Villisca Axe Murders

On Sunday, June 11, 1912, the Villisca Axe Murders would end the lives of a family and two overnight guests.  Who crept in during the night and bludgeoned this well-liked family to death in the quiet town of Villisca, Iowa?  Plenty of speculation and suspects would arise, but would anyone ever be held responsible? Listen to the podcast to find out.

Villisca, Iowa

The town is located in the southwest corner of Montgomery County, Iowa. It is considered a small mid-western town with a population of approximately 2,000 residents in 1910. In 2017 there were only 1,174 residents. Villisca was a planned community developed by the Chicago Railroad.

In 1912 Villisca was flourishing with small businesses and a retail trading center. It also boasted of an opera house and had an appreciation for culture and gentility.

1912

In 1912 the Girls Scouts of America was founded, the Titanic sank, Fenway Park was opened in Boston and Woodrow Wilson went on to win the presidency over Teddy Rosevelt.

Monday June 11, 1912 ( the morning after)

At 5 am on Monday, June 11, 1912, Mary Peckham an elderly woman was hanging out her laundry when she noticed that her neighbor’s house showed no signs of having started their day. The Moore Family lived next door to Mary and were usually up around that time.  Josiah Moore (43) owned his own farm equipment store after having worked for a competitor’s store for 12 years in the town of Villisca, Iowa. His wife, Sarah Moore (39) was a housewife and was raising their 4 children:

• Herman (11)
• Katherine (10)
• Boyd (7)
• Paul (5)

The Moore Family was well-liked and respected. For example, the family was involved in local activities, especially the program with their Presbyterian Church.

No Signs of Life

Meanwhile, around 7:30 am there was still no sign of life coming from the Moore residence. So Mary went over to their home and knocked on the front door.  She was unable to look inside due to the blinds being drawn. Mary proceeded to feed the family’s chickens and then placed a call to Josiah Moore’s brother, Ross Moore, at 8:00 am. She asked him if his brother and family had gone to visit their elderly father as she felt it was unusual the Moore house was so quiet.

Josiah and Ross were two of 10 children. Ross Moore was a local druggist in down and called into Josiah’s business to talk with one of his employees, Ed Shelly, to see if his brother was at work. Ed Shelly told him he had not seen nor heard from Josiah. Ed placed a call to Josiah’s parents and talked to the Moore brother’s mother who told him that Josiah and his family were not with them.

Ross Moore arrived at his brother’s house around 8 am and checked to see if Josiah’s team of horses were still in the barn and they were. The front and back doors were locked and he was unable to look into any windows as they were all covered either by blinds or in the case of two of the downstairs windows with some kind of cloth.

Ross Moore Finds Bodies

Ross produced a key that he had to the home and was able to gain entry.  The front door leads into the main kitchen/dining area and off to the left is the parlor.  He called out to the family but received no response. Nothing looked out of place. He proceeded to go through the parlor and check the back guest bedroom as the door was closed. Upon opening the door he noticed two bodies covered with a sheet drawn up over their heads with dark red bloodstains on the bed and the sheets.

Ross went back out onto the front porch and placed a second call to Ed Shelly asking him to find and bring Marshall Hank Horton to Josiah’s home quickly. Marshall Horton arrived with Ed Shelly around 8:30 am and both men entered the home.  Upon seeing the bodies he went to get Dr. Cooper.

Villisca Investigation

Marshall Horton, along with Dr. Clark Cooper, the town physician, Dr. Hough, another town doctor, and Mr. Ewing, a Presbyterian Minister entered the home. This would be a second walkthrough for Marshall Horton as he had discovered more bodies in the upstairs bedrooms on his initial walkthrough.

The entire Moore family and two overnight guests were murdered in their beds while they slept. Each victim had been struck in the head repeatedly with a blunt object crushing their skulls. But no other trauma was found on the bodies other than on the head. All six members of the Moore family had been killed along with their two guests, which they would soon discover to be Ina (age 8) and Lena (age 12) Stillinger, friend’s of Katherine Moore.

The murder weapon appeared to have been the blunt side of an ax. An ax was found leaning up against the downstairs guest bedroom that looked to have been partially wiped clean. However, it still had blood and hair clinging to it.

Dr. Cooper did not touch the bodies but observed that the bodies had bedclothes covering all of the victim’s heads.  When he lifted up the coverings he found that they did not stick to the faces and that the bedding was pretty stiff and blood clots appeared mostly dry indicating that the murders had happened earlier in the morning.

