Andreas Hall was born around 1824 in Petersburgh, New York. We know almost nothing about his childhood, except that he fell into drinking and stealing early—stealing from close kin and friends, of all people. At 16, he had thoughts about killing someone for money but chickened out. Then, like a plot twist, he had a brief religious awakening. He straightened up for about two years.

Once he came into adulthood, Hall relapsed into robberies. His homicidal thoughts grew darker but remained unrealized—until they didn’t. He confessed to nearly murdering a man he argued with, but again backed off. Life seemed messy and aimless until that fight near Troy in 1847. He was traveling with Franklin Brown—something went south, and Hall killed him in a rage, trembling but decisive. Then he ditched the body in brushlands and fled. Guilt swallowed him. He almost offed himself, but his sister intervened. Hall then married and did random labor jobs.

In 1847, Andreas Hall was on the road near Troy, New York, with a fellow young man named Franklin Brown. The two got into a heated quarrel—unfortunately, the exact cause of their fight isn't recorded. In a sudden wave of rage, Hall lashed out and killed Brown, then rifled through his pockets and took all the valuables he carried. Panicked, Hall dragged the body into some brushlands to hide the evidence, then fled the scene—leaving Franklin forever vanished from memory shortly after that tragic clash. Consumed by guilt, Hall considered ending his own life, but his sister intervened in time, stopping him from taking that final step. Not long after this dark episode, he quietly married and took laborer jobs, trying to rebuild a facade of normalcy in small-town life.

Then, on the ominous night of July 1, 1848, Hall made his move on a new target: an elderly couple named Noah and Amy Smith, both aged 75, living on a remote farm near Petersburgh. Amy was also the aunt of a New York State Representative, Gideon Reynolds—so this attack hit closer to the mark than Hall probably realized. Knowing from prior work that the Smiths hid roughly $1,500 in silver goods, he concocted a deceitful ruse. He carried a wooden spike and paid the couple a midnight visit, claiming their cattle had broken fences and strayed into the meadows. Noah, trusting him, climbed to investigate—but Hall lurked behind and drove the spike straight into Noah’s head, killing him instantly. 

Without missing a beat, Hall returned to the house. He calmly asked Amy for an axe and a glass of water—simple, mundane acts—before unleashing violence. Despite her already critical state, Hall hacked her repeatedly, creating horrific ear‑to‑ear gashes across her neck. The brutality was staggering. After the murder, he helped himself to valuables—cash, silver, and more—totaling around $2,000. Then he vanished, heading for New York City, where he quickly fenced the stolen loot. 

The next morning, worried neighbors tried to check on the Smiths. The locked door forced them to break it down—inside, they found Amy slumped in a chair, drenched in blood. Noah’s body lay in the grass near the barn, unmoving and silent. The dual murders shocked the community, who immediately summoned authorities—and thus began a large-scale search for the perpetrator. 

Just six days later, on July 7, 1848, Hall was arrested in Troy—alongside a peddler of books and newspapers, who was later released. Hall pleaded not guilty to Amy Smith's murder and faced a highly publicized two-week trial in early 1849, conducted alongside the trial of a child killer named Barney O'Donnell. Their cases riveted locals and newspapers alike. Ultimately, both men were found guilty and sentenced to death. 

Hall maintained his innocence for weeks, but on the eve of his execution, he finally confessed—not just to the murders but also to a string of unsolved thefts, burglaries, and arsons across Rensselaer County. Most harrowing of all, he admitted to killing Franklin Brown back in 1847—something no one had suspected. Brown’s father approached Hall, who produced a rough diagram showing where the body was buried. A group of Troy residents followed the map, unearthed the remains, and laid Brown to rest properly.

The curtain closed on March 15, 1849, when Hall and O'Donnell were publicly hanged in Troy.