| Unsolved
Mysteries The Hall-Mills Murder |
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| Holier
Than Thou - An Affair Under the Pulpit |
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September
16, 1922 - Discovery of the Crime Scene
It was a chilly evening on September 16, 1922 when fifteen year
old Pearl Bahmer had a date with 23 year old Raymond Schneider.
They decided around 10:00 to take a walk down De Russey's Lane,
an undeveloped road, known to local residents as "make
out lane". The couple had argued the previous night but
seemed to have gotten past it as they talked softly walking
amongst the tall grass and over an embankment. Pearl noticed
something rather odd, as she approached closer she realized
it was two dead bodies, one of a man, the other of a woman.
They quickly left the scene and fled to a nearby neighbors house
to phone police. The couple ran to the nearby house of
Edward Stryker and called the police. |
| Officer
James Curran and Patrolman Edward Garrigan were the first to
come upon the scene. They discovered two bodies, one male, one
female, lying on their backs. Both were shot in the head, the
man once and the woman three times. The man's head wound appeared
to have been inflicted from an elevated angle judging by the
entrance and exit. The bullet entered over his right ear and
exited out the back of his neck. The woman was shot under the
right eye, over the right temple and over the right ear. Upon
closer inspection Officer Garrigan realized that the woman's
throat had been slashed from ear to ear and maggots had already
permeated the wound covering it. It was obvious that the bodies
had been staged in the manner that they were found. Both of
the couples feet were pointed towards a crab apple tree. |
The
Woman
The woman (later identified as Mrs. Eleanor R. Mills) wore a
blue dress with red polka dots, black silk stockings, and brown
oxfords. She had worn a blue velvet hat that had been carelessly
tossed to the side of her dead body. Her brown silk scarf, still
wrapped around her throat was soaked in blood. She had been
shot under the right eye, over the right temple, over the right
ear and her throat had been slashed from ear to ear. Her arm
had been bruised and there was a small cut on her lip. During
an autopsy later it would be uncovered that her tongue had been
cut from her mouth. Her hand rested, as posed, on the man's
right arm. |
The
Man
The man who would later be identified as Reverend Edward W.
Hall was found with his arm outstretched as if he had placed
it casually around the woman's neck. His Panama hat covered
his face, which concealed the gun shot wound to his head. Under
the hat, police could see that he wore a pair of glasses and
that those glasses were spotted. There was a small bruise on
the tip of his ear and abrasions were found on his hands, primarily
around on his left little finger and right index finger. A gaping
wound was found five inched below the kneecap on the calf of
his right leg. |
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