 While in jail, it was reported that people in Springfield speculated that Hallam's husband, unable to cope with her allegedly being raped by a black man, would leave her.False rumors also began to circulate that Hallam had "positively identified" Richardson, and that he had confessed to committing the crime.It was reported that because three other young women lived nearby, that the black man was "waiting to catch the first one of the three" that stepped outside.