Not many people will have heard of Villisca, a small town in southwestern Iowa about an hour or so south-west of Des Moines. This sleepy-town back in 1912 was home to just 2,039 people and no more than two square miles in size. However, this house in Villisca (now known as the Villisca Ax Murder house) would become the location of one of the most brutal mass-murders in the history of the United States.
In the early hours of June 11, 1912, sometime between midnight and 5 am, eight people were bludgeoned to death inside the home of the Moore family. This included all six family members and two friends of one of the daughters. Six of the victims were children.
The eight victims of the Villisca Ax Murders. The entire Moore family and two friends who were staying at the house.
Josiah Moore and his wife Sarah Montgomery had four children, Herman (11), Mary (10), Boyd (7), and Paul (5). Josiah was a local businessman with his own hardware store in Villisca, Iowa. His wife, Sarah, when not looking after four children, was active in the local church.
THE NIGHT OF THE MURDERS
On the night of June 10th, the Moore family spent the evening at the Presbyterian church where they took part in the Children’s Day Program. This was an event Sarah had helped coordinate. Mary, who was 10 years old, invited two friends, sisters Ina Mae (8) and Lena Gertrude Stillinger (12) to stay over for the night. The family and the two sisters would arrive back at the Moore home at around 10 pm.
That evening, nobody heard any kind of disturbance coming from the Moore house. However, the next morning, neighbor Mary Peckham noticed the family hadn’t come outside to do any of their usual chores. Mary knocked on the door of the house, but nobody answered and it was locked. After letting their chickens out, she rang Ross Moore, the brother of Josiah.
Neighbor Mary Peckham was the first to notice something wrong at the Moore home. She was said to have acted like a grandmother figure to the Moore children. She died later the same year after a nervous breakdown, aggravated by the murders.
Like Mary Peckham, Ross Moore got no answer when knocking the door, so let himself in using his own key. While Peckham stood on the porch, Moore went into the parlor and opened the guest bedroom door. Inside he found Ina and Lena Stillinger’s lifeless bodies on the bed.
Moore and Peckham contacted Hank Horton, Viscillia’s primary peace officer who arrived shortly after. The officer’s search of the house would reveal all six members of the Moore family, and the two Stillinger girls had been murdered. All of whom were bludgeoned to death using Josiah’s own axe. The axe was left behind in the room with the Stillinger sisters.
Hank Horton (far left) with investigators and newspapermen.
Doctors concluded that the murders took place between midnight and 5 am. Two cigarettes found in the attic suggest the killer, or killers, waited in the attic for the family to come home. Waiting for the family to go to sleep before making their move.
The attic in which the killer(s) are thought to have waited in for the Moore family to fall asleep.
The killer (or killers) began in the master bedroom, where Josiah and Sarah Moore were sleeping. Josiah received more blows from the axe than any other victim. His face had been cut to such an extent that both of his eyes were missing. While they used the blade of the axe on Josiah, the rest of the victims were killed using the blunt end.
After killing the parents, they proceeded into the children’s rooms and bludgeoned Herman, Mary, Arthur, and Paul. The killer(s) then returned to the master bedroom to inflict more blows on the parents Josiah and Sarah. While doing so the killer(s) knocked over a shoe that had filled with blood. The killer(s) then moved downstairs to the guest bedroom, where they killed Ina and Lena.
The murder weapon was left leaning against the wall in the bedroom of the Stillinger girls. The killer had attempted to clean the blade, however, blood could still be seen on it.
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.
The Moore family grave at the Villisca Cemetery.
THE SEARCH FOR THE KILLER
Over time, many residents of Villisca were suspected in the murder of the Moore family and the two young Stillinger girls. However, it was Reverend Lyn George Kelly who police got closest to nailing for the Villisca Axe Murders.
Traveling minister, Reverend Lyn George Kelly was one of the main suspects.
Reverend Lyn George Kelly was an English-born traveling minister. He just so happened to be in the town on the night of the murders. Kelly was described as peculiar, reportedly having suffered a mental breakdown as an adolescent.
As an adult, he was accused of peeping and several times asking young women and girls to pose nude for him. On June 8, 1912, he came to Villisca to teach at the Children’s Day services, which the Moore family attended on June 10, 1912. He left town between 5:00 a.m. and 5:30 a.m. on June 10, 1912, hours before the bodies were discovered. Reverend Kelly had confessed to the murders in court, but the jury didn’t believe his confession.
