Two Girls One Ghost – Episode 355: Pig Lady Road & the Hall-Mills Murders

Date: January 11, 2026
Hosts: Corinne Vien & Sabrina Deana-Roga

Main Theme Overview

In this captivating episode, Corinne and Sabrina dig into one of New Jersey’s most infamous urban legends: Pig Lady Road. They explore its origins, how its many versions reflect local anxieties, and then dramatically connect it to a real-life unsolved crime—the Hall-Mills double murder of 1922. What starts as a spooky tale of a half-pig, half-woman apparition haunting teenagers transforms into a detailed true crime journey, one that exposes the dark underbelly of privilege, class divides, and injustice in Prohibition-era America. The episode is rich with banter, haunting speculation, and emotional investment in the marginalized woman at the center of it all, Jane Gibson—the so-called "Pig Woman."

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Opening Banter & Setting the Scene

• [01:18] Sabrina and Corinne riff about their podcast chemistry, their history of spooking listeners, and complaints about their chit-chat. Sabrina dives in quickly, introducing New Jersey folklore as foundational to her upbringing.
  • “If you were born in New Jersey, like little old me, you are no stranger to the weird New Jersey tales.” – Sabrina [02:23]
• Relatable nostalgia surfaces: new driver anxieties, push-up bras, late-night drives, and Ke$ha on the radio—a set-up for entering the spooky mindset.

2. The Legend of Pig Lady Road

• [05:19] Sabrina introduces the legend:
  • Multiple roads in New Jersey are said to be haunted by a grotesquely disfigured "Pig Lady," who may appear if you honk your horn or follow certain ritualistic behaviors—flashing headlights, shouting her name, or even abandoning a friend on the side of the road to lure her out.
  • The hosts gleefully debate who among their listeners would be the one to get out of the car as the "sacrifice." They joke about their own willingness (or lack thereof) to participate in such an ordeal.
    • "You’d have to pry me out of the car… If I get out of the car: 911. I was abandoned. Kidnappers are on their way." – Corinne [11:01]

3. Origins and Variations of the Pig Lady Legend

• [11:35] Sabrina lays out several alleged backstories:
  • A decapitated wife whose head was never found.
  • A girl so "grotesque" her father put a pig’s head on her.
  • A maid from the wealthy Duke family disfigured in a fire, hiding in woods ever after.
  • An enraged pig farmer murdering teens who tormented her.
• The hosts acknowledge the sexism and tragedy underlying the fables.
  • “All of these versions are awful and tragic, from murders to just belittling women based on their appearance.” – Sabrina [14:39]

4. Urban Legend Meets True Crime: The Hall-Mills Murders

• [15:00] Sabrina contends that Pig Lady Road’s mythology grew from the real case of the Hall-Mills murders (1922, Somerset County, NJ).
• [17:39 and on] She narrates in detail:
  • Two lovers (a reverend and a choir singer, both married to others) are found shot and staged beneath a crabapple tree.
  • The crime scene is theatrical—torn love letters strewn about, indicating a crime of passion and revenge.
  • Media sensation and a deeply class-divided community ensure the case is widely publicized but never solved.
    • “He was more than just a reverend. He was people’s friend.” – Sabrina [25:56]
  • The murders even inspired elements of The Great Gatsby.

5. The Victims, Affair, and Timeline

• [24:08] Reverend Edward Hall and Eleanor Mills—church community pillars, star-crossed lovers, secret correspondents.
  • Sabrina reads aloud one of their emotional love letters. [30:57]
• Detailed reconstruction of their final hours and discovery of their bodies. The hosts discuss 1920s social norms around marriage and affairs.

6. Mishandled Investigation & Powerful Suspects

• [36:18] The crime scene is contaminated; evidence is tampered with or goes missing.
  • “Looky-loos were literally stripping pieces of the crabapple tree for souvenirs and trampling all over the crime scene, contaminating it.” – Sabrina [37:18]
• Suspects: the victims’ spouses (James Mills and Frances Hall), Frances’s influential brothers, even the Ku Klux Klan and mysterious "Italians."
• James Mills is quickly cleared with alibi witnesses, while suspicion grows toward Frances Hall, whose alibi—a maid’s testimony—proves deeply questionable.

