hi guys how are you today

my name is Bailey Syrian and today is Monday

which means it’s murder Mystery and makeup Monday

if you are new here

hi my name is Bailey Sarian

you said that

and every Monday I sit down

I talk about a true crime story

that’s been heavy on my noggin

if you are interested in true crime and you like makeup

I would highly suggest you hit that subscribe button

as far as today’s story goes

I thought we could actually talk about a mystery

that’s been left unsolved

I don’t really like doing unsolve stories

because I’m the type of person where like

I need that closure

I need to go to bed at night knowing like

it’s closed

so that’s why I don’t really dabble

too much in unsolved stuff here

but I you know

I should include more I should

but today we are going to talk about the Hall

Mills murder mystery doo doo

Edward Hall was born in 1881

yeah we’re going back 1881 baby

oh well that’s when he was born anyways

he was born middle class parents in Brooklyn New York

now when he grew up

he became a minister at a church in New York

and in New Jersey before he accepted a position at ST

john’s in 1909

ST john’s was located in New Brunswick

and at his new job

this is where he would meet his new wife

Francis Stevens

Francis Stevens

now she let me tell you

she was born in 1874

now Francis was an heiress

of the Johnson and Johnson surgical supply fortune

you know that Johnson and Johnson money

now it’s said that Francis and her 2 brothers

Henry and Willie

they were worth

you know like 2 million dollars each

2 million dollars was like

wow I’m rich

cause now it’s like 2 million

that’s not even gonna pay for school

it’s said that Francis was um

a homely woman

a homely looking woman

which I think it kind of made me laugh

it’s sad because

I feel like it always comes down to our looks

but back then

if you came from money

you were expected to look like you came from money

you know and people would say that Francis

she just wasn’t known for being beautiful

and one reporter commented that she was quote

not fully unattractive

just not fully good looking

so that’s nice

Francis and Edward

they were married in 1911

Edward was 30 years old

and Francis was 37 years old

now naturally

everyone assumed that Edward was

into this marriage only for money

it’s easy to think that because

Johnson and Johnson

hello yeah but after they got married

Francis and Edward

they moved in together

and they moved into their

of Francis’s family home

now at that time

Francis’s brother

Willie also lived in the family home

okay so now I’m going to talk about another couple

who was involved in this story

James Mills

and Eleanor Mills

James Mills was born on the 27th of January in 1878

a long time ago

he worked as a shoemaker

before becoming the janitor at the ST

john’s Church

the same church that Edward Wheeler

the man we talked about

first ministered at

and then Eleanor Mills

she was a soprano in the church’s choir

and she married James at the age of 15

Eleanor was a prominent member of the

church Ladies group

it said that she spent her time in church activities

she would read romance novels

she was just always hanging around the church

between the 2 of them

they had 2 children

Charlotte Mills

who was born in 1906

and Daniel Mills

who was born in 1910

now the Mills

they lived in a pretty

run down home

James only made about 35 a week

which wasn’t cutting it for the family

money was just tight

but they tried their best

and they made

they made it work

they had to

they really had no choice

now this is when it gets juicy

Eleanor and Edward began having an affair

remember Edward is the minister

Eleanor works in the church choir

and also part of the women’s group

it’s unknown when the affair officially started

it is said that in 1919

Edward would go see Eleanor daily

both of their partners

Francis and James

would deny any knowledge

as far as this alleged affair

they had no idea

but it seemed that everybody else knew

so not only the church

but it seemed like the entire town

knew of the infidelity

everyone was talking about it

like it was just the town gossip

you know how that goes

just one of those secrets everybody knew about

does your town have one of those

it’s weird how that happens isn’t it

on September 14th 1922

both Francis Hall and James Mills

they would find

that neither

Edward nor Eleanor

had returned home

normally they would come home around dinner time

5 6 p m Like

what are you doing

it’s 2 30 in the morning

now none of their partners are home

Francis and her brother Willie

they decided to go down to the church

and search for her husband

now they go looking around the area

and they’re

seeing that he’s nowhere to be found

like he’s not at the church

I mean that’s where he works

so where else could he be

they don’t find them

and they don’t find any trace of them

all right so then

they just end up

going back home

to their place

so on September 16th

which is 2 days later

a young couple was out on a stroll

they were going down lover’s Lane

lovers Lane was like

one of those areas

that all the young

the young kids in love

would hang out

maybe they would make out

do stuff like that

you know but

it was like

a walking area

a lot of people would just go and take a stroll

lovers Lane

was in Somerset

New Jersey which was

right outside of New Brunswick

so it’s like

it wasn’t too far off from

the location so

so this young couple

is taking a

strolled and

as they were walking

they came across

2 bodies in like

a field area

so they see

laid under a

crab apple tree

