1 00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:02,760 Speaker 1: Membership, peace, apply after free trial, cancel anytime. Can I 2 00:00:02,800 --> 00:00:04,920 Speaker 1: be real with you for a second. That goal you 3 00:00:05,000 --> 00:00:08,280 Speaker 1: have to exercise and eat better? You really can do it, 4 00:00:08,440 --> 00:00:11,200 Speaker 1: but nobody is going to do it for you. Nobody 5 00:00:11,320 --> 00:00:13,280 Speaker 1: is going to push you out of bed to work out, 6 00:00:13,680 --> 00:00:16,239 Speaker 1: nobody is going to make you eat better. But here's 7 00:00:16,239 --> 00:00:19,800 Speaker 1: the thing. Nobody has to because you can do it 8 00:00:19,960 --> 00:00:22,440 Speaker 1: if you have the right tools and a community that 9 00:00:22,520 --> 00:00:26,120 Speaker 1: cares about helping you get results. 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Here's al Go to beachbody 20 00:00:57,000 --> 00:00:59,880 Speaker 1: dot com to claim your free membership and start feeling great. 21 00:01:00,160 --> 00:01:04,840 Speaker 1: The following episode contains deeply disturbing scenes of violence, murder, 22 00:01:05,200 --> 00:01:20,600 Speaker 1: and sexual violence toward children. Parental discretion is advised. If 23 00:01:20,640 --> 00:01:23,920 Speaker 1: the United States was a body, you might say the 24 00:01:23,959 --> 00:01:28,200 Speaker 1: town of Velisca, in the southwest corner of Iowa was 25 00:01:28,240 --> 00:01:32,000 Speaker 1: its heart, located as it is in its upper torso, 26 00:01:32,520 --> 00:01:36,520 Speaker 1: a little to the right at center, as it sits 27 00:01:36,560 --> 00:01:40,880 Speaker 1: prettily under a vast Midwestern sky between the middle and 28 00:01:41,000 --> 00:01:45,399 Speaker 1: west Nodaway River, surrounded by endless acres of rich and 29 00:01:45,520 --> 00:01:50,720 Speaker 1: fertile earth. Life in this modest sized town has chained significantly, 30 00:01:51,000 --> 00:01:55,040 Speaker 1: albeit subtly, since its heyday back in the early nineteen hundreds, 31 00:01:55,760 --> 00:01:59,639 Speaker 1: where once it boasted a bustling population of twenty five hundred. 32 00:02:00,120 --> 00:02:04,560 Speaker 1: Over the years, the gradual modernization of the agricultural industry 33 00:02:04,800 --> 00:02:07,720 Speaker 1: on which most of the town's economy is based, has 34 00:02:07,800 --> 00:02:10,960 Speaker 1: led to a steady decline in the numbers of personnel 35 00:02:11,000 --> 00:02:15,240 Speaker 1: it employs. To day, the town's population sits a little 36 00:02:15,320 --> 00:02:20,480 Speaker 1: closer to the thirteen hundred mark. Regardless, though some of 37 00:02:20,480 --> 00:02:23,400 Speaker 1: the paint on its main street buildings may be peeling 38 00:02:23,960 --> 00:02:27,920 Speaker 1: and the brickwork crumbling, it remains a proud and tight 39 00:02:28,000 --> 00:02:32,000 Speaker 1: knit community that values its history and place in the world, 40 00:02:33,120 --> 00:02:37,120 Speaker 1: a place no better epitomized than by the immaculately preserved 41 00:02:37,400 --> 00:02:40,959 Speaker 1: early twentieth century house that sits on the corner of 42 00:02:41,080 --> 00:02:45,320 Speaker 1: sixth Avenue and Second Street, a typical home of any 43 00:02:45,360 --> 00:02:49,120 Speaker 1: of the industrious church going families of the area upon 44 00:02:49,200 --> 00:02:54,280 Speaker 1: whose hard work and resilience the town was established. Certainly, 45 00:02:54,320 --> 00:02:57,960 Speaker 1: on the surface of it, this quaint, white panel walled, 46 00:02:58,120 --> 00:03:01,640 Speaker 1: three bedroom and achronism is perhaps the last place you 47 00:03:01,720 --> 00:03:05,520 Speaker 1: might have expected an ambulance crew to find themselves late 48 00:03:05,560 --> 00:03:09,560 Speaker 1: one night in November twenty fourteen, after reports that a 49 00:03:09,639 --> 00:03:13,880 Speaker 1: man had been violently stabbed there. But how dark and 50 00:03:14,040 --> 00:03:17,880 Speaker 1: deep are the many tendrils that lie beneath the surface 51 00:03:17,960 --> 00:03:22,400 Speaker 1: of things. For the house of which I speak is 52 00:03:22,440 --> 00:03:28,120 Speaker 1: no ordinary preserved property, but rather an ominous, singular place that, 53 00:03:28,280 --> 00:03:31,520 Speaker 1: back in June nineteen twelve, was the scene of one 54 00:03:31,560 --> 00:03:37,680 Speaker 1: of the most brutal and inexplicable unsolved murders in American history. 55 00:03:37,920 --> 00:03:41,360 Speaker 1: And it was there on that peculiar night in November 56 00:03:41,800 --> 00:03:45,320 Speaker 1: just over a hundred years later, that thirty seven year 57 00:03:45,320 --> 00:03:49,440 Speaker 1: old Robert Louis and Junior traveled on the hunt for answers, 58 00:03:50,080 --> 00:04:00,400 Speaker 1: only to almost lose his life in the process, as 59 00:04:00,480 --> 00:04:03,920 Speaker 1: Robert would explain some years later, as a keen ghost 60 00:04:03,960 --> 00:04:08,440 Speaker 1: hunter with a particular fascination for the infamous for Lyska murders, 61 00:04:08,440 --> 00:04:11,640 Speaker 1: his mother and stepfather decided to buy him an overnight 62 00:04:11,760 --> 00:04:15,000 Speaker 1: stay at the Pretty White House on Sixth and Second, 63 00:04:15,560 --> 00:04:18,760 Speaker 1: which by then was a museum devoted to the history 64 00:04:18,760 --> 00:04:23,400 Speaker 1: of the crime and its victims. That night, accompanied by 65 00:04:23,480 --> 00:04:28,279 Speaker 1: his parents, Robert entered the property and immediately felt the 66 00:04:28,320 --> 00:04:31,920 Speaker 1: weight of its grim history, made all the more potent 67 00:04:32,279 --> 00:04:35,000 Speaker 1: by the efforts of the museum owners to model the 68 00:04:35,080 --> 00:04:38,520 Speaker 1: interior exactly how it would have been on that infamous 69 00:04:38,640 --> 00:04:44,320 Speaker 1: night back in June nineteen twelve. Robert, who'd come equipped 70 00:04:44,360 --> 00:04:47,960 Speaker 1: with walkie talkies, a tape recorder, and a six inch 71 00:04:48,080 --> 00:04:51,880 Speaker 1: hunting knife, handed one of the radios to his parents 72 00:04:52,279 --> 00:04:55,360 Speaker 1: and told them to start in the main bedroom upstairs. 