The Creepy Story Of The Villisca Axe Murders
Horror Stories/YouTubeThe Villisca Axe Murders house.
The small town of Villisca, Iowa, was made for carefree childhoods and peaceful afternoons. But on June 10, 1912, it set the stage for one of the most disturbing crime scenes in the state’s history. The creepy story started after Joe and Sarah Moore put their four kids to bed — along with two friends who were sleeping over — before retiring to their own bedroom.
No one in the house would ever wake up again.
With trusting Villisca locals leaving their homes unlocked, a shadowy stranger had no problem entering the Moore home in the dead of night. Carrying a dimly lit oil lamp in one hand, the intruder wielded an axe in the other. He quietly walked upstairs to bludgeon the Moore parents to death. Then, he slaughtered all of the six children in the home.
Though neighbors didn’t hear the murders, they did notice a suspicious lack of usual activity at the home the next day. Joe Moore’s brother thus let himself inside to check on his relatives, only to discover their mutilated corpses. All of their faces had been reduced to bloody mush and covered in sheets or cloths. Many of the mirrors and windows were covered as well.
Public DomainOne of the bedrooms in the Moore home, with a cloth draped over the mirror.
The killer had also taken a two-pound piece of uncooked bacon from the fridge and placed it in the living room. And he left a bowl of water with blood in it, hinting that he had washed his hands before leaving.
While police urged townspeople to stay away from the house, the Villisca Axe Murders crime scene was soon tainted by at least 100 curious locals. One of them even grabbed part of Joe Moore’s skull as a souvenir.
As for potential suspects, the first person of interest was Frank Jonas, a business competitor of Moore’s who used to work with him. The second was Lyn George Jacklin Kelly, an English immigrant known for his “sexual deviancy” and his numerous mental health problems.
Kelly eventually confessed to the murders. He had already been seen watching the Moore family around town, and he had also brought bloody clothing to a dry cleaner just days after the crime. But ultimately, he recanted his confession and a jury decided not to indict him.
Ominously, numerous reports of axe murders began to spring up across the country shortly after this brutal case. Even eerier, a low-burning oil lamp had apparently been used by most of the killers at many of the crime scenes. As for the mysterious Villisca Axe Murders, this case eventually went cold. And the spooky story remains unresolved to this day.
