1 00:00:00,160 --> 00:00:05,400 Speaker 1: This story contains adult content and language. Listener discretion is advised. 2 00:00:11,400 --> 00:00:16,040 Speaker 2: So here we are at the site of Coobert Home 3 00:00:17,880 --> 00:00:23,560 Speaker 2: two oh seven East ninth Street, And as you saw 4 00:00:23,640 --> 00:00:27,200 Speaker 2: from the map, it was fairly quiet neighborhood collection of 5 00:00:27,240 --> 00:00:30,640 Speaker 2: Victorian homes, which is one block off the avenue. That 6 00:00:30,760 --> 00:00:33,800 Speaker 2: was what Congress Avenue was known as for years. People 7 00:00:33,880 --> 00:00:36,040 Speaker 2: just call up the avenue. Everybody knew what you were 8 00:00:36,040 --> 00:00:36,600 Speaker 2: talking about. 9 00:00:37,360 --> 00:00:39,479 Speaker 1: You were saying that there were some financial issues. 10 00:00:39,640 --> 00:00:42,760 Speaker 2: Oh, his brothers constantly help on setup business. Eugene would 11 00:00:42,760 --> 00:00:44,960 Speaker 2: just take the money and never set up that cigar 12 00:00:45,040 --> 00:00:47,120 Speaker 2: store in New Orleans. And then he would she eate 13 00:00:47,120 --> 00:00:48,960 Speaker 2: an embezzel. And why they gave him a job at 14 00:00:48,960 --> 00:00:51,080 Speaker 2: the shoe store. And he was doing this over and 15 00:00:51,120 --> 00:00:54,080 Speaker 2: over and over again. He was going in changing the books, 16 00:00:54,360 --> 00:00:57,360 Speaker 2: taking money out of the till, and getting caught at it. 17 00:00:57,360 --> 00:00:59,240 Speaker 1: It is a nineteenth century narrative. 18 00:00:59,000 --> 00:01:10,520 Speaker 2: And just deny didn't denied and denied as pathological about him. 19 00:01:10,560 --> 00:01:13,720 Speaker 1: But before all of that happened, before Eugene Bert was 20 00:01:13,760 --> 00:01:17,560 Speaker 1: accused of one of the most gruesome tragedies in Austin's history. 21 00:01:18,240 --> 00:01:21,680 Speaker 1: There were the Servant Girl, Annihilator murders, the series of 22 00:01:21,760 --> 00:01:32,320 Speaker 1: murders that we mentioned in the last episode. The Annihilator's 23 00:01:32,360 --> 00:01:35,440 Speaker 1: first victim was a black private cook in her mid 24 00:01:35,480 --> 00:01:40,000 Speaker 1: twenties named Mollie Smith. She was murdered on December thirtieth 25 00:01:40,040 --> 00:01:43,040 Speaker 1: of eighteen eighty four. Mollie was attacked in her bedroom, 26 00:01:43,240 --> 00:01:47,680 Speaker 1: dragged outside, raped and killed. She was found lying in 27 00:01:47,880 --> 00:01:51,920 Speaker 1: snow behind her employer's home, with blood pouring from gashes 28 00:01:51,960 --> 00:01:54,880 Speaker 1: in her head, wounds that had been made with an axe. 29 00:01:55,520 --> 00:02:00,920 Speaker 1: The scene was very violent. The reporters who to report 30 00:02:00,960 --> 00:02:03,960 Speaker 1: on her murder made much of the color of her skin, 31 00:02:04,600 --> 00:02:09,399 Speaker 1: that she had a light complexion, but they ignored details 32 00:02:09,400 --> 00:02:13,800 Speaker 1: that they likely would have published about white victims. Mollie 33 00:02:13,840 --> 00:02:17,280 Speaker 1: was from another state, Virginia, and she was a single 34 00:02:17,360 --> 00:02:21,160 Speaker 1: mother to a little boy. Humanizing Mollie was not the 35 00:02:21,240 --> 00:02:25,840 Speaker 1: priority for Austin's reporters, but local historian and tour guide 36 00:02:25,919 --> 00:02:29,360 Speaker 1: Monica Ballard says that the press was happy to offer 37 00:02:29,440 --> 00:02:32,919 Speaker 1: readers the gory details of her murder instead. 38 00:02:33,960 --> 00:02:37,080 Speaker 2: At the very very tail end of eighteen eighty four, 39 00:02:37,320 --> 00:02:42,680 Speaker 2: there was one woman who was attacked and lobotomized and 40 00:02:43,080 --> 00:02:47,160 Speaker 2: polished off with the sharp side of an axe, and 41 00:02:47,520 --> 00:02:50,200 Speaker 2: not very much effort was put into finding the. 42 00:02:50,120 --> 00:02:54,720 Speaker 1: Perpetrator because she was black and they didn't care. They 43 00:02:54,760 --> 00:02:57,639 Speaker 1: wouldn't feel the public pressure to find the killer that 44 00:02:57,680 --> 00:03:00,440 Speaker 1: they would have if it were an affluent woman who 45 00:03:00,520 --> 00:03:04,320 Speaker 1: was murdered. I asked Monica if they pursued anyone after 46 00:03:04,520 --> 00:03:05,200 Speaker 1: she was found. 47 00:03:05,639 --> 00:03:08,799 Speaker 2: They brought out bloodhounds. They went as far as Shoal Creek, 48 00:03:09,280 --> 00:03:11,840 Speaker 2: and when it came to the you know, the opportunity 49 00:03:11,919 --> 00:03:15,040 Speaker 2: to cross the freezing waters of Shoal Creek to see 50 00:03:15,040 --> 00:03:17,480 Speaker 2: what was on the other side, they thought, now, somebody 51 00:03:17,680 --> 00:03:20,400 Speaker 2: wandered into town, committed this deed at random, and left, 52 00:03:20,680 --> 00:03:23,400 Speaker 2: and that's it. It'll never happen again. 53 00:03:26,280 --> 00:03:29,760 Speaker 1: But it did happen again almost three months later, but 54 00:03:29,880 --> 00:03:35,840 Speaker 1: this time to two young white women. Swedish servants Christine 55 00:03:35,880 --> 00:03:40,080 Speaker 1: Martinsen and Clara Strand were attacked but not killed, on 56 00:03:40,160 --> 00:03:44,280 Speaker 1: March nineteenth, eighteen eighty five, and the press reported it widely. 57 00:03:44,960 --> 00:03:48,080 Speaker 1: The public now demanded that the killer be hunted down, 58 00:03:48,360 --> 00:03:52,520 Speaker 1: but Austin's corrupt police force was no help. Less than 59 00:03:52,520 --> 00:03:56,520 Speaker 1: two months later, in early May, another black woman was murdered. 60 00:03:57,800 --> 00:04:00,920 Speaker 1: Like Molly Smith. Eliza Shelley was a private cook and 61 00:04:01,000 --> 00:04:04,160 Speaker 1: a single mom. Her husband was in prison, so she 62 00:04:04,440 --> 00:04:08,440 Speaker 1: was the family's sole provider. Shelley was discovered by her 63 00:04:08,440 --> 00:04:12,280 Speaker 1: own children inside a house, and again the killer had 64 00:04:12,320 --> 00:04:15,119 Speaker 1: wielded an axe and attacked her brutally. 65 00:04:15,800 --> 00:04:19,120 Speaker 2: The following spring, when it happened again in virtually the 66 00:04:19,160 --> 00:04:22,919 Speaker 2: same manner, they still kind of turned a blind eye 67 00:04:22,960 --> 00:04:24,839 Speaker 2: because the woman was black. 68 00:04:25,240 --> 00:04:28,239 Speaker 1: After three weeks came a third attack on a black 69 00:04:28,279 --> 00:04:32,440 Speaker 1: female servant, this time with a knife. Irene Cross was 70 00:04:32,480 --> 00:04:35,760 Speaker 1: a widow and a single mother. A local reporter wrote 71 00:04:35,760 --> 00:04:41,080 Speaker 1: that it appeared that she had been scalped. Irene's eight 72 00:04:41,160 --> 00:04:44,120 Speaker 1: year old nephew said that he saw the attacker. He 73 00:04:44,200 --> 00:04:47,800 Speaker 1: described him as a big, chunky black man, barefooted with 74 00:04:47,920 --> 00:04:52,000 Speaker 1: his pants rolled up, but other eyewitnesses couldn't definitively say 75 00:04:52,040 --> 00:04:57,120 Speaker 1: the man's race or much of anything else. These were 76 00:04:57,160 --> 00:05:01,120 Speaker 1: not just crimes against women of color. These were executions 77 00:05:01,279 --> 00:05:05,280 Speaker 1: preceded by experiments that a disturbed child might conduct on 78 00:05:05,360 --> 00:05:09,520 Speaker 1: an animal. And still there was virtually no media coverage 79 00:05:09,600 --> 00:05:15,279 Speaker 1: because the killer was stalking a disenfranchised community. After Irene 80 00:05:15,279 --> 00:05:18,200 Speaker 1: Cross was found, there were other women who were attacked 81 00:05:18,320 --> 00:05:22,360 Speaker 1: and survived, but the police refused to investigate aside from 82 00:05:22,480 --> 00:05:27,799 Speaker 1: examining the scene and asking some cursory questions of their employers. Austin, 83 00:05:27,839 --> 00:05:30,680 Speaker 1: Texas was being stalked by a serial killer who was 84 00:05:30,720 --> 00:05:34,000 Speaker 1: targeting mostly black women, and it didn't seem like he 85 00:05:34,080 --> 00:05:36,760 Speaker 1: was going to stop until he did. 86 00:05:38,000 --> 00:05:41,920 Speaker 2: Then the killings sort of stopped that summer, and it 87 00:05:41,960 --> 00:05:46,120 Speaker 2: was a brutally hot summer, I mean triple digits. 