Josiah B. and Sara Moore House - NRHP97001471 - Villisca - Montgomery County - Iowa -10-23-2016 — Credit: Jason McLaren · CC BY-SA 4.0
Overview
During the night of June 9–10, 1912, eight people were killed with an axe inside the Moore family home in Villisca, Iowa. The victims were Josiah B. Moore (43), his wife Sarah Moore (39), and their four children — Herman (11), Mary Katherine (10), Arthur (7), and Paul (5) — along with two overnight guests, sisters Ina Mae Stillinger (8) and Lena Gertrude Stillinger (11), who had been invited to stay after a church Children's Day program that evening. The Moores and the Stillinger sisters walked home from the program, arriving between 9:45 and 10 p.m.
Discovery and crime scene
The bodies were discovered around 7–8 a.m. on June 10 by neighbor Mary Peckham and Josiah's brother, Ross Moore, after the family failed to appear for morning chores. All eight victims had died from severe head wounds inflicted by an axe belonging to Josiah, which was found in the guest room. Doctors estimated the killings occurred between midnight and roughly 2–5 a.m. Investigators noted that every mirror in the house had been deliberately covered, a slab of bacon had been removed from the icebox and left beside the axe, and a partially shuttered gas lamp was found upstairs. A fragment of a keychain not belonging to the family was recovered downstairs, and an impression in the hay of the barn suggested someone had watched the house beforehand. Evidence suggested Lena Stillinger may have awoken and attempted to resist the attack; later investigations found no evidence supporting speculation of sexual assault made at the time.
The scene was heavily compromised after a local telephone "all call" alert brought townspeople into the house before authorities secured it; some visitors reportedly took skull fragments as souvenirs. A National Guard perimeter was established by mid-morning, and bodies were not removed to a temporary morgue at the fire station until nearly 2 a.m. the following day.
Investigation and suspects
Numerous suspects were investigated over the following years, including a transient named Andrew Sawyer, traveling minister George Kelly, state senator Frank F. Jones, ex-convict William Mansfield, Josiah's brother-in-law Samuel E. Moyer, and Paul Mueller. Reverend George Kelly was tried twice: the first trial ended in a hung jury, and the second in acquittal. Mansfield was arrested in 1916 following a private investigation but was released for lack of evidence after payroll records placed him elsewhere at the time; he later won a lawsuit against the investigator who accused him. Other suspects, including Moyer, were cleared through alibi evidence. Later authors, including researchers behind *The Man from the Train* (2017), proposed Paul Mueller as the likely perpetrator, linking the Villisca murders to a broader series of unsolved axe killings across the United States in the 1900s–1910s.
Legacy
No one was ever convicted of the murders, and the case remains officially unsolved. The Moore house was restored in the 1990s to its 1912 condition and is now operated as a tourist site offering public tours.
Sarah Moore, Mary Katherine Moore, Josiah B. Moore, Ina May Stillinger, Lena Gertrude Stillinger, Paul Vernon Moore, Arthur Boyd Moore, Herman Montgomery Moore
Date
1910s
Location
Moore residence, Villisca, Iowa
Case status
unsolved
Case timeline
1912-06-09
The Moore family and visiting sisters Ina Mae and Lena Stillinger attend a Children's Day church program, then walk home together, arriving at the Moore house between 9:45 and 10 p.m.
1912-06-10
Sometime between midnight and roughly 2–5 a.m., all eight people in the house are bludgeoned to death with an axe.
1912-06-10
Around 7 a.m., neighbor Mary Peckham and Ross Moore discover the bodies after the family fails to appear for chores; local peace officer Henry Horton is called.
1912-06-10
An 'all call' telephone alert at approximately 8:40 a.m. draws townspeople into the house, contaminating the crime scene before a National Guard perimeter is established by 10:30 a.m.
1912-06-11
The county coroner holds an inquest; 13 potential witnesses are interviewed.
1914
Reverend George Kelly is arrested on unrelated obscenity charges and sent to St. Elizabeths Hospital; investigators again consider him a suspect in the Villisca murders.
1916
William Mansfield is arrested and brought to Montgomery County as a suspect but is released after payroll records provide an alibi placing him in Illinois at the time of the murders.
1917
George Kelly is tried for the murders; the first trial ends in a hung jury, and a second trial ends in acquittal.
1995
A couple purchases the Moore house and restores it to its 1912 condition; it later opens for public tours and overnight stays.
2017
Authors Bill James and Rachel McCarthy James publish 'The Man from the Train,' proposing Paul Mueller as the likely perpetrator in a wider series of axe murders.
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People
Sarah Moore
VICTIM
Josiah's wife, killed alongside him in the master bedroom.
Samuel E. Moyer
ACQUITTED
Josiah Moore's brother-in-law, investigated after reports he had threatened Moore, but cleared by his alibi.
Mary Katherine Moore
VICTIM
Daughter of Josiah and Sarah Moore, aged 10; had invited the Stillinger sisters to stay overnight.
Josiah B. Moore
VICTIM
Head of household, killed in the master bedroom.
Oren Jackson
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Sheriff involved in securing the crime scene and coordinating with the coroner.
George Kelly
ACQUITTED
Traveling minister tried twice for the murders; first trial ended in a hung jury, second in acquittal.
Ina May Stillinger
VICTIM
Overnight guest of the Moore family, aged 8.
William Mansfield
ACQUITTED
Ex-convict arrested as a suspect in 1916 and released for lack of evidence after an alibi was established; later won a civil lawsuit against the private investigator who pursued him.
Lena Gertrude Stillinger
VICTIM
Overnight guest of the Moore family, aged 11; evidence suggested she may have woken and resisted the attack.
Paul Vernon Moore
VICTIM
Son of Josiah and Sarah Moore, aged 5.
Henry Horton
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Villisca's primary peace officer who responded to the scene and searched the house.
Arthur Boyd Moore
VICTIM
Son of Josiah and Sarah Moore, aged 7.
Herman Montgomery Moore
VICTIM
Son of Josiah and Sarah Moore, aged 11.
Roles reflect public records and court outcomes at the time of writing — supporting citations are on file under Sources.
Archival records
archival location
Josiah B. and Sara Moore House - NRHP97001471 - Villisca - Montgomery County - Iowa -10-23-2016
In June 1912, eight people — the six-member Moore family and two overnight guests — were bludgeoned to death with an axe in their home in Villisca, Iowa. Despite two trials of a suspect and decades of investigation, the case remains legally unsolved.