73 00:04:56,279 --> 00:04:59,840 Speaker 1: He would start downstairs in the parlor bedroom, where two 74 00:05:00,000 --> 00:05:05,800 Speaker 1: of the victims were found. Once inside the small, narrow room, 75 00:05:05,880 --> 00:05:09,240 Speaker 1: he took a moment to position the bed, nightstand, and 76 00:05:09,400 --> 00:05:12,680 Speaker 1: dresser exactly how he believed them to have been on 77 00:05:12,720 --> 00:05:15,800 Speaker 1: the night of the crime, and then switched off the light. 78 00:05:17,320 --> 00:05:20,039 Speaker 1: Standing in the center of the room, he lifted his 79 00:05:20,120 --> 00:05:23,880 Speaker 1: head and cried out for the spirits to reveal themselves. 80 00:05:25,480 --> 00:05:28,720 Speaker 1: Visions of the crime and how he imagined it played out, 81 00:05:28,960 --> 00:05:32,880 Speaker 1: flashed through his mind, and soon a rage rose inside 82 00:05:32,880 --> 00:05:36,760 Speaker 1: of him. Unable to hold it back any longer, his 83 00:05:36,920 --> 00:05:40,880 Speaker 1: words became coarser as he directed them solely toward the 84 00:05:40,960 --> 00:05:45,600 Speaker 1: unknown culprit, telling them how dare they for doing what 85 00:05:45,640 --> 00:05:48,719 Speaker 1: they did and that they should pay for their crimes. 86 00:05:49,920 --> 00:05:53,599 Speaker 1: Then a crackle came through on the walkie talkie. It 87 00:05:53,760 --> 00:05:58,080 Speaker 1: was his mother from upstairs. Something was happening, she said excitedly. 88 00:05:59,120 --> 00:06:03,760 Speaker 1: The room was filling with orbs. As Robert would go 89 00:06:03,760 --> 00:06:07,279 Speaker 1: on to explain, he too saw an orb appear in 90 00:06:07,360 --> 00:06:09,920 Speaker 1: the corner of the room that he was in, and 91 00:06:10,000 --> 00:06:16,359 Speaker 1: then instinctively grabbed for his knife from above. Robert's parents 92 00:06:16,440 --> 00:06:20,239 Speaker 1: heard a piercing, anguished scream and raced down to find 93 00:06:20,240 --> 00:06:23,760 Speaker 1: their son lying prostrate on the bed with the six 94 00:06:23,839 --> 00:06:29,359 Speaker 1: inch hunting knife now protruding from his chest. After nearly 95 00:06:29,400 --> 00:06:33,560 Speaker 1: bleeding to death and being airlifted to Crichton University Medical 96 00:06:33,600 --> 00:06:37,240 Speaker 1: Care in Omaha, Robert woke up the following day in 97 00:06:37,320 --> 00:06:41,440 Speaker 1: a hospital bed with a tube down his throat. Certain 98 00:06:41,600 --> 00:06:46,120 Speaker 1: of only one thing. There was something deeply evil in 99 00:06:46,200 --> 00:06:51,040 Speaker 1: that house, a darkness that he should never have provoked. 100 00:06:53,400 --> 00:06:56,680 Speaker 1: Back when Vealiska was just a nascent settlement on the 101 00:06:56,680 --> 00:07:00,480 Speaker 1: banks of the Nodaway, its founders searched for an aim 102 00:07:00,560 --> 00:07:05,120 Speaker 1: that could best encapsulate the natural beauty of the surrounding countryside. 103 00:07:06,120 --> 00:07:09,560 Speaker 1: They settled on the term Williska, from the language of 104 00:07:09,600 --> 00:07:14,520 Speaker 1: the Native American sork and Musquawky people. The men had 105 00:07:14,560 --> 00:07:18,480 Speaker 1: been led to believe that the word translated to pretty 106 00:07:18,520 --> 00:07:24,280 Speaker 1: place in English. What it actually meant was evil spirit. 107 00:07:26,400 --> 00:07:30,960 Speaker 1: You're listening to unexplained, and I am Richard McClean smith. 108 00:07:38,440 --> 00:07:41,960 Speaker 1: It had been an unusually cool summer's day in Valiska, 109 00:07:42,000 --> 00:07:45,080 Speaker 1: with a permanent threat of rain in the gathering clouds above. 110 00:07:45,720 --> 00:07:48,680 Speaker 1: As Sarah Moore called to her husband Joe from the 111 00:07:48,680 --> 00:07:52,800 Speaker 1: backyard of their home, a white panel up two down 112 00:07:53,040 --> 00:07:57,640 Speaker 1: on the northeastern outskirts of the town. It was Sunday, 113 00:07:58,040 --> 00:08:01,600 Speaker 1: June ninth, nineteen twelve, and with the time just gone 114 00:08:01,640 --> 00:08:04,560 Speaker 1: seven p m, the family was still to get ready 115 00:08:04,640 --> 00:08:08,880 Speaker 1: for that evening's church service. Forty three year old Joe 116 00:08:09,000 --> 00:08:12,560 Speaker 1: Moore or Josiah, to give him his full name, who 117 00:08:12,640 --> 00:08:15,960 Speaker 1: seemed to be in a rather deep conversation with his neighbor, 118 00:08:16,120 --> 00:08:20,320 Speaker 1: Albert Jones took a few more minutes, then finally peered 119 00:08:20,360 --> 00:08:25,600 Speaker 1: away from Albert and returned to the house. As a couple, 120 00:08:26,080 --> 00:08:29,240 Speaker 1: the Moors were immensely popular and a cherished part of 121 00:08:29,320 --> 00:08:32,640 Speaker 1: the community, with thirty nine year old Sarah being the 122 00:08:32,760 --> 00:08:36,440 Speaker 1: daughter of a prominent farming family and Joe running a 123 00:08:36,480 --> 00:08:41,200 Speaker 1: farming implement store in town. Inside the house that evening, 124 00:08:41,720 --> 00:08:45,800 Speaker 1: the couple's four children, eleven year old Hermann, ten year 125 00:08:45,800 --> 00:08:49,600 Speaker 1: old Mary, seven year old Arthur, and five year old Poor, 126 00:08:50,120 --> 00:08:53,280 Speaker 1: along with their friends eight year old Eina and twelve 127 00:08:53,360 --> 00:08:57,559 Speaker 1: year old Lina Stillinger, had little to do, having spent 128 00:08:57,600 --> 00:09:01,120 Speaker 1: the morning at Sunday school. Already drest in their finest 129 00:09:01,200 --> 00:09:05,720 Speaker 1: church attire, white dresses and bows for the girls and 130 00:09:05,880 --> 00:09:10,320 Speaker 1: gray shorts and jackets for the boys. Joe found them 131 00:09:10,320 --> 00:09:14,120 Speaker 1: are busily putting on shoes and fixing their hair as 132 00:09:14,120 --> 00:09:16,520 Speaker 1: he made his way to the telephone to make a 133 00:09:16,600 --> 00:09:21,280 Speaker 1: quick call to Eina and Lena's parents farm. The girls 134 00:09:21,280 --> 00:09:23,720 Speaker 1: had been due to spend the night at their grandmothers 135 00:09:23,720 --> 00:09:26,800 Speaker 1: in town, but had decided it might be more fun 136 00:09:27,080 --> 00:09:31,280 Speaker 1: to stay at the Moor's home instead. Joe wasn't able 137 00:09:31,320 --> 00:09:34,880 Speaker 1: to reach their parents, but their sister Blanche promised to 138 00:09:34,920 --> 00:09:39,200 Speaker 1: pass on the message. Then, after a quick brush of 139 00:09:39,280 --> 00:09:42,160 Speaker 1: his hair, Joe joined the rest of his family in 140 00:09:42,160 --> 00:09:45,480 Speaker 1: the parlor to begin the short three block walk to 141 00:09:45,559 --> 00:09:49,960 Speaker 1: the local Presbyterian church for a night of children's exercises. 