88 00:05:48,600 --> 00:05:52,560 Speaker 1: In July of eighteen eighty five. Austin sweltered under intense 89 00:05:52,600 --> 00:05:56,320 Speaker 1: summer heat. That didn't stop people from continuing to argue 90 00:05:56,360 --> 00:05:59,240 Speaker 1: and continuing to kill each other. Women of color were 91 00:05:59,240 --> 00:06:03,360 Speaker 1: still victims of random crimes, but the Servant Girl Annihilator 92 00:06:03,560 --> 00:06:07,719 Speaker 1: had vanished. We don't know why he stopped, but why 93 00:06:07,720 --> 00:06:10,719 Speaker 1: do any serial killers stop? Maybe he was in jail 94 00:06:10,720 --> 00:06:14,040 Speaker 1: for something else. Maybe he died, Maybe he moved, or 95 00:06:14,080 --> 00:06:16,719 Speaker 1: he got married, or he became a father. We know 96 00:06:16,800 --> 00:06:20,000 Speaker 1: that life circumstances change for serial killers, just like they 97 00:06:20,040 --> 00:06:23,760 Speaker 1: do for everyone else. The black community in Austin thought 98 00:06:23,920 --> 00:06:29,479 Speaker 1: it was over, but that's not what happened. In August, 99 00:06:29,680 --> 00:06:34,400 Speaker 1: the Servant Girl Annihilator attacked again, seriously injuring another victim. 100 00:06:36,200 --> 00:06:38,320 Speaker 1: But then a few weeks later, right at the end 101 00:06:38,360 --> 00:06:41,239 Speaker 1: of August, the young daughter of a black servant named 102 00:06:41,360 --> 00:06:45,640 Speaker 1: Mary Raymie was raped, lobotomized, and killed in a backyard. 103 00:06:46,600 --> 00:06:50,480 Speaker 2: Mary Raymie was killed her and her mother, Rebecca, was 104 00:06:51,000 --> 00:06:55,240 Speaker 2: also attacked, and Mary was lobotomized through the ear and 105 00:06:55,320 --> 00:06:59,640 Speaker 2: through the temple as well. Rebecca survived her attack and 106 00:06:59,680 --> 00:07:03,080 Speaker 2: she was told that Mary's condition was such that these 107 00:07:03,279 --> 00:07:06,560 Speaker 2: pins had to be released from her head in order 108 00:07:06,600 --> 00:07:08,919 Speaker 2: for her to pass peacefully. And she lived like that 109 00:07:09,040 --> 00:07:11,000 Speaker 2: for two hours. They found that she was an eleven 110 00:07:11,080 --> 00:07:13,840 Speaker 2: year old girl, and that was the turning point right there. 111 00:07:13,880 --> 00:07:16,600 Speaker 2: People could no longer just dismiss it and say, well, 112 00:07:16,640 --> 00:07:19,000 Speaker 2: you know this is working class or these these are 113 00:07:19,040 --> 00:07:21,440 Speaker 2: people of color. No, no, this was an eleven year 114 00:07:21,440 --> 00:07:23,760 Speaker 2: old girl, and I had to stop now. 115 00:07:23,840 --> 00:07:27,280 Speaker 1: The black community in Austin was terrified. Once again, the 116 00:07:27,320 --> 00:07:31,200 Speaker 1: annihilator seemed to be targeting children, but still there was 117 00:07:31,280 --> 00:07:34,560 Speaker 1: little about the murders in the local press. Then, a 118 00:07:34,680 --> 00:07:39,560 Speaker 1: month after Mary died, two more killings. Gracie Vance and 119 00:07:39,640 --> 00:07:43,520 Speaker 1: her boyfriend Orange Washington were both murdered as they slept 120 00:07:43,560 --> 00:07:48,160 Speaker 1: in a small building behind her employer's house. Gracie was 121 00:07:48,280 --> 00:07:54,120 Speaker 1: raped before she was killed. So now that's four adult women, 122 00:07:54,360 --> 00:07:57,920 Speaker 1: one child, and one man, all black, who were killed, 123 00:07:58,280 --> 00:08:01,800 Speaker 1: in addition to a number of failed attempts, including two 124 00:08:01,800 --> 00:08:09,400 Speaker 1: white women. In all of these crimes, there were several consistencies. 125 00:08:09,840 --> 00:08:15,200 Speaker 1: The killer never wore shoes. The servant girl annihilator snuck 126 00:08:15,240 --> 00:08:18,680 Speaker 1: around at night in bare feet, perhaps in hopes of 127 00:08:18,800 --> 00:08:22,160 Speaker 1: not leaving shoe prints behind. Forensic experts in the late 128 00:08:22,200 --> 00:08:25,360 Speaker 1: eighteen hundreds would have known how to match the imprints 129 00:08:25,400 --> 00:08:28,400 Speaker 1: of shoes left behind at a crime scene, so maybe 130 00:08:28,440 --> 00:08:33,840 Speaker 1: he understood forensics. He often used an axe to kill people. 131 00:08:36,360 --> 00:08:39,679 Speaker 1: Nearly every household, wealthy or poor, would have had an 132 00:08:39,800 --> 00:08:42,719 Speaker 1: axe near their woodshed Wood and coal were the main 133 00:08:42,760 --> 00:08:45,160 Speaker 1: sources of heat in the winter, and the first set 134 00:08:45,200 --> 00:08:49,400 Speaker 1: of these murders happened during cold weather. The victims were 135 00:08:49,440 --> 00:08:53,920 Speaker 1: all posed in a similar position. They were all attacked inside, 136 00:08:54,040 --> 00:08:58,960 Speaker 1: and some were dragged and mutilated outside. Some women were lobotomized. 137 00:09:01,160 --> 00:09:04,000 Speaker 1: The killer also brought tools with him, like the rods 138 00:09:04,040 --> 00:09:07,520 Speaker 1: he used to lobotomize victims, and speaking of lobotomy, I 139 00:09:07,600 --> 00:09:11,280 Speaker 1: wonder if he had been interested in medicine. There are 140 00:09:11,360 --> 00:09:14,560 Speaker 1: easier ways to kill someone, and a lobotomy seemed to 141 00:09:14,600 --> 00:09:18,160 Speaker 1: be pretty laborious unless he had a fascination with it. 142 00:09:19,280 --> 00:09:21,720 Speaker 1: He was certainly a he because some of the women 143 00:09:21,720 --> 00:09:25,920 Speaker 1: were sexually assaulted. The killer seemed very bright, very swift, 144 00:09:26,400 --> 00:09:31,520 Speaker 1: and very disturbed. He was comfortable with death. He seemed 145 00:09:31,600 --> 00:09:35,079 Speaker 1: to live for it. And there was one other consistency 146 00:09:35,120 --> 00:09:40,400 Speaker 1: with the servant girl annihilator murders. The physician who studied 147 00:09:40,400 --> 00:09:52,280 Speaker 1: the bodies, doctor William Jefferson Burt, dutifully reported to each 148 00:09:52,360 --> 00:09:57,280 Speaker 1: murder scene, despite the race of the victim. He unzipped 149 00:09:57,320 --> 00:10:01,040 Speaker 1: his bag, examined the wounds, made no in his notepad, 150 00:10:01,520 --> 00:10:04,360 Speaker 1: and prepared the body to be removed to his lab 151 00:10:04,400 --> 00:10:09,240 Speaker 1: for an autopsy. Despite the growing number of victims in Austin, 152 00:10:09,559 --> 00:10:15,079 Speaker 1: now including men, the white community seemed unaffected. Worried perhaps 153 00:10:15,120 --> 00:10:19,679 Speaker 1: about the loss of a servant, but that's it. Local 154 00:10:19,800 --> 00:10:22,960 Speaker 1: historian Michael Barnes has studied this time period in Austin's history. 155 00:10:23,360 --> 00:10:26,240 Speaker 1: He says that all of these murders were traumatizing. 156 00:10:26,880 --> 00:10:32,440 Speaker 3: It struck fear in everyone's hearts and minds because we really, 157 00:10:32,640 --> 00:10:35,920 Speaker 3: what are such a peaceful and sleepy town. The African 158 00:10:36,000 --> 00:10:40,720 Speaker 3: American community was particularly frightened because most of the victims 159 00:10:40,720 --> 00:10:45,000 Speaker 3: were an African American and everybody knew everybody. So when 160 00:10:45,040 --> 00:10:47,760 Speaker 3: you hear a servant's house has been broken into and 161 00:10:48,160 --> 00:10:50,760 Speaker 3: they're murdered, everybody just they're blood curdled. 