(Part One) June 9th (or) 10th marks the 110th anniversary of one of the most notorious crimes in American history – the brutal axe murders of Josiah and Sarah Moore, their four children (Herman, Katherine, Boyd and Paul) and Ina and Lena Stillinger, two neighbor girls who had the terrible misfortune of sleeping over that night. It’s a case steeped in mystery, with a gruesome crime scene, puzzling evidence, twists and turns and compelling suspects.
My guest – Dr. Edgar Epperly – has spent almost seventy years interviewing eyewitnesses and key figures and pouring over historical records related to the crime. He is considered the foremost authority on the case. The culmination of his decades of work is a comprehensive book on the subject published at the end of 2021, called “Fiend Incarnate: Villisca Axe Murders of 1912”. This is an absolute must read for anyone interested in the case.
Our interview went so long that it was divided into three parts. Part one is about the scene of the crime and the evidence that left investigators scratching their heads. Part two, out next week, is about F.F. Jones, whose adversarial relationship with Mr. Moore made him an early suspect. The third part of the interview, which will be released during the week of the 110th anniversary, is about the very peculiar Reverend Lyn George Jacklin Kelly, who would ultimately be tried for the murders. Also in part three, Dr. Epperly gives his opinion on the likelihood that a recent popular suspect, Paul Mueller, known as “The Man From the Train”, might have committed these homicides as a serial murderer.
Listener discretion is advised on this episode, as it contains adult themes and language.
Dr. Epperly’s website: https://villiscabook.com/
More about the documentary “Villisca: Living with a Mystery” here: https://www.villiscamovie.com/
Dr. Epperly’s Villisca Axe Murders Blog: https://docublogger.typepad.com/villiscamystery/
(Part Two) Frank Fernando (F.F.) Jones seemed to be one of the most obvious suspects in the aftermath of the horrific 1912 Villisca Axe murders. He had a contentious business rivalry with the patriarch of the slain Moore family, Josiah (Joe) Moore, intensified further because Moore was having an affair with his daughter-in-law. However there was no direct evidence linking him to the crime. Enter James Wilkerson, a pugnacious and cunning private detective who made it his mission to connect Jones to the murders, even if it meant manufacturing evidence.
In this second part of my three part interview with Dr. Edgar Epperly, author of ” Fiend Incarnate: Villisca Axe Murders of 1912″, we delve into Wilkerson’s trumped-up charges against Jones and bitter obsession with pinning the murders on him.
(Part Three) In this third and final part of my interview with Dr. Edgar Epperly, the “little minister” Lyn George Jacklin Kelly is examined as a primary suspect in the 1912 Villisca Axe Murders. Although Kelly spoke obsessively about the case and even confessed to the murders, many believed that the confession was the result of mental illness and police coercion.
Dr. Epperly also offers his thoughts on whether the murders might be the work of a serial killer named Paul Mueller (aka The Man From the Train). Dr. Epperly’s book, the result of almost seventy years of research, is called “Fiend Incarnate: Villisca Axe Murders of 1912”.