a man that was

handsomely dressed

in a dark gray suit

he had on a

white shirt

with a stiff

white collar

and a white tie

he also had

a Panama hat

that had been placed

over his face

as those like

shielding him from the sun

at his side

there laid a lady

and her legs were crossed

her head pillowed on her

what seemed to be like

her companion’s

outstretched right arm

her left hand

was resting on his knee

now again they

they’re dead

and they’re

under this tree

so their bodies are like

positioned in this

kind of like

romantic way

it was very strange

now the girl

she was wearing

a polka dotted

blue dress a brown

woolen scarf

covered her throat

and when they looked closer

at the body

they see that the lady

had been shot

3x0 shit so

this couple

that had came

across the bodies

they hurry to like

the nearest home

and they let the owner know like hey

we just saw

some bodies

under a tree

can we please

use your telephone

and call the police

2 police officers

were on the

scene within

minutes now

once the police had arrived

they moved the

scarf that the

woman was wearing

and they see

that her throat

had been ripped out

so they were able to ID

the bodies as

Edward Hall

and Eleanor

Mills mm hmm

now littered around the bodies

were pieces of torn up

love letters

allegedly the letters

had belonged to

the 2 of them

Edwards business card

was left at his feet

and due to the

state of the wound

on Eleanor’s neck

police were able to assess

that the 2 of them

had been dead

for at least 24

hours for years

members of the church

had whispered

about the close

relationship

between the minister

and the choir singer

but now that gossip

was confirmed to be true

because again

around the bodies were

like torn up

love letters

and they weren’t

torn up into

like tiny itty

bitty pieces

you know so

the police gathered

these letters

and were able to

put them back together

and one of the letters

was from Eleanor

and it said

quote sweetheart

my true heart

I know there are

girls with more

shapely bodies

but I’m not caring

what they have

I have the greatest part

of all blessings

a noble man’s deep

true eternal love

I want to look up

into your dear face

for hours as you

touch my body

close end quote

super hot now

in these letters

they come across

another one

and this one

was from Edward

and Edward had written

quote darling

wonder heart

wonder Heart

okay I just

want to crush you

for 2 hours

I want to see you

Friday night

alone by our road

where we can

let out that

universe of joy

and happiness

we call ours

end quote yeah

I don’t know

about you but

if someone wrote me

a love letter

saying quote

I wanna crush you for 2

hours and quote

I’d be like

yeah I can’t

I’m like really busy

around that time

you were thinking

about doing that

sorry so these

love letters

confirmed that

of course they

were having

well not of course

but that they

were indeed

having an affair

autopsies revealed

that Edward

had been shot

at a Point Blank rage

with a 32 caliber

automatic pistol

the bullet it

had entered

his head near the

right temple

and came out

of the back

of the left side

and then Eleanor

had been shot

3 times in the head

the New York Times

had reported

that one of

the bullets

entered the

woman’s forehead about 2in

above the nose

another went

through the

right cheek

and the 3rd

pierced the

right temple

and then on

top of that

whoever did this shit

because her

throat had been

cut so deeply

that her jugular vein

windpipe and

neck muscles

were completely severed

and her backbone

could easily be seen

what the fuck

kind of sick

shit is that

what the hell is

wrong with people

how come they

didn’t do it

to the dude

now naturally

I know what you’re thinking

because I’m

thinking it too

hello it’s the spouse

it’s one of

the spouses

right affair

it’s got to

be one of the

spouses now

the hall’s Mills case

had all the elements

it was dramatic

it involved

wealth and sex

I mean everything

that just really

interests people

so when media

got hold of this story

everyone lost their shit okay

everyone just went nuts

people were just heavily invested

technically we still do that to this day you know

like on the news and stuff when something major happens

so I guess nothing really has changed

but anyways

so the media went crazy

this is dumb

but this is also a different time

people were just

it’s just different

because it’s so fucked up where the bodies were found

it turned into like a major tourist attraction

so on weekends the crime scene

it became like a carnival

there were vendors out there selling popcorn peanuts

soft drinks

oh help balloons

you want a balloon

people died here

celebrate with the balloon

hordes of people

curious cats all came out there

it said that there were about 1 000 cars a day

just coming out to see where this crime took place

mind you their bodies weren’t there anymore

they had taken them away

but hundreds of people flock to the crime scene

because they wanted to see the blood stains

they wanted to see if they could find any evidence and

and solve the crime or something

I don’t know

but people just lost their shit okay

getting balloons and like

but yeah it’s weird right

but it’s a different time

so I’m trying not to judge

but I’m judging

so it’s like

so within a few weeks

the crab apple tree that the bodies were found under

had been completely stripped of every branch

and bit of like bark

people were coming and they wanted a souvenir

so they would take a piece of the tree

yeah I don’t know