162 00:10:52,960 --> 00:10:55,560 Speaker 1: The story of the Servant Girl Annihilator has become a 163 00:10:55,679 --> 00:10:58,760 Speaker 1: huge story in Austin's history, and there's a lot of 164 00:10:58,760 --> 00:11:02,960 Speaker 1: local lore about it. One of the most prevalent myths 165 00:11:03,240 --> 00:11:06,880 Speaker 1: centers on some of the city's most unusual structures. While 166 00:11:06,880 --> 00:11:09,120 Speaker 1: they're not unusual to me because they've been here my 167 00:11:09,160 --> 00:11:12,600 Speaker 1: whole life, but they might seem strange to visitors. They're 168 00:11:12,640 --> 00:11:16,480 Speaker 1: the world famous moon towers. They're large metal structures that 169 00:11:16,559 --> 00:11:19,600 Speaker 1: stand one hundred and sixty five feet tall, which used 170 00:11:19,640 --> 00:11:23,679 Speaker 1: to emit light from carbon arc lamps. My twelve year 171 00:11:23,679 --> 00:11:26,720 Speaker 1: old daughter wondered about the odd metal towers, so we 172 00:11:26,800 --> 00:11:29,160 Speaker 1: went to one. The one that we're getting out to 173 00:11:29,200 --> 00:11:31,439 Speaker 1: look at right now is one of seventeen moon towers 174 00:11:31,480 --> 00:11:33,360 Speaker 1: that are left in the world. 175 00:11:33,480 --> 00:11:34,240 Speaker 4: We have to get out. 176 00:11:34,679 --> 00:11:40,600 Speaker 1: Yes, it's freezing, kay ready. The moon towers have been 177 00:11:40,600 --> 00:11:43,240 Speaker 1: connected to the case of the Servant Girl murders for 178 00:11:43,280 --> 00:11:46,400 Speaker 1: more than one hundred years. The local lore has been 179 00:11:46,440 --> 00:11:49,439 Speaker 1: that city officials were so alarmed after the murders of 180 00:11:49,480 --> 00:11:52,960 Speaker 1: the last two victims that they erected the lighting towers 181 00:11:53,000 --> 00:11:55,720 Speaker 1: to shed light on the city and to protect its 182 00:11:55,760 --> 00:11:59,480 Speaker 1: residents from a serial killer. These are just significant, and 183 00:11:59,520 --> 00:12:01,680 Speaker 1: I wanted to to see him. Go stand kind of 184 00:12:01,760 --> 00:12:05,240 Speaker 1: right there, look up, just look up. See the tower 185 00:12:05,320 --> 00:12:10,080 Speaker 1: right above you. That's a moon tower. See it. The 186 00:12:10,160 --> 00:12:12,960 Speaker 1: structure right in front of you. See the metal one. Yeah, 187 00:12:12,960 --> 00:12:15,040 Speaker 1: that looks like you can climb up. That's a moon tower. 188 00:12:15,600 --> 00:12:17,200 Speaker 2: Yeah, that's so odd. 189 00:12:18,120 --> 00:12:21,960 Speaker 1: Well, I mean, what it's meant to do is like 190 00:12:22,080 --> 00:12:26,160 Speaker 1: shine a light all over the city. It sounds like 191 00:12:26,200 --> 00:12:29,520 Speaker 1: a great legend, bright towers that protect the city from 192 00:12:29,520 --> 00:12:33,400 Speaker 1: a shadowy killer, But historian Michael Barnes says it's all 193 00:12:33,480 --> 00:12:34,000 Speaker 1: just a myth. 194 00:12:34,679 --> 00:12:37,920 Speaker 3: The moontowers didn't come along until a decade later. There 195 00:12:38,040 --> 00:12:43,040 Speaker 3: is no historical evidence that the moonlight towers were erected 196 00:12:43,120 --> 00:12:47,120 Speaker 3: to make the city brighter at night and therefore safer. 197 00:12:47,120 --> 00:12:51,480 Speaker 3: In fact, interestingly, the Servant Girl annihilator worked during a 198 00:12:51,520 --> 00:12:52,120 Speaker 3: full moon. 199 00:12:52,920 --> 00:12:56,400 Speaker 1: That makes the story even creepier, and Austin is full 200 00:12:56,440 --> 00:13:01,800 Speaker 1: of creepy stories, ghost stories. My other daughter wanted to 201 00:13:01,800 --> 00:13:04,760 Speaker 1: stay in a haunted hotel over spring break, so we 202 00:13:04,840 --> 00:13:08,400 Speaker 1: went to Austin's famous Driscoll Hotel, which has an entire 203 00:13:08,520 --> 00:13:13,880 Speaker 1: floor that's haunted. Dawson, you'd like your most haunted room, please. 204 00:13:14,360 --> 00:13:16,719 Speaker 1: We're here for one night. We're watching The Shining. That's 205 00:13:16,720 --> 00:13:19,120 Speaker 1: the whole reason why we're here. We live here fifteen 206 00:13:19,160 --> 00:13:19,680 Speaker 1: minutes away. 207 00:13:19,679 --> 00:13:20,839 Speaker 5: What was this our spring rain? 208 00:13:20,920 --> 00:13:21,040 Speaker 2: Now? 209 00:13:21,280 --> 00:13:23,160 Speaker 1: We planned to spend the night in a haunted room 210 00:13:23,240 --> 00:13:26,760 Speaker 1: and watch The Shining, Stanley Kubrick's classic horror film based 211 00:13:26,800 --> 00:13:29,240 Speaker 1: on the Stephen King novel Do. 212 00:13:29,200 --> 00:13:29,640 Speaker 2: You hear that? 213 00:13:29,760 --> 00:13:31,760 Speaker 6: Even the elevator sounds like a ghost? 214 00:13:32,440 --> 00:13:32,959 Speaker 2: Did you hear? It? 215 00:13:34,360 --> 00:13:36,439 Speaker 1: Was a terrible idea. By the way, we didn't see 216 00:13:36,440 --> 00:13:41,240 Speaker 1: any ghosts, but the movie gave us both nightmares. Austin 217 00:13:41,360 --> 00:13:44,560 Speaker 1: was officially incorporated in eighteen thirty nine, and so we've 218 00:13:44,559 --> 00:13:47,400 Speaker 1: had almost two hundred years worth of murders in the city, 219 00:13:48,280 --> 00:13:50,880 Speaker 1: but very few have disturbed me as much as the 220 00:13:50,880 --> 00:13:55,720 Speaker 1: Servant Girl Annihilator killings. And the reason is because Eugene 221 00:13:55,760 --> 00:14:02,480 Speaker 1: Bert might have been inspired by them. It was December 222 00:14:02,520 --> 00:14:08,240 Speaker 1: twenty fourth, eighteen eighty five, Christmas Eve. Much of the 223 00:14:08,280 --> 00:14:11,000 Speaker 1: city was on edge because a serial killer had been 224 00:14:11,040 --> 00:14:16,200 Speaker 1: preying on black servants for the past year. Christmas was 225 00:14:16,240 --> 00:14:18,840 Speaker 1: not as widely celebrated in the late eighteen hundreds as 226 00:14:18,880 --> 00:14:21,160 Speaker 1: it is now, but it was a holiday marked by 227 00:14:21,280 --> 00:14:25,440 Speaker 1: city festivities. But this would not be a RESTful holiday 228 00:14:25,480 --> 00:14:29,560 Speaker 1: for the Birds because the family's patriarch, William Jefferson Burt, 229 00:14:29,600 --> 00:14:34,360 Speaker 1: was investigating two more murders. They happened in the same 230 00:14:34,480 --> 00:14:39,320 Speaker 1: night Christmas Eve. These two women would be the Servant 231 00:14:39,320 --> 00:14:47,400 Speaker 1: Girl Annihilator's final victims as far as we know. That night, 232 00:14:47,800 --> 00:14:51,240 Speaker 1: doctor Burke walked into a beautiful home in downtown Austin, 233 00:14:53,000 --> 00:14:58,440 Speaker 1: a house overlooking the picturesque Colorado River. It was owned 234 00:14:58,480 --> 00:15:02,240 Speaker 1: by a couple, the Hancock. Doctor Burt was told that 235 00:15:02,360 --> 00:15:05,880 Speaker 1: this victim was still alive. She was attacked by a 236 00:15:05,960 --> 00:15:09,720 Speaker 1: man wielding an axe. The investigators had not yet found 237 00:15:09,760 --> 00:15:12,680 Speaker 1: the weapon, but it seemed clear that the serial killer 238 00:15:12,720 --> 00:15:18,720 Speaker 1: stalking Austin was responsible. But this attack was different because 239 00:15:18,800 --> 00:15:22,360 Speaker 1: this victim was a white woman who was dead, not 240 00:15:22,560 --> 00:15:28,080 Speaker 1: just injured. Monica Ballard explains what happened when doctor Burke 241 00:15:28,200 --> 00:15:30,280 Speaker 1: located the woman lying on her floor. 