Дело Холла-Миллс: Сенсационное убийство и медиа-цирк 1922 года.

American murder casethe British journalist

The Hall–Mills murder case involved Edward Wheeler Hall, an Episcopal priest, and Eleanor Mills, a member of his choir with whom he was having an affair, both of whom were murdered on September 14, 1922, in Somerset, New Jersey, United States. Hall'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 case.

On September 16, 1922, the bodies of Eleanor Mills and Edward Hall were discovered in a field near a farm in Somerset County, New Jersey. 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. The original 1922 investigation by Joseph E. Stricker (1870–1926) yielded no indictments. Continued speculation in the New York Daily Mirror, fueled by comments made by a man associated with one of Mrs. Hall's housekeepers, led Governor A. Harry Moore to order a second investigation and a trial in 1926. Henry Carpender won a bid to be tried separately from the three others accused; ultimately, he was never tried. Raymond C. Stryker was the foreman of the jury. The prosecution's key witness was Jane Gibson, a pig farmer on whose property the bodies were discovered. The defense portrayed Gibson as uneducated and "crazy", and attempted to ruin her credibility. Gibson's account varied, differing when told to the police, to newspapers, and at the trial (at which she testified from a hospital bed rolled into the court room). All three defendants at trial were acquitted.

Eleanor Reinhardt was married to James E. Mills. They lived at 49 Carman Street in New Brunswick, New Jersey. James was acting sexton at St. John the Evangelist Episcopal Church and full time janitor at the Lord Stirling Elementary School, both in New Brunswick. Eleanor and James had two children, Charlotte E. Mills (1906–1952) and Daniel Mills (1910–1992). Eleanor, James, and their children were buried in Van Liew Cemetery, North Brunswick.

Edward Wheeler Hall married Frances Noel Stevens on July 20, 1911. He was raised in Brooklyn, New York, receiving his theological degree in Manhattan. After graduation, he moved from New York to Basking Ridge, New Jersey, and then to St. John the Evangelist Episcopal Church in New Brunswick. Edward was living at 23 Nichol Avenue in New Brunswick at the time of the murder. He was buried in Green Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn.

Henry de la Bruyere Carpender (1882–1934) was born on May 15, 1882, to John Neilson Carpender and Anna Neilson Kemp. He lived with his wife Mary Nielson at the corner of Suydam Street and Nichol Avenue in New Brunswick. Henry was a cousin of Frances Stevens Hall and her brothers, whose mother was a Carpender. He worked as a Wall Street stockbroker. Although he was an initial suspect, he was never brought to trial. He died on May 26, 1934, and was buried in Elmwood Cemetery, North Brunswick.

Frances Noel Stevens was born on January 13, 1874, to Francis Kerby Stevens (1840–1874) and Mary Noel Carpender (1840–1919). Frances and Edward married on July 20, 1911. She was buried on December 21, 1942, in Green Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn, New York, with her husband. In the prosecution's scenario, she instigated the murder of her cheating husband. Her home was later bought by Rutgers University and used as the residence of the Dean of Douglass Residential College. Mrs. Hall was related to many of the wealthy families of New Brunswick, including the Carpenders, Nielsons, and possibly the Johnsons of Johnson & Johnson.

Henry Hewgill Stevens (1869–1939) was born on November 10, 1869. He married Ethel Griffin on June 27, 1901. He was a retired exhibition marksman and lived in Lavallette, New Jersey. The prosecution contended that he fired the shots. Henry testified that he was fishing miles away from the murder on the night of the killing, and three witnesses corroborated his testimony. He died of a heart attack on December 3, 1939, in Lavallette, New Jersey.

William "Willie" Carpender Stevens (1872–1942) was born on March 13, 1872. He owned a .32 caliber pistol like the one used in the murder, although the firing mechanism was supposed to have been filed down so that he could not hurt himself with it. In the prosecution's scenario, he provided the weapon, and his fingerprint was found on a calling card left at the scene of the crime. Willie was a colorful character on the witness stand, delivering credible and not unsympathetic testimony. He was incapable of holding a job and spent most of his time hanging out at a local firehouse. Willie's eccentric personality was consistent with high functioning autism, but the condition had not yet been clinically described, and no conclusive diagnosis can be made. Stevens died on December 30, 1942.

Jane Gibson (ca 1870–1930) and her son William lived in an old barn that had been converted into living space, just off De Russey's Lane. The press called her the "pig woman" because she raised hogs. She told the investigators that her dog was barking loudly about 9:00 pm on the night of the murder. She went outside of her house and saw a man standing in her cornfield. She rode her mule toward Easton Avenue to approach the man. As she got closer she saw that there were four people standing near a crab apple tree. She heard gunshots and one of the figures fell to the ground, presumably dead. She testified that a woman screamed "Don't!" three times. She said she turned her mule in the opposite direction and headed back to her house, then heard more gunshots; when she looked back at the tree, she saw a second person fall down, presumably dead. She testified that she had heard a woman shout the name "Henry."

After the trial, Mrs. Hall brought a defamation suit against the New York Daily Mirror, which was settled out of court for an unspecific large amount. It is one in the series, "A Treasury of XXth Century Murder". In her book Careless People: Murder, Mayhem and the Invention of The Great Gatsby (2013), Sarah Churchwell speculates that parts of the ending of The Great Gatsby (1925), by F. Scott Fitzgerald, were based on the Hall Mills Case. Based on her forensic search for clues, she asserts that the two victims in the Halls Mills murder case inspired the characters who were murdered in The Great Gatsby. The non fiction book Blood and Ink: The Scandalous Jazz Age Double Murder that Hooked America on True Crime (2022), by Joe Pompeo, considers the Hall Mills murder from the standpoint of the media coverage and its general effect on the treatment of crime in contemporary newspapers and magazines.