Prompt Cast
The Voliska Axe Murders: A Chilling True Crime Mystery
TLDR In 1912, a man brutally murdered eight people with an ax in Voliska, Iowa, leaving behind a disturbing crime scene. Despite numerous suspects and theories, the identity of the killer remains unknown, making it one of the most unsettling unsolved cases in American true crime history.
Timestamped Summary
00:00
The episode is about the Voliska Axe Murders, one of the most unsettling murders in American true crime history.
05:09
In 1912, a man entered a house in Voliska, Iowa and murdered eight people with an ax, including a family of six and two friends who were staying over.
10:01
A man enters a house in Voliska, Iowa and murders eight people with an ax, using the flat side of the ax to deliver the fatal blows while they were sleeping, and then goes on to bash their heads in one by one after they were dead.
15:13
The crime scene of the Villisca Ax Murders was disturbed by over a hundred people, including doctors, coroners, and townspeople, making it impossible to preserve any evidence, and the murderer likely escaped on a train.
20:25
Suspect number one in the Villisca Ax Murders is Frank Jones, a well-respected state senator and local businessman, who had a rivalry with Joe Moore, one of his former employees, and allegedly had an affair with Jones' daughter-in-law.
25:27
FF Jones, a wealthy businessman and former state senator, was suspected of hiring someone to commit the Villisca Ax Murders, but the main suspect, William Mansfield, had an airtight alibi and was later convicted of another axe murder.
30:08
George Kelly, a traveling preacher who was in Velisca at the time of the murders, was suspected due to his reputation as a sex maniac and his lewd behavior, but the evidence against him was flimsy and he was later acquitted.
34:55
The theory emerging from modern forensic techniques and profiling suggests that the Villisca Ax Murders were the work of a serial killer, as there were multiple similar axe murders in the Midwest around the same time.
40:00
There are five similar crimes, including the Villisca Ax Murders, that occurred between October 1911 and June 1912, suggesting that they were all committed by the same person, despite the theory that Henry Lee Moore was the serial killer being disproven.
44:49
There were several similarities between the Villisca Ax Murders and other crimes, including the covering of mirrors and windows, the covering of the telephone, and the removal of undergarments from female victims, suggesting that they were all committed by the same serial killer.
49:37
The listener mail segment of the podcast includes a story about a man who discovered he had a hookworm infection after listening to an episode about hookworms on the show, and his symptoms improved after receiving treatment.
Categories:
Society & Culture