242 00:15:32,000 --> 00:15:36,640 Speaker 2: Sue Hancocks, Yeah, second, the last one still Christmas Eve 243 00:15:37,160 --> 00:15:42,240 Speaker 2: eighteen eighty five, and doctor bert He was brought to 244 00:15:42,360 --> 00:15:46,640 Speaker 2: the scene to examine the body to help to revive 245 00:15:47,120 --> 00:15:50,800 Speaker 2: Sue from her injuries, and nothing could be done. Her 246 00:15:50,840 --> 00:15:54,640 Speaker 2: injuries were far too extensive. So set the scene for me. 247 00:15:55,200 --> 00:15:58,160 Speaker 2: Sue was dragged out to the either the front yard 248 00:15:58,360 --> 00:16:03,280 Speaker 2: or the backyard, either after she was wounded or the 249 00:16:03,280 --> 00:16:05,840 Speaker 2: perpetrator whacked her on the side of the head in 250 00:16:05,960 --> 00:16:10,040 Speaker 2: order to render her unconscious or at least not putting 251 00:16:10,080 --> 00:16:12,720 Speaker 2: up a fight, dragged her out, I think, towards the 252 00:16:12,760 --> 00:16:16,920 Speaker 2: backyard facing the river, continued with the killing until he 253 00:16:17,400 --> 00:16:20,320 Speaker 2: up and ran off. And the daughters were at a 254 00:16:20,400 --> 00:16:23,600 Speaker 2: Christmas party, and when they came home, they found Moses 255 00:16:23,760 --> 00:16:27,680 Speaker 2: bleeding from the head and dazed and confused. 256 00:16:27,880 --> 00:16:29,920 Speaker 1: So Moses was Sue's husband. 257 00:16:29,640 --> 00:16:31,840 Speaker 2: And they did a search and they found her out 258 00:16:31,880 --> 00:16:35,400 Speaker 2: in the backyard. Moses went out there, and the police 259 00:16:35,400 --> 00:16:38,360 Speaker 2: were notified and they were on the scene rather quickly. 260 00:16:39,280 --> 00:16:41,840 Speaker 1: That sounds like a nightmare of a crime scene, even 261 00:16:41,880 --> 00:16:46,560 Speaker 1: for a seasoned city physician like William Burt. Police were everywhere. 262 00:16:46,960 --> 00:16:51,240 Speaker 1: The victim's husband, the only witness, was severely injured. Neighbors 263 00:16:51,280 --> 00:16:54,720 Speaker 1: were running all over wondering what happened and now Doctor 264 00:16:54,760 --> 00:16:58,880 Speaker 1: Birch's job was to help investigators gather evidence to finally 265 00:16:59,040 --> 00:17:03,120 Speaker 1: unmask the city He's most famous multiple murderer. It was 266 00:17:03,240 --> 00:17:07,199 Speaker 1: a daunting task, and standing by William Burt's side for 267 00:17:07,280 --> 00:17:10,160 Speaker 1: at least part of the night was someone very close 268 00:17:10,200 --> 00:17:19,520 Speaker 1: to him, his teenage son, Eugene Burt. His father had 269 00:17:19,520 --> 00:17:22,000 Speaker 1: suggested that the fifteen year old come along with him 270 00:17:22,000 --> 00:17:26,080 Speaker 1: to this latest murder. I have no idea why. Maybe 271 00:17:26,080 --> 00:17:30,480 Speaker 1: Eugene had expressed an interest in medicine. Who knows. When 272 00:17:30,480 --> 00:17:33,840 Speaker 1: doctor Smoot had discovered that Eugene had killed Roscoe's bunny 273 00:17:33,880 --> 00:17:37,080 Speaker 1: when Eugene was eight, Eugene had quickly responded that he 274 00:17:37,160 --> 00:17:41,320 Speaker 1: hoped to study medicine just like his father. That Christmas Eve, 275 00:17:41,480 --> 00:17:46,120 Speaker 1: Eugene would certainly receive a lesson in anatomy and evidence gathering. 276 00:17:49,160 --> 00:17:52,800 Speaker 1: While his father examined Sue Hancock in the backyard, Eugene 277 00:17:52,840 --> 00:17:56,760 Speaker 1: poked around the house. He eventually wandered to the master 278 00:17:56,880 --> 00:17:58,760 Speaker 1: bedroom and lingered there. 279 00:17:58,560 --> 00:17:59,159 Speaker 5: For a while. 280 00:18:01,520 --> 00:18:04,960 Speaker 1: Moments later, Eugene walked out, looked over at Sue Hancock 281 00:18:05,200 --> 00:18:08,280 Speaker 1: and tapped on his father's shoulder. Doctor Birt and the 282 00:18:08,320 --> 00:18:12,639 Speaker 1: investigators glanced toward the teenager. He was gripping something in 283 00:18:12,720 --> 00:18:16,080 Speaker 1: both hands. Eugene stared at the blade and waved the 284 00:18:16,119 --> 00:18:17,800 Speaker 1: handle of the axe in the air. 285 00:18:20,560 --> 00:18:24,919 Speaker 2: It was Eugene who found the axe and pointed it 286 00:18:24,960 --> 00:18:29,240 Speaker 2: out to the detectives and his father. Where was it? 287 00:18:29,240 --> 00:18:33,560 Speaker 2: It was off to the side of the bed. 288 00:18:35,720 --> 00:18:38,639 Speaker 1: It turns out that this same axe was used to 289 00:18:38,760 --> 00:18:43,119 Speaker 1: kill Sue Hancock. Monica Ballard says that Eugene and his 290 00:18:43,200 --> 00:18:46,400 Speaker 1: two brothers must have heard about the servant girl murderers 291 00:18:46,440 --> 00:18:50,280 Speaker 1: from their father. They had to have been effected or 292 00:18:50,400 --> 00:18:51,320 Speaker 1: at least scared. 293 00:18:52,560 --> 00:18:55,199 Speaker 2: This had been going on for almost a year, and 294 00:18:55,280 --> 00:18:58,040 Speaker 2: now he was there. He was at the scene of 295 00:18:58,080 --> 00:19:01,480 Speaker 2: the crime crimes that he I'd probably heard about from 296 00:19:01,520 --> 00:19:04,560 Speaker 2: his father, at least his mother and father discussing it 297 00:19:04,840 --> 00:19:09,080 Speaker 2: quietly amongst themselves, being concerned for the family's safety. 298 00:19:10,440 --> 00:19:13,080 Speaker 1: My own kids become upset sometimes when they hear about 299 00:19:13,119 --> 00:19:17,200 Speaker 1: horrible things on TV, especially involving children. I try not 300 00:19:17,280 --> 00:19:19,240 Speaker 1: to talk too much about what I write about, but 301 00:19:19,440 --> 00:19:22,439 Speaker 1: they've both started listening to my shows, so seeing a 302 00:19:22,480 --> 00:19:25,400 Speaker 1: scene like that must have been disturbing to a teenager 303 00:19:25,480 --> 00:19:29,640 Speaker 1: like Eugene burt. There was one final murder later that night, 304 00:19:29,960 --> 00:19:34,040 Speaker 1: another white woman, seventeen year old Eula Phillips. She was 305 00:19:34,160 --> 00:19:39,040 Speaker 1: raped and murdered. Her husband was also attacked. There's no 306 00:19:39,160 --> 00:19:42,119 Speaker 1: documentation that says Eugene went with his father to that 307 00:19:42,200 --> 00:19:44,679 Speaker 1: crime scene too, but there's no reason to think that 308 00:19:44,800 --> 00:19:53,600 Speaker 1: he didn't since it happened that same night. Linda Frost 309 00:19:53,720 --> 00:19:57,240 Speaker 1: is a retired law school professor. She says it's difficult 310 00:19:57,240 --> 00:20:01,840 Speaker 1: to know how seeing Sue Hancock's body affected Eugene or 311 00:20:01,880 --> 00:20:03,680 Speaker 1: what he might do because of it. 312 00:20:04,320 --> 00:20:06,400 Speaker 7: I would think it would be pretty likely it would 313 00:20:06,440 --> 00:20:10,679 Speaker 7: be traumatizing, but we can't know for sure without knowing Eugene, 314 00:20:11,520 --> 00:20:15,800 Speaker 7: and would that impact his actions ten years later. Again, 315 00:20:15,920 --> 00:20:20,680 Speaker 7: it's hard to know. You know, people experienced trauma, everybody does. 316 00:20:22,280 --> 00:20:24,280 Speaker 1: She says that most of us have a certain amount 317 00:20:24,359 --> 00:20:27,840 Speaker 1: of resilience that allows us to bounce back. Eugene might 318 00:20:27,880 --> 00:20:30,480 Speaker 1: not have been affected at all over time. 319 00:20:31,359 --> 00:20:35,159 Speaker 7: Many people would be able to put a traumatic experience 320 00:20:35,200 --> 00:20:37,879 Speaker 7: in its place and not have it dominate their lives 321 00:20:37,880 --> 00:20:41,320 Speaker 7: and impact their actions. But we don't know what else 322 00:20:41,359 --> 00:20:44,679 Speaker 7: happened in there. We don't know if he was vulnerable 323 00:20:44,760 --> 00:20:49,240 Speaker 7: if he had underlying challenges and this was hot layered 324 00:20:49,280 --> 00:20:51,359 Speaker 7: on top of that. It's just it's hard to know, 325 00:20:51,520 --> 00:20:54,600 Speaker 7: but it certainly is an interesting piece of the puzzle 326 00:20:54,720 --> 00:20:56,280 Speaker 7: and I certainly wouldn't dismiss it. 327 00:20:57,240 --> 00:21:01,439 Speaker 1: Forensic psychiatrist Christine Montrose agrees with Linda. She says that 328 00:21:01,480 --> 00:21:04,400 Speaker 1: there are many ways to process trauma. 