Daily Casefile · Verdict
The Halloway Hotel Fire
≈ 6 min
At 2:30 AM on Tuesday, the Halloway Hotel furnace room went up. The fire marshal says accelerant. The owner has filed a claim against a fire policy he renewed six weeks before, at double his old coverage. The county has charged the night manager, Marcus Hale, with arson on the strength of one witness who places him outside the building with a fuel can shortly before the alarm. The jury — that's you — must decide if the prosecution has met its burden, and which testimony, weighed against the physical evidence, settles the question.
Subject
Marcus Hale, night manager
Charged with First-degree arson
The scene
Halloway Hotel, Atlantic City — November 1947
The witnesses
- Eleanor Briggs — Hotel bookkeeper
- Pat Dunn — Night porter
- Floyd Tilden — City fire marshal
- Vera Bell — Overnight guest, Room 309
Play today’s Verdict.
This case first aired on May 12, 2026. A fresh verdict runs every morning — same rules, five minutes, one solution.