No." a.---er--sts s.,
do you deny that you said you
saw Henry Stevens in the lane that
night when this shooting and throat
cutting was going on:"
Il do
Chart Introduced.
A chart of the Church Of St. John
pastor, was the first evidence offered
by the State on the second day of the
trial. The chart was identified by w.
j. Bergman, map maker, as one he
made after a study of the church.
Mrs. Frances Stevens Hall, widow
OF the slain pastor, and her brothers,
Willie and Henry Stevens, who are
on trial for the murder of Mrs. Mills,
choir leader In DR.. Halls Church,
looked at the chart with evident in
terest. The State did not immedt-
ately reveal the use it would make
Of the diagram.
Mrs. Jane Gibson, the States star
witness, was Ill today and some doubt
was expressed as to whether she
could testify.
Halls Successor Called.
/. Irving Petit, present pastor of
the church, described conditions in
DR.. Halls study as he found them
when he assumed the pastorate The
State then changed the course of
the prosecution and put on the stand
Mrs. Anna L. Hoag of East Orange,
n. j.
On September IA. 1922, the supposed
murder night. Mrs. Hoag lived about
200 yards from the crabapple tree
where the bodies Of DR.. Hall and Mrs
Mills were found. About 10 o'clock
that night. she said, she heard four
pistol shots fired. She testified that
about a year after the murders. and
after she had moved to the Phillips
farmhouse, where DR.. Hall and Mrs
Mills are said to have met, Henry
Stevens came upon the porch and
asked to be directed to Raritan, a
nearby town.
IT told him I didn't know where
Raritan was, but directed him to
Easton avenue" Mrs. Hoag said.
Stevens almost Collapsed"
He told me he was hiking and
didn't want to go on a street car. But
he was Immediately dressed and l
could see that he had not been hiking.
never saw a man so excited. He
was very nervous.
"I had my dog and I knew I was
safe. He told me he had been in Flor
ida and then suddenly he said There
was a tragedy here, wasn't there?"
II then jumped up and ran in the
house, and as he was walking down
the road, he almost collapsed"
After an hour and a half spent
in the selection Of a jury. the State
opened its case with two surprise
witnesses. whose testimony was in
tended to break down the alibi of
Willie Stevens. Mrs. Gibson, a pig
raiser, claims to have been nearby
when Hall and Mrs. Mills were slain
in an abandoned orchard In court
Yesterday Mrs. Gibson sat near Char
lotte Mills. daughter of the murdered
woman.
Daughter Identifies Letters.
On the stand the girl identified a
package of letters her mother had
written to DR. Hall. She also declared
that Ellis Parker, a county detective
had attempted to get her to say her
father was not at home on the night
of the murder. The father, James
Mills. sexton of DR.. Halls church,
sat placidly chewing gum while she
testified. Special Prosecutor Simpson
claims to have evidence that Parker
was working with Henry Stevens to
fasten the crime on Mills.
John 8. Dixon, a Wall Street &C.
countant, and his wife testified that
about two hours before the time the
murder Is believed to have been COM
mitted Willie Stevens appeared at the
front door Of their home and asked
to be directed to a home for aged men,
about 500 yards from the abandoned
orchard. Stevens claims he was at
Mrs. Halls home at that time.
Edward Garrigan. New Brunswick
policeman. one Of the first persons to
see the bodies as they lay under the
Continued ON Hgs s. Column 81