329 00:21:04,640 --> 00:21:09,359 Speaker 8: Trauma is such an interesting subject because all kinds of 330 00:21:09,359 --> 00:21:13,159 Speaker 8: people endure trauma and respond to it in vastly different ways. 331 00:21:13,480 --> 00:21:15,960 Speaker 1: And that means that someone might experience abuse and then 332 00:21:16,000 --> 00:21:17,760 Speaker 1: become the abuser or not. 333 00:21:18,400 --> 00:21:22,560 Speaker 8: There's not really a way of saying if someone experiences 334 00:21:22,680 --> 00:21:27,240 Speaker 8: ex trauma, then they are bound to behave in why way. 335 00:21:27,640 --> 00:21:31,440 Speaker 8: There are so many people who suffer traumas who then 336 00:21:31,600 --> 00:21:35,199 Speaker 8: don't go on to inflict trauma on other people. 337 00:21:36,600 --> 00:21:39,359 Speaker 1: David Shepherd is a defense attorney in Texas who owned 338 00:21:39,359 --> 00:21:42,119 Speaker 1: his own firm before he retired a few years ago. 339 00:21:42,400 --> 00:21:45,560 Speaker 1: David has defended many suspects who were accused of hurting 340 00:21:45,560 --> 00:21:49,560 Speaker 1: people in their own family, even killing them. Part of 341 00:21:49,560 --> 00:21:52,719 Speaker 1: his job was to dig into his client's background and 342 00:21:52,760 --> 00:21:56,679 Speaker 1: look for mitigating factors that could influence a judge or jury. 343 00:21:57,280 --> 00:21:59,600 Speaker 1: I wonder if that kind of scene would have influenced 344 00:21:59,760 --> 00:22:02,600 Speaker 1: somebody who would eventually go on and kill seemingly for 345 00:22:02,680 --> 00:22:03,240 Speaker 1: no reason. 346 00:22:04,040 --> 00:22:08,240 Speaker 9: Such a bizarre and traumatic set of facts for a 347 00:22:08,280 --> 00:22:10,840 Speaker 9: fifteen year old to experience, and the knowledge of all 348 00:22:10,880 --> 00:22:13,440 Speaker 9: the other murders and rapes that were taking place would 349 00:22:13,440 --> 00:22:15,520 Speaker 9: have been part of the world he was living in. 350 00:22:15,640 --> 00:22:18,080 Speaker 9: Who knows how that it certainly could influence someone who 351 00:22:18,160 --> 00:22:21,119 Speaker 9: is already predisposed to an unbalanced situation. 352 00:22:21,560 --> 00:22:25,679 Speaker 1: Monica Ballard mentioned that too, if he were predisposed to 353 00:22:25,720 --> 00:22:29,639 Speaker 1: mental health issues, perhaps this experience at a murder scene 354 00:22:29,680 --> 00:22:32,320 Speaker 1: when he was a teenager could have shaped him later 355 00:22:32,359 --> 00:22:36,880 Speaker 1: in life in a terrible way. Christine Montrose says it's 356 00:22:36,920 --> 00:22:40,320 Speaker 1: more likely that mental health struggles might have influenced him 357 00:22:40,400 --> 00:22:41,000 Speaker 1: even more. 358 00:22:42,359 --> 00:22:46,840 Speaker 8: Does that then predispose a person in some way to 359 00:22:47,040 --> 00:22:51,040 Speaker 8: behave in a copycat kind of manner? The accumulation of 360 00:22:51,080 --> 00:22:55,959 Speaker 8: stressor's predisposition to psychiatric conditions. Could that have been a 361 00:22:55,960 --> 00:23:00,720 Speaker 8: contributing factor, a contributing stressor to someone who also had 362 00:23:00,800 --> 00:23:03,320 Speaker 8: fragility in other ways? Potentially? 363 00:23:07,280 --> 00:23:12,240 Speaker 1: Christine mentioned something stressors. Stressors are important in this story 364 00:23:12,359 --> 00:23:17,840 Speaker 1: because Eugene seemed to have numerous stressors Eugene's relative, Patricia Charles, 365 00:23:18,119 --> 00:23:21,480 Speaker 1: says that the first major stressor came in eighteen eighty six, 366 00:23:22,640 --> 00:23:26,200 Speaker 1: doctor William Burt, Eugene's father, suddenly died. 367 00:23:27,359 --> 00:23:31,719 Speaker 4: His father was alive and died just the year after 368 00:23:32,160 --> 00:23:34,480 Speaker 4: the Servant Girl murders. 369 00:23:34,880 --> 00:23:37,520 Speaker 1: Actually it was about six months after the serial killer's 370 00:23:37,600 --> 00:23:41,680 Speaker 1: last murder. Doctor Burke died of a sudden case of dysentery, 371 00:23:41,800 --> 00:23:45,040 Speaker 1: which is ironic considering he had been a major proponent 372 00:23:45,200 --> 00:23:49,159 Speaker 1: of appropriate sanitary and sewage systems in Austin, but dysentery 373 00:23:49,280 --> 00:23:52,399 Speaker 1: was common in the late eighteen hundreds. Doctor Burt was 374 00:23:52,480 --> 00:23:55,320 Speaker 1: only forty nine when he died, and it seemed like 375 00:23:55,400 --> 00:24:02,760 Speaker 1: the entire city mourned him, especially Eugene. After the funeral, 376 00:24:02,800 --> 00:24:08,720 Speaker 1: Eugene became morose and distant from his family, withdrawn from everyone. 377 00:24:08,760 --> 00:24:12,440 Speaker 1: His brother Roscoe said, after our father's death, he maintained 378 00:24:12,520 --> 00:24:16,199 Speaker 1: a stony gaze and always looked down every time we 379 00:24:16,240 --> 00:24:19,720 Speaker 1: heard of him doing something. He was always doing something wrong. 380 00:24:21,320 --> 00:24:23,879 Speaker 1: The loss of his father when he was just sixteen 381 00:24:24,119 --> 00:24:27,119 Speaker 1: had a tremendous impact on Eugene for the rest of 382 00:24:27,160 --> 00:24:31,560 Speaker 1: his life. It was his first big stressor, at least 383 00:24:31,560 --> 00:24:34,840 Speaker 1: that we know of the first life event that seemed 384 00:24:34,880 --> 00:24:49,080 Speaker 1: to be out of his control. Eugene Bert's second stressor 385 00:24:49,160 --> 00:24:52,280 Speaker 1: came when he met Annie Powers and became engaged in 386 00:24:52,280 --> 00:24:55,919 Speaker 1: eighteen ninety one. At first, he seemed happy with his 387 00:24:55,960 --> 00:24:59,400 Speaker 1: new wife, but it wasn't long before her religious beliefs 388 00:24:59,480 --> 00:25:07,840 Speaker 1: became a stressor for him, a very big stressor. I 389 00:25:07,920 --> 00:25:11,320 Speaker 1: mentioned before that Annie's mother, Elizabeth, was from Ireland and 390 00:25:11,359 --> 00:25:14,960 Speaker 1: she was Catholic. So was Annie's sister Agnes, and so 391 00:25:15,160 --> 00:25:18,919 Speaker 1: was Annie. Faith was very important to Annie. In fact, 392 00:25:19,000 --> 00:25:21,400 Speaker 1: Eugene and Annie would live just a few blocks from 393 00:25:21,440 --> 00:25:25,360 Speaker 1: Saint Mary's Cathedral. The Powers are listed in the church's 394 00:25:25,400 --> 00:25:29,040 Speaker 1: Registry of Parishioners. They were valued members of Saint Mary. 395 00:25:29,640 --> 00:25:33,119 Speaker 1: Eugene was raised Presbyterian, though his devotion to his church 396 00:25:33,280 --> 00:25:37,080 Speaker 1: was never really described. Eugene's father was close with Reverend 397 00:25:37,080 --> 00:25:41,520 Speaker 1: Doctor Smoot, a very influential religious leader in Austin, and 398 00:25:41,560 --> 00:25:46,040 Speaker 1: he was someone who would become important soon. Ted Eubanks 399 00:25:46,119 --> 00:25:48,679 Speaker 1: is a historian at Saint Mary. He tells me a 400 00:25:48,680 --> 00:25:51,679 Speaker 1: little bit about the conversion process that Eugene would go 401 00:25:51,800 --> 00:25:55,760 Speaker 1: through to satisfy his soon to be wife. 402 00:25:56,000 --> 00:25:57,840 Speaker 5: So I think it would have been straightforward, but it 403 00:25:57,840 --> 00:26:00,320 Speaker 5: would have taken time and then the permission and would 404 00:26:00,359 --> 00:26:02,679 Speaker 5: have been given by the bishop at the time, who 405 00:26:02,720 --> 00:26:03,840 Speaker 5: would have been in Galveston. 