IA IA - Villisca Axe Murders of 1912

[STANDREID]

Yeah, several sources put these murders on killer Henry Lee Moore's (no relation to the victims) tally. For whatever reason, he was pardoned then released in 1949 and faded into obscurity.

I have Roy Marshall's book on the case that I received as a Christmas gift and enjoyed reading it.

 

[Busenbark]

I suppose at 82 they felt he was too feeble to weld an ax, trials very vague, he was found with blood on hand and undershirt... However the murders continued with the same mo, random bloody rage perpetrated on people's faces. I guess ff Jones being a egotist, showing utter disdain for Moore, catches the attention of the townfolk, however, if he did want to get rid of moore, why take out the whole house full of people? Why not just sneak up behind him, somewhere and conk his brains out? I think l.Moore could have been hired by Jones, but botched the deal, by doing what he did best, bashing people on the head, while they slept, then running to the river, to loose scent, then hopping a train. The first thing Jones did was suggest getting tracking hounds, when he probably knew the dogs would loose the scent at the river, cos the whole plot for escape had already been - plotted

 

[SweetT]

posting here, want to come back later and read through it all.

 

[villiscan]

A good thread though I am a little surprised there's not more of it, nothing in over two years!

 

[dotr]

June 10 2019
PREVIEW: KELOLAND author explores 100-year cold case
Rachel Rust wrote the book Eight Souls. It's about the axe murders in Villisca, Iowa in 1912, when someone killed eight people.

Rust's book is fiction, but took the time to research and even visited the house where the murders happened.

"It's definitely, you know, something I worked hard on to maintain the respect for the families and the town itself that had to deal with the tragedy," Rust said.

 

[Richard]

LINK:

The Official Site of the Villisca Axe Murders of 1912

 

[ColyH]

I doubt a business rival of Moore would kill him and then go after everyone else in the house. I believe it was a serial killer that committed these murders and do to how many times the killer stroke each victim he was angry at society.

 

[dotr]

The Unknown Axeman of Villisca, Iowa’s Boogeyman
3/14/2019
by Dolly Stolze
"In The Man from the Train: The Solving of a Century-Old Serial Killer Mystery, authors Bill James and Rachel McCarthy James posit that a killer, they dubbed “The Man on the Train,” traveled cross-country via the railroad between 1898 and 1912 and slaughtered at least fourteen families from Massachusetts to Oregon. This includes the Villisca axe murders.5 They hypothesize that the “Man on the Train” was a farmhand named Paul Mueller.

According the book’s authors, “The Man on the Train” looked for isolated homes on the edge of town, near a railroad, with no dogs, and a readily available axe. They assert that all of murders committed by this suspect had similarities that included late night attacks, locking or blocking doors on the way out to delay discovery, and covering bodies of his victims."

Photos: Inside the Villisca Ax Murder House
Photos: Inside the Villisca Ax Murder House
35 PHOTOS

Left to right: John Montgomery, whose daughter and son-in-law and four grandchildren were among those killed; Mrs. Lyn George J. Kelly; The Rev. Lyn George J. Kelly, accused of the crime and subsequently acquited, and now living either in Chicago or New England; Joe Moore, son-in-law of John Montgomery who was killed along with his wife and four children.
File photo

 

[ColyH]

I haven't read the book but have heard about the "Man on the Train" and the killer being a German immigrant named Paul Mueller and it seems like a perfect fit except for one factor. The Villisca killer sexually assaulted one of the girls staying with the Moore family while the killings associated with Mueller there was no sexual assault involved. That seems like a big piece of the puzzle missing from this case.

 

[nohopehere]

Unfortunately we will never know who killed these poor people...
The only relief is that whoever killed them is now dead....and I hope he died very very bad....

 

[LadyL]

I doubt a business rival of Moore would kill him and then go after everyone else in the house. I believe it was a serial killer that committed these murders and do to how many times the killer stroke each victim he was angry at society.

I think he would so as not to leave witnesses ...

 

[TristanP]

I haven't read the book but have heard about the "Man on the Train" and the killer being a German immigrant named Paul Mueller and it seems like a perfect fit except for one factor. The Villisca killer sexually assaulted one of the girls staying with the Moore family while the killings associated with Mueller there was no sexual assault involved. That seems like a big piece of the puzzle missing from this case.

What if that girl was being molested at home? She may have been the victim of assault a night or two before spending the night there, but at autopsy it would have still looked recent. Just a thought.

Plus, occasionally killers do deviate.

 

[AgeofAquaruis]

Just came across this case today, posted about it on the murdered cousins in Iowa case...IA - IA - Elizabeth Collins, 8, & Lyric Cook, 10, Evansdale, 13 July 2012 - #36

Dare I say that the first thing that came to mind, was that the perp was familiar with death rites in Judaism, because of the candle lit and the mirrors covered ..
The slab of pork beside the axe, seemed to be a message of some type, imo.

The Jewish Way in Preparing the House of Mourning

I've been thinking the same. That's the first thing that jumped out at me about this case. The Shiva Ritual stuff. Question is was the murderer jewish,or did he, want people to think he was Jewish to throw suspicion on a scape goat?

 

[PrivateInspector007]

Wow. This is a weird one.
I've read over the suspects profiles on a few different sites and I think
William "Blackie" Mansfield hired by Frank Jones (State senator) is my best guess.
His other crimes where very similar to the Moore murders, as we know, murders often keep their MO. Covering windows/mirrors, using an ax, washing bowl, lamp, etc. He is even accused of killing his own family by ax, along with several other murders.
I think the police/neighbor/family botched this by all being on the scene. I believe even with gloves that after brutally murdering a family of 8 (by ax - they are heavy) he had to have left some kind of evidence - aside from a broken watch. Mansfield's family was murdered about 2 years after the Moores, since he was a suspect, why wasn't his wife interviewed? Maybe she could have identified the watch.
Not sure if this is related maybe just a coincidence, as I was trying to locate Mansfield, Google popped up another pervert with the same name Bill Mansfield Jr. who is a criminal and pedo, his father Sr. is also a pervert criminal pedo. Looks like Jr. is in prison in CA and Sr. was in prison in FL (was released for good behavior, even though he assaulted a baby- wow our justice system is very flawed). I was wondering if "Blackie" is/was great grandfather or some other relative. The latter two creeps seem to be from the midwest as well.

 

[TootsieFootsie]

+'Fiend Incarnate' author's true crime book definitive work on brutal 1912 Villisca axe murders

 

[Armchair123]

The Morbid Podcast did a great show about the ax murders. Worth listening to!

 

[Richard]

This unsolved case is now 110 years old.