The Villisca Axe Murders

Once again I have chosen to do a very old crime. This one took place in 1912 in the town of Villisca Iowa. It is unsolved but there were suspects aplenty in this case, many of who were suspected to be serial killers and associated with many other unsolved murders that involved the use of an axe upon a family.

On the morning of June 10, 1912 at around 7:00 in the morning a woman named Mary Peckham realizled that she had not seen her neighbors, the Josiah Moore family out that morning doing their chores and this was rather unusual. She went to the house and knocked on the door but there was no answer. The windows were covered so she could not go in. She even tried the door but it seemed to be locked which for the time period seemed a bit odd. Some reports say that she went and got her husband who also attempted to alert the family before the local peace officer was called. Other reports say that she reached out to Ross Moore, Josiah's brother who after attempting to get someone to answer the door used a key that he had to enter the house. In that version of events it was said that Ross entered the home and went into the downstairs guest room where he found the bodies of eight year old Ina Mae Stillinger and her sister, twelve year old Lena Stillinger, friends of ten year old Mary Katherine Moore. At this point Ross yelled to Mary Peckham to call the peace officer, Hank Horton. In this version while Ross found the Stillinger children it would be Horton and other authorities who would find the bodies of Josiah and Sarah Moore along with their four children, Herman, Mary Katherine, Arthur and Paul. The children's ages ranged from five to eleven.

Upon discovery it was determined that all of the victims had severe head wounds from an axe, although it seems that only Josiah had been hit with the blade as the others had been hit with the blunt end of the handle. In fact, the axe would be found in the home and found to belong to Josiah himself. However, this clearly was not a crime of murder/suicide.

It is not clear how long investigators remained at the house but a large crowd from the town surrounded the house. While they were present investigators kept everyone out of the house but apparently as soon as they left, with the bodies still inside the house was bombarded with people. It was later said at least 100 people trampled through the home, some even taking pieces of Josiah Moore's skull as souvenirs. Aside from leaving the bodies in the home it was obvious investigators were not done in the home. It was said they attempted to take bloodhounds to the house to get a scent but were unsuccessful because there had been so many people in and out of the house before they attempted. As far as the other evidence and information they got it is not clear if that too was before or after the townspeople went through the house.

It was initially believed, before there were any suspects, that a perpetrator or perpetrators had lied in wait in the attic of the home as they stated they found two spent cigarettes. The family, along with the Stillinger girls had been at their church the previous night and it was believed they had gotten home close to 10:00 that evening. Investigators stated they believed the perpetrator waited until they all fell asleep before emerging. They reasoned that the attack began on Josiah and his wife Sarah in their upstairs master bedroom. Josiah had been hit so many times it was alleged that his eyes were “missing.” They next believed that the Moore children were then attacked in their room, also upstairs. It was thought that at this point the master bedroom was re-entered based on the fact that a shoe had allegedly filled with blood from the first attack and was knocked over when they entered again. I can only assume that this assumption was made because of footprints in the home but I did not hear of it being mention. Investigators believe it was then that the Stillinger sisters were attacked in the downstairs bedroom. It appeared that all of the victims were asleep based on their positions except for Lena Stillinger. The twelve year old's body laid across the bed, it was said she had a defensive wound on her arm and her nightgown had been lifted above her waist. She did not have any undergarments on and this led to speculation that she had either been sexually assaulted or at least an attempt had been made. The axe was found in this room which is why they believe this was the last stop for the perpetrator. The medical examiner would say that they had all been murdered sometime between midnight and five in the morning.

When it came to suspects not only were they not in short supply in the early 1900's, it appears more have been mentioned over the years. One man was actually brought to trial twice, even confessed apparently more than once. He was never convicted and people are divided if he was guilty or if he had been framed because he was mentally challenged. But, before I go into that man, George Kelly, I am going to discuss some of the other more serious suspects.

One of those suspects was a man named Samuel Moyer. Moyer was Josiah's brother in law and it was said they had a rocky relationship in which Moyer often threatened Josiah. It was said that Moyer had an alibi that was verified so he was cleared.

