1 00:00:01,120 --> 00:00:04,080 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class from how 2 00:00:04,120 --> 00:00:13,760 Speaker 1: Stuff Works dot com. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. 3 00:00:13,800 --> 00:00:18,040 Speaker 1: And I'm Tracy D. Wilson. And today's topic, Uh comes 4 00:00:18,079 --> 00:00:22,160 Speaker 1: directly from the fact that the subject of it showed 5 00:00:22,200 --> 00:00:25,760 Speaker 1: up on American Horror Story covin recently, and almost immediately 6 00:00:25,800 --> 00:00:28,840 Speaker 1: after they introduced this genuine historical figure as a character 7 00:00:28,960 --> 00:00:31,840 Speaker 1: a couple of weeks back, we immediately got requests to 8 00:00:31,920 --> 00:00:33,880 Speaker 1: cover it. Yeah. I basically got to work and people 9 00:00:33,920 --> 00:00:35,760 Speaker 1: were already asking about it, and I hadn't even seen 10 00:00:35,800 --> 00:00:37,599 Speaker 1: the episode, and I was like, Oh, I guess there's 11 00:00:37,600 --> 00:00:40,720 Speaker 1: an ax Man, Uh spoiler. That's what the episodes about today. Yeah, 12 00:00:40,720 --> 00:00:42,960 Speaker 1: the ax Man of New Orleans. And while it made 13 00:00:43,000 --> 00:00:46,400 Speaker 1: for great TV, perhaps the most shocking part is actually 14 00:00:46,479 --> 00:00:49,120 Speaker 1: how few liberties the show creators had to take with 15 00:00:49,200 --> 00:00:52,559 Speaker 1: this story. Often, when you see a historical figure incorporated 16 00:00:52,600 --> 00:00:57,320 Speaker 1: into modern entertainment, it gets really you know, altered and 17 00:00:57,360 --> 00:01:02,400 Speaker 1: fluffed up. And but they're some pretty literal one to 18 00:01:02,480 --> 00:01:05,679 Speaker 1: one translation on this one, which is really sort of 19 00:01:05,680 --> 00:01:07,880 Speaker 1: shocking in and of itself. Well, and just in case 20 00:01:07,959 --> 00:01:12,640 Speaker 1: the show completely diverges from reality, uh, we are recording 21 00:01:12,680 --> 00:01:16,320 Speaker 1: this basically after the X Man's first appearance, right, and 22 00:01:16,360 --> 00:01:18,560 Speaker 1: there's UH at the end we can talk about what 23 00:01:18,720 --> 00:01:22,160 Speaker 1: obviously is not accurate in that because it does take 24 00:01:22,200 --> 00:01:25,320 Speaker 1: a turn that we would UH not be able to 25 00:01:25,360 --> 00:01:30,080 Speaker 1: have in actual UH history. But most of the plot 26 00:01:30,480 --> 00:01:32,720 Speaker 1: was written for those show creators nearly a hundred years 27 00:01:32,720 --> 00:01:36,720 Speaker 1: ago in terms of what they covered on the program, 28 00:01:36,920 --> 00:01:38,880 Speaker 1: and the X Man story actually has a few different 29 00:01:38,880 --> 00:01:42,560 Speaker 1: potential starting points. Although we're going to start at the 30 00:01:42,600 --> 00:01:46,360 Speaker 1: cases that are generally considered like the official X Man 31 00:01:47,440 --> 00:01:50,680 Speaker 1: timeline of events, UH, there are some that happened prior 32 00:01:50,720 --> 00:01:52,720 Speaker 1: to that that get linked up, and we'll talk about 33 00:01:52,720 --> 00:01:55,920 Speaker 1: those at the end. And because the case was never solved, 34 00:01:56,040 --> 00:01:59,880 Speaker 1: there is uncertainty about some similar crimes that may or 35 00:02:00,120 --> 00:02:01,880 Speaker 1: not have been related and may or may not have 36 00:02:01,960 --> 00:02:04,240 Speaker 1: been the work of the X Man. And also, just 37 00:02:04,320 --> 00:02:08,399 Speaker 1: as a side note going into this UM, if you 38 00:02:08,760 --> 00:02:11,160 Speaker 1: are following up on this and looking anything up online, 39 00:02:11,200 --> 00:02:15,000 Speaker 1: you will see it spelled two ways, a x e 40 00:02:15,200 --> 00:02:19,240 Speaker 1: MN and a x M a n UH. The X 41 00:02:19,320 --> 00:02:24,600 Speaker 1: Man himself, if his one writing where he self references 42 00:02:25,400 --> 00:02:27,640 Speaker 1: is in fact by him and not by an impostor 43 00:02:27,560 --> 00:02:29,640 Speaker 1: or a