Tillie Smith

On April 9, 1886, 18-year-old Tillie Smith, a domestic who lived and worked at Centenary Collegiate Institute in Hackettstown was raped and strangled. Her body was left in an open field in plain view.

(Photo courtesy Denis Sullivan)

A man driving a red Honda along Grand Avenue brakes and peers toward the sidewalk in Hackettstown.



A few shoppers on Main Street stop mid-purchase and press their faces against the windows, cupping their hands around their eyes to cut the sun's glare.

Even a chocolate Lab seems to give an extra sniff or two before being tugged away by a woman in a white jacket.

Hackettstown's David Rountree and his girlfriend, Tracy Ray, weren't fazed by all the odd looks they got Saturday as they traced what are believed to be the final steps of Matilda "Tillie" Smith, a kitchen maid at Centenary College whose beaten body was discovered April 9, 1886.

Rountree, whose use of scientific instrumentation has made him one of the nation's leading paranormal investigators, and Ray, a psychic medium empath who says she receives information from what people might call spirits, are compelled to push past the naysayers and disbelievers by a mix of duty and fascination with the unknown.

"I do it because it's my gift and whatever's brought my way, I feel there's a purpose behind it," Ray said. "Do I get heartbroken, sad and cry? Yeah, I do, but it's about telling that story. It's about telling that story that needs to be told."

"We can now map the information emerging and coming to her," Rountree said. "So we're on the verge of literally being able to test the psychic medium and telling if they're real or fakes through scientific means."

Walking eastward on Main Street past the mom and pop dinettes and thrift shops, past more curious stares, Rountree has left the machine that picks up electromagnetic fields back at a truck. The newly installed batteries have inexplicably stopped working.

But Ray, like a radio picking up a signal, has begun to receive information from Tillie.

Tillie, whose apparition has been seen on campus over the years, apparently cannot rest until justice is done. Maintenance worker James Titus served 19 years for the crime but Rountree and Ray believe he was innocent. Earlier this year, their investigation at the Seay Administration Building revealed that Frank Weeder, Tillie's jilted boyfriend, was the murderer.

So Rountree and Ray are determined to, as he put it, "get the truth out."

Even if it takes a toll on Ray.

At various points of the investigation Saturday, Ray grows angry and frightened. Other times, she is choking back tears. Turning down Church Street, she is filled with dread.

"She definitely knows something bad is going to happen," Ray says.

When she stops to catch her breath, the group in tow pauses with her. Science professor Karl Hricko is taping the investigation to use for an episode of "Science on the Edge," a Centenary TV production.

A few people who saw Rountree and Ray's recent presentation at the Warren County Library have tagged along. One of them, Karen Leahey, of Hope Township, is a believer after Ray recently gave her a psychic reading in which she mentioned her son by name, her mother-in-law's nickname and referenced white roses and gardenias that are on display in her home.

Tillie guides Ray and the group back to the college, to a paved road running between Trevorrow Hall and Taylor Library. Ray says this is where Tillie was attacked by Weeder.

"If I can't have you, no one will," said Ray, picking up the fateful words of Weeder that night.

Then the mystery deepens. Ray is convinced that there's a pin that Tillie wore still in the ground under the road. Rountree said he would love to get permission someday to excavate the site -- and lend physical credence to Ray's psychic impression.

Saturday's investigation ends up at Tillie's resting place at the highest point of Union Cemetery. The 12-foot-tall monument marking her grave was created by an outpouring of generosity from people across the world. It has been adorned with Halloween-themed tinsel, a plastic pumpkin and a stuffed scarecrow. A cartoonish scarecrow on a stake is wedged into the ground nearby.

But again, there's an eerie twist -- could it be that Tillie was not buried beneath the monolithic headstone?

It becomes clearer in a moment. Ray follows the trail about 50 yards, down to a patch of grass on the side of a slope. She believes this was the site where Tillie was originally given a pauper's grave.

It seems that Tillie has gravitated back to this area, trying to get away from Weeder, who continues to torment her.

"She likes it here," Ray said. "She's more at peace here."