406 00:26:09,960 --> 00:26:13,359 Speaker 1: One Sunday, I watched a service at Saint Mary, the 407 00:26:13,359 --> 00:26:16,639 Speaker 1: same church where Eugene and Annie went. It was so 408 00:26:16,800 --> 00:26:19,679 Speaker 1: interesting because I had never listened to a service in 409 00:26:19,760 --> 00:26:20,480 Speaker 1: Latin before. 410 00:26:24,960 --> 00:26:29,560 Speaker 5: Something that would contribute to this oddity strangeness of the 411 00:26:29,600 --> 00:26:32,880 Speaker 5: Catholic Church is remember, at that time, the masses were 412 00:26:32,920 --> 00:26:35,720 Speaker 5: conducted in Latin. So boy, here are these strange people 413 00:26:35,760 --> 00:26:39,760 Speaker 5: that are speaking something. Nobody has any idea what it 414 00:26:39,840 --> 00:26:43,000 Speaker 5: is that you know at that point. So I can 415 00:26:43,119 --> 00:26:46,399 Speaker 5: understand that. But I think his fear about that that 416 00:26:46,520 --> 00:26:51,200 Speaker 5: his kids would not be both Protestant and Catholic is true. 417 00:26:51,480 --> 00:26:55,440 Speaker 1: And Eugene did have a big fear about converting to Catholicism. 418 00:26:56,119 --> 00:27:00,480 Speaker 5: He's sandwiched in between the church at the cathedral's home side, 419 00:27:00,480 --> 00:27:03,439 Speaker 5: and a couple of blocks away is the girls' school, 420 00:27:03,520 --> 00:27:06,680 Speaker 5: the academy. He's literally and he's across the street from 421 00:27:06,720 --> 00:27:09,720 Speaker 5: what was Saint Patrick's church. He would have seen it, 422 00:27:09,960 --> 00:27:11,800 Speaker 5: I mean, that would have been a building he saw 423 00:27:11,840 --> 00:27:18,200 Speaker 5: every day. Wow, Okay, he was literally surrounded by him. Now, 424 00:27:18,560 --> 00:27:21,800 Speaker 5: at the time, the streets weren't paved, you know, still 425 00:27:22,040 --> 00:27:25,080 Speaker 5: horses and wagons tied up at the church. We still 426 00:27:25,160 --> 00:27:27,440 Speaker 5: have places where the horses were tied. 427 00:27:27,800 --> 00:27:30,080 Speaker 1: So he goes to these services in Latin and they're 428 00:27:30,080 --> 00:27:32,920 Speaker 1: saying all these strange things and taking communion, and these 429 00:27:32,960 --> 00:27:35,360 Speaker 1: are all things that are very different for him. Were 430 00:27:35,359 --> 00:27:37,800 Speaker 1: these fears common in the late eighteen hundreds? 431 00:27:37,920 --> 00:27:42,200 Speaker 5: For many Americans, it's always been this sort of misunderstanding 432 00:27:42,240 --> 00:27:44,600 Speaker 5: of the church. One is the power of the pope, 433 00:27:44,720 --> 00:27:47,359 Speaker 5: or the power he doesn't have within the church. And 434 00:27:47,400 --> 00:27:50,119 Speaker 5: the second thing is just somehow that you know, the 435 00:27:50,160 --> 00:27:53,120 Speaker 5: Catholic Church is sort of mysterious what goes on in 436 00:27:53,119 --> 00:27:55,720 Speaker 5: that church. You know, they believe in the real body 437 00:27:55,720 --> 00:27:58,000 Speaker 5: and blood, that sort of thing. So I think it 438 00:27:58,080 --> 00:28:02,920 Speaker 5: was part ignorance, part Protestantism, part Hopism. 439 00:28:03,560 --> 00:28:05,879 Speaker 1: Do you think that misunderstanding still happens today? 440 00:28:06,080 --> 00:28:08,800 Speaker 5: I mean, in little towns in Texas, there's still people 441 00:28:08,840 --> 00:28:12,520 Speaker 5: that believe that Catholics are actual eating bodies and drinking blood. 442 00:28:12,640 --> 00:28:15,120 Speaker 5: So I wouldn't be surprised at all by that. 443 00:28:15,280 --> 00:28:15,440 Speaker 10: Now. 444 00:28:15,480 --> 00:28:18,639 Speaker 5: One thing to think about, too, is if he's converting 445 00:28:18,680 --> 00:28:22,520 Speaker 5: and he hasn't been converted yet, and he has all 446 00:28:22,560 --> 00:28:25,240 Speaker 5: of this going on in his mind. There is a 447 00:28:25,400 --> 00:28:28,760 Speaker 5: sort of a crisis moment facing him, and it's called confession. 448 00:28:30,080 --> 00:28:34,080 Speaker 1: Confession means confessing your sins. Yes, that might have made 449 00:28:34,119 --> 00:28:39,120 Speaker 1: Eugene nervous, because he had committed many sins, including murdering 450 00:28:39,160 --> 00:28:42,600 Speaker 1: a bunny and stealing and cheating and lying. 451 00:28:42,880 --> 00:28:43,920 Speaker 2: A host of sins. 452 00:28:45,640 --> 00:28:49,200 Speaker 1: But Catholicism and everything that went into it seemed to 453 00:28:49,320 --> 00:28:53,479 Speaker 1: trigger Eugene that fervent religious belief of his wife and 454 00:28:53,520 --> 00:28:57,000 Speaker 1: his in laws were stressors for him. All of this 455 00:28:57,080 --> 00:29:00,880 Speaker 1: anxiety came to a head before his conversion an ninety two. 456 00:29:01,720 --> 00:29:06,320 Speaker 1: One night Eugene visited Reverend Doctor Smoot's home. Eugene's behavior 457 00:29:06,400 --> 00:29:10,040 Speaker 1: seemed alarming, at least to me, and. 458 00:29:10,000 --> 00:29:14,920 Speaker 2: He burst into Doctor Smoot's house one time, drunk as 459 00:29:15,160 --> 00:29:18,480 Speaker 2: all get out and started ranting on about how the 460 00:29:18,520 --> 00:29:21,360 Speaker 2: Catholics were trying to take over the country and maybe 461 00:29:21,400 --> 00:29:25,000 Speaker 2: even the world, and doctor Smoot better watch his step 462 00:29:25,120 --> 00:29:28,880 Speaker 2: because he better be ready to convert or do battle 463 00:29:28,920 --> 00:29:32,920 Speaker 2: with the Catholics and basically said, Eugene, you're drunk, go home, 464 00:29:34,960 --> 00:29:37,320 Speaker 2: and really never forgot it. 465 00:29:38,520 --> 00:29:40,720 Speaker 1: I assumed of course, that his ranting must have been 466 00:29:40,720 --> 00:29:44,520 Speaker 1: connected to something happening in his mind, a mental illness 467 00:29:44,520 --> 00:29:48,960 Speaker 1: that he couldn't control. Not necessarily, Ted Eubanks told me. 468 00:29:49,960 --> 00:29:52,840 Speaker 1: He reminded me that many many people ranted in the 469 00:29:52,840 --> 00:29:56,680 Speaker 1: eighteen hundreds about Catholics taking over the world, so that 470 00:29:56,800 --> 00:30:00,280 Speaker 1: might not have been a sign of mental imbalance. Law 471 00:30:00,320 --> 00:30:04,680 Speaker 1: school professor Linda Frost agrees. She says that evaluating not 472 00:30:04,800 --> 00:30:07,720 Speaker 1: just the person, but also the culture of the time 473 00:30:07,760 --> 00:30:12,080 Speaker 1: period is important when deciding if the person needs psychiatric treatment. 474 00:30:13,560 --> 00:30:18,480 Speaker 7: I think it's really important for people doing forensic evaluations 475 00:30:18,600 --> 00:30:22,520 Speaker 7: and for people weighing in on legal cases to understand 476 00:30:22,560 --> 00:30:24,040 Speaker 7: the culture that people are coming. 477 00:30:23,840 --> 00:30:27,680 Speaker 1: From, because what's normal behavior in our culture might seem 478 00:30:27,880 --> 00:30:29,520 Speaker 1: unusual in another culture. 479 00:30:29,720 --> 00:30:33,480 Speaker 7: If you allow the dominant culture to apply those standards 480 00:30:33,480 --> 00:30:35,800 Speaker 7: to everybody else, you're going to come up with some 481 00:30:35,840 --> 00:30:40,320 Speaker 7: bad decisions. Because what I think is normal is a 482 00:30:40,480 --> 00:30:43,920 Speaker 7: product of my worldview, right, and what I think is 483 00:30:44,000 --> 00:30:48,440 Speaker 7: unusual behavior may be normal and appropriate within other cultural 484 00:30:48,440 --> 00:30:50,040 Speaker 7: context that I'm not familiar with. 485 00:30:50,600 --> 00:30:54,600 Speaker 1: Ted Youubank says that Annie's insistence that Eugene Convert might 486 00:30:54,640 --> 00:30:58,720 Speaker 1: have made him even more unstable and definitely more resentful. 