Dr. F.S. Williams soon arrived, having been stopped by Ed Shelly in town and asked to come to the Moore residence for an examination. When Dr. Williams arrived Dr. Cooper and his party were just exiting the house. Dr. Cooper and Marshal Horton re-entered the home with Dr. Williams. Dr. Williams noted that there were no cleaning smells and that the bodies were still covered.

Dr. Williams Description of the Bodies

The doctor described the position of the bodies. Josiah and Sarah Moore were found in their upstairs bedroom which was located in the back of the house on the left side Both Josiah and Sarah were lying on their backs, heads on their pillows. Josiah was nearly unrecognizable as his face had been “all beaten in”. On the other hand, Sarah received less damage, but it looked as if the killer or killers had taken the ax blade and cut 1-inch gashes into her face.

In the upstairs children’s room, on the front left side of the house, all four children had their head’s beaten in and blood was splattered everywhere.

The Stillinger sisters also had their heads beaten in, but Lena’s body was found to be different position than the rest of the bodies in the home. Lena had been pulled off her pillow about ⅓ of the way down the bed and posed.  Her right arm was above her head and her upper shoulder was flat on the bed while the rest of her body was lying on the right side.  She also had her nightgown pulled up over her hips. That may have happened when she was pulled down the bed. Her underwear had been taken off and tossed under the bed and a bloodstain was found on her left upper thigh.

Dr. Williams also noted that there were no bloody footprints found at the scene.

A Chaotic Scene

During the commotion, the police quickly lost control of the crime scene. For instance, they allowed curiosity seekers to roam through the house with the bodies still lying in the beds. The Iowa National Guard Company F arrived around noon to secure the home and the surrounding areas. They were to hold the crowds back as onlookers described a mob scene with people running everywhere trampling all over the crime scene. Barbed wire was placed around the house to keep people from getting too close. The town of Villisca was placed under Marshall Law.

The Montgomery County Coroner, Dr. Linquist, refused to release the bodies until the county attorney authorized it. Their bodies would not be removed from the Moore home until 11 pm Monday night. They were taken to the local firehouse for continued examination and to prepare for burial.

In the meantime, bloodhounds were being brought in by train and arrived around Monday evening at 9 pm. Within 10 minutes they picked up a scent from the ax handle and a bloody cloth that was used to clean the ax, the trail took them in a circuitous route to the edge of town and down along the Nodaway River. The dogs were followed by people on horseback, foot, and in carriages, about 1,000 in all. The dogs picked up on the same scent both times they set off from the house and again the following morning, but failed to pinpoint a suspect or create any new leads.

What was found on the riverbanks were some old clothes, a bloody handkerchief, and footprints – but investigators felt these items were left behind by hobos.

Known Facts

What investigators determined is that all the victims had been asleep at the time of their deaths. The estimated time of death was between midnight and 2 AM. All of the blinds were drawn down over the windows except for two of them that were covered with items of clothing owned by the Moore family. All the faces were covered with bedclothes after their deaths.

Other curious findings from the crime scene included:

• Kerosene lamps that were found at the foot of the parents and guest bedroom beds had the chimney taken off and the wicks bent back.
• All the mirrors in the home were covered by bedclothes.
• Gouge marks found on the slanted ceilings of both the parents’ and children’s bedrooms.
• These gouge marks were from the upswing of the ax.
• A pan of bloody water was found on the kitchen table, as well as, a plate of uneaten food.
• A 2-pound slab of bacon was found on the guest bedroom floor wrapped in a cloth sitting next to the ax.
• All the doors had been locked.

The Night Before the Villisca Murders

Police pieced together what the Moore family had been doing the night before the murders. Earlier that Sunday the family had attended church services. The Stillinger sisters were also in attendance and had spent the day at the Moore home with their friend Katherine Moore. Josiah Moore placed a call to the Stillinger residence at 6 pm to ask permission for Ina and Lena to spend the night at their home after the annual Children’s Day Program at their church.

The girls were afraid to walk to their grandmother’s home after the program in the dark. The Stillinger’s lived about 2 ½ miles outside of Villisca. Josiah talked to Blanche Stillinger, older sister to Ina and Lena, who told him that her parents were outside, but would pass it along and didn’t think there would be an issue.

