This Day in History: 1940-12-15

Oliver Ennis, 38 of Valley Road, was accused of having killed his wife with a knife. The couple had been married less than a month. He alleged that he had caught “another man” coming out of her bedroom at 3:10 pm. When Ennis was indicted by the Bergen County Grand Jury, his chief accuser was the man he accused of misconduct with his wife, his neighbor from across the hall, William Moore. Also testifying was Thomas Adams, of Valley Road, Mahwah, the leader of the Zion Church Choir, who testified that the couple had a loud argument over two corset. Ennis was held in County Jail for trial at a later date. They had lived together for some time before their marriage, and Ennis asserted that he had lived with two men before him. Ennis claimed, that he had found Moore alone with his wife in the bedroom. She had threatened him with a carving knife, while Moore escaped. Ennis admitted to the Ramsey Journal reporter, that he had stabbed a man in 1932 and had wielded a knife on several occasions. The couple lived over a store on Valley Road. His wife lived only 15 minutes after being admitted to the Hospital. Ennis freely confessed the details of the stabbing to Chief Charles E. Smith and the Ramsey Journal reporter Gene J. Kownacki. (Bristow)