Given that The Daily Mirror was largely responsible for bringing the case back from cold case files, it seems somewhat fitting that the trial that followed was a tabloid rag’s dream. However, other major papers assigned reporters to cover the case, too, with The New York Times even sending a team of four, per The Yale Review. The trial featured all kinds of fodder, including the love letters between Edward Wheeler Hall and Eleanor Mills being read into the record and even Frances Hall herself taking the stand in her defense. On the stand, Frances’ relaxed demeanor earned her the nickname The Iron Widow.
A character in the trial with a far less flattering nickname was Jane Gibson, who became known to history as The Pig Woman, per Rutgers University. She lived on a farm and raised pigs, hence the nickname. Gibson became an important witness in the case as she alleged that she had seen the murder take place while hiding in an attempt to catch whoever had been stealing her corn. Adding to the spectacle was the fact that by the time the case went to trial, Gibson was practically on her death bed, withering away from a bout with cancer, and had to be wheeled into the courtroom on a stretcher and constantly tended to by a medical team.
The case lasted for three weeks, and while it had all makings of a proper spectacle, it lacked hard evidence. Hall and both of her brothers were acquitted. To this day, the case remains unsolved and is largely forgotten about, despite the international attention it received at the time.
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