At 7:30 pm on June 9, 1912, Mark Peckman witnessed the Moores and two Stillinger girls head up the street to their Presbyterian Church children’s service. At 9 pm the children’s program ended and around 9:30 pm the Moore’s and Stillingers walked the 3 blocks back to the Moore residence on the damp cool night. The street lights were not working that night so there was very little light. The family and guests most likely settled in around 10 pm as Mr. Moore had to work the next day and the kids all had school.

Another interesting note was that Sunday night after the Children’s Program had long let out, Hank Horton and the town’s night watchman witnessed a man crossing the street who failed to stop when called out to. Could he have been the murderer?

Coroner’s Inquest

On June 11, 1912, Dr. Linquest called a jury together to conduct an inquest late Tuesday afternoon. There were 14 witnesses called to testify including:

• Mary Peckham
• Dr. Cooper
• Dr. Williams
• Ross Moore
• Marshall Horton
• Edward Landers
• Joseph Stillinger (father of Ina & Lena)

Edward has been staying at this mother’s residence that was a few houses down from the Moore residence. He testified that he had gone to bed shortly after 9 pm on Sunday night and that around 11 pm he claims to have heard what sounded like “one boy hooting for another” outside. After hearing about the murders he thought that those sounds could have been a woman moaning.

Joseph Stillinger testified that his wife had called the Moore house three times the morning of June 10th as she had expected the girls to be home before school that day.

June 12, 1912

The Moore – Stillinger funerals were held in the Villisca town square. The Iowa National Guard lined the streets for the 50 carriage funeral procession to the local cemetery. No one knew at the time who was responsible for these heinous crimes and how the investigation would unfold, but no one expected it to drag on for as long as it did.

Villisca Theories

The ax was thought to belong to Josiah Moore and the killer or killers took it from his coal shed. The ax was handled by many individuals but was never secured or fingerprinted. Although fingerprinting was fairly new as an investigative tool it was accepted by U.S. Courts as a reliable means of identification in 1911. Fingerprinting was first used for identification purposes in 1903 in American prisons to identify inmates. In 1903 the US Military adopted fingerprinting as identification means.

Investigators were not sure if there was more than one killer.

One Theory

The killer lied in wait in the barn near the house. As a result, the police found a depression in the hay and a knothole through which the killer could watch the house and know when the Moore’s were home and settling down for the night. Then they left the barn picking up the ax by the coal shed and entered the home through an unlocked back door sometime after midnight. The killer proceeded up to the parent’s bedroom first bludgeoning them. Quickly moving on to the children’s room and then downstairs to the guest bedroom where the Stillinger’s sisters were sleeping.

The investigators felt that due to the silence of the attacks nobody was awoken. In addition, the killer did not seem to leave the home right away but had gone back up to the parent’s bedroom to repeat their attacks on both Josiah and Sarah. Curiously, they took the time to cover all the mirrors in the home with clothing and pull all the blinds down over the windows. The killer washed their hands in a bowl left on the kitchen table and left a plate of food on the table uneaten. Lastly, they left the home before 5 am locking the door behind them.

Another Theory

Cigarette butts were found in the attic leading some to believe that the killer had actually been lying in wait when the Moore’s returned home after the Children’s program and waited until they had gone to sleep before they attacked.

Suspects

In 1914, a detective from the Burns Detective Agency, James Wilkerson, was hired to reopen the investigation. There was no state police agency at this time. Wilkerson’s focus was on Iowa State Senator, Frank F. Jones, as his prime suspect. Senator Jones was a prominent Viscilla resident who had employed Josiah Moore at his equipment store for 12 years prior to Josiah striking out on his own. Senator Jones was furious at Josiah for stealing the John Deere contract out from under him. Also, there was a rumor the Josiah had an affair with Senator Jones’s son’s wife, Dora which only added fuel to the fire.

Detective Wilkerson openly accused Senator Jones and his son has having hired William “Blackie” Mansfield to commit the murders. Senator Jones denied any connections to the murders. William “Blackie” Mansfield claimed he was a “cocaine fiend and serial killer.” He was suspected of committing other murders, similar to Villisca in Kansas, Colorado, and Illinois. Victims were hacked to death by an ax. Mirrors in the homes were covered. Burning lamps with the chimneys removed were left at the foot of the bed. A basin of bloody water found in the kitchen. No fingerprints were found as the killer may have been wearing gloves

1916

Detective Wilkerson was able to convene a Grand Jury after Mansfield was arrested for the murders of his wife, infant child and in-laws in Blue Island, Illinois on July 5, 1914 (2 years after Villisca). Mansfield was brought before the Grand Jury. Alice Willard, a Villisca resident testified under oath that she overheard suspect William Mansfield and Senator Jones plotting the murders of the Moore family. Alice claimed that she had seen strangers in her neighborhood on the Saturday and Sunday of the murders.