they were really excited about it

there was one person who took like

samples of the dirt in the surrounding area

and they put it in little bags

I don’t think ziplock bags were a thing yet

did Johnson and Johnson make it yet

I don’t know

they would put the dirt in like

these little bags

and they would sell it to people for 25 cents

who were looking to take a souvenir

and they couldn’t take the tree anymore

cause the tree was destroyed

they took dirt at the crime scene

you guys what the fuck

people are weird

we’re a weird breed

so saying that people were obsessed is like

an understatement

and then naturally

naturally because people suck

even back then

they sucked

the seller people would get dirt from different areas

put it in the little bag and

be like yeah

this is crime scene dirt ¢25

now the problem with like all these people coming to

the crime scene and kind of making it into a show

it was interfering with the

collection of evidence in the investigation because

everything was literally being destroyed and again this

is like the 1800 no it’s not it’s the 19 hundreds now

they’re born in the 1800s

okay yeah it’s the early 1900s

okay so their ability to investigate

crime scenes isn’t that

high tech I don’t even know what they do how they solve

crimes back then it must have been very challenging

cause they didn’t have any DNA yet

stuff like that that we really take for

granted now huh

I think that’s why a lot of these

older cases go

unsolved because

they didn’t

have anything to work with

anyways so initial initially

initially wow I can’t talk

police did not question

James Mills

Eleanor’s husband

because they thought he was

quote unquote dull

and they honestly

thought he had nothing to do with the murders

he also had a pretty

strong alibi

his neighbors had seen him at home

and they heard him doing some woodwork

now these neighbors weren’t

super close with him so they

would really have no reason to lie

now Francis

the Johnson and Johnson girl

she had an alibi

as well she said that she had been home with her maid

the maid of course

was like yeah she was here

I’m the maid

police are stumped

they really have no

other leads

they’re like

we got nothing

now a few weeks

after the bodies

had been found

a 50 year old woman

her name was

Jane Gibson

she owned a hog farm

right next to

Lovers Lane

it was a lot of land

at that time

so I guess she

would kind of

ride around

on a horse not a hog

but she would

ride around

on her farm

in her land area

and she could ride up to

Lovers Lane

which wasn’t

too far off

so she was on her horse

and she was

riding around the areas

and she reported

on the night

of the killing

to hearing gunshots

and then she

heard a woman

scream Henry

now she believed

that she had seen 2 men

and 2 women

at the scene

before the gunshots

now when miss Gibson

the hog farm lady

came forward

she tells like

all this information

that she she

heard that night

once media got a hold of this

they of course went crazy

they were harassing

this poor lady

who came forward

and then they

ended up giving her

the nickname quote

the pig woman

in the papers

so anytime her

story was referenced

um in the papers

they called her

the pig woman

I would be so pissed

I mean really

I’m trying to help

what are you guys doing

and you’re calling me

the pig woman now

in the media

and whatnot

they were like

just showing all this

upset with her like that

calling her a liar

and saying that

she’s lying

for attention

and just like

attacking this poor woman

who was just

trying to help

if you remember

Francis had her

2 other brothers

Willie and Henry

the witness

reported hearing a woman

scream Henry

before the gunshots

before the gunshots

police go back

and they question

Francis and her brothers

and they actually end up

taking them in

and arresting them

they go in front of her

grand jury and

they end up just

letting them go

because there was

no evidence

pointing to them at all

besides the

witness report

so the case

gets dropped

and they all get let go

for years no one

heard anything

then in 1926

a man named Arthur

this Arthur guy

he was actually

trying to separate

from his wife

at the time

the reason that he

wanted to separate

was because

she kept secrets

now what kind of

secrets was she keeping

well she was hiding

information

about the Hall

Mills murder

now what could this

random ass wife know

about these murders

you know well

this random ass lady

was the former maid

of Francis Hall

remember Francis’s alibi

Arthur said

that his wife

had known that

Edward and Eleanor

had planned to elope

she knew Willie Stevens

had a point

36 caliber pistol

and they also paid this

x made 5 000

to keep her mouth

shut media gets a

hold of this

and of course

it just turns into

a big story

so then the ex made

ex wife now

she comes forward

and she’s like no

my husband’s lying

he’s making all this up

he just wants attention

all of its fake

but at that point

it was way too late

Arthur her ex husband

his statement

had been pushed out

by the press

so I’m sure

the ex made

if it was true

she’s probably

like oh fuck

do I still get to keep my 5 000

because the

media picked up

this statement

and it just

got like crazy

police did actually

reopen the case

and go and investigate

Francis Hall

I’m not exactly sure

how it worked

back then like

I’m assuming

they didn’t need

hardcore evidence

in order to

take you into custody

I guess I should have

looked into that

a little bit more

my bad but on

July 28th 1926

Francis Hall

she was actually