7. The Pig Woman: Jane Gibson

• [49:40] Enter Jane Gibson, the marginalized pig farmer and key witness.
  • Explains how "Pig Woman" moniker in media undermines her credibility.
  • Jane claims she saw Frances Hall and her brothers at the crime scene that night, heard shots, and saw Eleanor Mills chased and executed.
    • "She claimed the people she saw that night were Frances Hall, her two brothers… and their cousin." – Sabrina [55:17]
• The hosts lament the misogynist and classist treatment of Jane in press and law:
  • "If papers and media are calling this woman the Pig Woman, they're not giving credibility to her at all." – Corinne [49:56]

8. Cover-ups, Bribery, and Failed Justice

• [59:43] Four years later, the house of cards finally cracks—a maid’s husband reveals under oath that the maid lied to provide Frances an alibi and had been paid off.
  • Evidence, now largely missing, makes prosecution difficult.
• Trial is a media circus; Jane Gibson is wheeled into court on her deathbed. Despite her testimony, all defendants are acquitted.
  • “I wish I could say justice was served, but no. By the end of the trial…every single one of them was acquitted. Not a single person was found guilty.” – Sabrina [62:49]

9. Aftermath & Legend-Building

• The infamous case’s lack of closure, class privilege, media spectacle, and mistreatment of Jane Gibson ferment into new local lore.
  • “She stopped being a real person in the public eye. She became a character.” – Sabrina [65:16]
• The Pig Woman haunts the roads of New Jersey in legend, a tragedy-tinged specter.

10. Connecting Legend, Haunting & Literary Legacy

• [66:03] The hosts note that the murder scene is reputedly haunted (cold spots, cries, apparitions).
• They discuss how the themes from the Hall-Mills case—infidelity, class divides, social hypocrisy—inspired The Great Gatsby’s atmosphere and narrative.

Notable Quotes & Moments

• On pig lady rituals:
  • “You abandon your friend after screaming ‘Pig Lady’… Probably to comfort your friend, who is terrified.” – Corinne [08:50]
• On true origins:
  • “What if this isn’t a story about a disfigured woman?… What if this is about a woman who worked on a pig farm that was witness to a sensational crime, true crime, that is to this day, still unsolved?” – Sabrina [14:55]
• On Jane Gibson’s role:
  • “Jane Gibson stuck to her story… But Jane was prior to this, she’s a poor pig farmer… so much so that reporters took to calling her the Pig Woman.” – Sabrina [54:06]
• On failed justice:
  • “All that came from this case was tragedy and a clear message that if you have enough power or money, you can literally get away with murder.” – Sabrina [65:16]

Timestamps for Key Segments

| Segment | Timestamp | |----------------------------------|-------------| | The Pig Lady legend introduced | [05:19] | | Rituals to summon the Pig Lady | [07:04] | | Origins & urban legend backstories | [11:35] | | Transition to the Hall-Mills murders | [15:00] | | Crime scene description | [19:54] | | Victims’ backgrounds | [24:08] | | Crime scene contamination/media circus | [36:18] | | Introduction of Jane Gibson | [49:40] | | Jane’s eyewitness account | [51:48] | | Coverup/maid’s husband confession| [59:43] | | Jane’s deathbed testimony | [62:17] | | All acquitted; legend builds | [65:16] | | Closing thoughts on Gatsby & legends | [66:40] | | Listener story: GPS & the Pine Barrens | [68:24] |

Listener Story Feature

• [67:37] New Jersey tale from listener Alana ("Possessed GPS" in the Pine Barrens). A navigation system seems to reroute their car through a creepy cemetery, leading to family chills and historical discoveries.

Tone & Style Observations

• Conversational, irreverent, emotionally invested.
• Banter and dark humor thread through the episode (“You’d have to pry me out of the car…”).
• Compassionate for marginalized figures—especially Jane Gibson—deepening the real-life moral implications.
• Balance of spooky, tragic, and analytical—underscoring the human cost behind local legends.

Conclusion

This episode deftly connects urban legend and true crime, showing how the monstrous tales haunting rural roads are social echoes of trauma, injustice, and community memory. Through their engaging storytelling, Corinne and Sabrina honor both the spectral Pig Lady of folklore and the all-too-human Pig Woman erased by history.
Takeaway: “Keep it weird” has a cost—sometimes, it’s the truth behind the stories we tell to scare ourselves and explain what haunts us.

For fans of: true crime, urban mysteries, feminist history, media critique, New Jersey oddities, and the blending of the supernatural with real-life injustice.