Welcome back to another season of That’s How the Story Goes, this time: Ghost Hunt edition. I’m your host, Erin Bogert, and in this ten episode series, I will be bringing you short radio plays through which the events of the Hall-Mills murders of 1922 will be brought back to life, so to speak.

Now, if you’re new here, don’t worry, because before we really begin, I want to spend just a little bit of time going back to the beginning. So let’s start with the Hall-Mills murders.

In the early 1920s, in New Brunswick, NJ, Reverend Edward Hall and choir singer Eleanor Mills were having an extra-marital affair. Police would later discover that there were few members of their church--the church of Saint John the Evangelist--who were not aware of the torrid romance occuring in the tiny Episcopal parish. In September of 1922, the priest and choir singer were murdered in a ruthless double homicide that was never solved. Obviously, their respective spouses became the prime suspects. Edward had been married to the fabulously wealthy Frances Stevens Hall, while Eleanor had married Edward Hall’s sexton (a sort of grounds-keeper for the church), a lanky, somewhat dim fellow named James Mills. The police quickly ruled James Mills out as a suspect--he had a locktight alibi. Frances Stevens Hall, however would eventually be put on trial for murder, along with her brothers, by a special prosecutor. But the star witness--a woman the press referred to as ‘‘the pig lady,’ failed to persuade the jury. And the case remains open to this day with little hope of ever being solved.

A few years ago, this compelling true crime story caught the eye of local theater group Thinkery & Verse, when artists JM Meyer and Karen Alvarado had their son baptized at the church of St. John the Evangelist. Yes, the very church where Edward Hall and Eleanor Mills worked and worshipped when they were alive. And when theater makers are presented with an interesting story? Well, they tell it.

It started with Thou Shalt Not, an immersive, site-specific play that reimagined the events of the Hall-Mills murders in theater-form. (This was my first involvement with the story too, when I was cast as one of the ensemble members of the show, primarily playing Pearl Bahmer, who’ll meet in this iteration of the project, too.)

In this first episode, we will be traveling to Lake Hopatcong, the last known location where Edward Hall, Eleanor Mills, and Frances Stevens Hall were seen alive together. Along with Sunday school teacher Minnie Clark they had all traveled together to this lake on September 13th, 1922, the day before Edward Hall and Eleanor Mills became the two victims in the Hall-Mills double homicide. The ostensive reason for the trip was to reward Eleanor Mills and Minnie Clarke with a day-trip for their hard work of holding together the parish while the wealthy Edward and Frances Hall had vacationed in Maine for the entire month of August. At the lake, the (supposedly) secret lovers intended to enjoy a day trip on what turned out to be their last full day alive. Wonder what was said and unsaid? Well, keep listening to hear whispers of these voices from the past.

This episode was brought to you by the New Brunswick Historical Society, Thinkery & Verse, and Butch Mermaid Productions. Grant funding has been provided by the Middlesex County board of chosen freeholders through a grant award from the Middlesex Cultural and Arts Trust Fund. Our theme music this season comes from Blimp66 of Freesound.org. Today’s radio play was edited by Kendall Perry, written by Johnny Meyer, and directed by Kaitlin Ormerod Hutson and Karen Alvarado. Our featured voice talent include Rebecca Servon, Kaitlin Ormerod Hutson, Ania Upstill, Joey Sponseller, and Karen Alvarado.

S03 E01: Introducing 'Ghost Hunt' -- A visit to Lake Hopatcong