hoaxter. They used the one without the E, 44 00:02:29,960 --> 00:02:32,960 Speaker 1: but you'll see it written both ways in perfectly valid 45 00:02:33,040 --> 00:02:36,800 Speaker 1: historical accounts. So we're going to start off with where 46 00:02:37,120 --> 00:02:39,920 Speaker 1: the murders that are generally considered part of quote the 47 00:02:40,080 --> 00:02:43,799 Speaker 1: x Man Murders began, and that is May twenty two. 48 00:02:46,200 --> 00:02:50,040 Speaker 1: So Andrew Maggio had gotten a draft notice, and so 49 00:02:50,160 --> 00:02:52,720 Speaker 1: he went out and drank a lot. He came home 50 00:02:52,760 --> 00:02:54,760 Speaker 1: and passed out in the rooms that he shared with 51 00:02:54,800 --> 00:02:58,519 Speaker 1: his brother Jake. There are accounts that suggest that the 52 00:02:58,560 --> 00:03:01,679 Speaker 1: two of them had actually been out king together. At 53 00:03:01,760 --> 00:03:04,160 Speaker 1: four a m. On the morning of the twenty three 54 00:03:04,600 --> 00:03:07,720 Speaker 1: Jake was awakened by groaning noises coming from the other 55 00:03:07,800 --> 00:03:11,480 Speaker 1: side of the wall, which was the home inhabited by 56 00:03:11,560 --> 00:03:16,799 Speaker 1: another brother, Joseph and his wife Katherine. Joseph and Catherine 57 00:03:16,919 --> 00:03:19,959 Speaker 1: ran a grocery in bar room that was connected to 58 00:03:20,040 --> 00:03:22,840 Speaker 1: their living quarters, and that was a pretty common layout 59 00:03:22,919 --> 00:03:26,200 Speaker 1: at this time. Yeah. One of the items will point 60 00:03:26,200 --> 00:03:30,480 Speaker 1: to in the show notes has a picture from the 61 00:03:30,480 --> 00:03:32,760 Speaker 1: the New Orleans Times Pickie unit the time, and they 62 00:03:32,800 --> 00:03:36,040 Speaker 1: actually have a it's a very simple box layout of 63 00:03:36,080 --> 00:03:38,720 Speaker 1: how most of these stores were set up, where the 64 00:03:38,760 --> 00:03:40,760 Speaker 1: store was in the front and one to three rooms 65 00:03:40,760 --> 00:03:43,560 Speaker 1: were separated in the back half of the building and 66 00:03:43,600 --> 00:03:48,520 Speaker 1: those were like the living area, so Uh Jake roused 67 00:03:49,000 --> 00:03:52,440 Speaker 1: the drunken Andrew with some difficulty after he was unable 68 00:03:52,480 --> 00:03:54,480 Speaker 1: to get a response from his brother or sister in 69 00:03:54,560 --> 00:03:57,240 Speaker 1: law when he knocked on the wall that joined their 70 00:03:57,280 --> 00:03:59,960 Speaker 1: two rooms or that connected their two rooms to check 71 00:04:00,040 --> 00:04:02,600 Speaker 1: on them, that he couldn't get them to answer. What 72 00:04:02,720 --> 00:04:05,880 Speaker 1: the brothers found was evidence of a break in. A 73 00:04:05,960 --> 00:04:08,960 Speaker 1: wooden panel had been chiseled out of the kitchen door 74 00:04:09,080 --> 00:04:11,880 Speaker 1: and left on the ground outside with the chisel lying 75 00:04:11,960 --> 00:04:14,800 Speaker 1: on top of it. And when Jake and Andrew reached 76 00:04:14,800 --> 00:04:18,480 Speaker 1: the couple's bedroom, Catherine was already dead. She was sprawled 77 00:04:18,520 --> 00:04:21,840 Speaker 1: partially across her husband, and Joseph was alive but had 78 00:04:21,920 --> 00:04:26,279 Speaker 1: multiple very bad head wounds. Joseph died before police could arrive. 79 00:04:27,440 --> 00:04:31,040 Speaker 1: Police found a pile of men's wear in the bathroom 80 00:04:31,279 --> 00:04:34,760 Speaker 1: along with an axe. The location of this axe has 81 00:04:34,760 --> 00:04:39,040 Speaker 1: been recorded really inconsistently in different sources. That's been cited 82 00:04:39,080 --> 00:04:42,200 Speaker 1: as being in the bathtub, near the rear doorstep, and 83 00:04:42,240 --> 00:04:45,360 Speaker 1: in the crawl space under the house uh and all 84 00:04:45,360 --> 00:04:47,719 Speaker 1: of these have been named as the place where the 85 00:04:47,720 --> 00:04:50,960 Speaker 1: axe was found. UH and just to address the men's 86 00:04:50,960 --> 00:04:54,080 Speaker 