142 00:09:55,880 --> 00:09:58,960 Speaker 1: This podcast is sponsored by Better Help. Is there something 143 00:09:59,040 --> 00:10:02,440 Speaker 1: interfering with your happiness or preventing you from achieving your goals? 144 00:10:02,640 --> 00:10:05,120 Speaker 1: Better Help will assess your needs and match you with 145 00:10:05,160 --> 00:10:08,440 Speaker 1: your own license to professional therapist. It's not a crisis 146 00:10:08,480 --> 00:10:12,760 Speaker 1: line or self help. 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With the congregation arriving 164 00:11:13,600 --> 00:11:17,440 Speaker 1: steadily in preparation for the event, all were greeted warmly 165 00:11:17,559 --> 00:11:22,120 Speaker 1: by Reverend William j. Ewing and his wife Lenore, alongside 166 00:11:22,160 --> 00:11:27,360 Speaker 1: one other less familiar figure, the slight and mousey Reverend 167 00:11:27,440 --> 00:11:32,240 Speaker 1: George Kelly, dressed also in black ministerial robes like Ewing, 168 00:11:32,720 --> 00:11:35,920 Speaker 1: had arrived from the nearby town of Macedonia the day 169 00:11:35,920 --> 00:11:39,480 Speaker 1: before and had been invited to Vliska by Ewing to 170 00:11:39,600 --> 00:11:43,920 Speaker 1: observe that night's service. The thirty three year old Kelly, 171 00:11:44,280 --> 00:11:47,280 Speaker 1: who came to the US from Kent in England with 172 00:11:47,320 --> 00:11:50,640 Speaker 1: his wife Laura in nineteen oh four, was studying to 173 00:11:50,679 --> 00:11:54,760 Speaker 1: be a Presbyterian minister at the Omaha Seminary and had 174 00:11:54,800 --> 00:11:58,120 Speaker 1: gladly taken up Ewing's offer, which included a bed for 175 00:11:58,160 --> 00:12:00,680 Speaker 1: the night at his home in the past snage across 176 00:12:00,679 --> 00:12:05,520 Speaker 1: the road that evening, as the children sang their songs 177 00:12:05,559 --> 00:12:10,439 Speaker 1: and recited scripture, Sarah and Joe watched on proudly alongside 178 00:12:10,440 --> 00:12:13,640 Speaker 1: the rest of the parents, while Kelly watched on from 179 00:12:13,679 --> 00:12:17,480 Speaker 1: the back, smiling pleasantly as the sweet sound of the 180 00:12:17,600 --> 00:12:24,120 Speaker 1: children's voices echoed around the church. At roughly ninety five PM, 181 00:12:24,320 --> 00:12:26,840 Speaker 1: Sarah and Joe were among some of the last to 182 00:12:26,920 --> 00:12:30,840 Speaker 1: leave as they exchanged pleasant trees and goodbyes with fellow 183 00:12:30,880 --> 00:12:35,160 Speaker 1: members of the congregation before finally gathering the children and 184 00:12:35,280 --> 00:12:39,840 Speaker 1: heading off back home. With the last of the congregation gone, 185 00:12:40,559 --> 00:12:44,680 Speaker 1: Reverend Kelly escorted the Ewings and their four children back 186 00:12:44,760 --> 00:12:49,320 Speaker 1: to the parsonage. At the time, the family were sleeping 187 00:12:49,360 --> 00:12:52,000 Speaker 1: together in a tent in the garden due to an 188 00:12:52,000 --> 00:12:56,160 Speaker 1: ongoing issue with Reverend Ewing sinuses. While the rest of 189 00:12:56,160 --> 00:12:59,160 Speaker 1: the family bedded down there for the night. The two 190 00:12:59,240 --> 00:13:03,680 Speaker 1: reverends stay up talking until sometime around eleven PM, when 191 00:13:03,679 --> 00:13:07,240 Speaker 1: Ewing finally called it to night and retired to the tent, 192 00:13:07,960 --> 00:13:10,760 Speaker 1: while Kelly made his way to the guest room. At 193 00:13:10,800 --> 00:13:20,240 Speaker 1: the top of the house. It had just gone four 194 00:13:20,280 --> 00:13:24,360 Speaker 1: am early in the morning of Monday, June tenth, when 195 00:13:24,440 --> 00:13:28,240 Speaker 1: Sarah and Joe's neighbor Mary Peckham got up from bed 196 00:13:28,640 --> 00:13:32,480 Speaker 1: and quietly made her way to the kitchen. With daylight 197 00:13:32,600 --> 00:13:35,280 Speaker 1: yet to break and only the stillness of the night 198 00:13:35,360 --> 00:13:38,720 Speaker 1: for company, Mary lit the fire in the cooking stove, 199 00:13:39,280 --> 00:13:41,800 Speaker 1: then stood back for a moment to enjoy the warmth 200 00:13:41,880 --> 00:13:45,720 Speaker 1: of it before making a start on the day's laundry. 201 00:13:46,160 --> 00:13:49,200 Speaker 1: Over the next few hours, Mary went back and forth 202 00:13:49,280 --> 00:13:52,040 Speaker 1: from the house, washing and hanging the laundry in the 203 00:13:52,120 --> 00:13:56,120 Speaker 1: yard as a large golden sun inch gradually higher into 204 00:13:56,160 --> 00:14:01,040 Speaker 1: the sky. Over at the moor house, however, the windows 205 00:14:01,120 --> 00:14:06,040 Speaker 1: stayed resolutely dark. Like most in the farming trade, the 206 00:14:06,160 --> 00:14:10,880 Speaker 1: moors were early rises. Certainly Mary would have expected to 207 00:14:10,920 --> 00:14:13,640 Speaker 1: see Joe heading off to work by seven a m. 208 00:14:14,400 --> 00:14:17,840 Speaker 1: But as the minutes continued to tick by, a strange 209 00:14:17,880 --> 00:14:23,200 Speaker 1: stillness prevailed at their home. It was a few minutes later, 210 00:14:23,760 --> 00:14:27,440 Speaker 1: when the family's cows, in desperate need of milking, began 211 00:14:27,480 --> 00:14:31,880 Speaker 1: to wail mournfully that Mary finally went over to investigate. 