Hey there, DETECTIVES! DETECTIVE WRITER here to tell you all about an unsolved and completely terrifying murder mystery that remains unclear to this day! The Villisca Axe Murders of June 10th, 1912 in Villisca, Iowa, United States.
The house in which the murders took place still stands and is open for visitors every day and even for one-night sleepovers. I personally have never tried it but would love to go but I will admit, I am a bit scared to try it out, especially if I go alone. But anyway, back to the story. If you are curious and willing to visit, the link is provided here.
A family of six, including two houseguests, were found bludgeoned to death by an unknown ax murderer. The victims had extremely severe head wounds due to the ax. Six children and two adults, the parents were brutally murdered. Josiah and Sarah Moore had six children, Herman Montgomery, Mary Katherine, Arthur Boyd, and Paul Vernon and their two guests were Ina Mae and Lena Gertrude Stillinger who were invited to stay the night after spending the day together for an event that was known as the Children’s Day Program. At 7 A.M. the next day, when the neighbors noticed nobody was up performing the morning duties, they immediately sensed something was wrong. When Ross Moore, Josiah Moore stepped foot in the house, he was startled upon discovering Ina Mae and Lena Gertrude Stillinger’s bodies in the guest bedroom. When a police officer arrived at the house, all of the victims were found. Two used cigarettes were discovered in the attic which was speculated that the murderer or murderers waited in hiding until everyone in the house was asleep that night.
It was also discovered that the murderer killed Josiah and Sarah first with Josiah receiving more blows from the ax and purposely using the blade of the ax on him while everyone else received the blunt side. He was badly mutilated that his eyes were missing from his face which hinted that perhaps the attack was personal. The children were next and then returned to hit the parents once more and kicked to the side a shoe that became filled with blood. He or she then moved downstairs to kill Lena and Ina Mae. It was believed that everyone except Lena was awake and may have been sexually assaulted because her arm had a defensive wound, lying crosswise on the bed, and she also had no underwear on and her nightgown was pushed up to her waist.
While there have been several suspects including Reverend George Kelly who was in town the night of the murders and Sam Moyer who was Josiah Moore’s brother-in-law, no evidence was viable to charge them and they, including other men, were acquitted. The case continues to remain unsolved to this day and it has been said that by multiple nighttime residents of the Moore house, they could hear crying and strange sounds coming from all over the house.
I hope you have enjoyed this storytime as much as I did, DETECTIVES! Please let me know in the comments if you want to have more storytime! Have a great day, night, afternoon, or evening, DETECTIVES! Stay tuned for next week’s post and until then, keep on sleuthing, DETECTIVES!
Detective Writer 