1: were in the bathroom, you will read about that being 87 00:04:54,760 --> 00:04:58,279 Speaker 1: very different things. Uh. Some accounts say it was actually 88 00:04:59,000 --> 00:05:02,000 Speaker 1: like Joseph's close are close belonging to the couple. Some 89 00:05:02,480 --> 00:05:06,040 Speaker 1: hint that they think the ax man actually changed completely 90 00:05:06,040 --> 00:05:07,800 Speaker 1: out of the clothes he was wearing during the murder 91 00:05:07,800 --> 00:05:12,400 Speaker 1: to another set of clothes to leave without blood on him. Uh. 92 00:05:12,440 --> 00:05:14,840 Speaker 1: So that's to my mind a little bit hazy still, 93 00:05:14,880 --> 00:05:18,200 Speaker 1: because accounts do very quite a bit. And also found 94 00:05:18,760 --> 00:05:22,160 Speaker 1: on the bed was a straight razor, and the coroner's 95 00:05:22,240 --> 00:05:25,160 Speaker 1: report indicated that the axe had been the primary cause 96 00:05:25,160 --> 00:05:28,119 Speaker 1: of death for Joseph, but that the killer had likely 97 00:05:28,200 --> 00:05:30,520 Speaker 1: hit Catherine on the head with the ax and then 98 00:05:30,640 --> 00:05:34,120 Speaker 1: used the razor to nearly decapitate her. Uh And her 99 00:05:34,240 --> 00:05:37,480 Speaker 1: estimated time of death was between two and three am. 100 00:05:37,680 --> 00:05:41,240 Speaker 1: Just a block away, the message Mrs Moggio will set 101 00:05:41,320 --> 00:05:44,320 Speaker 1: up tonight just like Mrs Tony was found written on 102 00:05:44,360 --> 00:05:49,279 Speaker 1: the sidewalk with chalk in a sort of childish handwriting. Initially, 103 00:05:49,360 --> 00:05:53,760 Speaker 1: this particular clue was really baffling to investigators because the 104 00:05:53,839 --> 00:05:56,920 Speaker 1: neighbor had actually witnessed Andrew outside that night when he 105 00:05:56,960 --> 00:06:00,640 Speaker 1: was still inebriated. He and Jake were both taken in 106 00:06:00,680 --> 00:06:03,440 Speaker 1: for questioning, and Jake was released after a day, but 107 00:06:03,520 --> 00:06:07,520 Speaker 1: Andrew remained in custody, and unfortunately, several things started to 108 00:06:07,600 --> 00:06:11,360 Speaker 1: make Andrew look extremely suspicious to the police. The first 109 00:06:11,480 --> 00:06:14,080 Speaker 1: is that it was his razor blade. He was a barber, 110 00:06:14,120 --> 00:06:18,040 Speaker 1: and he claimed he had brought it home from maintenance. Uh. 111 00:06:18,520 --> 00:06:21,120 Speaker 1: Another thing is that the safe in Joseph and Catherine's 112 00:06:21,120 --> 00:06:23,320 Speaker 1: house was open, but it didn't show a sign of 113 00:06:23,360 --> 00:06:26,840 Speaker 1: forced entry or robbery. Money and valuables that were nearby 114 00:06:26,880 --> 00:06:30,800 Speaker 1: were left completely untouched. And this, combined with the discovery 115 00:06:30,880 --> 00:06:34,560 Speaker 1: that the ax had actually belonged to the victims, lad 116 00:06:34,640 --> 00:06:37,120 Speaker 1: investigators to believe that the killer knew the layout of 117 00:06:37,160 --> 00:06:40,479 Speaker 1: the house and possibly knew the family, so the idea 118 00:06:40,520 --> 00:06:43,240 Speaker 1: that it was a family member kind of uh did 119 00:06:43,279 --> 00:06:45,880 Speaker 1: not help Andrew's case, and that it was a murdering 120 00:06:45,880 --> 00:06:52,080 Speaker 1: not a robbery. Andrew's story was also kind of changing. Yeah. Uh. 121 00:06:52,160 --> 00:06:55,000 Speaker 1: He didn't initially mention it, but he later said he 122 00:06:55,040 --> 00:06:57,320 Speaker 1: had seen a man going into his brother's house at 123 00:06:57,320 --> 00:07:00,640 Speaker 1: about one thirty in the morning. This contradicted his answers 124 00:07:00,680 --> 00:07:03,640 Speaker 1: to the police questioning, and an interview that he gave 125 00:07:03,680 --> 00:07:06,280 Speaker 1: a newspaper saying he'd been too drunk to even hear 126 00:07:06,320 --> 00:07:09,679 Speaker 1: any of the noise coming from his brother's home. Yeah. 127 00:07:09,720 --> 00:07:11,880 Speaker 1: So he