212 00:14:33,400 --> 00:14:36,400 Speaker 1: Stepping on to the porch, she could see clearly that 213 00:14:36,440 --> 00:14:39,520 Speaker 1: all the blinds and curtains had yet to be pulled back, 214 00:14:40,120 --> 00:14:42,760 Speaker 1: but when she knocked on the door, she received no 215 00:14:42,840 --> 00:14:47,240 Speaker 1: response from insight. She was just about to rap on 216 00:14:47,280 --> 00:14:51,000 Speaker 1: the window when she remembered that Joe's father had recently 217 00:14:51,040 --> 00:14:55,000 Speaker 1: been gravely ill. Perhaps the family had left hastily in 218 00:14:55,040 --> 00:14:58,920 Speaker 1: the night to tend to him, she thought, and so 219 00:14:59,320 --> 00:15:03,640 Speaker 1: around a tm Joe's sister in law Jesse, received a 220 00:15:03,680 --> 00:15:06,600 Speaker 1: call from Mary to ask if something had happened to 221 00:15:06,680 --> 00:15:10,040 Speaker 1: Joe's father, because the family didn't seem to be at home. 222 00:15:11,280 --> 00:15:14,760 Speaker 1: But Jesse had heard no such news and quickly passed 223 00:15:14,800 --> 00:15:19,000 Speaker 1: Mary's concern onto her husband and Joe's brother, Ross Moore, 224 00:15:19,440 --> 00:15:22,000 Speaker 1: who was tending to the store he managed in town 225 00:15:22,120 --> 00:15:25,840 Speaker 1: at the time. Ross, in turn but to call in 226 00:15:25,880 --> 00:15:30,640 Speaker 1: to Ed Selli, an employee of Joe's. Sellee, arrived at 227 00:15:30,640 --> 00:15:33,400 Speaker 1: the moors a short time later, and, after knocking on 228 00:15:33,440 --> 00:15:36,960 Speaker 1: the door to no avail, concluded that the family must 229 00:15:37,000 --> 00:15:40,720 Speaker 1: have headed out somewhere at short notice. After making a 230 00:15:40,800 --> 00:15:43,960 Speaker 1: quick check on the animals, Celli, who had a number 231 00:15:44,000 --> 00:15:47,280 Speaker 1: of errands to run for Joe that morning, then headed off, 232 00:15:47,520 --> 00:15:52,400 Speaker 1: eager to complete them before his boss returned. But when 233 00:15:52,480 --> 00:15:56,400 Speaker 1: news of Celli's visit got to Ross soon after, Joe's 234 00:15:56,440 --> 00:15:59,360 Speaker 1: brother couldn't shake the feeling in the pit of his 235 00:15:59,440 --> 00:16:06,440 Speaker 1: stomach that something was terribly wrong. Russ locked up the store, 236 00:16:07,040 --> 00:16:10,920 Speaker 1: then hurriedly made its way to the house. After also 237 00:16:11,040 --> 00:16:14,080 Speaker 1: getting no response from any one in sight, he cupped 238 00:16:14,120 --> 00:16:16,960 Speaker 1: his hand to the glass, but saw nothing beyond the 239 00:16:17,040 --> 00:16:22,160 Speaker 1: thick material of curtains. By now, others had gathered in 240 00:16:22,200 --> 00:16:25,160 Speaker 1: the street to see what all the commotion was as 241 00:16:25,240 --> 00:16:28,440 Speaker 1: Ross tried one more time to get his brother's attention, 242 00:16:29,080 --> 00:16:31,160 Speaker 1: or any one else in the house for that matter. 243 00:16:32,320 --> 00:16:35,760 Speaker 1: Still hearing nothing from inside, he pulled a key from 244 00:16:35,760 --> 00:16:39,880 Speaker 1: his pocket, placed it into the keyhole, and turned the handle. 245 00:16:47,360 --> 00:16:50,800 Speaker 1: The door eased open with a long, drawn out creak, 246 00:16:51,360 --> 00:16:55,280 Speaker 1: throwing pale light into the unsettling silence of the family's 247 00:16:55,320 --> 00:17:00,320 Speaker 1: parlor room. Beyond dust mots floated in the air as 248 00:17:00,400 --> 00:17:03,560 Speaker 1: Ross stepped forward, the sound of his shoes on the 249 00:17:03,560 --> 00:17:09,920 Speaker 1: wooden floorboard reverberating loudly around the room. Ross called out 250 00:17:10,000 --> 00:17:13,840 Speaker 1: for Joe and Sarah, but the words merely dissolved into 251 00:17:13,880 --> 00:17:18,760 Speaker 1: the air. Looking back at the concerned face of Mary 252 00:17:18,800 --> 00:17:21,800 Speaker 1: Peckham on the porch. He then turned to the parlor 253 00:17:21,840 --> 00:17:25,440 Speaker 1: bedroom on his right, noticing that some kind of material 254 00:17:25,640 --> 00:17:28,040 Speaker 1: had been placed over the window in the middle of it. 255 00:17:29,119 --> 00:17:33,720 Speaker 1: He opened the door and proceeded in side. A dull, 256 00:17:34,000 --> 00:17:39,200 Speaker 1: metallic odor struck him first as he stepped into the room. 257 00:17:39,280 --> 00:17:42,800 Speaker 1: In the single bed that lay opposite against the far wall, 258 00:17:43,520 --> 00:17:47,600 Speaker 1: two small lump and shapes could be discerned lying under 259 00:17:47,640 --> 00:17:50,960 Speaker 1: a bed sheet that looked almost black in the half light, 260 00:17:52,040 --> 00:17:55,920 Speaker 1: a single pale white arm protruding from out of it. 261 00:17:57,760 --> 00:18:01,280 Speaker 1: Ross cocked his head waited for a sign of life 262 00:18:01,800 --> 00:18:06,399 Speaker 1: as the horrifying realization dawned on him. The bedsheet was 263 00:18:06,440 --> 00:18:10,800 Speaker 1: saturated with blood. It was sprayed all up the wall too. 264 00:18:12,840 --> 00:18:17,080 Speaker 1: Ross stumbled back out onto the porch. Called the authorities, 265 00:18:17,119 --> 00:18:22,840 Speaker 1: Missus Peckham, call them now, he said. City Marshall Hank 266 00:18:22,880 --> 00:18:27,560 Speaker 1: Houghton was promptly dispatched to the property. Moments later. He 267 00:18:27,640 --> 00:18:30,680 Speaker 1: stood in the gloomy half light of the parlor bedroom 268 00:18:30,720 --> 00:18:35,399 Speaker 1: and lit a match to better observe the scene. Dear God, 269 00:18:35,800 --> 00:18:39,920 Speaker 1: he said, as he stepped closer to the bed, only 270 00:18:40,000 --> 00:18:43,200 Speaker 1: noticing then how the blood had come from the head 271 00:18:43,320 --> 00:18:47,800 Speaker 1: end of the victim's bodies. Then the match burned out, suddenly, 272 00:18:48,280 --> 00:18:53,000 Speaker 1: plunging the room back into darkness. Horton rushed to the 273 00:18:53,000 --> 00:18:56,639 Speaker 1: windows and pulled back the curtains, flooding the room with 274 00:18:56,760 --> 00:19:01,160 Speaker 1: light and revealing suddenly the grizzly sight of the long 275 00:19:01,240 --> 00:19:06,800 Speaker 1: handled axe leaning against the opposite wall, its blade