Ghosts in the Fog

Pickletown Studios

Ghosts in the Fog is a historical true crime podcast exploring forgotten murders, unsolved mysteries, notorious cold cases, and strange crimes from the past. Each episode digs through the history, evidence, suspects, newspaper accounts, and unanswered questions surrounding cases that have faded from public memory.

Episodes

  1. Sep 1

    The Hall-Mills Murders: The Pig Woman, Secret Love Letters and an Unsolved Jazz Age Crime

    Episode SummaryIn September 1922, the bodies of Episcopal minister Edward Hall and choir singer Eleanor Mills were discovered beneath a crabapple tree outside New Brunswick, New Jersey. Both victims were married to other people, and the torn love letters scattered between them exposed a secret affair—and a seemingly obvious motive for murder. What followed was a deeply compromised investigation, a cast of unusual witnesses, relentless tabloid coverage, and a sensational trial that captivated the country. Hall’s wealthy widow and her brothers were eventually accused, but their acquittals left the crime officially unsolved. In this episode of Ghosts in the Fog, we examine the evidence, the infamous witness known as the “Pig Woman,” and the competing theories surrounding one of the Jazz Age’s most scandalous and enduring murder mysteries. ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★ Key Historical Timelines & Insights The Discovery (Sep 16, 1922) The Scene: Young lovers Pearl Bahmer and Raymond Schneider stumble across the bodies of Reverend Edward Wheeler Hall and Eleanor Reinhardt Mills carefully arrayed on their backs beneath a crabapple tree on the abandoned Phillips farm. The Layout: The positioning of the bodies resembled the deliberate work of a mortician. Hall’s face was shielded by a Panama hat, his eyeglasses were speckled with blood, and his personal calling card was explicitly propped against his foot to serve as an immediate curator's label for whoever discovered the corpses. The Brutality: Reverend Hall suffered a single bullet wound above his right ear. Eleanor Mills was shot three times in the head and her throat was severed from ear to ear. Sizzling, penciled love letters were scattered between their bodies.The Complex Lives Behind the Scandal The Reverend: Edward Wheeler Hall, an incredibly charismatic 41-year-old rector of St. John the Evangelist, married Frances Noel Stevens, a proud heiress from New Jersey royalty connected to the Johnson & Johnson dynasty.The Choir Singer: Eleanor Mills, a passionate 34-year-old soprano from the church choir, was trapped in a squalid, monotonous home life with her meek, low-earning husband James "Jimmy" Mills, the church sexton.The Secret: The relationship was a poorly kept secret in the parish, culminating in a fateful meeting on Thursday night, Sep 14, 1922, after Eleanor left a message for Hall regarding an ambiguous medical bill.The Investigation Failures & The "Pig Woman" Crime Scene Corruption: Immediately following the discovery, thousands of curious tourists swarmed the isolated lane, trampling evidence, passing around the calling card, and stripping the crabapple tree of its bark for morbid souvenirs.Jane Gibson's Account: The primary witness for the prosecution in the subsequent 1926 trial was an eccentric local hog farmer labeled "The Pig Woman". She claimed that while riding her mule, Jennie, to pursue a corn thief, she witnessed a violent scuffle and saw Frances Hall kneeling and weeping over the minister's corpse. However, her changing stories and her own mother shouting that she was a liar deeply undermined her credibility.The 47-Year-Old Twist: Julius Bolyog's Secret The Hidden Payoff: In 1969, a 67-year-old retired chemist named Julius Bolyog broke a near half-century silence from his hospital bed. Fearful of being "rubbed out" by local mafiosos, he revealed that less than 48 hours after the murders, he personally carried a $6,000 cash payment (split into two envelopes) from Frances Hall to local hoodlums Ike Gutman and a man known only as "Freddy".The Theory: Police state that Bolyog successfully passed multiple polygraph and psychiatric evaluations. Investigators speculated that this $6,000 might have been a "fee for services rendered"—potentially to abduct and scare the lovers—which unintentionally escalated into a double homicide.Critical Artifacts & Evidence The Calling Card: Found propped against Hall's foot, bearing the fingerprints of Frances Hall's eccentric, walrus-mustachioed brother, Willie Stevens—a primary suspect who frequently played with neighborhood children and was obsessed with local fire department equipment.The Forgotten Sovereignty: Because the crime occurred on a border, a jurisdictional battle erupted between Somerset and Middlesex counties, drastically impeding the early, critical hours of the forensic tracking.Primary Archival Materials & Documents Used Careless People: Murder, Mayhem, and the Invention of The Great Gatsby by Sarah Churchwell (2013, Penguin Press HC). Explores the immediate financial and cultural impact of the 1922 New York area murder context on F. Scott Fitzgerald's planning of his masterpiece.Blood & Ink: The Scandalous Jazz Age Double Murder that Hooked America on True Crime by Joe Pompeo (2022, William Morrow). A comprehensive forensic narrative utilizing newly opened prosecutor files and local histories detailing the timeline of the defendants and family trees.Hall-Mills Murder WINS Broadcast Transcript (Approx. 1969, New Brunswick Free Public Library). Contains direct radio interview transcripts with Julius Bolyog, detailing the $6,000 envelope handoff, and conversations with detective George Saloom regarding the open status of the case.The Minister and the Choir Singer: The Hall-Mills Murder Case by William Moses Kunstler (1964, William Morrow & Company). An in-depth evaluation of the multi-week 1926 trial transcripts, defense attorney responses, and cross-examinations of the "Pig Woman".