went from saying he was way too and 128 00:07:11,960 --> 00:07:13,960 Speaker 1: he breeded to notice anything, to going, oh yeah, but 129 00:07:14,000 --> 00:07:17,200 Speaker 1: I did see that one guy. Uh. But eventually that 130 00:07:17,280 --> 00:07:18,960 Speaker 1: was kind of it. They didn't really come up with 131 00:07:19,000 --> 00:07:23,720 Speaker 1: any additional evidence. And Andrew was released. So that is 132 00:07:23,760 --> 00:07:26,240 Speaker 1: the first murder, and it really kind of gets the 133 00:07:26,240 --> 00:07:28,480 Speaker 1: most detail in a lot of accounts, I think, because 134 00:07:28,720 --> 00:07:32,520 Speaker 1: it was the earliest one. Even so, and we're at 135 00:07:32,560 --> 00:07:36,680 Speaker 1: a time when there were newspapers and records. Uh, we'll 136 00:07:36,720 --> 00:07:39,040 Speaker 1: find as we go on that the records get fuzzy. 137 00:07:39,240 --> 00:07:42,800 Speaker 1: There wasn't always great accounting. But we're gonna pause before 138 00:07:42,840 --> 00:07:45,440 Speaker 1: we get to the second incident and talk about our sponsor. 139 00:07:46,040 --> 00:07:49,920 Speaker 1: So let's get back to ax murdyrs. Oh, yes, always fun. 140 00:07:50,480 --> 00:07:52,760 Speaker 1: So the second incident happened just a few weeks after 141 00:07:52,760 --> 00:07:55,840 Speaker 1: the Maggio slings. Uh. And a delivery man in this 142 00:07:55,960 --> 00:07:59,320 Speaker 1: instance discovered this event while he was trying to drop 143 00:07:59,360 --> 00:08:03,760 Speaker 1: off bread at grocer Louis Bessemer's store in the seventh Ward. Uh. 144 00:08:03,760 --> 00:08:05,600 Speaker 1: And this is another one of those cases that I 145 00:08:05,680 --> 00:08:09,280 Speaker 1: just mentioned where the details are not always consistent. Bessemer 146 00:08:09,360 --> 00:08:13,360 Speaker 1: gets spelled several different ways. Sometimes it's spelled b E 147 00:08:13,560 --> 00:08:16,280 Speaker 1: s E m e R, sometimes b O s s 148 00:08:16,440 --> 00:08:19,840 Speaker 1: U m e R. Sometimes b O s U m 149 00:08:19,880 --> 00:08:22,960 Speaker 1: b R. There are is a lot of variation. So 150 00:08:23,080 --> 00:08:26,400 Speaker 1: when Bessemer did not meet the delivery man, John Zenka 151 00:08:26,480 --> 00:08:28,560 Speaker 1: at the store's door and the way he normally did, 152 00:08:28,880 --> 00:08:32,560 Speaker 1: Zenka went around to the side door. Bessemer opened the 153 00:08:32,600 --> 00:08:35,280 Speaker 1: door and he was covered in blood and said that 154 00:08:35,320 --> 00:08:39,079 Speaker 1: he had been attacked, and he directed Zenka into the bedroom. 155 00:08:39,800 --> 00:08:42,800 Speaker 1: Uh they're a woman who was presumed to be Bessemmer's 156 00:08:42,880 --> 00:08:45,640 Speaker 1: wife was sprawled on the bed with a really deep 157 00:08:45,640 --> 00:08:48,360 Speaker 1: head wound, although she was still alive at that point. 158 00:08:49,640 --> 00:08:54,480 Speaker 1: Against Bessemer's wishes, Zenka called the police. Bessemer has had 159 00:08:54,520 --> 00:08:58,320 Speaker 1: wanted to call his doctor instead. Just kind of odd. 160 00:08:59,800 --> 00:09:04,800 Speaker 1: I think they should call both. Yes, make both the calls. 161 00:09:04,880 --> 00:09:07,640 Speaker 1: Just as in the Maggio murders, a door panel had 162 00:09:07,640 --> 00:09:09,880 Speaker 1: been removed with a chisel and then placed on the 163 00:09:09,880 --> 00:09:13,120 Speaker 1: ground with the chisel on top of it. Bessemer's own 164 00:09:13,160 --> 00:09:16,360 Speaker 1: acts had been used to commit this assault. And it 165 00:09:16,360 --> 00:09:20,439 Speaker 1: was found in the bathroom, and again no valuables had 166 00:09:20,480 --> 00:09:24,760 Speaker 1: been taken. So while both of the victims were connected 167 00:09:24,800 --> 00:09:29,800 Speaker 1: to a grocery, their ethnicity was different um the Maggio's 168 00:09:29,800 --> 00:09:34,360 Speaker 1: where Italian and Bessemer was Polish. Uh. Initially a new 169 00:09:34,400 --> 00:09:38,040 Speaker 1: employee of Bessemer's store was detained, but