clean 276 00:19:07,520 --> 00:19:11,159 Speaker 1: but its handle still sticky with the blood and the 277 00:19:11,240 --> 00:19:17,640 Speaker 1: faint wisps of human hair, and next to it, utterly incongruously, 278 00:19:18,280 --> 00:19:23,679 Speaker 1: a two pound slab of red raw bacon wrapped loosely 279 00:19:23,760 --> 00:19:34,760 Speaker 1: in a dishcloth. Houghton retreated back into the parlor, then 280 00:19:34,840 --> 00:19:38,080 Speaker 1: continued on into the kitchen, stopping at the foot of 281 00:19:38,119 --> 00:19:43,200 Speaker 1: a narrow flight of stairs. Another match was struck, hissing 282 00:19:43,240 --> 00:19:47,040 Speaker 1: and fizzling as it lit up the stairwell. Then Houghton 283 00:19:47,359 --> 00:19:52,240 Speaker 1: continued on up the stairs, each step creaking heavily as 284 00:19:52,240 --> 00:19:57,000 Speaker 1: he went, arriving quickly at the top floor. He stopped 285 00:19:57,040 --> 00:20:01,800 Speaker 1: suddenly and listened for a moment. Hearing nothing, he headed 286 00:20:01,800 --> 00:20:06,879 Speaker 1: on into the master bedroom. The opening of the blinds 287 00:20:06,960 --> 00:20:11,960 Speaker 1: revealed another grim scene to larger bodies, this time lying 288 00:20:12,080 --> 00:20:15,640 Speaker 1: under a heavily blood soaked sheet, and in the bedroom 289 00:20:15,680 --> 00:20:19,119 Speaker 1: across the hall. It was more of the same four 290 00:20:19,160 --> 00:20:24,360 Speaker 1: more bodies, smaller ones spread out across three beds, also 291 00:20:24,480 --> 00:20:31,480 Speaker 1: hidden under dark, burgundy stained sheets. By shortly after eight am, 292 00:20:31,880 --> 00:20:34,800 Speaker 1: news of the horrors of the More property had steadily 293 00:20:34,880 --> 00:20:38,600 Speaker 1: filtered through to the town center, where Frank Jones was 294 00:20:38,680 --> 00:20:41,439 Speaker 1: overseeing the building of the first National bank in the 295 00:20:41,480 --> 00:20:45,320 Speaker 1: town square. As a former member of the Iowa House 296 00:20:45,359 --> 00:20:50,159 Speaker 1: of Representatives, a banker and successful business owner, the fifty 297 00:20:50,160 --> 00:20:52,919 Speaker 1: six year old Jones was one of the more prosperous 298 00:20:52,920 --> 00:20:56,639 Speaker 1: members of the community, and an acquaintance of the Moors 299 00:20:56,640 --> 00:21:01,080 Speaker 1: have he once employed Joe. As such, it seemed only 300 00:21:01,119 --> 00:21:03,359 Speaker 1: fitting that he would be one of the first to 301 00:21:03,480 --> 00:21:06,720 Speaker 1: arrive at the Moor's home to offer his condolences to 302 00:21:06,840 --> 00:21:11,159 Speaker 1: Ross and his brother Harry, who arrived soon after. The 303 00:21:11,280 --> 00:21:14,680 Speaker 1: steadily growing group were then joined by a doctor Howe 304 00:21:15,119 --> 00:21:18,960 Speaker 1: and the Reverend William Ewing, offering whatever help they could. 305 00:21:20,600 --> 00:21:24,840 Speaker 1: Surely before nine a m City Marshall Houghton, who'd himself 306 00:21:24,960 --> 00:21:28,600 Speaker 1: left to find a doctor, returned with doctor j Clark 307 00:21:28,760 --> 00:21:34,120 Speaker 1: Cooper in tow, telling the others to wait outside. Houghton 308 00:21:34,240 --> 00:21:39,320 Speaker 1: then led Cooper into the house and into the first bedroom, 309 00:21:39,359 --> 00:21:44,080 Speaker 1: resisting every urge to turn away. Doctor Cooper stepped closer 310 00:21:44,080 --> 00:21:47,560 Speaker 1: to the bed, took hold of the sheet and pulled 311 00:21:47,560 --> 00:21:58,320 Speaker 1: it back. Of the two bodies lying underneath, The smallest 312 00:21:58,440 --> 00:22:01,159 Speaker 1: was on its back, closest to the wall, in what 313 00:22:01,280 --> 00:22:05,000 Speaker 1: might be described as a natural sleeping position, a small 314 00:22:05,040 --> 00:22:09,720 Speaker 1: gray jacket placed over the face. Cooper grimaced as he 315 00:22:09,760 --> 00:22:12,720 Speaker 1: pulled the sheet down further to reveal the head of 316 00:22:12,760 --> 00:22:16,960 Speaker 1: the second body, which had been pulverized and split completely 317 00:22:17,000 --> 00:22:23,399 Speaker 1: open at the top. The face was unrecognizable. This body 318 00:22:23,480 --> 00:22:27,720 Speaker 1: lay completely differently, its arm dangling out to the side 319 00:22:28,119 --> 00:22:32,080 Speaker 1: and the legs twisted round, suggesting to Cooper that the 320 00:22:32,160 --> 00:22:37,200 Speaker 1: young victim had attempted to fight back. Cooper pulled back 321 00:22:37,240 --> 00:22:39,879 Speaker 1: the gray jacket from the head of the other body 322 00:22:40,359 --> 00:22:45,080 Speaker 1: and grimaced again. This head, too had been pounded until 323 00:22:45,119 --> 00:22:48,600 Speaker 1: it had split, with nothing but a lump and reddened 324 00:22:48,680 --> 00:22:54,000 Speaker 1: mass for a face. Cooper turned to the two bibles 325 00:22:54,119 --> 00:22:57,760 Speaker 1: lying on the nightstand opposite the bed and thumbed open 326 00:22:57,880 --> 00:23:02,320 Speaker 1: the front pages. On the inside of each. The owner's 327 00:23:02,400 --> 00:23:09,600 Speaker 1: names were inscribed Lina and Ana Stillinger. Heading up to 328 00:23:09,640 --> 00:23:13,400 Speaker 1: the second floor, Cooper went first into the master bedroom 329 00:23:13,800 --> 00:23:17,000 Speaker 1: and pulled back the sheet there to reveal the larger 330 00:23:17,040 --> 00:23:20,200 Speaker 1: bodies of what he assumed to be Sarah and Joe Moore. 