taken into custody

after several hearings

involving more than

50 witnesses

a lot of the

people were just

coming forward

and saying that they

heard something

because they

wanted to be

a part of the story

what is with that

what is with

people doing that

people do that

all the time anyways

and the jury

actually indicted

her brothers

Willie Stevens

and Henry Stevens

as well as their

cousin Henry

so there’s 2 Henrys

so they’re like

it’s gotta be one

the Henry’s

we don’t know

which one it is

so we’re just

gonna take both

of you guys in

okay cool the

trial turned into

a complete spectacle

main Street

was littered with

again these

a bunch of vendors

and they were selling

refreshments

they were selling popcorn

trying to just

sell whatever

they can to

make some money

do you remember

when they found the body

they found Edward’s

business card

which was left

by his feet

and they brought that in

for evidence

prosecutors

stated that

the card had

Willie Stevens

fingerprints

all over it

this same card

had been handled by

curious visitors

to the crime scene

as well as police

I’m not kidding you

when they found the bodies

they were laying

under the crab

apple tree right

they take the

bodies away

of course but

they leave the

evidence there

so the business card

that was found by

Edward’s foot

was left there

and then it was

handed around

when people

came to like

look at the

crime scene

they passed it around

so everybody was

touching it

which is like

not a good piece

of evidence

to have but

they brought

it in anyways

now remember

the pig Lady

remember she

actually like

heard something

and they dubbed her

the Pig Lady

which sucks

but I can’t

remember her name

right now but

they actually

called her to

come testify

miss Gibson

that’s her name

Gibson Jane Gibson

Jane Gibson

she actually

was pretty ill

she was brought in

from the hospital

on a stretcher

and also a doctor

and 2 nurses

came with her

she was carried

into the courtroom

on a stretcher

and placed on an iron

hospital bed

facing the jury box

it’s like theater

during her testimony

her account

of the awful

double murder

her own aged

mother sat in

the front row

of the gallery

and would chime in

yelling quote

she’s a liar

she’s a liar

she’s a liar

again the media

had set her up

Jane Gibson

the Pig Woman

as like a liar

and an evil person

who’s making

this all up

why I don’t know why

they were so

against her

they just like

didn’t wanna

believe it anyway

so her own mom

she’s being

brought in by

a stretcher

and her own mom

is there like

she’s a liar

what the the

drama of it all

defense attacked

Miss Gibson

they attacked her

credibility

pointing out

that she had

gotten a divorce in 1898

for adultery

they questioned her morals

and brought

up the names

of a few ex

lovers trying to

discredit her

and make her out to be

untrustworthy

which it was

kind of working

so then Francis

the Johnson and

Johnson girl

I wanna be part of

the Johnson

and Johnson

family like

that’s fucking

that’s like

money money

she took the stand

and swore that

her husband

was absolutely

devoted to her

after over 80 witnesses

and 5 hours

of deliberation

they found all

4 not guilty

of the murders

of Edward Hall

and Eleanor

Mills the case

to this day

still remains unsolved

now after the

trial had ended

the Stevens

the Johnson

and Johnson family

they ended up

suing both the

Daily Mirror

and the Evening

Journal for

slander and libel

both cases were settled

outside of court

many scholars believe

that this case

was actually

the basis for F

Scott’s it’s

Gerald’s The

Great Gatsby

you know the book

the book was

written 3 years

after the murder

and it takes

place in 1922

so it’s rumored

that the book

is based off

of this unsolved

murder mystery

I could believe it

so that’s the

story about

the Paul Mills

murder mystery

so the case

never was solved

technically

but I think

it was Francis

and like her

brothers um

hello first of all

she’s rich money

can get rid of

anything I mean

ain’t that the

truth come on

if her husband

was having an affair

and they separated

I wonder if

at that time

he would be

receiving money

from her estate

because I’m

sure the family

didn’t want that

and I’m sure the family

didn’t even want

the scandal

in general so

they probably

were able to

get the family

off the hook

shit like that

pisses me off

if you have

money in this

country you

could get away with

murder I mean

we’ve seen it

over and over

and over again

do you think

it was one of

the spouses

what if we’re

looking at the

wrong person

completely and

it was the husband

Eleanor but

what would that

benefit him

I’m not sure

the fact that the

bodies were like

posed seems

kind of like

intimate and

something that a

random stranger

wouldn’t be

comfortable

doing right

or is that just me

and the fact

that Eleanor’s

throat was ripped out

I mean to the

point where

you could see her

effing sorry

I shouldn’t cuss

her neck bone

what the fuck

like where did

her throat go

they never found it

who the fuck

got that the guy

he was a shot

so that makes me

think that it was

probably Francis

because Eleanor

seemed to get

attacked more

Eleanor was shot

3 times versus

the one time

and her throat

was ripped out

so it kind of seems like

somebody was

upset with her

more than Edward

poor Eleanor

thank you so much

for hanging out

with me today

I hope you have a

wonderful day

today you make

good choices

and I’ll be

seeing you guys later bye