Then there was Frank Jones. He was a state senator who owned a farm equipment business. Josiah had worked for Jones for a while and then Josiah left and opened his own rival business. In the process he took business away from Jones and it was rumored he was none too happy about that. There was also a rumor that Josiah was having an affair with Jones' daughter in law but by all accounts there was absolutely no proof of this. I did not see anything that ever said anyone thought Jones had committed the murders himself and why would he? He was a powerful man who did not have to get his “hands dirty.” Most who believe Frank Jones committed the crime believe that he hired a man by the name of William Mansfield. Then there are those who just believe Mansfield was the murderer, without Jones' help, approval or pushing.

A detective by the name of James Wilkerson apparently pushed the idea of William Mansfield being the murderer either with or without Jones' help. Apparently two years after the murders at the Moore home Mansfield's wife, in-laws and infant child were killed with an axe. There was some indication in my research that it was absolutely known that he had committed the murders of his wife and family, while other information indicated that he was just suspected again. Either way it was an odd “coincidence” that his family would be murdered with an axe and he allegedly had connections to the Moore family or Frank Jones. On the other hand, it did appear that the ongoing theory in this case was that who ever was responsible for the Moore family murders was responsible for nearly every other (and there were a lot) unsolved axe murders across the country, or at least in the mid-west. Four days before the Moore murders a family had been killed with an axe in Paola Kansas. To add to this it was said that in these murders, I read of about at least four, the windows, mirrors and victims had been covered in all of the cases leading investigators to believe they were all committed by the same person. Apparently Mansfield was looked into as far as the Moore murders but it was said that his alibi, that he was working in Illinois at the time checked out.

Wilkerson was not satisfied with the outcome of the investigation into Mansfield and seemingly he continued to push the issue. It was said that Wilkerson believed that Jones' political influence not only covered for Mansfield but contributed to George Kelly being arrested and tried later. William Mansfield ended up suing James Wilkerson for defamation. Wilkerson had publicly called Mansfield a serial killer. Mansfield won his case against Wilkerson and was awarded $2,225. I find it a bit interesting that Wilkerson was not sued apparently by Frank Jones. One would think his reputation had been tarnished also and being the prominent man he was he surely had the money to pursue a suit.

So that brings us to George Kelly. He was described as a “traveling minister” and he had arrived in Villsca on June 8^th to “teach” what was called Children's Day Services at the Moore's church on the night of June 9^th. This was the program in which the Moore family attended and left with the Stillinger girls spending the night at their home. It was said that Kelly left Villsca between 5 and 5:30 on June 10^th, before the bodies were found. It was said that Kelly was “peculiar” and it had been alleged that he had suffered a “mental breakdown” as a child. Over the years he had apparently been accused on several occasions of basically being a “Peeping Tom.” It was also alleged that he had been known to ask young women to pose nude for him. It appears that sometime before 1914 Kelly was arrested and tried for the murders. It was said that he confessed in court to the murders but the jury had not believed him and in the end there was a mistrial ordered as the jury could not come to a decision.

I find the idea that he confessed and yet the jury did not believe him to be quite interesting considering that in 2020 people find it difficult to believe that someone would confess to a murder they did not commit and this was more than 100 years ago. But, as is often the situation in these old cases I had no information as to what their reasons were. In 1914 though Kelly was arrested for “sending obscene material through the mail” to a woman who had applied to be his secretary. He was apparently convicted but sent to a mental hospital for treatment. It was then that it was said that he came under suspicion again for the Moore murders. Authorities arrested him for that murder again in 1917. It was said that once again he confessed but then he recanted the confession. This time it appears that the jury believed the confession had been all but “beaten” out of him after hours of interrogations. The jury acquitted him.

A book was published in 2017 that brought another suspect into light by the name of Paul Mueller or Miller. He too was accused of committing several other axe murders in the country at that time. All of them were allegedly near railroad tracks indicating that the perpetrator had easily gone from place to place to commit the crimes. There are some who believe Mueller to be a very viable suspect as he has been connected to towns at times of other murders and apparently the Moore murders too.

The Moore home was built in 1868 and Josiah Moore bought the home in 1903. It was reported that the home had eight different owners between 1912 and 1994. The last owners had the home restored to the condition of the home in 1912, including the outhouse and opened it up for tours and even overnight visits. In 1997 the house was put on the National Register of Historic Places. Since that time there have been many paranormal investigations done there and shows televising these things. Allegedly the house is haunted... but by who??