Five years later, in 1917, Kelly was arrested for the Villisca murders. Police obtained a confession from him; however, it followed many hours of questioning and Kelly later recanted. After two separate trials, he was acquitted, and the Viscilla Ax murders remained unsolved.
The Ax Murder suspects – Frank Jones, William Mansfield, Rev Kelly, Henry Moore.
While Reverend Lyn George Kelly came closest to being convicted of the murders, there were plenty of other suspects.
Frank F. Jones was an Iowa state senator and a prominent member of the town. Josiah Moore worked for Frank Jones at the Jones store for several years until he opened his own company in 1908. According to Villisca residents, Jones was extremely upset that Moore had left the company. While also taking the very lucrative John Deere franchise with him.
William Mansfield, who also went by the names of George Worley and Jack Turnbaugh, was believed to have been hired by Frank F. Jones to carry out the murders. Payroll records, however, provided an alibi that placed Mansfield in Illinois at the time of the Villisca murders
Henry Moore was convicted of killing his mother and grandmother in Columbia, Missouri just months after the Villisca Ax Murders. He carried out the murder is a similar fashion to the Villisca Ax Murders, brutally murdering them with an ax. Twenty-two other ax murders had been committed in the mid-west during this time period. It was suggested that Moore was a serial killer who had a hand in all these killings. Despite the same surname, he was no relation to the murdered Moore family.
Local newspaper article from a few days after the murders took place.
Now, more than 100 years later, it’s unlikely we will ever find out who committed the crime. The Villisca Axe Murder house will remain a mystery, never to be solved. Whether it was one of these men we will simply never know.
THE HISTORY OF THE VILLISCA AX MURDER HOUSE
The Villisca Ax Murders house was built in 1868 by George Loomis. The house was purchased by the Moore family in 1903. They lived there for 9 years, up until the day the murders occurred.
Three years after the murders the property was sold to J.H. Geesman. Over the past 90 years, the property had numerous owners up until 1994, when Rick and Vicki Sprague bought the property. However, after only a few months, the Sprague family sold the property to Darwin and Martha Linn.
At some point between 1936 and 1994 the house underwent a large refurbishment. The front and back porches were both closed in, plumbing and electrics were added and outbuildings were removed and replaced.
The house before being restored to its former glory. Notice both porches are closed in and the chimney stack between the windows is missing.
Using old photographs the Linn’s began to reverse the refurbishment. They removed the plumbing and electrics as well as the front and back enclosures and a number of other jobs.
Using testimonies given during the coroner’s inquest, the Linn’s also placed furniture in the same places it occupied at the time of the murders. Restoring the property as close to its original state as possible.
THE VILLISCA AX MURDER HOUSE TODAY
Today, the town of Villisca is home to less than 1,200 people. However, somewhat surprisingly, the Villisca Ax Murder house still stands and is often visited by tourists and ghost hunters. Those fascinated with the case regularly flock to see the house in person. Others simply want to see the crime scene of one of America’s most brutal unsolved murders.
The house today, restored to look just like it did in 1912, with open porches and a new chimney stack.
While the Villisca Ax Murder house still stands, it is no longer lived in. The Linn family keep the property as a time capsule and museum to remember the crimes that took place there. Unlike what we have seen at other crime properties such as 10050 Cielo Drive, the Manson Murder House, which was demolished.
While the house may be empty much of the time, the public can view the home with a tour guide. you can even stay in the house over-night!
The Villisca Ax Murder House today, restored to how the house looked in 1912.
The kitchen of the Villisca Ax Murder House as it looks today, returned to its former state.
The children’s bedroom in which two of the murders occurred.
Naturally, the Villisca Ax Murder House, with such a dark past, quickly attracts ghost hunters. There is not a ghostly phenomenon that hasn’t been reported there. Things moving, voices, apparitions, shadows, bad vibes. You name it; the Villisca Ax Murder House has had it.
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.
Paranormal investigators claim the house is incredibly active…..if you believe in that sort of stuff.
MORE TROUBLE AT THE HOUSE
However, in 2014 something very strange did indeed happen. A ghost hunter staying overnight at the Villisca Ax Murder House needed to be rushed to the hospital. The 37-year-old man was found with a self-inflicted stab wound to the chest. Why he stabbed himself we simply don’t know, it does, however, add to the intrigue of the house.
If you want to visit the Villisca Ax Murder House, but simply can’t make it to Iowa, then there is one other option. A virtual tour! While it might not be the same as visiting in person, you can get a real feel for the house.
A team of ghost hunters at the Villisca Ax Murder house using cameras to monitor each room.