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Case File: Halliday, Paul (1893)
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ALL DREAD MYSTERY
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Riddle of the Slain Women at
Burlingham Unread
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And No Clue Yet to the Fate of
Paul Halliday
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New York Stamps on the Clothing
of One of the Dead.
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MIDDLETOWN, NY, Sept 5 – There is still dense mystery as to the identity and circumstances of death of the two women whose bodies were found yesterday in the barn of Paul Halliday, near Burlingham, Sullivan County, twelve miles from this city.
Halliday himself is still missing, and his wife is under arrest on suspicion of having committed the murders.
It was the disappearance of Halliday that led to the finding of the dead bodies of the women. He had not been seen about the neighborhood since Wednesday, and his son, Paul Halliday, Jr., who lives in the vicinity, started the inquiry as to his whereabouts.
Mrs. Halliday’s story was that her husband had purchased a bit of land at Bloomingburg, and had gone there to build a house upon it. The young man did not believe the story, and at once suspected his step-mother of murdering his father.
He and his friends watched the house on Sunday night, and they say no one entered or left the place after Mrs. Halliday came home from a neighbor’s Sunday afternoon. In the morning young Halliday again went to the house and inquired for his father, and was told that he had spent Sunday at home, but had just left for Bloomingburg in company with the mason.
A search warrant was then obtained and placed in the hands of Constable Joe Scott, who was also provided with a warrant for the woman’s arrest. Mrs. Halliday was found engaged in washing blood from the rag carpet which had covered the floor. There was also a bloody rope lying in a pail of water which she was using.
Mrs. Halliday refused to admit the men to the house, threatening to kill them if they attempted to enter. The only weapon at hand was a piece of board, and with this she struck Mr. Canfield on the hand. She was at once disarmed, and then gave up all show of fight.
The hay loft in the barn was first overhauled, and then one of the party noticed a quantity of loose hay in a cow stall in the basement of the barn. This was thrown off, and revealed a heap of fresh refuse, beneath which the women’s bodies were found.
The bodies lay side by side, and wrapped in old rags.
Word was sent to Coroner Roesch, and the report of the ghastly find spread rapidly all over the country, so that crowds of people soon gathered from far and near. The excitement was intense. The Coroner impanelled a jury, which viewed the bodies and the inquest was adjourned until to-day.
The bodies were then carried to the house, where the rags in which they had been wrapped were removed. The feet of both were tied together and the hands were folded across the breast and tied. The only article of clothing on either was a gauze vest.
The first body placed upon an improvised table for examination was that of a woman apparently thirty or thirty-five years old. The physicians gave as their opinion that she had been dead at least four or five days, and possibly longer. The manner of death was apparent at once, for there were no less than eight bullet holes in the left breast in the region of the heart, within a space that could be covered by the hand. The woman was five feet tall, quite fleshy and had auburn hair and brown eyes.
The second body was that of a girl apparently eighteen to twenty years of age, five feet three inches tall, light hair, blue eyes, and fairly good looking. But for the fact that a watch had been kept upon the house Sunday afternoon and night, the physicians would all have declared that she had not been dead twenty-four hours. There were six wounds in the left side over the heart. At least three bullets passed through the heart and others through the lungs. Another ball had passed through the right wrist, probably when the woman raised her hand to ward off a second shot. The young woman’s hands were soft and her nails well manicured. A flannel shirt and clothing found in the house supposed to belong to her were of good quality. A mark upon the third finger of the left hand indicated that she had been accustomed to wear a ring. The clothing found consisted of a light sack, striped waist, red skirt, and under waist, corset and underclothing, on some of which were the trade mark of Stern & Co of New York.
No clothing that was supposed to have belonged to the other woman was found. The impression prevails at Burlingham that both of the murdered women were city boarders. The bullets taken from the bodies and one found upon the floor were of 32-calibre. No pistol was found, although Mrs. Halliday said her husband had two revolvers, and she supposed they would be found in the house.
Two shovels and a crowbar in the house had fresh earth upon them, which gave rise to the impression that Halliday’s body had been buried. Another theory is that Mrs. Halliday, after murdering her husband, burned his body in the kitchen stove. There were found pieces of charred bones and a mass of ashes believed to have been made from burning flesh. The story that Halliday has been put out of the way is strengthened by the fact that his best suit of clothes, his best hat and shoes and also his old hat and boots that he wore at his work were all found in the house.
T. R. Hart, a young lawyer from New York, tendered his services to Mrs. Halliday as counsel and advised her to say nothing. Up to that time she had been as rational as anybody, but at once began playing the crazy act. Paul Halliday was for many years a resident of this city, and was employed in the saw factory. His first wife made him a good home, and was a good mother to his children. About twenty years ago Halliday sold his little property in this city and bought a wild place on the mountain above Burlingham, where he engaged in burning charcoal.
After a few years the family removed to Providence, RI, where Halliday was employed as engineer in the office of the Providence Journal. After a number of years he returned to this old place on the mountain. His wife died some six or seven years ago, and after remaining a widower for a short time, he married a woman said to be a gypsy, who has made his old age as wretched as that of any man could be.
About three years ago, while Halliday was in this city with a load of charcoal, his house on the mountains was destroyed by fire. His youngest son, a half-witted fellow, perished in the flames. There were those who said that his devil of a wife had made away with the boy and burned the house to conceal her crime, but there was no positive proof to sustain the charge.
About two years ago Mrs. Halliday disappeared from her mountain home, and when next heard of was in Newburg under arrest for stealing a horse. While in jail she displayed symptoms of violent insanity, and though some through she was shamming, she was sent to an insane asylum from which she was released in May last.