487 00:30:59,480 --> 00:31:02,720 Speaker 5: What I want is for your story, that's more. I 488 00:31:02,720 --> 00:31:05,680 Speaker 5: would think a figment of his psychosis. You know, if 489 00:31:05,680 --> 00:31:08,560 Speaker 5: she was pushing him to convert, she would not have 490 00:31:08,640 --> 00:31:10,080 Speaker 5: been the first wife to do that. 491 00:31:10,280 --> 00:31:13,520 Speaker 1: Trust me, Eugene did manage to make it through the 492 00:31:13,560 --> 00:31:17,520 Speaker 1: whole process of converting. He did become Catholic, even though 493 00:31:17,560 --> 00:31:20,280 Speaker 1: he refused to go to Mass with Annie and the kids, 494 00:31:20,600 --> 00:31:23,720 Speaker 1: but converting didn't seem to ease his paranoia about the 495 00:31:23,800 --> 00:31:27,160 Speaker 1: church at all. Ted's point is that Eugene's fear of 496 00:31:27,160 --> 00:31:30,160 Speaker 1: the Catholic Church would not have been enough to push 497 00:31:30,240 --> 00:31:33,600 Speaker 1: him toward murder, and I agree, but it didn't help. 498 00:31:34,680 --> 00:31:38,719 Speaker 1: It contributed to his state of agitation, and an agitated 499 00:31:38,760 --> 00:31:46,120 Speaker 1: person who was prone to violence could become dangerous. Eugene 500 00:31:46,120 --> 00:31:49,720 Speaker 1: Bert seemed devoted to his new wife, Annie and their family, 501 00:31:50,320 --> 00:31:53,440 Speaker 1: even if he wasn't fully committed to the Catholic Church. 502 00:31:54,080 --> 00:31:57,560 Speaker 1: I asked Monica Ballard about the reaction of Annie's family 503 00:31:57,680 --> 00:31:59,760 Speaker 1: when she and Eugene became engaged. 504 00:32:01,240 --> 00:32:04,520 Speaker 2: I'm certain that there was some pushback when they got 505 00:32:04,520 --> 00:32:08,360 Speaker 2: engaged and the powers said, oh, you will become Catholic, 506 00:32:08,600 --> 00:32:11,440 Speaker 2: this marriage will happen in a Catholic church. I'm sure 507 00:32:11,480 --> 00:32:15,240 Speaker 2: that Eugene was probably not happy by that, and they 508 00:32:15,520 --> 00:32:19,400 Speaker 2: held their ground and they saw it through, and Eugene 509 00:32:19,440 --> 00:32:21,400 Speaker 2: had to come back to that even if he didn't 510 00:32:21,400 --> 00:32:24,360 Speaker 2: attend Mass with Annie and the children. He had to 511 00:32:24,360 --> 00:32:26,040 Speaker 2: come back when they were christened. 512 00:32:26,400 --> 00:32:28,760 Speaker 1: But besides the kind of creepiness of some of the 513 00:32:28,800 --> 00:32:31,680 Speaker 1: things he did, the big trouble seemed to center around 514 00:32:31,760 --> 00:32:36,840 Speaker 1: Catholicism most likely, yeah, and his general ineptness in everything 515 00:32:36,840 --> 00:32:38,320 Speaker 1: that related to business. 516 00:32:38,760 --> 00:32:42,920 Speaker 2: Right, yes, the old son in law, When when are 517 00:32:42,920 --> 00:32:43,800 Speaker 2: you gonna find a job? 518 00:32:47,080 --> 00:32:49,719 Speaker 1: So the loss of his father and joining the Catholic 519 00:32:49,840 --> 00:32:53,520 Speaker 1: Church weren't the only sources of strife for Eugene. Like 520 00:32:53,560 --> 00:32:56,440 Speaker 1: we mentioned earlier, he also had problems keeping a job. 521 00:32:56,880 --> 00:33:00,280 Speaker 1: He had had problems for years, and that was the 522 00:33:00,280 --> 00:33:06,920 Speaker 1: only issue. Eugene had stolen from his two brothers, Roscoe 523 00:33:06,960 --> 00:33:10,160 Speaker 1: and Monty. He had ruined at least one of their businesses. 524 00:33:10,720 --> 00:33:14,760 Speaker 1: Eugene must have resented them for being so successful when 525 00:33:14,840 --> 00:33:16,080 Speaker 1: he clearly wasn't. 526 00:33:16,760 --> 00:33:21,840 Speaker 2: He had two brothers, he was constantly given opportunities to 527 00:33:22,280 --> 00:33:26,920 Speaker 2: prove himself and just sort of failed at every turn. 528 00:33:27,160 --> 00:33:30,800 Speaker 1: And then Eugene began getting into trouble that involved other businesses, 529 00:33:30,840 --> 00:33:33,680 Speaker 1: not just as brothers, and that was a problem. 530 00:33:34,200 --> 00:33:36,320 Speaker 2: It was a whole big brujaa with a pair of 531 00:33:36,400 --> 00:33:41,080 Speaker 2: diamond ear rings that he was interested in buying for Annie, 532 00:33:41,160 --> 00:33:44,040 Speaker 2: and said, I really don't know if she'll like them, 533 00:33:44,280 --> 00:33:46,800 Speaker 2: so may I take them home and show them to her? 534 00:33:47,240 --> 00:33:47,720 Speaker 1: Is it sure? 535 00:33:47,960 --> 00:33:48,200 Speaker 6: Sure? 536 00:33:48,360 --> 00:33:51,640 Speaker 2: Go ahead and see if she likes them. And he 537 00:33:52,280 --> 00:33:56,160 Speaker 2: resold the earrings to another jeweler for about three quarters 538 00:33:56,160 --> 00:33:59,360 Speaker 2: of the amount of money. So when the original jeweler 539 00:33:59,600 --> 00:34:01,760 Speaker 2: is approaching the family and saying, how'd you like the 540 00:34:01,800 --> 00:34:05,760 Speaker 2: earrings and Annie says, what earrings? That's not a good sign. 541 00:34:07,360 --> 00:34:10,880 Speaker 1: But Eugene still seemed committed to raising a nice family. 542 00:34:11,400 --> 00:34:14,360 Speaker 1: As I mentioned before. Friends said that he helped Annie 543 00:34:14,440 --> 00:34:17,799 Speaker 1: with household chores when the servants were off, And that's 544 00:34:17,840 --> 00:34:20,640 Speaker 1: another thing. How did they afford servants if he was 545 00:34:20,680 --> 00:34:24,799 Speaker 1: always struggling with employment. Annie had been a bookkeeper, but 546 00:34:25,000 --> 00:34:27,880 Speaker 1: neighbors said that she stayed home with their young girls, 547 00:34:28,440 --> 00:34:31,719 Speaker 1: so she didn't have an income anymore. I suspect that 548 00:34:31,760 --> 00:34:37,560 Speaker 1: both families helped them financially, particularly Eugene's brothers, and soon 549 00:34:38,080 --> 00:34:40,040 Speaker 1: they would come to his rescue once again. 550 00:34:41,520 --> 00:34:44,799 Speaker 2: For all accounts, they were a loving family that he 551 00:34:45,080 --> 00:34:48,720 Speaker 2: doted on Annie and the children gave her expensive gifts 552 00:34:48,719 --> 00:34:52,480 Speaker 2: that he probably stole the money to get. 553 00:34:51,880 --> 00:34:53,680 Speaker 1: Because he really never had a regular job. 554 00:34:54,040 --> 00:34:57,080 Speaker 2: No, he just couldn't hold one down. And I don't 555 00:34:57,120 --> 00:34:59,600 Speaker 2: know who would have given him this job collecting money. 556 00:35:00,080 --> 00:35:02,200 Speaker 1: How do you get a gig like that when you 557 00:35:02,320 --> 00:35:05,880 Speaker 1: have that kind of reputation? What was his Was he charming? 558 00:35:06,120 --> 00:35:07,880 Speaker 1: I mean, do we have any sense for what his 559 00:35:07,960 --> 00:35:08,840 Speaker 1: personality was like? 560 00:35:09,400 --> 00:35:13,359 Speaker 2: He appears to have been charming everybody. Yeah, everybody who 561 00:35:14,320 --> 00:35:18,080 Speaker 2: observed him with his family, He said that he constantly, 562 00:35:18,640 --> 00:35:22,080 Speaker 2: you know, kissed Annie and played with the children and 563 00:35:22,560 --> 00:35:25,399 Speaker 2: just was a wonderful family man. 564 00:35:26,360 --> 00:35:29,920 Speaker 1: But still the specter of his father's death continued to 565 00:35:30,040 --> 00:35:34,880 Speaker 1: haunt Eugene. It's clear that without his father something changed 566 00:35:34,960 --> 00:35:39,080 Speaker 1: in his life's trajectory. His brothers pointed to a pretty 567 00:35:39,080 --> 00:35:42,760 Speaker 1: specific time when they felt like things had really changed 568 00:35:42,760 --> 00:35:47,239 Speaker 1: for Eugene. He started acting oddly after his father died. 569 00:35:47,440 --> 00:35:53,160 Speaker 2: Yes, becoming more morose and also underhanded dealings. He tried 570 00:35:53,239 --> 00:35:58,840 Speaker 2: twice to get doctor Smoot to sign documents, fraudulent documents 571 00:35:58,920 --> 00:36:03,360 Speaker 2: so that he could he could profit from business arrangements 572 00:36:03,440 --> 00:36:07,360 Speaker 2: or something like that, and doctor smooth basically one of 573 00:36:07,440 --> 00:36:09,759 Speaker 2: the distance that means like, you know, I'm sorry about 574 00:36:09,760 --> 00:36:13,720 Speaker 2: your dad, really, but that doesn't make us friends. Okay. 575 00:36:14,960 --> 00:36:18,280 Speaker 1: All of these stressors had the potential to trigger violence 576 00:36:18,320 --> 00:36:21,480 Speaker 1: in a man with both mental health struggles and a 577 00:36:21,520 --> 00:36:26,120 Speaker 1: young family to support. Dimple Maholtra is a judge in 578 00:36:26,160 --> 00:36:29,279 Speaker 1: the domestic violence court in Austin, Texas. She says that 579 00:36:29,320 --> 00:36:33,640 Speaker 1: people who appear in her cases experience all varieties of stressors, 580 00:36:34,200 --> 00:36:37,280 Speaker 1: even some that are similar stressors that appeared for folks 581 00:36:37,280 --> 00:36:39,040 Speaker 1: in the eighteen hundreds. 