331 00:23:21,280 --> 00:23:25,639 Speaker 1: He gasped again at the sight of them. The sheet 332 00:23:25,680 --> 00:23:29,879 Speaker 1: and pillows were completely saturated with blood that had also 333 00:23:30,000 --> 00:23:32,840 Speaker 1: sprayed out in a violent mess up the wall to 334 00:23:32,920 --> 00:23:37,920 Speaker 1: the back and side of Joe's face. It too had 335 00:23:37,920 --> 00:23:42,200 Speaker 1: been pulverized, with its two protruding, cheap bones the only 336 00:23:42,280 --> 00:23:46,760 Speaker 1: visible feature. The eyes had been scythed out with the blows, 337 00:23:47,280 --> 00:23:52,080 Speaker 1: and the rest who completely caved in. Bone splinters covered 338 00:23:52,080 --> 00:23:55,200 Speaker 1: the pillow, while bits of brain could also be seen 339 00:23:55,880 --> 00:23:58,359 Speaker 1: having been chopped out of the top of his head. 340 00:23:59,520 --> 00:24:03,760 Speaker 1: Sarah's body was in much the same condition. In the 341 00:24:03,840 --> 00:24:08,720 Speaker 1: bedroom opposite, doctor Cooper found the Moore's children, all murdered 342 00:24:08,760 --> 00:24:12,200 Speaker 1: just like the others, with their heads smashed and their 343 00:24:12,240 --> 00:24:22,760 Speaker 1: bodies covered over with the sheets. Just after nine am, 344 00:24:23,240 --> 00:24:28,800 Speaker 1: County coroner doctor Linquists arrived to inspect the scene. Starting 345 00:24:28,840 --> 00:24:32,600 Speaker 1: like the others in the parlor bedroom, Linquist noted first 346 00:24:32,880 --> 00:24:36,199 Speaker 1: how the two Stylinger girls had been killed with mainly 347 00:24:36,240 --> 00:24:39,760 Speaker 1: blows from the blunt end of an axe. Then, pulling 348 00:24:39,800 --> 00:24:43,480 Speaker 1: off the rest of the sheet, he found something unexpected. 349 00:24:44,800 --> 00:24:48,520 Speaker 1: Lena's nightgown had bunched up around her waist, revealing her 350 00:24:48,640 --> 00:24:52,119 Speaker 1: naked body underneath, with a spot of blood on the 351 00:24:52,160 --> 00:24:56,240 Speaker 1: inside of her thigh. While one arm hung out of 352 00:24:56,320 --> 00:24:59,920 Speaker 1: the bed, the other was extended above her head rest 353 00:25:00,200 --> 00:25:03,480 Speaker 1: on the pillow, which had led doctor Cooper to assume 354 00:25:03,600 --> 00:25:07,440 Speaker 1: that she'd fought back against the killer, but Linquist wasn't 355 00:25:07,520 --> 00:25:11,720 Speaker 1: so sure. Though the girl didn't appear to have been raped, 356 00:25:12,080 --> 00:25:14,960 Speaker 1: the coroner couldn't shake the feeling that there was far 357 00:25:15,040 --> 00:25:18,879 Speaker 1: more to all this than just a brutal slaying of innocence. 358 00:25:20,359 --> 00:25:23,800 Speaker 1: Turning to examine the room, he noted then that the 359 00:25:23,920 --> 00:25:27,560 Speaker 1: mirror on the dresser had likely been deliberately covered up 360 00:25:27,680 --> 00:25:30,520 Speaker 1: by the killer, just like the window in the door, 361 00:25:31,160 --> 00:25:35,000 Speaker 1: and both with the same material. A dress of Sarah's 362 00:25:35,040 --> 00:25:39,439 Speaker 1: that had been hurriedly ripped in half. A kerosene lamp 363 00:25:39,520 --> 00:25:41,680 Speaker 1: had also been placed at the foot of the bed 364 00:25:42,160 --> 00:25:46,080 Speaker 1: with its chimney removed, which again was likely put there 365 00:25:46,119 --> 00:25:50,520 Speaker 1: by the killer. Looking at the axe, it took him 366 00:25:50,600 --> 00:25:53,320 Speaker 1: less than a minute to confirm it as the murder weapon, 367 00:25:53,920 --> 00:25:56,359 Speaker 1: but as for why there was a two pound slab 368 00:25:56,359 --> 00:25:59,800 Speaker 1: of bacon lying next to it, he couldn't be sure. 369 00:26:01,160 --> 00:26:05,600 Speaker 1: Then Linquist saw Lena's underwear that had been discarded under 370 00:26:05,640 --> 00:26:08,960 Speaker 1: the bed and on which the killer had wiped their 371 00:26:09,000 --> 00:26:14,440 Speaker 1: bloodstained hands. The girl hadn't fought back. He thought she'd 372 00:26:14,480 --> 00:26:19,359 Speaker 1: been deliberately placed like that, exposed for the killer to see. 373 00:26:25,760 --> 00:26:29,919 Speaker 1: What makes a murderer's mind tick. Killer Psyche is a 374 00:26:29,960 --> 00:26:33,480 Speaker 1: true crime podcast from Wandry that explores these types of 375 00:26:33,560 --> 00:26:38,040 Speaker 1: questions about the crimes that killers and criminals commit. Killer 376 00:26:38,080 --> 00:26:41,879 Speaker 1: Psyche covers high profile cases that shocked the world, and 377 00:26:42,000 --> 00:26:45,880 Speaker 1: host Candy Stlong uses her five decades of experience as 378 00:26:45,880 --> 00:26:50,720 Speaker 1: a clinical psychiatric nurse and FBI criminal profiler to dissect 379 00:26:50,760 --> 00:26:55,120 Speaker 1: the motivations and behaviors of the most terrifying felons in history. 380 00:26:55,400 --> 00:26:58,080 Speaker 1: And you'll definitely want to listen to a recent episode 381 00:26:58,080 --> 00:27:01,840 Speaker 1: of Killer Psyche where Candies looks into the mysterious murder 382 00:27:01,880 --> 00:27:05,960 Speaker 1: of Ted Ammon, a wealthy Wall Street financier. Ted had 383 00:27:06,000 --> 00:27:08,960 Speaker 1: been going through a divorce with his wife of thirteen years, 384 00:27:09,200 --> 00:27:13,320 Speaker 1: Gena Rosa, and child custody and millions in assets were 385 00:27:13,320 --> 00:27:17,720 Speaker 1: at stake. Generosa and her new boyfriend Danny Pelosi were 386 00:27:17,720 --> 00:27:21,840 Speaker 1: the prime suspects, but Generosa died of cancer before police 387 00:27:21,880 --> 00:27:26,040 Speaker 1: could prove her involvement. In twenty four Danny was convicted 388 00:27:26,080 --> 00:27:29,960 Speaker 1: of second degree murder, but still maintains his innocence. How 389 00:27:30,000 --> 00:27:33,159 Speaker 1: does hatred drive a person to murder the father of 390 00:27:33,200 --> 00:27:37,040 Speaker 1: their children? Listen to Kill a Psyche on Apple Podcasts, 391 00:27:37,080 --> 00:27:39,879 Speaker 1: Amazon Music, or you can listen to one Week and 392 00:27:40,119 --> 00:27:48,040 Speaker 1: Free by joining Wandry Plus in the Wandry app Moving 393 00:27:48,040 --> 00:27:51,280 Speaker 1: into the main house, Linquist took note of how clean 394 00:27:51,359 --> 00:27:55,800 Speaker 1: the place was. There were no bloody footprints or handprints anywhere. 395 00:27:57,000 --> 00:28:00,000 Speaker 1: In the kitchen, however, a large bowl of bloody wall 396 00:28:00,320 --> 00:28:03,679 Speaker 1: had been left out, he presumed used by the killer 397 00:28:03,920 --> 00:28:08,399 Speaker 1: to wash their hands. Then Linquist turned his attention to 398 00:28:08,440 --> 00:28:13,199 Speaker 1: the bodies upstairs. Unlike with Lena Stillinger, there was no 399 00:28:13,280 --> 00:28:16,520 Speaker 1: sign of any resistance or abuse of the more children, 400 00:28:17,080 --> 00:28:21,200 Speaker 1: with all killed quickly and presumably more or less silently, 401 00:28:21,680 --> 00:28:25,040 Speaker 1: since none appeared to have awoken during the horrific ordeal. 