The body, though damaged, showed signs of a murder. She had been beaten and strangled. Once the sheriff was able to find Monty, who had moved to California a few days after Hallie disappeared to live with a rich Port Angeles paper executive's daughter, Elinore Pearson, the interrogation began. They were able to get enough on Monte to bring him to trial at the Port Angeles Courthouse on February 11, 1942.
Harry Brooks, who ran another lodge on the lake, had loaned Monty fifty feet of rope after Hallie's disappearance. Some of the rope Monte used to tie Hallie's body with was still intact and matched Brooks' rope. The real identifying factor, however was a gold dental plate Dr. Albert McDowell, a South Dakota dentist, made for Hallie when she was younger. He identified it at the trial. They also got information from Monty that Hallie had bunions on her feet; those were still intact.
The jury deliberated for four hours and found Monty guilty of 2nd degree murder on March 5, 1942. They determined, because of his abusive nature, it was not premeditated. He served only nine years and was paroled in 1951, then lived his life out in California until 1974.
Though I didn't know it until I was an adult, my grandmother was on the jury, one of two women. The trial was sensational and even today the "Lady of the Lake" brings a chill when I think of it. Folks in my father's generation still talk about it.
A Kentucky farm girl who came to Washington State in search of a better life found death an escape from spousal abuse on a pre-Christmas evening in 1937 in a beautiful northwest Washington location. Her legacy as "Soap Lady" or "Lady of the Lake" lives on.
I still don't like Lake Crescent.
For a more ghostly rendition of this story read Jessica Amanda Salmonson's tale at: http://www.gorp.com/gorp/features/hallow... - it will really get you going!
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