he was soon released, 170 00:09:38,640 --> 00:09:41,720 Speaker 1: similar to the Andrew Maggio situation, though he had told 171 00:09:41,760 --> 00:09:44,760 Speaker 1: some conflicting stories to police. And this kind of leads 172 00:09:44,800 --> 00:09:46,120 Speaker 1: me to go out on a limb. I guess that 173 00:09:46,200 --> 00:09:48,920 Speaker 1: fear was the significant motivator in some of these wishy 174 00:09:48,920 --> 00:09:52,280 Speaker 1: washy stories of the suspects. That they were probably just 175 00:09:52,400 --> 00:09:55,800 Speaker 1: terrified and didn't they wanted to say something that would 176 00:09:56,120 --> 00:09:59,360 Speaker 1: clear their name, even if it wasn't accurate. Uh. But 177 00:09:59,400 --> 00:10:02,720 Speaker 1: they did really stepman because he didn't there wasn't enough evidence. 178 00:10:03,720 --> 00:10:07,120 Speaker 1: So the victim, the female victim, was Anna Harriet Low. 179 00:10:07,840 --> 00:10:10,720 Speaker 1: She turned out to be either Bessemer's mistress or his 180 00:10:10,800 --> 00:10:14,920 Speaker 1: common law wife, depending on who is talking, and she 181 00:10:15,000 --> 00:10:19,000 Speaker 1: told different stories to the investigators before she died of 182 00:10:19,000 --> 00:10:22,480 Speaker 1: her wounds. Her first account said that she had been 183 00:10:22,520 --> 00:10:25,160 Speaker 1: attacked by a man of mixed race, but she did 184 00:10:25,240 --> 00:10:28,679 Speaker 1: not stick to that story. The second account was that 185 00:10:28,760 --> 00:10:30,760 Speaker 1: it had actually been Bessemer and that he was a 186 00:10:30,800 --> 00:10:34,720 Speaker 1: spy and part of a German conspiracy. This, combined with 187 00:10:34,840 --> 00:10:37,679 Speaker 1: letters that were found in his home in a number 188 00:10:37,720 --> 00:10:42,120 Speaker 1: of different languages, got federal investigators involved, and Bessemmer was 189 00:10:42,240 --> 00:10:45,200 Speaker 1: arrested but was soon released. Yes, so remember this is 190 00:10:45,280 --> 00:10:47,440 Speaker 1: during World War One, so that's why to say he 191 00:10:47,480 --> 00:10:50,800 Speaker 1: was a German spy got a lot of hubbub happening 192 00:10:50,840 --> 00:10:54,800 Speaker 1: very quickly. It's a big deal in a bizarre move. 193 00:10:55,880 --> 00:10:59,320 Speaker 1: This particular incident has so many weird layers to it. 194 00:11:00,000 --> 00:11:02,600 Speaker 1: Bessemer actually asked the police if he could investigate his 195 00:11:02,640 --> 00:11:05,559 Speaker 1: own case regarding the attack, like if they would make 196 00:11:05,640 --> 00:11:09,040 Speaker 1: him the detective on the case. Uh. And this, combined 197 00:11:09,080 --> 00:11:11,959 Speaker 1: with Anna's strange story and Besmer's reluctance to call a 198 00:11:12,040 --> 00:11:15,800 Speaker 1: police in the first place, eventually it led police to 199 00:11:15,840 --> 00:11:18,200 Speaker 1: believe that there was actually a domestic dispute at the 200 00:11:18,240 --> 00:11:21,280 Speaker 1: heart of this second incident. Uh and Bezmer ended up 201 00:11:21,320 --> 00:11:24,040 Speaker 1: being arrested again and this time held on murder charges. 202 00:11:24,800 --> 00:11:28,680 Speaker 1: Sometime down the road, he was, however, acquitted. The next 203 00:11:28,679 --> 00:11:31,120 Speaker 1: attack was not at the home of a grocer but 204 00:11:31,280 --> 00:11:35,680 Speaker 1: a businessman, and it also broke from the typical axeman 205 00:11:35,760 --> 00:11:38,959 Speaker 1: scenario in a few other ways as well. When Edward 206 00:11:39,000 --> 00:11:42,839 Speaker 1: Schneider got home from work on August eighteen, he found 207 00:11:42,880 --> 00:11:46,040 Speaker 1: his pregnant wife on the bed with a serious head wound. 208 00:11:46,600 --> 00:11:49,680 Speaker 1: She was unconscious, but she was still alive, and she 209 00:11:49,840 --> 00:11:53,640 Speaker 1: was immediately rushed to the hospital. And while Mrs Schneider 210 00:11:53,679 --> 00:11:57,200 Speaker 1: did recover and she did successfully deliver a daughter, she 211 00:11:57,320 --> 00:12:00,559 Speaker 1: really couldn't help police investigators with many details of the attack. 