Stuff You Should Know SYSK’s Fall True Crime Playlist: Who Committed the 1912 Villisca Ax Murders?
Sep 26, 2025
In 1912, a gruesome night in Villisca, Iowa saw eight people murdered in their sleep, raising questions about a mysterious killer. Explore the victims' identities and the brutal crime scene details that shocked a small town. Suspects range from a local businessman with motives to a traveling preacher with suspicious behavior. Theories suggest a serial killer may have roamed the Midwest, linking various murders through eerie patterns. The case remains unresolved and captivates true crime enthusiasts to this day.
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How The Victims Spent The Night
- The Moore family and two visiting girls slept at home after a children's church service on June 9–10, 1912.
- All eight were found murdered in their beds the next morning in Villisca, Iowa.
Weapon And Lamp Were Tools Of Convenience
- The attacker used the household's own axe and a dimmed oil lamp with the chimney removed to move through the house.
- Those methods recur in other Midwest murders and suggest a traveling killer using items of convenience.
Brutal Postmortem Mutilation
- After killing the family with the blunt end, the murderer flipped the axe and shattered victims' faces with the blade.
- The attacker then covered faces and mirrors and lingered in the house before leaving.