Murder made the headlines of the Austin Daily Statesman many times during 1885. Many times the victims were African-American women who worked as domestic help.

The husbands and boyfriends of those women were arrested even though several suffered injuries in the nocturnal attacks in their homes.

Then the murders stopped. Police killed a black man who fits the profile of these murders. Was he guilty, or was it coincidental that the horrific murders ended with Elgin’s death?