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According to the Villisca Ax Murder House's website, it is believed that an unknown person entered the Moore's home sometime after midnight on June 10 and murdered all eight occupants. No one else has ever been tried for the murders, and the crime remains one of the most horrific, unsolved mass murders in American history. The ceiling in the parents’ bedroom and the children’s room upstairs showed gouge marks, apparently made by the upswing of the axe. All the victims were found in their beds, their heads covered with bedclothes, and all had their skulls battered 20 to 30 times with the blunt end of an axe. On Sunday evening, June 9, 1912, Josiah (Joe) Moore and his wife Sarah took their four children, Herman, 11, Katherine, 10, Boyd, 7, and 5-year-old Paul to the Children’s Day service at the Presbyterian Church.
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Despite the same surname, he was no relation to the murdered Moore family. 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. The cases were similar enough to raise the possibility of having been committed by the same person. Marshall Henry Horton arrived on the scene thirty minutes later and thoroughly searched the Moore house. He found a dead body in every bed, along with a blood-covered axe still lying in the room where the Stillinger girls lay dead.
The Hillside Strangler Murders
They also discovered a women’s shelter had received a panic call from Brown four days prior to her murder. Brown said she was afraid of what Simpson might do to her as she refused to reconcile their marriage. She had also reported a missing set of house keys which were later found on Simpson when he was arrested. A traveling minister named Reverend George Kelly arrived in Villisca for the first time on the morning of June 10th to attend the Sunday school directed by Sarah Moore. He then left Villisca at 5 am the next morning on the train heading westbound out of the town.
The Brutal Story Of How The Villisca Axe Murders Unfolded
The killer had attempted to clean the blade, however, blood could still be seen on it. One person tried in vain to open the doors and windows of the home before calling the town marshal, who broke down the door when he arrived. The slain family members were found in different bedrooms throughout the house. Lyn George Jacklin Kelly was an English immigrant, who had a history of sexual deviancy and mental problems.
The Gruesome Story Of The Unsolved Villisca Axe Murders
Investigators believed that all of the victims except for Lena Stillinger had been asleep when murdered. They believed that she was awake and tried to fight back, as she was found with a defensive wound on her arm. Lena’s nightgown was pushed up to her waist and she was wearing no undergarments. This led to police believing that the killer(s) sexually molested her or attempted to do so. After killing the parents, they proceeded into the children’s rooms and bludgeoned Herman, Mary, Arthur, and Paul.
Durst's trial began in March 2020 and resumed in May 2021 after a 14-month adjournment due to COVID-19. In September 2021, the jury convicted Robert Durst for the first degree murder of his best friend Susan Berman. In October he was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole.
William Mansfield
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Accusations regarding the culprit spread quickly throughout the small town of Villisca, Iowa, sparking suspicious glances among neighbors that would lead to friendships torn asunder. Unfortunately the crime-solving technology of 1912 was not sophisticated enough to identify the murderer, and the case has gone unsolved to this day. Amateur detectives ranging from historians to psychics have tried their hand at solving the case, but a verdict has never been reached. According to Wilkerson's investigation, all of the murders were committed in precisely the same manner, indicating that the same man probably committed them.
Spector's driver, who made the emergency call from the castle, later testified that Spector said, "I think I've killed someone." Spector was sentenced in May 2009. However, like Disneyland itself, the El Capitan has its ghostly dark side. In its previous life, the theater was the site of a suicide in the balcony seats and the death of a manager in its office. When Disney revived the El Capitan, legend has it they walled off the window above the entryway, where his ghost could still be seen from the street. The Villisca house is now an attraction, a spectacle for the morbidly curious tourists. Slightly touched up to maintain its stability, it now exists as a museum.
The victim couldn’t call 911 because Suarez-Gonzalez had stolen his cell phone during the attack. According to police, the two victims returned to the property, and after a next-door neighbor warned them that Suarez-Gonzalez was coming back, they secured the doors and hid in a bedroom. When police officers arrived, Suarez-Gonzalez identified himself as his father. He went to jail and when he appeared in Miami-Dade bond court on Thursday, the judge ordered him to stay away from the roommate.
The faces of both parents, as well as the children, had been reduced to nothing but a bloody pulp. The paranormal reality television series Scariest Places on Earth covered the story of the Villisca axe murders and hosted a paranormal investigation on the property. James started his research in an attempt to solve the Villisca murders, and with his daughter found archival newspaper stories detailing dozens of families murdered under similar circumstances across the US. The Jameses identify common features to these crimes, many of which are also found at the Villisca scene. Serial killers Angelo Buono and Kenneth Bianchi, who were also cousins, had abducted and murdered 10 victims – all young women ranging in ages from 12 to 28 – between October 1977 to February 1978. The case became known in the media as “The Hillside Strangler” case because investigators initially believed there was just one killer committing these crimes.
Brave souls can tour the Villisca Ax Murder House and even stay overnight, if they dare. Other suspects, such as William Mansfield and Henry Moore, were also considered. However, due to the lack of evidence, most of what historians know today is based on legend.
During an interrogation at the police department, Suarez-Gonzalez identified himself again as his father, just as he had done on Wednesday, according to detectives. On Wednesday, Suarez-Gonzalez approached a bunk bed and “grabbed” a roommate by the leg, pulled, attacked, and “landed a strike” on the neck, as the landlord tried to separate the two, according to the report. Located a half-mile south of Castillo del Lago, Wolf's Lair (2869 Durand Dr, Los Angeles 90068) was built in 1927 by art director and real estate magnate, L.
The East Hollywood building may be most haunted by its own former glory. Frank Jones, a Villisca businessman with political sway throughout the town, was another suspect. Several years before the murders, Josiah Moore had been an employee of Jones, but Moore left to start up his own business. In doing so, Moore took a big chunk of Jones’s business with him.
However, Josiah had a number of enemies in both his personal and professional life. He was a successful businessman in Villisca, excelling at everything he lent his hand to. After he amassed reasonable wealth during his thirties, he later went on to marry and have four children with his wife, Sarah. 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.
After a decade of being mostly sober, Spector began going out again and ventured out on Feb. 2, 2003 for a night on the town. At the House of Blues, he met a statuesque 40-year-old actress named Lana Clarkson. They went to Pyrenees Castle for "just one drink." Clarkson never left the house - her body was found slumped in a chair with a single gunshot wound to her mouth.
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