Sometime around midnight between Sunday, June 9, and Monday, June 10, 1912, a person or persons entered a home in Villisca, Iowa, and bludgeoned to death eight people sleeping there, including two adults and six children aged 5 through 12. (Violence towards children warning)

The killings became known as the “Villisca Axe Murders,” and are easily the most notorious murders in Iowa history.

The murders spawned nearly ten years of investigations, repeated jury hearings, a slander suit and murder trial, and numerous other litigations and trials. This crime made and broke political careers. Did we mention its unsolved?

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Sources:

https://www.annmarieackermann.com/german-ax-murderer-in-america/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Villisca_axe_murders

https://medium.com/mel-magazine/the-father-daughter-duo-who-found-the-truth-behind-a-string-of-century-old-murders-8f4725322e01

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-ax-murderer-who-got-away-117037374/

https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/crime-and-courts/2017/12/08/villisca-axe-murders-iowa-bill-james-rachel-mccarthy-james-paul-mueller-man-train-book/934910001/

The Villisca Ax Murders | That Chapter Podcast

Beth H. Klingensmith. “The 1910s Ax Murders: An Overview of the McClaughry Theory.” Emporia State University Research Seminar, July 2006; Nick Kowalczyk. “Blood, Gore, Tourism: The Ax Murderer Who Saved a Small Town.” Salon.com, April 29, 2012; Roy Marshall. Villisca: The True Account of the Unsolved Mass Murder That Stunned The Nation. Chula Vista : Aventine Press, 2003; Omaha World-Herald, June 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 1912; December 27, 1913; June 10, 2012.