212 00:12:00,640 --> 00:12:02,760 Speaker 1: They had really been hoping that she would have a 213 00:12:02,800 --> 00:12:05,520 Speaker 1: witness account, but she had been asleep when the intruder 214 00:12:05,559 --> 00:12:08,320 Speaker 1: had entered the house, and she only recalled waking up 215 00:12:08,360 --> 00:12:10,320 Speaker 1: to see him by the bed as the axe came 216 00:12:10,360 --> 00:12:16,560 Speaker 1: swinging toward her. It's terrifying, yes, although some of the 217 00:12:16,600 --> 00:12:20,440 Speaker 1: police investigators thought that she had actually been hit with 218 00:12:20,760 --> 00:12:22,800 Speaker 1: I can't remember if it was a large, heavy jar 219 00:12:23,000 --> 00:12:26,199 Speaker 1: or a lamp that was near the bed, So whether 220 00:12:26,320 --> 00:12:28,160 Speaker 1: or not she was actually hit with an axe actually 221 00:12:28,200 --> 00:12:31,520 Speaker 1: even came into question, as in the other attacks, nothing 222 00:12:31,600 --> 00:12:34,440 Speaker 1: of value had been taken out of the house, but 223 00:12:34,679 --> 00:12:37,760 Speaker 1: that and her account of an axe being involved are 224 00:12:37,880 --> 00:12:43,280 Speaker 1: really the only connections with the other Maggio and Bessemer cases. 225 00:12:43,920 --> 00:12:47,280 Speaker 1: Unlike in those crimes, there was no door panel that 226 00:12:47,360 --> 00:12:49,920 Speaker 1: had been chiseled out of the door, there wasn't a 227 00:12:49,920 --> 00:12:54,000 Speaker 1: male victim, and the target was completely removed from the 228 00:12:54,040 --> 00:12:56,840 Speaker 1: grocery trade, which just caused some people to wonder if 229 00:12:56,880 --> 00:13:01,040 Speaker 1: it really was the same perpetrator. Before we get to 230 00:13:01,040 --> 00:13:05,240 Speaker 1: the next one, so many ex events. We're gonna pause 231 00:13:05,280 --> 00:13:07,400 Speaker 1: one more time and take a word from our sponsor. 232 00:13:07,440 --> 00:13:12,160 Speaker 1: If Tracy's game, let's do that, alrighty, yes? Uh So 233 00:13:12,280 --> 00:13:15,920 Speaker 1: just five days after Mrs Schneider was attacked, this time 234 00:13:15,960 --> 00:13:20,080 Speaker 1: a barber named Joseph Romano. So he was Italian, uh, 235 00:13:20,240 --> 00:13:23,360 Speaker 1: similar to some of the others, but not a grocer, 236 00:13:23,640 --> 00:13:25,880 Speaker 1: even though you will often see it said as he 237 00:13:25,920 --> 00:13:29,640 Speaker 1: attacked Italian grocers. But there's a lot more variation than that. Uh. 238 00:13:29,679 --> 00:13:31,600 Speaker 1: And he was attacked in his home, but this time 239 00:13:31,640 --> 00:13:35,240 Speaker 1: there were two witnesses, his nieces Pauline and Mary Bruno, 240 00:13:35,280 --> 00:13:39,319 Speaker 1: who lived with him. They were awakened by loud thumping 241 00:13:39,360 --> 00:13:43,400 Speaker 1: sounds from their uncle's room. According to some accounts, a 242 00:13:43,520 --> 00:13:47,840 Speaker 1: man fled when Pauline saw him and screamed. Other versions 243 00:13:47,880 --> 00:13:50,439 Speaker 1: of the story have the man already fleeing the house 244 00:13:50,440 --> 00:13:54,040 Speaker 1: when the girls saw him. UH, and Joseph had suffered 245 00:13:54,080 --> 00:13:56,840 Speaker 1: several blows to the head and he died from his wounds, 246 00:13:57,800 --> 00:14:00,280 Speaker 1: although he did tell the girls before he died to 247 00:14:00,960 --> 00:14:04,560 Speaker 1: call for help. So this murder was more similar to 248 00:14:04,600 --> 00:14:07,880 Speaker 1: the previous attacks. There was the chiseled door panel with 249 00:14:07,960 --> 00:14:11,160 Speaker 1: the chisel aft the entry UH. And by this time, 250 00:14:11,200 --> 00:14:14,959 Speaker 1: as you can imagine, New Orleans was in a panic. UH. 251 00:14:15,000 --> 00:14:18,679 Speaker 1: There were constant calls to police precincts about suspicious figures 252 00:14:18,720 --> 00:14:21,960 Speaker 1: and attempted intrusions. And some of these seem to be 253 00:14:22,000 --> 00:14:24,640 Speaker 1: based in truth, but others really seemed to be the 254 00:14:24,680 --> 00:14:28,520 Speaker 1: result of panic and fear leading to mistaken assessments of situations. 