Comments on: The Ax Murderer Who Got Away

By: Beth Klingensmith

Beth Klingensmith — Wed, 17 Oct 2012 21:06:29 +0000

Mike! Great article and thank you for sourcing my paper. The movie “Villisca: Living with a Mystery” is a wonderful documentary on the murders in Iowa and their subsequent impact on the town. I hope everyone who reads my paper enjoys it. I wrote it for a History class for my Masters Degree, never dreaming it would be referenced or read as much as it has. Henry Lee Moore is my first cousin, three times removed. His grandmother, Mary Wilson, was my great great great grandmother. BethK – Colorado Springs, CO

By: Mark

Mark — Wed, 10 Oct 2012 19:36:52 +0000

Honestly a horrible thing that happened, but I can’t help but think this could be an awesome movie plot.

A movie about this could be horrifying it could be electric it could leave people guessing and especially it could leave people wanting more considering the killer was never caught

By: The Inspector

The Inspector — Thu, 23 Aug 2012 22:24:18 +0000

Mike,

Thanks for the story and thanks for the link to my blog!

By: Sarah

Sarah — Thu, 23 Aug 2012 06:07:47 +0000

In (I think orthodox, though maybe all?) Jewish homes in shiva (mourning), mirrors are covered up. I wonder if it could have been someone who was either Jewish, or interested in Kaballah, mysticism, the occult, etc. (Vague memory suggests such things were popular turn of the century)

By: John

John — Mon, 25 Jun 2012 10:40:43 +0000

Hi
I enjoyed the history of the murder, not because its blood letting excited me in any way (mankind just like nature can be very cruel and its a fact of life) but because there may be other factors not yet touched upon.

1. The killing, like is intimated, may well have been a revenge killing (in its extreme). I do not agree with the analysis that it was improbable a 57 year old man of eminence (Jones) could have done the deed. 57 he is more than physicaly capable and it is just because of his eminence in the community being injured (with his daughter in laws infidelity with Moore (seen as a betrayel) and losing valuable and lucrative clients to Moore (losing money and betrayel) which could have ignighted the lust for absolute revenge against Moore and his family.

2. Covering the faces of victimes (profilers tel us) is a sign of remorse which is itself indicative of a personal knowledge or interaction with the victims. (Jones fits the bill here).

3. why not Dona Jones?? just because she is female does not preclude her from the suspect list. I would say the inclusion of the children as victims makes her more likely as a suspect!

We will never know who the perpatrator was. Time has erased our chances of such knowledge.

By: Sheret

Sheret — Tue, 19 Jun 2012 17:52:00 +0000

I find this story compelling in many ways. But the strange thing that came to my mind was the Lizzie Borden case. Although a 20 year difference, it is still plausible that the same culprit was responsible even though I do not recall the Lizzie Borden case having clothing or draperies over the faces. However; if the murderer was interrupted, it still seems they could be tied.

By: Eric Figgins

Eric Figgins — Sun, 17 Jun 2012 20:43:32 +0000

My father was born in Villisca, Iowa in 1930. He lived there with his parents (my grandparents) until he was a teenager. I grew up with my father telling me this story repeatedly as it had been relayed to him by his father. I always got the chills down my spine when he told me how the murderer had covered the mirrors with clothing and sheets. I had always assumed it was because the murderer did not want to see a reflection of himself and the monster that he was. The Smithsonian articles description of the murderer:

“then went around the murder house carefully draping torn clothing and cloths over all the mirrors and all the windows: because he feared that his dead victims were somehow conscious of his presence”

was a new insight I had never considered.

I found this article very interesting and enjoyable. Thanks for the good read. A haunting story but nonetheless brought back memories of my dad telling me this story when I was just a kid. He is no longer with us and I miss him, especially on Father’s Day.

By: Bill Peschel

Bill Peschel — Mon, 11 Jun 2012 13:12:25 +0000

Historians must yearn for slaughters like this in their bailiwick. Recording these stories encapsulates as in amber the people, the times, the way they talk and live. We know more about the Clutter family, Colette Macdonald and Mary Kelly because of what happened to them than for anything they had done up to the moment of their departure. In dying, the murder victims, ironically, live forever.

By: John McClaughry

John McClaughry — Sun, 10 Jun 2012 13:26:06 +0000

This is a very good retelling of a horrifying episode in American history. Detective Matthew McClaughry, my great uncle, had the distinction of bringing fingerprint identification to America from Scotland Yard, whence he had been sent by his father Major Robert Wilson McClaughry, warden at Leavenworth. As the article notes, Uncle Will may have been wrong about the ax murder culprit.