Gruesome Series

Murder, madness, and the macabre in Iowa? You've got to be kidding! When most people think about Iowa, their minds conjure up pigs, cornfields, and crotchety old farmers. But ax murders, mass killings, and ghostly sightings. Those atrocities are reserved for big cities like Chicago or LA, not a little burg like Villisca, Iowa - population 2,000. People refuse to believe that a hundred years ago, every eye in the nation turned to Villisca, Iowa where eight people were butchered in their sleep by a madman using only an ax. Attention quickly turned to the Reverend Lyn Kelley, "a queer, strange, little preacher man," often accused of window peeping. The police forced a confession from him. Kelley said he was walking by the Moore house when a voice commanded him to, "Go in. Slay utterly." What could he do? He climbed the stairs and slaughtered the children. "Slay utterly. Suffer the little children." Back downstairs, he went into the parent's bedroom. "More work yet. There must be sacrifices of blood." Again, the ax did its work. In another downstairs bedroom, he discovered the Stillinger girls, asleep in their beds. "More work still." The ax resumed its work. Eight people were dead. The ax was satisfied. When Kelley recanted his confession, investigators turned their attention to Senator Frank Jones. Old-timers hinted there had been bad blood between Jones and Joe Moore (the deceased) ever since Moore left his position at Jones' farm implement store and opened the local John Deere dealership. Another rumor had it; Joe Moore was sleeping with Albert Jones' wife. But that theory didn't hold water, either. Reports linked Dona Jones to half the men in Villisca. Detectives developed dozens of others suspects over the years, but none of them panned out. The Villisca Ax Murders remain Iowa's most famous cold-case file. Or, if you prefer outdoor adventures, consider the story of Andrew Thompson, "a big, fat, red-faced" farmer who built his mistress a cottage at the edge of his farm and flaunted their relationship in front of his wife and children. Later, when Mrs. Thompson laid down the law, Andrew moved his mistress and her three children to McGregor, Iowa. Then, the next day, he had second thoughts. Thompson took the Haggerty's on a sleigh ride through Iowa and Wisconsin. A week later, he returned home alone. No one was the wiser, until the spring thaw. It was almost the perfect crime until the bodies began to wash up on shore around Jaco Island, Wisconsin. Then, Andrew Thompson had some explaining to do. Gruesome Iowa is a collection of true-life stories - most of them rescued from old newspaper accounts published over 100 years ago. Only a few of the events in this book - such as the Villisca Ax Murders have ever made it into print. Except maybe in musky-old county histories. Even then, they are lucky to rate a paragraph. Read them now, if you dare!  

Have you ever wondered where the skeletons are buried in your hometown? Gruesome Missouri is a collection of murder mysteries from St. Louis, St. Joseph, Catawissa, Kirbyville, Bull Creek, and more. Only a few of the events in this book have ever made it into print, except maybe in musky-old county histories. Even then, they are lucky to rate a paragraph. Included inside: Bertha Gifford wasn't your typical grandma. She had a fascination with gory wrecks and accidents, and poisoned 19 people, rather than watch them suffer. Myrtle Eberly killed her boyfriend, then told police about an unwritten law that said if he promised to marry her and did not, it was only right that she should kill him. Dan Greenhill, and his brother William, killed their sister Sadie Uren and her fiancé John Meloy, rather than see them marry. William Greenhill quickly broke down and confessed. "We would rather see her dead than his wife." All he wanted was her money. Bob Ford and his brother Charlie Ford, made a deal with Missouri Governor Thomas T. Crittenden to kill Jesse James. Not long after that they killed the famous outlaw in his St. Joseph, Missouri home. Bloody Island, now the site of East St. Louis, served as the field of honor in Missouri's dueling days. Thomas Hart Benton fought Charles Lucas there twice - first in 1816, and again in 1817. Joshua Barton, the United States District Attorney, met Thomas C. Rector there in 1823, and Major Thomas Biddle fought Spencer Pettis to the death in 1831. Though not as famous for its feuds as West Virginia, Missouri had more than its share of famous feuds. This book details the Payton-Matthews Feud in Taney County, the Bilyeu-Meadows Feud on Bull Creek, and the Dooley-Harris Feud at Doe Creek. Of course, there's more, but you get the idea. Gruesome Missouri covers 16 brutal murders that occurred in Illinois between 1867 and 1920. Read them, if you dare.

Gruesome Illinois is a collection of true-life stories. Most of them rescued from old newspaper accounts published over 100 years ago. Only a few of the events in this book - such as the Monmouth Ax Murders have ever made it into print. Except maybe in musky-old county histories. Even then, they are lucky to rate a paragraph. Included inside: H. H. Holmes told investigators he killed eighteen people outside of the White City in his Murder Hotel. Henry Spencer, better known as the Tango Murderer, confessed to killing twenty-nine people. When detectives finally caught up with him, he said: "After my first stretch in the penitentiary, I became cold-blooded, and for five-cents, I would kill a man and drink his blood." Henry Bastian murdered nine people on his Milan Murder Farm rather than pay them, then hung himself, just as his secret began to leak out. The Sunday Night Murderer stepped off the train in Monmouth, Illinois, butchered the Dawson family with an ax, then mysteriously disappeared on the same rails he rode into town. Ray Pfanschmidt became the Lizzie Borden of Payson, Illinois, after authorities discovered his family, chopped up and roasted in the kitchen stove. He was initially found guilty and sentenced to hang, then released three years later after he won a new trial. Even then, people couldn't help asking, was Ray Pfanschmidt a psycho-killer? Of course, there's more, but you get the idea. Gruesome Illinois covers 16 brutal murders that occurred in Illinois between 1867 and 1920. Read them now, if you dare.

