Murder! Mystery! Outrage! Victor Hall, young railway depot master, married to the strikingly older widow of his former employer, was shot dead in his store just hours after someone torched his competitor's business. The sheriff, state investigator, and railroad detectives suspected Hall's business rival until strange circumstances, rumors of poisoning her first husband and of a freakish love interest fixed suspicion on the innocent widow. Even her own Pinkerton detective turned against her! Arsons, frenzy, and conspiracies forced Mrs. Hall's arrest for murder. Civil unrest forced her exile until trial. Cabal, perjury and media sensation secured conviction and sent the widow to prison leaving daughters to fend for themselves. Reason returned, but convoluted politics barred her release. Embarrassment repressed the statewide sensation that newspapers predicted to become ."" . . one of the most famous criminal cases in Virginia."" Murder At Green Springs The True Story of the Hall Case, Firestorm of Prejudices By J.K. Brandau Morgan James Publishing Copyright © 2007 J.K. Brandau All rights reserved. ISBN: 978-1-60037-288-9 Contents Acknowlegements, Introduction, CHAPTER 1 Someone Shot Victor!, CHAPTER 2 Family Matters, CHAPTER 3 Detectives Put On the Case, CHAPTER 4 Her Very Own Pinkerton Man, CHAPTER 5 But I'm Innocent!, CHAPTER 6 Exile and Cabal, CHAPTER 7 Vortex of Visceral Virtue, CHAPTER 8 Trial by Fire, CHAPTER 9 Truth or Fiddlesticks, CHAPTER 10 A Meal to Gag a Possum, CHAPTER 11 The Newspapers Did It?, CHAPTER 12 Next Stop: Green Springs Depot, CHAPTER 13 Only Ten Years, CHAPTER 14 Post Mortems on a Counter Top, End Notes, Bibliography, Index, CHAPTER 1 SOMEONE SHOT VICTOR! The spring of 1914 was very dry in Louisa County until the evening of April 14th when a northeast wind brought rain in wind driven sheets. Wealthy planters in the Green Springs District welcomed the water. Their relief was rivaled by that of the poor subsistence farmers and sharecroppers living just to the north in the vicinity of Green Springs Depot. Folks there depended on a successful growing season for their very existence. Most of these went to bed that night thanking God for the rain and fell asleep to the narcotic sound of water running off their shake roofs. By midnight nearly an inch had fallen. This was good for the wells and fields. The rain slackened and became intermittent. The wind remained gusty, causing even stout frames to creak with strain. Thick clouds blocked all light from the Easter moon and completed the cliché that it was a dark and stormy night. Fifty-six year old Jennie Hall lived with her brother Nicholas Hall and his wife Ellen in their two-story weatherboard, tin roofed house at Green Springs Depot. Jennie slept soundly, snug beneath the multiple blankets and quilts typical for unheated quarters. Not so typical was her preference to sleep on the davenport in the dining room. Her custom seemed eccentric to some, but sleeping in the dining room distanced her from the snoring upstairs. Shortly after midnight Jennie transitioned from a deep sleep and became conscious of the gusting wind. The pelting rain had stopped. A sudden awareness of light jolted her awake. The window shade glowed with a flickering yellow with light from outside. Fire! Up and to the window in an instant, Jennie raised the shade and saw the blaze beyond their apple orchard, about six hundred yards away. Flames licked above the trees. She could not tell exactly what was burning, but there was fire at the railway. Jennie hurried to the steps and shouted up to her brother's bedroom. Nicholas Hall awoke and sprang to his window. He had a direct line of sight to the blaze. He hollered back to Jennie that Buck Dunkum's store was on fire. Nicholas assured wife Ellen while he quickly pulled on his pants and shoes, tucked in his nightshirt, shouldered his suspenders and rushed downstairs. He grabbed his hat and coat on his way out. The lean, sixty year old farmer hurried between the ruts in the watery lane to the depot. As flames leaped skyward from the rear half of the store, the firelight reflected from the low clouds and illuminated the area to the extent that Nicholas gave no thought to a lantern. Nicholas was first on the scene. Even if a bucket brigade mustered, the store was lost. There was nothing to do but alert Buck and warn son Victor Hall to protect his own store. Nicholas began shouting, "Fire!" He crossed the railroad tracks and hurried toward Dunkum's home. One hundred yards past the burning store, Nicholas reached Buck's house. He pounded on the front door yelling for Buck to wake up. His store was on fire! Mary Dunkum heard the alarm. She shook and shouted her husband awake. Buck opened his eyes to firelight. He sprang out of bed and told his wife to get up and get the children. He thought their house was burning again. However, once on his feet, he could see his store ablaze thro