402 00:28:26,640 --> 00:28:29,200 Speaker 1: The same appeared to be true of Sarah and Joe, 403 00:28:30,160 --> 00:28:35,080 Speaker 1: but here Linquist found significant differences, mainly in the manner 404 00:28:35,160 --> 00:28:39,320 Speaker 1: of their mutilation. Both had been hacked at far more 405 00:28:39,640 --> 00:28:43,720 Speaker 1: than any of the other victims. A shoe that had 406 00:28:43,720 --> 00:28:46,840 Speaker 1: been knocked over close to their bed, spilling blood from 407 00:28:46,880 --> 00:28:49,920 Speaker 1: inside it onto the floor that had needed time to 408 00:28:49,960 --> 00:28:53,800 Speaker 1: fill up there suggested the murderer had even come back 409 00:28:53,920 --> 00:28:58,600 Speaker 1: to mutilate them further, having already killed them, the apparent 410 00:28:58,680 --> 00:29:04,160 Speaker 1: intention being the complete removal of their faces. Where the 411 00:29:04,200 --> 00:29:07,520 Speaker 1: others had been struck five to ten times for Sarah 412 00:29:07,600 --> 00:29:12,680 Speaker 1: and Joe, it was closer to thirty. Indentations in the 413 00:29:12,760 --> 00:29:15,800 Speaker 1: ceiling above the bed, presumed to be from the back 414 00:29:15,840 --> 00:29:19,600 Speaker 1: swing of the axe, were testament to the wild brutality 415 00:29:19,960 --> 00:29:24,800 Speaker 1: that had been meted out. After finishing up in the house, 416 00:29:25,240 --> 00:29:29,280 Speaker 1: doctor Linquist made his way to the family barn. He 417 00:29:29,440 --> 00:29:32,760 Speaker 1: wasn't entirely sure what he was looking for, but eventually 418 00:29:32,800 --> 00:29:35,680 Speaker 1: found himself in the hay loft, where he noticed a 419 00:29:35,760 --> 00:29:39,400 Speaker 1: relatively fresh pile of hay that had been dumped next 420 00:29:39,400 --> 00:29:43,440 Speaker 1: to some neatly stacked bales in the corner. Moving closer 421 00:29:43,440 --> 00:29:46,560 Speaker 1: to investigate, he saw what appeared to be the pattern 422 00:29:46,600 --> 00:29:49,280 Speaker 1: of a body in the straw, as if some one 423 00:29:49,360 --> 00:29:52,920 Speaker 1: had recently been lying there, And at the end where 424 00:29:52,920 --> 00:29:56,640 Speaker 1: the head and shoulders would have been, Linquist noticed a 425 00:29:56,680 --> 00:30:00,960 Speaker 1: hole in the wall. Bending down to peer through it, 426 00:30:01,560 --> 00:30:06,640 Speaker 1: he could see perfectly a completely unobstructed view of the house. 427 00:30:14,080 --> 00:30:18,080 Speaker 1: Having supervised the initial analysis of the crime scene, City 428 00:30:18,120 --> 00:30:21,680 Speaker 1: Marshall Houghton placed a night watchman outside the property to 429 00:30:21,720 --> 00:30:24,680 Speaker 1: guard it, then made his way to Veliska's city hall 430 00:30:25,200 --> 00:30:29,120 Speaker 1: to meet with Montgomery County Sheriff Jackson to discuss the 431 00:30:29,160 --> 00:30:33,680 Speaker 1: next steps. The forty nine year old Houghton had lived 432 00:30:33,720 --> 00:30:36,760 Speaker 1: most of his life in or near Veliska, and up 433 00:30:36,840 --> 00:30:39,479 Speaker 1: until that day, had spent most of his time as 434 00:30:39,520 --> 00:30:43,800 Speaker 1: city marshal coloring petty criminals and pulling drunks off the street. 435 00:30:44,920 --> 00:30:47,640 Speaker 1: In fact, Houghton had only been in the job a 436 00:30:47,720 --> 00:30:51,640 Speaker 1: year when the more and stillinger murders took place, having 437 00:30:51,680 --> 00:30:54,760 Speaker 1: worked the previous few years as a night patrolman and 438 00:30:54,880 --> 00:30:59,240 Speaker 1: before that as a farm hand. In short, he was 439 00:30:59,320 --> 00:31:03,760 Speaker 1: woefully out of his depth. Though Sheriff Jackson had seen 440 00:31:03,800 --> 00:31:06,960 Speaker 1: a little more of the world, most notably trying his 441 00:31:07,080 --> 00:31:10,840 Speaker 1: luck in Alaska during the eighteen ninety gold Rush, his 442 00:31:11,000 --> 00:31:15,240 Speaker 1: primary responsibility was overseeing the town jail and making sure 443 00:31:15,320 --> 00:31:19,280 Speaker 1: the relevant paperwork was up to date. It didn't help 444 00:31:19,320 --> 00:31:22,120 Speaker 1: either that, due to the system at the time, there 445 00:31:22,200 --> 00:31:26,040 Speaker 1: was no state police or criminal investigative agency set up 446 00:31:26,160 --> 00:31:31,000 Speaker 1: to deal with crimes of such complexity and magnitude. As such, 447 00:31:31,400 --> 00:31:34,600 Speaker 1: the state had to rely on private detective agencies if 448 00:31:34,600 --> 00:31:38,880 Speaker 1: they wanted to crack the case. At City Hall, it 449 00:31:38,920 --> 00:31:42,160 Speaker 1: was agreed to give Detective Thomas O'Leary from the Kirk 450 00:31:42,240 --> 00:31:47,400 Speaker 1: Detective Agency a first go at finding the culprit. Houghton 451 00:31:47,480 --> 00:31:51,040 Speaker 1: also suggested bringing him bloodhounds, but worried that it might 452 00:31:51,080 --> 00:31:56,040 Speaker 1: be too expensive. Then Frank Jones spoke up. As a 453 00:31:56,080 --> 00:31:59,520 Speaker 1: significant figure of the community. Jones had taken it on 454 00:31:59,600 --> 00:32:04,120 Speaker 1: himself to join Haughton and Jackson at City Hall. Frank 455 00:32:04,240 --> 00:32:07,959 Speaker 1: told Houghton not to worry about the cost. Whatever it was, 456 00:32:08,240 --> 00:32:12,680 Speaker 1: he would make sure it was covered. Houghton returned to 457 00:32:12,720 --> 00:32:15,840 Speaker 1: the Moor's home late in the afternoon to find it 458 00:32:15,880 --> 00:32:19,000 Speaker 1: completely full of people, with as many as fifty to 459 00:32:19,080 --> 00:32:22,120 Speaker 1: one hundred believed to have poked around the crime scene 460 00:32:22,440 --> 00:32:25,959 Speaker 1: before the VELISKA National Guard were eventually called in to 461 00:32:26,000 --> 00:32:30,560 Speaker 1: take control of the situation. A