Gruesome New York is a collection of true-life stories - most of them rescued from old newspaper accounts published over 100 years ago. Only a few of the events in this book - have ever made it into print, except maybe in musky-old county histories. Even then, they are lucky to rate a paragraph. Read them now, if you dare! Included inside: The murder of Helen Jewett in 1836. The killing of Carrie Brown, better known as Old Shakespeare, back in 1891. Lizzie Halliday, who murdered five people, including her husband in the early 1890s. And, don't forget Roxalana Druse. She chopped up her husband and cooked him in the kitchen stove to eliminate the evidence. Of course, there's more, but you get the idea. Gruesome New York covers eighteen brutal New York murders that occurred between 1836 and 1920.

Gruesome California is a collection of true-life stories - most of them rescued from old newspaper accounts published over 100 years ago. Only a few of the events in this book - have ever made it into print, except maybe in musky-old county histories. Even then, many of them are lucky to rate a paragraph. Included inside: Fifteen-year-old Nora Fuller went to a job interview in January 1902 and disappeared without a trace. Three weeks later, her body turned up in the upstairs bedroom of an abandoned house. Leon Soder traveled to Alsace-Lorraine to fetch his brother-in-law, Joseph Blaise, then was accused of murdering him to collect the insurance premium. Did he do it? Zollie Clement led a double life. By day, he was a mild-mannered carpet layer who lived a boring life at home with his wife and kids. After dark, he was a thrill-seeker who robbed and killed for the adrenaline rush it gave him. Of course, there's more, but you get the idea. Gruesome California covers 12 brutal murders that occurred in California between 1867 and 1920. Read them, if you dare!

Are you afraid of things that go bump in the night? Don't look now, but some of the most gruesome serial murders occurred in your neighborhood.   Fourteen-year-old Jesse Pomeroy had a long history of terrorizing and brutalizing young boys around Boston, then his thoughts turned to murder. Meet America's youngest serial killer. When asked why he did it, all he could say was: "I don't know. I had to."   The Servant Girl Murders in Austin, Texas during 1885 puzzled investigators. Three black servant girls, and one of their boyfriends, were brutally beaten and raped in the dark of the night. Texans didn't take it seriously until two white women lost their lives on Christmas Eve. The killer was never found, but many speculate he went on to fame as Jack the Ripper, London's famed Whitechapel killer.   Henry Bastian, a Milan, Illinois farmer devised a unique method of getting cheap labor. He paid his farmhands a few dollars up front and promised them big money at the end of a year's service. Then he killed them, instead of paying them. At least nine young men lost their lives to his scheme.   Belle Gunness, the La Porte, Indiana serial killer, lured men to her murder farm by advertising for a husband in Scandinavian Matrimonial Magazines. As many as forty-two men fell victim to her wiles.   The Sunday Night Murderer rode the rails in the Midwest spreading terror in his wake. Twenty-five men, women, and children fell victim to his ax between 1911 and 1912. He slipped into homes in the middle of the night, bashed his victim's heads to a pulp, and moved on without leaving a clue to his identity.   The Dayton Strangler took six victims between 1900 and 1909. He lured them away to a quiet area, choked them nearly to death, then assaulted them. When he finished, the strangler dumped his victims in outhouse vaults.   Henry Spencer, Chicago's "Tango Murderer," killed upwards of thirty men and women. "I became cold-blooded," he said. "For five cents, I would kill a man and drink his blood." After his capture, he reveled detectives with stories about how he took his victims.   Bertha Gifford was a typical grandma, except for her tendency for homicide. She poisoned at least nineteen people she was charged with nursing back to health. After her arrest, she told detectives, "Arsenic helped me. I thought it might help them, too.

Gruesome Quad-Cities is a collection of true-life stories - most of them rescued from old newspaper accounts published over 100 years ago. Only a few of the events in this book have ever made it into print. Except maybe in musky-old county histories. Even then, they are lucky to rate a paragraph. Included inside: Albert Kling threatened to kill his wife and behead his seven children if she did not prostitute herself to support him. After he beat her nearly to death, Mrs. Kling told authorities, she loved him "more than life." Edwin Cochran asked Davenport barber John Hassam for a job. When Hassam laughed at him, he returned with a Savage Automatic revolver and unloaded five shots into the barber. Henry Bastian murdered nine people on his Milan Murder Farm rather than pay them. He escaped justice by hanging himself, just as the final murder was discovered. Almost 2,000 men died at the Rock Island Military Prison during its two short years of existence during the Civil War. Life was no easier for the guards. Over fifty members of the 108th Colored Infantry died during their short tenure on the Island. When Allie Dool died after eating some poisoned chocolates at her workplace, Felix's Store, in Aledo, Illinois, suspicion quickly fell on her best friend, Marie Antoinette Dunlap. The newspapers quickly spread the word that Marie killed her friend to get her $4.00 a week job at Felix's Store. Was it true? The death of Officer Theodore Gerischer, while patrolling streets during the Muscatine Button Workers Strike moved the confrontation between police and strikers up a notch. "The police took no chances after the cowardly murder of one of their members," wrote The Davenport Democrat, "and sailed in right and left, leaving many a cracked head and sore body in their wake." Of course, there's more, but you get the idea. Gruesome Quad-Cities covers 16 brutal murders that occurred in Davenport, Moline, Rock Island, Bettendorf, Silvis, Muscatine, and more between 1867 and 1920. Read them now, if you dare!