The Villisca Axe Murders
Villisca, Montgomery County, Iowa · 1912
Eight people, including six children, were bludgeoned to death with an axe in a single Iowa farmhouse on a June night in 1912, and more than a century later no one has ever been convicted.
Overview
On the night of June 9 into the early morning of June 10, 1912, the six members of the Moore family and two young houseguests, sisters Lena and Ina Stillinger, were killed with an axe inside the Moore home in Villisca, Iowa. All eight victims died of severe head trauma; doctors estimated the killings occurred during the night. The family had spent that evening at a Children's Day program at the Presbyterian church, which Sarah Moore had coordinated, before walking home. Despite a years-long investigation and two trials of one suspect, the case was never solved and remains open to this day.
Where it stands
The murders remain officially unsolved more than a century later. The most prominent suspect was Reverend George Kelly, an English-born traveling minister who was in Villisca for the Children's Day services and left town early on the morning of June 10; according to Wikipedia, Kelly confessed to the murders in court, but the jury did not believe his confession, and he was tried twice, with the first trial ending in a hung jury and the second in an acquittal. Kelly was therefore never convicted. A separate long-running theory, reported by Legends of America and Wikipedia, focused on Frank Fernando Jones, a Villisca resident and Iowa state senator who had been Josiah Moore's former employer and business rival; Jones was suspected by detective James Wilkerson of having hired another man to commit the killings, but per Legends of America Jones was never charged with a crime. Both Kelly and Jones are long deceased, and no one was ever convicted of the murders.
Persons of interest
The theories below are reported strictly as attributed to the cited sources. Naming a person here is not an accusation. Individuals are named only where they are deceased, were formally charged, were officially named by authorities, or have been publicly cleared.
- Reverend George Kelly, a traveling minister present for the Children's Day servicesTried & acquitted
Kelly was in Villisca for the Children's Day services and left town early on June 10, hours before the bodies were found; per Wikipedia he confessed to the murders in court but the jury did not believe his confession, and he was tried twice (a hung jury, then an acquittal). He was never convicted and is deceased.[1]
- Frank Fernando Jones, a Villisca state senator and Josiah Moore's former employerDeceased
Per Wikipedia, Moore had worked for Jones for years before opening his own store and taking business away from him; detective James Wilkerson theorized Jones hired another man to carry out the killings. Per Legends of America, Jones was never charged with a crime. He was never convicted and is deceased.[1]
Sources
- Villisca axe murders
“The Villisca axe murders occurred during the night of June 9 to the early morning of June 10, 1912, in the town of Villisca, Iowa, in the United States.”
- Villisca, Iowa and the Axe-Murder Man
“In the end, the police and investigators gave up in 1917. The murders remained unsolved, and the killer went unpunished.”
- 1912 Axe Murders in Villisca Remain Unsolved
“1912 Axe Murders in Villisca Remain Unsolved”