Villisca Axe Murder House - Villisca, Iowa

History

On June 9, 1912, the Moore family of Villisca, Iowa attended the Children’s Day Service at the Villisca Presbyterian Church.  This Sunday event would mark the last time the Moore family would be seen alive.

Josiah B. “Joe” Moore was the owner of a local hardware store while his wife, Sarah, was active in the Presbyterian Church.  Together, they had four children: Herman (age 11), Katherine (age 10), Boyd (age 7) and Paul (age 5).  The family was well-respected and adored throughout their community.  Following their attendance at the Children’s Day Service, the family returned home.  That night, they were accompanied by two local children who had been invited to spend the night, Lena and Ina Stillinger.

By 7 a.m. the next morning, Mary Peckham, a neighbor of the Moore’s, became concerned by the lack of activity at the Moore home and knocked on their door.  When she received no response she phoned Ross Moore, Josiah’s brother.  Ross had spare keys to the home and was able to gain access through the front door.  His first stop was the guest bedroom on the first floor where he found the bodies of Ina and Lena covered in a bloody sheet.  Ross ordered Mary Peckham to contact Marshall Henry “Hank” Horton, who conducted a more thorough walk-through of the home.

A full investigation by authorities, including local physicians, concluded that all six of the Moore family members and both Stillinger girls had been bludgeoned to death with the blunt side of an axe.  It was determined that the murders occurred between midnight and 5 a.m. on June 10th.  Josiah and Sarah Moore were the first to perish and Josiah Moore had taken the most blows, rendering him unidentifiable.  It is believed that all but one of the victims had been asleep at the time of the attack.  Lena Stillinger is believed to have fought back – she was found laying sideways on the bed with defensive wounds on her arms.

In addition to the horrific murder scene, there were several other bizarre touches left by the killer.  A four-pound slab of bacon was found leaning on a wall next to the ax on the first floor.  In the kitchen, a plate of uneaten food sat beside a bowl of bloody water.  Every window, mirror and pane of glass in the house had been covered by pieces of clothing and every victim, having taken 20 to 30 blows to the head, was covered with bed sheets and other garments pulled from the dressers.

The funeral for the victims was held in the town square on June 12th.  The caskets were not present at the funeral, but were later lead to the Villisca Cemetery by a 50-carriage procession.

While several suspects emerged during the investigation, all were exonerated except for Reverend George Kelly, who was tried and acquitted for the murders twice.  Reverend Kelly rose to the top of the list of suspects when several witnesses came forward claiming that he spoke of the murders during a westbound train ride out of Villisca.  What makes this strange is that the train departed Villisca at 5 a.m. on June 10th, whereas the bodies had not been discovered until nearly 8 a.m. that day.  George Kelly suffered from mental breakdowns and even wrote a confession to the murders after he was apprehended; he claimed that the ‘voice of God’ ordered him to “slay utterly” and “suffer little children to come unto me”.  Kelly later recanted his confession and the jury felt that there was not enough evidence to prove his guilt.

Another suspect was a local homeless man by the name of Andrew Sawyer who traveled with an axe and was prone to lashing out at those around him with that axe.  Another popular theory was that the Moore family may have been yet another set of victims of the serial killer William Mansfield.  Other suspects included a local rival, Frank F. Jones, Henry Lee Moore (no relation) who was also a convicted serial killer, and Josiah’s brother-in-law, Sam Moyer.

To this day, the murders remain unsolved; no one has ever been held accountable for the horrific attack.

Claims

Paranormal claims within the house include disembodied shadows and voices, physical encounters such as shoving and scratching, electro-magnetic spikes (despite the home’s lack of electricity), doors opening and closing on their own, cold spots and even full-bodied apparitions.

Several investigations by professional paranormal investigators have captured video and audio evidence of voices, doors slamming, objects moving and shadows traveling throughout the house.  Even more intriguing is the claims of nightmares that plague visitors even after they have left the house.