short time later, the 462 00:32:30,680 --> 00:32:33,760 Speaker 1: first posses from the National Guard set out on the 463 00:32:33,840 --> 00:32:39,280 Speaker 1: hunt for clues, searching homes and outbuildings, hoping to find footprints, 464 00:32:39,360 --> 00:32:43,600 Speaker 1: scraps of clothing or maybe even the killer themselves, but 465 00:32:43,760 --> 00:32:48,080 Speaker 1: little of note was discovered. It was just after nine 466 00:32:48,120 --> 00:32:52,280 Speaker 1: pm when the bloodhounds arrived, using the axe to scent 467 00:32:52,400 --> 00:32:55,760 Speaker 1: them from inside the house. The dogs immediately set off 468 00:32:55,800 --> 00:32:58,880 Speaker 1: through the front door, pulling hard on their leads as 469 00:32:58,880 --> 00:33:01,600 Speaker 1: they traveled west all the way to the banks of 470 00:33:01,640 --> 00:33:04,640 Speaker 1: the west not Away River, only to hit a bank 471 00:33:04,680 --> 00:33:15,840 Speaker 1: of heavy bushes, where they quickly lost interest. As news 472 00:33:15,840 --> 00:33:19,760 Speaker 1: of the killing spread throughout the county, many naturally began 473 00:33:19,840 --> 00:33:23,040 Speaker 1: to wander as to who could possibly do such a thing, 474 00:33:23,840 --> 00:33:28,680 Speaker 1: But when darkness finally came round again, petty gossip turned 475 00:33:28,680 --> 00:33:31,840 Speaker 1: to abject fear at the thought of a deranged killer 476 00:33:32,080 --> 00:33:36,720 Speaker 1: that was quite possibly still very much among them. Local 477 00:33:36,800 --> 00:33:40,320 Speaker 1: stores quickly sold out of padlocks, while those who didn't 478 00:33:40,320 --> 00:33:45,000 Speaker 1: own guns raced into town to purchase one. Later in 479 00:33:45,040 --> 00:33:49,640 Speaker 1: the afternoon, coroner doctor Linquist convened the coroner's jury and 480 00:33:49,800 --> 00:33:52,880 Speaker 1: led the members round the house to inspect the crime scene. 481 00:33:54,280 --> 00:33:58,320 Speaker 1: Then at ten p m. County Attorney Ratcliffe arrived and 482 00:33:58,480 --> 00:34:01,880 Speaker 1: gave word finally for the local undertakers to take the 483 00:34:01,920 --> 00:34:06,600 Speaker 1: bodies away. Each was carried carefully one at a time, 484 00:34:07,240 --> 00:34:09,759 Speaker 1: then placed on a buggy and wheeled out of the 485 00:34:09,840 --> 00:34:13,920 Speaker 1: house to gasps and cries from the many who'd gathered outside, 486 00:34:14,520 --> 00:34:20,400 Speaker 1: drawn there inexorably by a collective morbid fascination. It was 487 00:34:20,480 --> 00:34:24,240 Speaker 1: sometime around two am, with the bodies having been delivered 488 00:34:24,280 --> 00:34:27,560 Speaker 1: to a temporary morgue at the town fire station, that 489 00:34:27,760 --> 00:34:30,280 Speaker 1: armed guards were placed at each of the two doors, 490 00:34:30,760 --> 00:34:36,880 Speaker 1: and one by one the onlookers dispersed that evening. Families 491 00:34:36,880 --> 00:34:40,080 Speaker 1: stayed up all night, sat with lamp lights on and 492 00:34:40,239 --> 00:34:44,360 Speaker 1: loaded guns across their laps, their doors and windows heavily 493 00:34:44,440 --> 00:34:49,560 Speaker 1: barricaded shut. Those who lived alone stayed with friends, and 494 00:34:49,680 --> 00:34:53,879 Speaker 1: few ventured out into the dark to use outhouses, while 495 00:34:54,000 --> 00:34:58,480 Speaker 1: virtually no one got any sleep at all. In the 496 00:34:58,640 --> 00:35:02,280 Speaker 1: days to come. Some would attest to seeing Reverend Ewing's 497 00:35:02,320 --> 00:35:06,600 Speaker 1: guest of the night before, Reverend George Kelly, depart that 498 00:35:06,719 --> 00:35:12,040 Speaker 1: morning from Veliska train station on the five nineteen. Later 499 00:35:12,080 --> 00:35:16,520 Speaker 1: in the afternoon, having arrived back home in Macedonia, many 500 00:35:16,560 --> 00:35:19,600 Speaker 1: would be especially struck by how obsessed he seemed by 501 00:35:19,680 --> 00:35:23,600 Speaker 1: news of the crime. Some even claimed they'd heard him 502 00:35:23,600 --> 00:35:28,160 Speaker 1: discussing the murders much earlier in the day, earlier in fact, 503 00:35:28,560 --> 00:35:32,600 Speaker 1: than when the bodies were first discovered, but all that 504 00:35:33,040 --> 00:35:38,840 Speaker 1: was yet to come. You've been listening to Unexplained Season six, 505 00:35:39,000 --> 00:35:43,000 Speaker 1: episode twelve, A Darkness on the Edge of Town, Part 506 00:35:43,040 --> 00:35:47,120 Speaker 1: one of three. Part two will be released next Friday, 507 00:35:47,160 --> 00:35:52,600 Speaker 1: April eighth. If you enjoy Unexplained and would like to 508 00:35:52,640 --> 00:35:55,400 Speaker 1: help support us, you can now do so via Patreon. 509 00:35:56,000 --> 00:35:59,080 Speaker 1: To receive access to add three episodes, Just go to 510 00:35:59,160 --> 00:36:03,640 Speaker 1: patron dot com Forward Slash Unexplained Pod to sign up. Unexplained, 511 00:36:03,680 --> 00:36:06,960 Speaker 1: the book and audiobook, featuring ten stories that have never 512 00:36:07,000 --> 00:36:09,799 Speaker 1: before been covered on the show, is now available to 513 00:36:09,840 --> 00:36:13,760 Speaker 1: buy worldwide. You can purchase through Amazon, Barnes and Noble, 514 00:36:13,880 --> 00:36:18,680 Speaker 1: and Waterstones, among other bookstores. All elements of Unexplained, including 515 00:36:18,719 --> 00:36:21,840 Speaker 1: the show's music, are produced by me Richard McClain smith. 516 00:36:22,239 --> 00:36:25,359 Speaker 1: Please subscribe and rate the show wherever you listen to podcasts, 517 00:36:25,600 --> 00:36:27,800 Speaker 1: and feel free to get in touch with any thoughts 518 00:36:27,880 --> 00:36:30,480 Speaker 1: or ideas regarding the stories you've heard on the show. 519 00:36:31,080 --> 00:36:33,200 Speaker 1: Perhaps you have an explanation of your own you'd like 520 00:36:33,239 --> 00:36:36,600 Speaker 1: to share. You can reach us online at Unexplained podcast 521 00:36:36,680 --> 00:36:41,520 Speaker 1: dot com, or Twitter at Unexplained Pod and Facebook at 522 00:36:41,520 --> 00:36:45,360 Speaker 1: Facebook dot com. Forward Slash Unexplained Podcast