They had been having an affair for about four years when they were murdered. The affair seemed to be common knowledge to everyone in the church. The reverend’s wife, Frances Stevens knew her husband was having an affair and so did Eleanor’s husband.
The crime seen was gruesome. There were torn up letters and cards between the two lovers and the reverends business card resting on the sole of his shoe. The couple had met on a abandoned farm under the crab apple tree. It would be their last tryst together. The reverend had been shot in the head and Eleanor was shot three times in the head area. Then Eleanor’s tongue was cut out and her larynx was removed. The police found a 32-calibre casting near the bodies. Another bullet fell out of the reverends jacket when he was in the morgue. For the time being, that was all the bullets they police would have.
Willie Stevens, a 50-year-old brother-in-law of the reverend who was mentally challenged informed the Hall’s maid that something had happened during the night and it was terrible. Eleanor’s husband confirmed that his wife had indeed called the reverend that night about a bill, he said. Mrs. Hall confirmed that the reverend got a call about a medical bill from Eleanor as well.
The two never returned home that night. Eleanor’s husband saw Mrs. Hall at the church the next day and asked her if the two had eloped. She stated that she thought they were dead. It turns out that the two did want to elope and marry. Reverend Hall had told another minister from a different church that a relative of his wife, Frances, who was the heir to Johnson & Johnson, had threatened him.
There were so many problems investigating this murder. All the evidence was pointing to Frances Hall. Many people were said to be paid off by Mrs. Hall’s cousin for their silence. Then the Pig Woman would tell her story. The Pig Woman said she followed an intruder to the crab tree and witnessed the murders and those involved. Henry Carpenter (Mrs. Hall’s cousin) was the shooter and Mrs. Hall was there and so was Willie Stevens her brother.
Because the Pig Woman’s story changed so much every time the story was told, she was not found to be a credible witness. One time she said three people, then six people and then two men and two women. All defendants were released and charges were dropped. No one was ever convicted of killing the reverend and Eleanor. Did Frances Hall want her husband dead? Did she have her family help her kill her husband and his lover? Why did Henry Carpenter, the cousin, offer to paid people for their silence? What did Willie mean when he said something had happened during the night? No one will ever know for sure.
