The Villisca Axe Murder House

On the night of June 9, 1912, an unknown assailant entered a small white house in Villisca, Iowa, and murdered eight people with an axe as they slept. The victims included J.B. Moore, his wife Sarah, their four children, and two young girls who were spending the night. The brutal crime was never solved, and the house has gained a reputation as one of America’s most actively haunted locations, where visitors report violent supernatural encounters that seem to echo the horror of that night.

The Murders

The Moore family had attended a Children’s Day program at the Presbyterian Church on the evening of June 9, 1912. Josiah B. Moore was a prosperous businessman, well-liked in the community. His wife Sarah was active in church and social affairs. Their four children, Herman, Katherine, Boyd, and Paul, ranged in age from five to eleven. Two of Katherine’s friends, Lena and Ina Stillinger, had been given permission to spend the night after the church program.

The family returned home around 9:30 that evening. The Stillinger girls came with them. Sometime during the night, while all eight occupants slept, someone entered the house carrying an axe that belonged to Josiah Moore himself. The killer moved through the house methodically, striking each victim in the head while they lay in their beds. None survived. None apparently woke to fight back or cry out.

The bodies were discovered the next morning by Mary Peckham, a neighbor who became concerned when the Moore family failed to emerge and the morning chores went undone. She called on another neighbor, Ross Moore, who was unrelated to the victims. He tried the door, found it locked, and used a key to enter. What they found inside would haunt the small town of Villisca forever.

The Crime Scene

Every victim had been struck repeatedly in the head with the blunt end of an axe. The weapon was found in the downstairs bedroom where the Stillinger girls had slept. Mirrors throughout the house had been covered with clothing. A bowl of bloody water sat near the downstairs bedroom, suggesting the killer had washed before leaving. The blinds were drawn, plunging the house into darkness.

A four-pound slab of bacon was found on the floor near the axe, with gouge marks suggesting it had been used for some unknown purpose. A plate of uneaten food sat on the kitchen table. Investigators found a cigarette butt in the attic, suggesting the killer may have hidden there waiting for the family to go to sleep.

The brutality was extreme. Some victims had been struck so forcefully that the axe penetrated through to the mattress below. Two-year-old Paul Moore received the most violent assault, though investigators could never determine why. The Stillinger girls showed evidence of having been posed after death, adding a disturbing element of ceremony to the carnage.

The Investigation

The investigation into the Villisca murders was hampered from the start by contamination of the crime scene. Hundreds of townspeople tramped through the house in the hours after the discovery, destroying potential evidence. Early forensic science had few tools available. The killer had left almost nothing useful behind.

Suspicion fell on various individuals over the years. Frank F. Jones, a local businessman and state senator, had feuded with Josiah Moore over business matters and may have had an affair with Moore’s wife years earlier. Some believed Jones hired a professional killer named William Mansfield to commit the murders. Both men were investigated, but neither was ever charged.

Reverend George Kelly, an itinerant preacher who had been present at the Children’s Day program, later confessed to the murders, claiming God had told him to do it. He was tried twice; the first trial ended in a hung jury, and the second resulted in acquittal when he recanted his confession and provided evidence of mental instability. Many believed Kelly was guilty, while others thought his confession was the product of a disturbed mind.

Other suspects have been proposed over the years, including traveling serial killers who may have committed similar axe murders in other states. Whoever killed the Moore family and the Stillinger girls took their secret to the grave. The case remains officially unsolved.

The Haunting

The Villisca Axe Murder House stood largely unchanged for decades after the murders, passing through various owners. In recent years, it has been preserved as a historic site and opened to paranormal investigations and overnight stays. What visitors report has earned it a reputation as one of America’s most violently haunted locations.

People who enter the house frequently describe an overwhelming sense of dread, particularly in the upstairs bedrooms where the Moore children died. Some visitors have been unable to complete their tours, overcome by panic attacks or nausea. Others have reported feeling physical sensations including being touched, pushed, or scratched by unseen hands.

The children’s room seems to be the most active location in the house. Visitors report hearing children’s voices, laughter, and crying when no children are present. Toys placed in the room move on their own. The closet door opens and closes by itself. Some investigators claim to have captured EVPs of children speaking, saying things like “Can you play?” and “Don’t hurt me.”

The downstairs bedroom where the Stillinger girls were killed is another focal point of activity. The bed often shows impressions as if someone has been lying there. Cold spots move through the room without explanation. Some female investigators have reported feeling hands on their bodies and have fled the room in terror.

The Attic

The attic of the Villisca house, where investigators believe the killer may have hidden while waiting for the family to sleep, produces some of the most intense paranormal experiences. Visitors ascending the narrow stairs often report feeling resistance, as if something doesn’t want them to enter. The temperature in the attic is frequently much colder than the rest of the house, even on hot summer days.

One investigator reported seeing the full apparition of a man crouched in the corner of the attic, only for it to vanish when he turned on his flashlight. Others have captured photographs showing unexplained shadows and figures. EVP sessions in the attic have allegedly recorded a male voice saying “Kill” and “They’re dead.”

In 2014, a paranormal investigator allegedly stabbed himself in the chest while spending the night in the attic. He survived, but his account of the incident remained confused and contradictory. Some believed he had been influenced by whatever malevolent presence inhabits the house. Others suggested a more prosaic explanation. The truth of what happened that night remains unclear.

Continuing Investigations

The Villisca Axe Murder House continues to draw paranormal researchers from around the world. The house can be toured during the day or rented for overnight investigations. Night after night, investigators set up their equipment and wait for something to happen. More often than not, something does.

Common experiences reported by investigators include electronic equipment failing without explanation, batteries draining completely within minutes, and cameras and recorders capturing anomalies that weren’t visible to the naked eye. Physical effects are common as well. People are touched, scratched, pushed, and in some cases, attacked by unseen forces.

The house seems to respond to provocation. Investigators who taunt the spirits or challenge them to appear often report more intense experiences than those who approach respectfully. Whether this represents genuinely intelligent haunting activity or simply confirmation bias remains a matter of debate.

Conclusion

On a summer night in 1912, evil visited a small Iowa town and took eight innocent lives, including six children under the age of twelve. The killer was never caught. Justice was never served. The victims were buried, and the house stood empty, holding its terrible secret.

Today, that house still stands. The bloodstains have been cleaned away, but something remains. Visitors feel it the moment they walk through the door, a weight, a presence, a wrongness that has never dissipated. Whether these are the spirits of the murdered family, the lingering evil of their killer, or simply the accumulated grief and horror of more than a century, something haunts the Villisca Axe Murder House.

The case remains unsolved. The dead remain unavenged. And in that small white house in Iowa, eight souls may still be waiting for someone to answer the questions they’ve been asking for over a hundred years: Who did this? Why? And when will they finally find peace?