Hall-Mills murder case

The Hall–Mills murder case involved an Episcopal priest and a member of his choir with whom he was having an affair, who were murdered on September 14, 1922, in Somerset, New Jersey. The priest's wife and her brothers were accused of committing the murders, but were acquitted in a 1926 trial. In the history of journalism, the case is largely remembered for the vast extent of newspaper coverage it received nationwide; it has been regarded as an example of a media circus. It would take the Lindbergh kidnapping trial in the 1930s to eclipse the high profile of the Hall-Mills murder.

On September 16, 1922, the bodies of a woman (Eleanor Mills) and a man (Edward Hall) were discovered in a field near a farm. Both bodies were on their backs, both shot in the head with a .32-caliber pistol, the man once and the woman three times. The bullet entered the man's head over his right ear and exited through the back of his neck. The woman was shot under the right eye, over the right temple and over the right ear. A police officer at the scene noticed that the woman's throat had been severed, and maggots were already in the wound, indicating the death occurred at least 24 hours earlier. The bodies appeared to have been positioned side by side after death. Both had their feet pointing toward a crab apple tree. The man had a hat covering his face, and his calling card was placed at his feet. Torn-up love letters were placed between the bodies.

Initial confusion was created because the crime scene was near the Middlesex County and Somerset County border. New Brunswick (Middlesex County) police arrived first, but the crime scene was actually in Franklin Township (Somerset County). Curiosity-seekers trampled the scene and took souvenirs as the jurisdictional issue was being settled. Evidence was thus severely compromised, including Hall's calling card being passed among the crowd.

The woman was identified as Eleanor Reinhardt Mills (born 1888), the wife of James E. Mills (1878–1965). She was wearing a blue dress with red polka dots, black silk stockings, and brown shoes. She had worn a blue velvet hat that was on the ground near her body, and her brown silk scarf was wrapped around her throat. Her arm had a bruise, and there was a tiny cut on her lip. Her left hand had been positioned, after death, to touch the man's right thigh. An autopsy four years later showed that her tongue had been cut out.

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