255 00:14:28,520 --> 00:14:30,680 Speaker 1: Like they were constantly getting a call of there's a 256 00:14:30,720 --> 00:14:34,120 Speaker 1: weird person in my yard. There's someone at my back door. 257 00:14:34,720 --> 00:14:40,800 Speaker 1: That's reminds me of the eight million suspicious package us 258 00:14:41,040 --> 00:14:43,600 Speaker 1: that the police departments were getting, like in the wake 259 00:14:43,680 --> 00:14:47,240 Speaker 1: of the Boston marathon bombing. Yeah, everyone's extra cautious, so 260 00:14:47,280 --> 00:14:50,600 Speaker 1: you're noting everything that stands out. It's not even necessarily 261 00:14:50,640 --> 00:14:54,040 Speaker 1: that you're I think some people tend to assume that 262 00:14:54,200 --> 00:14:56,160 Speaker 1: fear is causing people to make things up. And while 263 00:14:56,200 --> 00:14:57,760 Speaker 1: that may have been the case in some of them, 264 00:14:58,000 --> 00:15:01,200 Speaker 1: you're also just noticing things that you normally noticed because 265 00:15:01,240 --> 00:15:04,400 Speaker 1: you are at a heightened sense of awareness hyper vigilances behind. 266 00:15:05,680 --> 00:15:08,920 Speaker 1: So the mythology of the Axe Man started to morph 267 00:15:09,160 --> 00:15:13,400 Speaker 1: as these stories were shared and spread. A mishmash of 268 00:15:13,480 --> 00:15:17,240 Speaker 1: true and false details formed this patchwork that was kind 269 00:15:17,240 --> 00:15:21,080 Speaker 1: of difficult to pick apart. Yeah, police were responding to calls, 270 00:15:21,120 --> 00:15:25,440 Speaker 1: and some things would be in place that suggested the 271 00:15:25,440 --> 00:15:27,320 Speaker 1: Axe Man, like some doors looked like they had been 272 00:15:27,320 --> 00:15:31,280 Speaker 1: tampered with, but not always. Sometimes people couldn't tell if 273 00:15:31,320 --> 00:15:33,960 Speaker 1: it maybe was just a prankster trying to scare people, 274 00:15:34,720 --> 00:15:38,000 Speaker 1: or if it could actually be the Axeman copycat, yeah, 275 00:15:38,080 --> 00:15:40,680 Speaker 1: or a copcat. But while the city was on edge, 276 00:15:41,240 --> 00:15:44,120 Speaker 1: uh and in this state of hyper vigilance, the last 277 00:15:44,120 --> 00:15:48,360 Speaker 1: several months of nine eighteen did not have any more 278 00:15:48,560 --> 00:15:51,560 Speaker 1: recorded attacks of the Axe Man, although there were, as 279 00:15:51,560 --> 00:15:54,440 Speaker 1: I said, a few instances of chisels and axes being 280 00:15:54,440 --> 00:15:57,600 Speaker 1: found near people's back doors when police were called. So 281 00:15:58,560 --> 00:16:03,120 Speaker 1: we're actually gonna this one into two episodes, because you know, 282 00:16:04,160 --> 00:16:06,360 Speaker 1: it's a lot of killing to put in just one 283 00:16:08,400 --> 00:16:11,480 Speaker 1: and then another person was murdered by an axe building 284 00:16:11,640 --> 00:16:16,520 Speaker 1: mad Yeah. So we're gonna pause here and then our 285 00:16:16,560 --> 00:16:19,240 Speaker 1: next episode will pick right back up, because then things 286 00:16:19,360 --> 00:16:23,760 Speaker 1: really get interesting and really tie into the story that 287 00:16:23,800 --> 00:16:26,680 Speaker 1: appeared on American Horror Story. Do you have listener mail 288 00:16:26,760 --> 00:16:29,640 Speaker 1: before we go? I do. Uh. This one is from 289 00:16:29,640 --> 00:16:33,120 Speaker 1: our listener Amy, and it is in reference to our 290 00:16:33,200 --> 00:16:35,960 Speaker 1: episode on Rudolph the Second. She says, I've been an 291 00:16:36,000 --> 00:16:38,480 Speaker 1: avid listener for some time now, especially since I have 292 00:16:38,520 --> 00:16:41,200 Speaker 1: a boring job and need some levity. I've always wanted 293 00:16:41,240 --> 00:16:43,040 Speaker 1: to write, but never had a good topic that seems 294 00:16:43,080 --> 00:16:44,960 Speaker 1: like something I could write about. But I was very 295 00:16:44,960 --> 00:16:47,560 Speaker 1: excited when you did the podcast on Rudolph the Second. 