Saturday, May 4, 2024

Unsolved Villisca Axe Murders of 1912

villisca murder house

According to reports, Moore took a good number of Frank’s business with him, including a John Deere dealership. Moore also allegedly had a sexual affair with Jones’ daughter-in-law, although there’s no evidence to support the latter claim. However, two years after the murder, Kelly was arrested for sending inappropriate materials through mail to a lady he harassed. He was eventually sent to St. Elizabeth’s hospital in Washington, D.C. Seven of the eight victims died in their sleep, but 12-year-old Lena Stillinger was presumed to have still been awake when the killer attacked. Wounds on her body revealed that there may have been some struggle between her and the attacker.

Villisca Axe Murder House

Moore and Peckham contacted Hank Horton, Viscillia’s primary peace officer who arrived shortly after. The officer’s search of the house would reveal all six members of the Moore family, and the two Stillinger girls had been murdered. Police discovered a plate of food and a bowl of bloody water on the kitchen table, which the killer might have used to wash his hands. He also searched through the drawers and found garments to cover various surfaces in the house, including mirrors and glass panels in the doors.

Henry Lee Moore

Villisca: A nice, quiet town known for ax murder house - Ames Tribune

Villisca: A nice, quiet town known for ax murder house.

Posted: Fri, 29 Mar 2013 07:00:00 GMT [source]

"From my understanding he was alone in the northwest bedroom, and the rest of the party was outside, and he called for help on their mobile, two-way radios," Sampson told me. His companions found him stabbed in the chest—an apparently self-inflicted wound—called 9-1-1, and Laursen was brought to a nearby hospital before being helicoptered to Creighton University Medical Center in Omaha. After the Linns opened the house to the public, visitors reported all manner of unexplainable phenomena, from feelings of dread, to sounds such as footprints and children’s laughter. Some have recorded engagement with spirits and two-way communication. One man even experienced an inexplicable self-inflicted knife wound.

The Spookiest House in Iowa - The Villisca Ax Murder House - KHMO News-Talk-Sports

The Spookiest House in Iowa - The Villisca Ax Murder House.

Posted: Tue, 19 Oct 2021 07:00:00 GMT [source]

William Mansfield

However, most strangely of all was that the killer left a four-pound slab of bacon in the Stillinger girls’ room. The killer took the house keys as he left, locking the doors behind him. Nine months before the murders at Villisca, a similar case of axe murder occurred in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Two axe murder cases followed in Ellsworth, Kansas, and Paola, Kansas.

Whispers from the Shadows: Exploring the Villisca Axe Murder House

But the killer had at least a three-hour headstart on them, and police believed that he would have already fled the town. The cause of death was brute force trauma to each of the victims’ skulls. In Josiah and Sarah’s bedroom, the ceiling showed gashes from the axe’s upswing. He first inspected the downstairs bedroom, and to his horror, he found two bloodsoaked sheets covering two corpses.

villisca murder house

While it might not be the same as visiting in person, you can get a real feel for the house. Paranormal investigators claim the house is incredibly active…..if you believe in that sort of stuff. The Villisca Ax Murder House has also been featured on popular ghost-hunting shows and podcasts. Ghost Adventures, Scariest Places on Earth, My Favourite Murder, and Lore all discuss the crime.

THE SEARCH FOR THE KILLER

The house was lived in for years after the murder, although families never stayed for long. From what I can tell, there’s not a ghostly phenomena that hasn’t been reported at the house—disembodied footsteps, things moving, voices, apparitions, shadows, bad vibes. The Villisca Ax Murder House in Iowa is the kind of attraction that speaks for itself. It doesn’t need added kitsch or loads of billboards to bring in visitors. The name of the place says it all, and the gruesome legends surrounding the house are the only advertisements needed.

While Villisca still possesses the same small-town charm and appeal it did over a hundred years ago, its legacy is forever tainted by the events of June 1912. To this day, the Villisca Axe Murders continue to haunt the small town. Its effects are sewn into the fabric of its history and never seem to fade even with the passage of time. The house, redubbed the Villisca Ax Murder House, now is open for tours and overnight visits.

Queensland Police Museum

The axe that had been used to kill them had been swung so high above the murderer’s head that it gouged the ceiling above the bed. The faces of both parents, as well as the children, had been reduced to nothing but a bloody pulp. The house change hands a few times over the past 100 years, and the reported ghost encounters just keep accumulating. So while what happened there in 1912 makes it a terrifying place to be on its own, ghosts or no ghosts, it definitely continues to earn its title as one of America's most haunted houses.

It was a quiet town, interrupted only by the regular trains which passed through. In addition to the many businesses, Villisca also featured a National Guard Armory, funded entirely by the local residents – the first of its kind on U.S. soil. Located in Montgomery County, Iowa, Villisca boasts a population of around 1,100 residents as of 2019. Back in the late 1890s and early 1900s, Villisca was a thriving town with a close-knit community.

Another conspiracy theory is that Senator Jones had William “Blackie” Mansfield assassinate the entire Moore family. Many months before the murders in Villisca, a similar murder case occurred in Colorado Springs. The day’s activities lasted all afternoon and early evening, finally rounding up around 9;30PM after the children had executed all their pre-planned performances for the event. On the 9th of June, 1912, Josiah and Sarah prepared their children for the busy Sunday they had ahead of them. Their church —the local Presbyterian Church— was hosting the children on their Children’s day.

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