582 00:36:39,080 --> 00:36:42,640 Speaker 6: Stressors substance abuse or anything like that. Those can obviously 583 00:36:42,719 --> 00:36:47,120 Speaker 6: exacerbate the situation and make the violence more frequent, more severe. 584 00:36:47,480 --> 00:36:50,200 Speaker 1: What are some other examples of stressors that you see 585 00:36:50,239 --> 00:36:50,640 Speaker 1: in court? 586 00:36:50,960 --> 00:36:54,640 Speaker 6: People who have lost their jobs, people are under a 587 00:36:54,680 --> 00:36:56,880 Speaker 6: lot of stress. If you have a situation where a 588 00:36:56,920 --> 00:37:00,399 Speaker 6: person's never been violent before, but there is an alteration, 589 00:37:00,880 --> 00:37:04,000 Speaker 6: for example, people have been drinking and both people are 590 00:37:04,080 --> 00:37:08,680 Speaker 6: violent because they're stressed out because they're getting evicted or whatever. 591 00:37:08,400 --> 00:37:10,920 Speaker 1: But you don't necessarily consider that domestic violence. 592 00:37:11,360 --> 00:37:16,120 Speaker 6: Domestic violence is a systematic pattern of power and control 593 00:37:16,320 --> 00:37:19,480 Speaker 6: that's used by one intimate partner against another, and so 594 00:37:19,840 --> 00:37:22,080 Speaker 6: these things can make it worse, but they're not the 595 00:37:22,239 --> 00:37:25,879 Speaker 6: cause of true domestic violence. You do have those situations 596 00:37:25,920 --> 00:37:27,640 Speaker 6: where it's not domestic violence. 597 00:37:27,640 --> 00:37:29,800 Speaker 2: It's two people who. 598 00:37:29,200 --> 00:37:32,759 Speaker 6: React violently to stress, but there's not a power differential there, 599 00:37:32,800 --> 00:37:34,160 Speaker 6: and so that's really the difference. 600 00:37:39,400 --> 00:37:42,160 Speaker 1: In the summer of eighteen ninety six, Eugene Burt was 601 00:37:42,200 --> 00:37:46,359 Speaker 1: frustrated with just about everyone. His wife who nagged him 602 00:37:46,400 --> 00:37:49,440 Speaker 1: to find regular work, his two young daughters who cried 603 00:37:49,520 --> 00:37:53,400 Speaker 1: often about seemingly nothing, the Catholic Church just down the 604 00:37:53,480 --> 00:37:57,400 Speaker 1: road from him with their disturbing services and beliefs, his 605 00:37:57,480 --> 00:38:00,640 Speaker 1: mother in law who lived close by a little too close, 606 00:38:01,280 --> 00:38:06,080 Speaker 1: and his brothers who always overshadowed him. He never seemed 607 00:38:06,120 --> 00:38:11,240 Speaker 1: good enough. One hot, sticky night in July, Eugene Bird 608 00:38:11,280 --> 00:38:14,719 Speaker 1: had finally had enough. He glanced at the woodpile next 609 00:38:14,760 --> 00:38:17,440 Speaker 1: to his house, and he stared down at something he 610 00:38:17,560 --> 00:38:22,279 Speaker 1: had just bought a few days earlier, an axe. There 611 00:38:22,320 --> 00:38:26,319 Speaker 1: were things happening in his head, really bad things, and 612 00:38:26,440 --> 00:38:30,880 Speaker 1: though more than a decade had passed, Eugene still couldn't 613 00:38:30,880 --> 00:38:35,000 Speaker 1: forget that image of Sue Hancock's gashed head, and the 614 00:38:35,040 --> 00:38:38,160 Speaker 1: feel of the axe that had killed her the same 615 00:38:38,320 --> 00:38:43,279 Speaker 1: feeling as the axe he held in his hands. He 616 00:38:43,320 --> 00:38:47,920 Speaker 1: picked up a burlap sack and slipped the axe inside. 617 00:38:48,080 --> 00:38:52,640 Speaker 1: Nothing would happen that night, but before long, something would happen, 618 00:38:54,000 --> 00:38:56,800 Speaker 1: and no one in the Powers family or the Bert's 619 00:38:56,840 --> 00:39:07,640 Speaker 1: family would ever be the same. On the next episode 620 00:39:07,640 --> 00:39:10,000 Speaker 1: of tenfold, War wicked on exactly right. 621 00:39:11,920 --> 00:39:15,759 Speaker 2: After Eugene's mother died. He just totally went off the 622 00:39:15,760 --> 00:39:16,760 Speaker 2: deep end one time. 623 00:39:17,239 --> 00:39:19,920 Speaker 10: A lot of people will describe him as a doctor jekyline, 624 00:39:19,960 --> 00:39:23,440 Speaker 10: mister Hyde type of situation, but in reality, Eugene Burt 625 00:39:23,480 --> 00:39:26,120 Speaker 10: was kind of a shyster. He had some pretty shady 626 00:39:26,160 --> 00:39:29,600 Speaker 10: business dealings where he screwed over his brothers in a deal. 627 00:39:30,040 --> 00:39:33,800 Speaker 4: He would lie and they would keep bailing him out. 628 00:39:33,960 --> 00:39:37,480 Speaker 4: He didn't have to face consequences. And yet, if this 629 00:39:37,719 --> 00:39:41,239 Speaker 4: was a condition that he was in effect born with, 630 00:39:41,480 --> 00:39:46,799 Speaker 4: would any amount of appropriate parenting setting up boundaries, would 631 00:39:46,800 --> 00:39:49,399 Speaker 4: any of that really served a purpose? Or was he 632 00:39:49,640 --> 00:39:53,200 Speaker 4: in some way and sadly doomed to just be the 633 00:39:53,239 --> 00:39:54,160 Speaker 4: person he was? 634 00:39:57,719 --> 00:40:01,120 Speaker 1: If you love a good real ghost story, My new 635 00:40:01,200 --> 00:40:04,919 Speaker 1: audiobook original The Ghost Club is available for pre order 636 00:40:05,080 --> 00:40:08,400 Speaker 1: now wherever audio books are sold. I can't wait to 637 00:40:08,440 --> 00:40:11,760 Speaker 1: tell you the real story about the world's most famous 638 00:40:11,760 --> 00:40:14,840 Speaker 1: ghost hunter, who was the head of the world's most 639 00:40:14,880 --> 00:40:19,600 Speaker 1: famous ghost club and how he investigated England's most famous 640 00:40:19,760 --> 00:40:24,160 Speaker 1: haunted house. Please also check out my new book All 641 00:40:24,239 --> 00:40:28,680 Speaker 1: That Is Wicked. This has been an exactly right Tenfold War. 642 00:40:28,760 --> 00:40:34,120 Speaker 1: Media production producers Jason Whaling, Alexis and Morosi and Natalie Wrinn. 643 00:40:34,680 --> 00:40:40,040 Speaker 1: Editors Jason Whaling, David Fabello and Kate Winkler Dawson researcher 644 00:40:40,200 --> 00:40:45,280 Speaker 1: Kate Winkler Dawson, sound designer Eric Friend, composer Curtis Heath, 645 00:40:45,600 --> 00:40:51,080 Speaker 1: artwork by Nick Toga. Executive producers Georgia Hartstark, Karen Kilgarriff 646 00:40:51,160 --> 00:40:54,879 Speaker 1: and Daniel Kramer. Follow us on Instagram and Facebook at 647 00:40:54,960 --> 00:40:58,799 Speaker 1: tenfold war Wicked and on Twitter at tenfold War. And 648 00:40:58,880 --> 00:41:00,879 Speaker 1: if you know of a historical cool crime that could 649 00:41:00,960 --> 00:41:04,320 Speaker 1: use some attention, especially if it happened in your family, 650 00:41:04,640 --> 00:41:17,000 Speaker 1: email us at info at Tenfoldwarwicked dot com.