She also claimed that she and a traveling salesman, Ed MacCrae were driving around on Saturday night June 9, 1912, when their car broke down behind the Moore property. That’s when Alice saw the 3 strangers that she had seen earlier that day. Alice became frightened and pulled Ed down behind some plum bushes and that’s when she heard Frank F. Jones talking with the 3 strangers a few feet from where she and Ed were hiding.

She testified that she heard one man say “get Joe first and the rest will be easy.”

Alice was living with her father in Villisca at the time of the murders after leaving her violent husband. However, she had a poor reputation around town with one Villisca resident saying “she found her entertainment in a ditch.” Mansfield was later released as payroll records provided an alibi at the time of the Villisca murders. Mansfield later brought a lawsuit against Wilkerson and won a $2,250 settlement. Wilkerson could not let go and felt that Mansfield was released due to Senator Jones influence and that same influence lead to the arrest and trials of the Reverend George Jacklin Kelly.

1917

Another Grand Jury was brought about by the newly elected Montgomery County Attorney Oscar Wendstrand. Alice Willard was called to testify again. This time she testified that she overheard the plotters hatching a plan to catch Joe and Dora together so they could sexually assault Dora and castrate Josiah Moore.

Iowa’s Attorney General, Horace Havner, felt that Alice was lying based on several factors. She did not come forward for nearly 5 years. She may have been offered money for her testimony by Wilkerson. No one could corroborate her story. Ed MacCrae was nowhere to be found and a friend that had been staying with Alice, Mary Freeman, died shortly after she came forward. Most importantly, the first time Alice told her story she had said it was Albert Jones, not his father, meeting with the suspected killers.

Alice never wavered from her story and was not an easy witness to break. Sadly she died after a month-long illness in 1921.

Reverend Kelly

Kelly was a visiting minister to area Methodist churches. He had a reputation for exhibiting odd behavior. Kelly immigrated to the US in 1904 with his wife. In 1917 Kelly was arrested and charged for the murder of Lena Stillinger. Reverend Kelly had attended the children’s program the night of July 9, 1912, and had made a quick departure on the 5:20 am westbound number 5 train heading towards Macedonia, Iowa (northwest of Villisca).

He allegedly told other passengers that there were 8 dead souls back in Villisca. This was prior to the bodies being found. On August 31, 1917, Kelly signed a confession saying God had whispered to him to suffer the children to come unto me. He immediately withdrew his confession prior to his first trial.

What came out in his trials was that Rev. Kelly returned to Villisca two weeks after the murders and posed as a detective and even joined in a tour of the murder house with a group of investigators. Investigators became alerted when they were contacted by a person who shared with them some disturbing rambling letters they had received from the Reverend Kelly. At Reverend Kelly’s 1st trial there was a hung jury that was deadlocked 11 to 1 for acquittal. A second jury was immediately impaneled, but that trial ended in acquittal in 1917.

An expert on the Villisca Axe Murders, Dr. Edgar Epperly is considered the authority on the unsolved murders.  Reverend Kelly has always been his favorite suspect

Henry Lee Moore (no relation)

He was a suspected serial killer responsible for 22 murders in the midwest. Henry Lee Moore was convicted of murdering his mother and maternal grandmother just months after the Villisca murders. His weapon of choice was an ax. He served 36 years in prison before being paroled from his life sentence by the Governor of Missouri in December 1949.

Wrap Up

To this day no one has been found guilty for the murders and most likely never will be since it has been over 100 years. The Villisca Axe Murders remain the most notorious murders in Iowa’s history. It’s known for over 10 years of investigative work and repeated Grand Jury hearings. There were also slander lawsuits, two murder trials and it made and broke political careers.

Most importantly it brought about legislation that was written in response to the murders including the establishment of what would become the Iowa State Bureau of Criminal Investigation.

Resources

• The Official Site of the Villisca Axe Murders of 1912
• The Occult Museum
• The 1912 Villisca Axe Murders Blog: History
• Iowa Cold Cases
• Villisca: Living with a Mystery – documentary

Villisca Murder House

• Restored and open as a museum for tours
• Daytime and overnight stays

You May Also Like