296 00:16:48,120 --> 00:16:50,720 Speaker 1: I'm an American who lived in Prague, Czech Republic for 297 00:16:50,760 --> 00:16:54,040 Speaker 1: twelve years from the first to the twelfth grade, and 298 00:16:54,080 --> 00:16:56,040 Speaker 1: one of my favorite parts of the Prague Castle was 299 00:16:56,040 --> 00:16:59,640 Speaker 1: actually created by Rudolph. One of his many eccentric pursuits 300 00:16:59,680 --> 00:17:02,840 Speaker 1: was acting alchemists to discover how to turn ordinary objects 301 00:17:02,880 --> 00:17:06,000 Speaker 1: into gold. He collected them all on one street, which 302 00:17:06,000 --> 00:17:08,800 Speaker 1: developed the nickname of Golden Lane. Because of the alchemists, 303 00:17:09,280 --> 00:17:11,800 Speaker 1: all of the buildings are oddly short and skinny. It 304 00:17:11,840 --> 00:17:14,480 Speaker 1: almost looks like a miniature lane rather than a normal street, 305 00:17:14,880 --> 00:17:17,000 Speaker 1: and the buildings are also all bright colors, which was 306 00:17:17,080 --> 00:17:20,200 Speaker 1: unusual for that time. As a kid, I always looked 307 00:17:20,240 --> 00:17:22,480 Speaker 1: forward to walking down Golden Lane and looking at the 308 00:17:22,520 --> 00:17:25,560 Speaker 1: cute houses. Unfortunately, you now have to pay to walk 309 00:17:25,600 --> 00:17:27,840 Speaker 1: down it. At the end of the lane, there's actually 310 00:17:27,840 --> 00:17:30,320 Speaker 1: a toy museum now that has a fascinating progression of 311 00:17:30,320 --> 00:17:32,320 Speaker 1: what barbies have looked like through the ages. Okay, I 312 00:17:32,320 --> 00:17:35,399 Speaker 1: would be all over that museum, across the attics of 313 00:17:35,440 --> 00:17:37,240 Speaker 1: a few of the houses. They have also put in 314 00:17:37,280 --> 00:17:40,359 Speaker 1: a crossbow range for tourists. My older brother enjoyed this 315 00:17:40,400 --> 00:17:43,679 Speaker 1: a lot. I now wish I had done it as well. Uh. 316 00:17:43,720 --> 00:17:45,399 Speaker 1: I just noticed that the coaster of that my hot 317 00:17:45,520 --> 00:17:47,680 Speaker 1: chocolate is resting on is a picture of Golden Lane, 318 00:17:47,680 --> 00:17:50,480 Speaker 1: a present from my mom. I'm glad my hometown received 319 00:17:50,480 --> 00:17:54,320 Speaker 1: a bit of the spotlight. Keep up wonderful work. Uh 320 00:17:54,840 --> 00:17:57,000 Speaker 1: so cool to hear about. I had never heard about 321 00:17:57,000 --> 00:17:59,040 Speaker 1: the Golden Lane, even though I have friends that lived 322 00:17:59,040 --> 00:18:01,600 Speaker 1: at Prague. I guess they were holding out on me. 323 00:18:01,960 --> 00:18:03,840 Speaker 1: But thank you Amy for telling us that, because that's 324 00:18:03,840 --> 00:18:06,600 Speaker 1: a really cool bit that I would not down I 325 00:18:06,600 --> 00:18:08,840 Speaker 1: want to go to Froud quite badly. Uh, there're can 326 00:18:08,920 --> 00:18:11,000 Speaker 1: I see pictures of it? I think it's super cool. 327 00:18:12,080 --> 00:18:14,480 Speaker 1: So if you would like to share information with us, 328 00:18:14,520 --> 00:18:17,000 Speaker 1: you can do so at our email address, which is 329 00:18:17,040 --> 00:18:19,959 Speaker 1: History Podcast at Discovery dot com, or you can connect 330 00:18:19,960 --> 00:18:22,879 Speaker 1: with us at Facebook dot com slash history class Stuff. 331 00:18:23,440 --> 00:18:25,280 Speaker 1: You can connect with us on Twitter at mist in 332 00:18:25,400 --> 00:18:29,160 Speaker 1: History and at misston History dot tumbler dot com, and 333 00:18:29,240 --> 00:18:31,679 Speaker 1: you can visit us on contests where I'm going to 334 00:18:31,720 --> 00:18:36,320 Speaker 1: have to figure out fun ways to include images to 335 00:18:36,600 --> 00:18:39,840 Speaker 1: X men, but I'm gonna do it. 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