7 October Haunted Places Series: The Villisca Ax Murder House October 7, 2024 By Melisa Rana Holiday, Just for Fun entertaning, fall, haunted places series 0 HAUNTED PLACES SERIES: THE VILLISCA AX MURDER HOUSE October 7, 2024 | Holiday, Just for Fun | entertaining, fall, entertaining Location: Villisca, Iowa Architectural Style: Modest Farmhouse Built: 1868 Every year, we at National Property Inspections like to celebrate the Halloween season by touring some of North America’s most notorious or intriguing haunted locations. Though we recognize that some can allow their imagination to run wild when it comes to the supernatural, we pride ourselves in uncovering the truth in all of our property inspections: the good, the strange, and even the down-right scary. Discovering the truth about the paranormal can be a transformative, often unnerving experience, so be warned! While many of the stories shared in this cross-country road trip are based on rumors and folklore, much of it is based on real events. For the first stop in our 2023 Haunted Places Series, our paranormal investigators were initially happy to hear that they’d be taking their shortest drive yet, but the skin-crawling cold case they found just under two hours from the corporate offices left them feeling unnerved to say the least. In a story that proves tragedy can happen anywhere, we visit the Villisca Ax Murder House. A Normal Family in the Midwest Life in a small town is much the same no matter where you are. Smaller communities often seem to be a difficult setting for secret-keeping. Rumors spread like wildfire and, if a dramatic event is interesting enough, some stories can live on for years, even decades. In the early 1900s, Villisca, Iowa (pop. 2,500) was just like any other small town, and the Moores were just like any other family. Well-liked and respected throughout the community, Josiah Moore and his wife Sarah Montgomery Moore were parents to four children and devout attendees of the local Presbyterian church. After returning home late from a church event one Sunday in June, their daughter Katherine invited two of her friends, Lena and Ina Stillinger, to spend the night at their farmhouse. When the Moores and their guests weren’t seen doing their regular chores and routines the next morning, their neighbor headed over to tend to their animals and investigate. What their neighbor, Mary Peckham, discovered would come to define Villisca, Iowa for years to come. Detectives would later declare that between the hours of midnight and 5 AM, an unknown individual made their way through the Moore’s home. Armed with Josiah’s own ax, they bludgeoned the eight inhabitants in their sleep. Josiah and Sarah Moore, along with their four children and the two Stillinger girls, were all found dead in the morning with no sign of who the perpetrator could have been. The shock in this community was, understandably, deafening, which did little to aid an investigation the town was surely unprepared for. A Century Old Cold Case In 1912, fingerprinting and DNA testing were newfound innovations in the field of criminal justice, not widely available enough to be of use in this investigation. Still, one has to wonder whether the chaotic investigations that ensued would have been so fruitless if this tragedy had occurred only a decade later. Famously, June 10, 1912 was a fiasco in Villisca, Iowa. As word of the tragedy spread, hundreds flocked to the small farmhouse, contaminating the crime scene until the Villisca National Guard was finally able to secure some sense of sanity in the area at around noon. To this day, it is unknown how much crucial evidence might have been lost in this initial scramble. Although a number of suspects were brought to trial (and a few even confessed to the murders before rescinding those statements), the individual that murdered six children and two adults will likely remain a mystery forever. Delving into the Paranormal Today, Villisca, Iowa is still a small town with just a little over 1,000 inhabitants. People seem to take great care of their homes and tend to their lawns as one might expect. If one were to visit Villisca, it might be hard to imagine such a horrible tragedy could have ever occurred there, but many believe that the small white corner home on the east end of town remembers well. Referred to as the “Villisca Ax Murder House,” this location has found its way onto the National Registry of Historic Places. You can take a tour for $10 or even spend the night for upwards of $400. While locals don’t regard the paranormal stories associated with the home with much seriousness, many believe that if any location in the world would be haunted, surely this would be the one. Featured on every ghost hunting show and a sought after target for amateur investigators, many claim to have heard childrens’ voices, abnormal shadows, and even disembodied footsteps coming from the attic (one location where it was speculated the murderer may have waited for the Moore family to fall asleep). According to one legend, a fog is said to roll throughout the house around the same time as the grisly murders all those years ago, possibly symbolizing the lack of closure on the case. Visiting Villisca, Iowa is certainly a memorable experience, if also a somber reminder that a community’s past has a tendency to linger. For those interested in learning more about the remarkable trials and the peculiar suspects, or even book a stay for yourself, visit their official website! 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