  2. Apr 6

    George Joseph Smith and the Brides in the Bath

    In this episode, we deconstruct the investigation and trial of George Joseph Smith, one of the most calculated serial killers in British history. We explore how Detective Inspector Arthur Neil and renowned pathologist Dr. Bernard Spilsbury solved the riddle of the "silent death"—three women found drowned in bathtubs with no signs of a struggle. From the dangerous diving experiments used to prove the murder method to the chaotic scenes at the Old Bailey, we follow the timeline from Smith's arrest in Feb 1915 to his final moments at the gallows. Key Highlights: The "No Struggle" Mystery: How investigators realized a "phenomenal coincidence" was actually a series of precise murders.The Diving Experiment: The terrifying discovery of how a sudden maneuver could cause instant unconsciousness.Spilsbury’s Syncope Theory: The forensic breakthrough regarding "vagoinhibition" and cardiovascular collapse.Legal History: The significance of "evidence of system" in the trial of the century.The Final Verdict: Smith’s courtroom outbursts and his execution at Maidstone Prison. Sources: The Daily Graphic (London, England), May 13, 1915, Page 12The Daily Telegraph (London, England), Apr 09, 1915, Page 6Watson, Eric R., LL.B., ed. Trial of George Joseph Smith. Notable British Trials Series. Edinburgh and London: William Hodge & Company, Ltd., 1922Evening Herald (Plymouth, England), Apr 16, 1915, Page 4Rose, Andrew. Lethal Witness: Sir Bernard Spilsbury, Honorary Pathologist. Kent, Ohio: The Kent State University Press, 2009Evening Standard (London, England), May 06, 1915, Page 4The Times (London, England), Mar 24, 1915, Page 4Evening Standard (London, England), May 07, 1915, Page 4The Daily Telegraph (London, England), Jul 02, 1915, Page 9Evening Post (Bristol, England), Feb 13, 1915, Page 21The Daily Telegraph (London, England), Feb 09, 1915, Page 4Sunday Dispatch (London, England), Aug 01, 1915, Page 8The Daily Graphic (London, England), May 07, 1915, Page 12Evening Herald (Plymouth, England), Feb 08, 1915, Page 2Evening Standard (London, England), Apr 29, 1915, Page 12Evening Standard (London, England), Mar 23, 1915, Page 4The Daily Graphic (London, England), Jun 30, 1915, Page 12Evening Standard (London, England), Feb 08, 1915, Page 5Sunday Dispatch (London, England), Jun 27, 1915, Page 5Western Mail (Cardiff, Wales), May 08, 1915, Page 7The Daily Telegraph (London, England), Apr 22, 1915, Page 12Sunday Dispatch (London, England), May 02, 1915, Page 7Evening Post (Nottingham, England), Feb 08, 1915, Page 2The Times (London, England), Mar 24, 1915, Page 20The Daily Telegraph (London, England), Apr 16, 1915, Page 5South Wales Argus (Newport, Wales), Apr 16, 1915, Page 4The Times (London, England), Jul 02, 1915, Page 20Basingstoke and North