UNSOLVED ND - Niagara, Six nude bodies buried in crawlspace, c. 1906

[creepedout]

http://www.inforum.com/news/3959507-public-may-hold-key-solving-100-year-old-nd-murder-mystery

Before being committed to an insane asylum in 1906, a serial killer named Eugene Butler buried six bodies in a crawlspace under his house in Niagara, ND. They were found after his death. They were never identified and it is believed townspeople took some of the bones as souvenirs. If any of these bones are still around, they could potentially be used for DNA.

The file for the case has been lost, or possibly one was never created.

https://goo.gl/maps/eXLPAB85AEL2

 

[creepedout]

On a side note, the oldest ND case in Namus is from 1925, so there is no use searching there.

 

[STANDREID]

Yes, this is one of those cases like Belle Gunness and Bela Kiss where we know who the serial killer was but they were never even arrested. All the victims were male according to the Encyclopedia of Serial Killers by Michael Newton.

 

[LotsaLatte]

I was thinking that maybe the victims were all hired farm hands or something. I did look up the 1900 census info for Eugene Butler in Niagra, ND. (I screenshot and cropped it) as I was thinking that maybe a housekeeper, laborer, boarder might be listed. But no luck except it appears that the census taker messed up house numbers and it caught my attention that a man lived next door to (or with?) Eugene. Along with the man's sister and her three children. But then I thought no way it could be them because some reports say the bodies were all males.

Sooooo, then I found this article (at link) from June 28, 1915 stating "Five murders at one time, a man, a woman and three children were slain. At some later date a man was killed......." Link:

http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn89074405/1915-06-28/ed-1/seq-1.pdf

I tried to do a quick search to find the man, his sister and/or her kids in a later census but didn't find them. I will do more thorough searches later when I get more time. I wish we knew the genders/age ranges for sure. I did read males 15-18 and a few other guesses here and there.

 

[52bruno]

https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M9VN-23Q
1900 Census shows 5 people besides Eugene Butler living at residence

 

[creepedout]

OK, really odd. The newspaper article even states that he always lived by himself. Apparently not.

Incredible finds...

 

[MamaJoJo]

https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M9VN-23Q
1900 Census shows 5 people besides Eugene Butler living at residence

This lists a man, a woman and three children living with him. What a find!

 

[52bruno]

http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn89074405/1915-06-28/ed-1/seq-1.pdf
The newspaper states the bodies found were a man and woman and 3 children, this is what the 1900 census shows as well. I would say there is pretty good evidence the five people listed on the 1900 census are 5 of the 6 bodies recovered.

 

[byo]

:thinking: Did you guys just solve the case?

 

[52bruno]

I am not sure who to report these findings to, so if anyone knows how and to whom to forward these findings, please do so. Thank You

 

[creepedout]

I am not sure who to report these findings to, so if anyone knows how and to whom to forward these findings, please do so. Thank You

http://gfcounty.nd.gov/sheriffs-department

701 - 780 - 8280

-3607- Sgt Dan Hillebrand / Investigations

or

[email protected]

------

If you decide to use email, could you share your correspondence?

 

[creepedout]

On a side note, I found a record on Find a Grave:

http://findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cg...st=36&GScntry=4&GSob=n&GRid=150168356&df=all&

The dates from the Ward County article written there are a little different, but at this point I don't think it really matters.

 

[52bruno]

Thank you creepedout, I have sent the info via email to Sgt Dan Hillebrand / Investigations, as soon as I hear anything back I will post it here.

 

[52bruno]

Thank you Lotsalatte for getting everything started, I had also found the info you had found and have forwarded it to Sgt Dan Hillebrand / Investigations for his review. You deserve the credit if this helps to solve the case.

 

[LotsaLatte]

Thank you Lotsalatte for getting everything started, I had also found the info you had found and have forwarded it to Sgt Dan Hillebrand / Investigations for his review. You deserve the credit if this helps to solve the case.

Thank you 52bruno for forwarding the info to Sgt. Hillebrand
I have read hundreds and hundreds of census records over the years and noticed mistakes, etc. are pretty common. So, not sure if they actually shared a home, lived in a home on the same farm, or were just neighbors. I kind of shrugged it off until I saw that old article from 1915 stating the "family murder". It will be interesting to see if it goes anywhere. If so, high five to us!! If not, well we tried. Lol

 

[LotsaLatte]

:thinking: Did you guys just solve the case?

Well maybe? Lol. Seems too obvious to be correct. But hey, maybe they can rule those people out or something.

And if it turns out he killed that family, that still leaves the 6th person he killed. A man at a later time. Maybe the man was someone that came looking for the family? Like the father of the children or something.

 

[52bruno]

I heard back from Sgt Dan Hillebrand he was very interested in the info I sent to him re the newspaper article and the 1900 census. He has forwarded the info to Matt Henson a investigative reporter for ABC WDAZ News in Grand Forks who is doing a investigation into the murders. I received a Email from him and he as well found it very interesting. I have been checking birth records etc, for these people and I believe the last names shown on the 1900 census is misspelled as I could find no birth records for any of the names or any other records.

 

[52bruno]

https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M9VN-23Q shows the mother of the children was a widow. I think you have a good idea LotsaLatte that the sixth person could very well be another family member who came looking for them when the extended family had not heard from them.

 

[LotsaLatte]

Well, I think we were wrong. I'm pretty sure I found the widow and her kids alive and well back in New York in 1910. The last name is "Hanke"...



https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M54G-S5G


So, back to square one

 

[52bruno]

Great find LotsaLatte, the last name was the kicker. I will let Sgt Dan Hillebrand and Matt Henson know about your find so they won't waste their time looking for the last name Hawke.