The Villisca Axe Murders occurred in June 1912 in the southwestern Iowa town of Villisca, when an unknown attacker entered the Moore residence, murdered the eight occupants of the house, including six children, with an axe and then just disappeared.

On June 9th of 1912, the Stillinger sisters, Ina and Lena, were invited to spend the night at the Moore house. When the day was ending, the visiting girls and the Moore family went off to a church, and came back to the Moore house at 9.00. They were likely not aware that there was an intruder or intruders who are thought to have been inside the attic or cellar, waiting for them to fall asleep, so they could attack. Once they were asleep, the intruder took the family axe and went up to the master bedroom, where Mr. Josiah Moore and Mrs. Sara Moore were asleep, and bludgeoned them in the heads. The murderer went into the children's room and bludgeoned Herman Moore, Mary Katherine Moore, Boyd Moore, and Paul Moore in the head like their parents. The killer possibly returned to the master bedroom to add more blows to the parents. Afterward, the murderer went downstairs to the guest room where Ina and Lena were sleeping, and hacked them in the heads. Lena may have been killed trying to get away and keep from being killed in a sexually traumatic way. Her undergarments were on the floor, her nightgown was rolled up, and there were wounds on her arms. But, there was no way to see if she was sexually traumatized or not. In the morning, their neighbor was suspicious when she noticed that the Moore family did not come out to do their morning chores. Before going to check their house, she fed her chickens and went to knock on their door. The neighbor then called Mr. Moore's brother, Ross, to see what was going on. Ross got in and returned, having left her on the porch, saying to call the sheriff, because he saw that the guests and the family inside were murdered. The investigation of the Villisca Axe Murders ruined the town's peacefulness and innocence. After the years of trying to solve the case, the police and investigators gave up in 1917. The case remains unsolved, and the house is now a tourist attraction.
 
The Suspects:
Many possible suspects emerged, including Reverend George Kelly, Frank F. Jones, William Mansfield, and Henry Lee Moore; however, as the investigation progressed, these suspects were exonerated.
 
Reverend George Kelly was said to be unbalanced and perhaps a pedophile. He was a traveling minister who happened to be teaching at the Children's Day services on June 9, at the same Presbyterian church the Moore family was attending. He and his wife left the town early on June 10, the day the bodies were discovered. Despite this, he was acquitted after two separate trials.
 
Frank F Jones was a Villisca resident and Iowa State Senator. Jones worked at Josiah Moore's company J.B. Moore. He worked there for many years before leaving to open his own store. It is said that Moore took away business from Jones, including a very successful John Deere dealership. It is also rumored that Moore had an affair with Jones’ daughter-in-law, though there is no hard evidence to support this.
 
The most promising evidence goes to the theory that Senator Frank F. Jones hired William “Blackie” Mansfield to murder the Moore family. It is believed that Mansfield was a serial killer because he murdered his wife, infant child, father- and mother-in-law (two years after the Villisca crimes) committed the axe murders in Paola, Kansas, four days before the Villisca crimes; and committed the double homicide of Jennie Peterson and Jennie Miller in Colorado. The locations of these crimes were all accessible by train, which is a major link. Another important link is that all murders were carried out in exactly the same manner.
 
However, Mansfield was released after a special Grand Jury of Montgomery County refused to indict him on grounds that his alibi checked out.
 
The evidence may have added up against Mansfield, but there was another man who was thought to be the axe murderer: Henry Lee Moore (ex husband of John's sister). It came up in the inquest that Henry Moore often threatened to kill Josiah Moore. Josiah had told his employer of the threats and Henry's son had confirmed it to be true. His son, Lee, also reported that his family knew nothing of the whereabouts of his father. Henry Moore was convicted of the murder of his mother and grandmother several months after the murders in Villisca; his weapon of choice being an axe. Nine months before the murders at Villisca, another similar case occurred in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Two other cases followed in Ellsworth, Kansas and Paola, Kansas. All cases were similar enough that the possibility that all were committed by the same person was impossible to dismiss.
 
Random Stranger Traveling Serial Killer
There is a possibility the murders were committed by a random person, most likely someone passing through town on a train.