Hampshire Gazette (Basingstoke, England), Apr 24, 1915, Page 3The Daily Graphic (London, England), Jul 01, 1915, Page 3The Buffalo News (Buffalo, NY), Aug 13, 1915, Page 12The Daily Graphic (London, England), Jun 25, 1915, Page 11The Daily Telegraph (London, England), Jun 28, 1915, Page 15Herald of Wales, etc. (Swansea, Wales), May 08, 1915, Page 7The Daily Telegraph (London, England), May 21, 1915, Page 12Bradford Weekly Telegraph (Bradford, England), May 07, 1915, Page 16The Tiverton Gazette, East Devon Herald, etc. (Tiverton, England), Mar 30, 1915, Page 6The Daily Telegraph (London, England), Mar 30, 1915, Page 5The Tiverton Gazette, East Devon Herald, etc. (Tiverton, England), Feb 16, 1915, Page 6Herald of Wales, etc. (Swansea, Wales), Mar 13, 1915, Page 10The Daily Telegraph (London, England), Jun 30, 1915, Page 4Bradford Weekly Telegraph (Bradford, England), May 14, 1915, Page 15Belfast Evening Telegraph (Belfast, Northern Ireland), Apr 16, 1915, Page 7The Daily Graphic (London, England), Sep 24, 1915, Page 2The Daily Graphic (London, England), Feb 09, 1915, Page 14The Daily Graphic (London, England), Jul 30, 1915, Page 15Liverpool Echo (Liverpool, England), May 07, 1915, Page 6Evening Post (Bristol, England), Feb 09, 1915, Page 6The Daily Telegraph (London, England), May 07, 1915, Page 12Swindon Advertiser (Swindon, England), May 08, 1915, Page 4The Daily Telegraph (London, England), Mar 24, 1915, Page 6The Western Times (Exeter, England), Feb 09, 1915, Page 8Eastern Daily Press (Norwich, England), Feb 09, 1915, Page 2Bradford Weekly Telegraph (Bradford, England), Feb 12, 1915, Page 13Evening Standard (London, England), Apr 22, 1915, Page 4The Guardian (London, England), May 07, 1915, Page 9Evening Express (Liverpool, England), May 07, 1915, Page 5The Daily Telegraph (London, England), May 08, 1915, Page 4The Guardian (London, England), Mar 24, 1915, Page 7The Daily Graphic (London, England), Mar 03, 1915, Page 10Evening Express (Liverpool, England), May 06, 1915, Page 4The Guardian (London, England), Jun 23, 1915, Page 3Greenock Telegraph (Greenock, Scotland), May 08, 1915, Page 3The Daily Telegraph (London, England), Jun 26, 1915, Page 4 ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

    George Joseph Smith and the Brides in the Bath
  • 2 Episodes

About

Ghosts in the Fog is a historical true crime podcast exploring forgotten murders, unsolved mysteries, notorious cold cases, and strange crimes from the past. Each episode digs through the history, evidence, suspects, newspaper accounts, and unanswered questions surrounding cases that have faded from public memory.

Information

  • Creator
    Pickletown Studios
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    2
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Pickletown Studios
  • Show Website
    Ghosts in the Fog