Early on the morning of 19 September 1910, Clarence Hiller's wife noticed that a light which they usually left on was off. When Clarence went to investigating, he came across a stranger at the top of the stairs. The stranger had broken in and was about to burgle the house. Hiller and the stranger started to fight, but the stranger had a gun. He shot Holler twice and ran away. Hiller's wife ran to him when she heard the gunshots but found him dead. Soon after, the police arrested a man named Thomas Jennings not fat from the Hillers' house.