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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 00:01:00,280 --> 00:01:04,720 Speaker 1: The following episode contains deeply disturbing scenes of violence, murder, 22 00:01:04,840 --> 00:01:20,520 Speaker 1: and sexual violence toward children. Parental discretion as advised. You're 23 00:01:20,560 --> 00:01:25,840 Speaker 1: listening to Unexplained, Season six, episode twelve, A Darkness on 24 00:01:25,880 --> 00:01:36,880 Speaker 1: the Edge of Town, Part two. On Tuesday, June eleventh 25 00:01:36,959 --> 00:01:41,199 Speaker 1: of nineteen twelve, the people of Vi Liska rose unsteadily 26 00:01:41,240 --> 00:01:44,400 Speaker 1: into a new dawn, with any relief at having made 27 00:01:44,480 --> 00:01:48,200 Speaker 1: it through the night quickly tempered by the renewed realization 28 00:01:48,640 --> 00:01:52,640 Speaker 1: of the horrors from the day before. None perhaps felt 29 00:01:52,640 --> 00:01:56,760 Speaker 1: them more strongly than Sarah and Joe Stillinger, parents to 30 00:01:56,840 --> 00:02:01,320 Speaker 1: young Aina and Lena. Sarah, who was heavily pregnant with 31 00:02:01,400 --> 00:02:04,600 Speaker 1: the couple's tenth child at the time, was at home 32 00:02:04,800 --> 00:02:08,400 Speaker 1: when she received word that some kind of catastrophic event 33 00:02:08,720 --> 00:02:12,600 Speaker 1: had taken place at the Moor's house. After numerous failed 34 00:02:12,600 --> 00:02:15,920 Speaker 1: attempts to call the family, she was eventually informed by 35 00:02:15,960 --> 00:02:18,680 Speaker 1: the operator that there was no use trying to speak 36 00:02:18,720 --> 00:02:23,440 Speaker 1: to them because everyone in the house was dead. At 37 00:02:23,480 --> 00:02:27,200 Speaker 1: first light on the Tuesday morning, City Marshaw Hank Houghton 38 00:02:27,520 --> 00:02:31,600 Speaker 1: and Sheriff Owen Jackson reconvened at the house to carry 39 00:02:31,600 --> 00:02:35,000 Speaker 1: out a second search with the bloodhounds, only to find 40 00:02:35,040 --> 00:02:38,520 Speaker 1: a busy crowd of onlookers, from journalists to family and 41 00:02:38,639 --> 00:02:43,920 Speaker 1: everyone in between, already waiting for them outside. The crowd 42 00:02:43,960 --> 00:02:47,720 Speaker 1: looked on with excited anticipation as the dogs appeared at 43 00:02:47,720 --> 00:02:51,320 Speaker 1: the door, then once again headed west toward the West 44 00:02:51,440 --> 00:02:55,440 Speaker 1: not Away River, following ascent picked up from inside a 45 00:02:55,480 --> 00:02:58,640 Speaker 1: closet where a possible footprint of the killer was found. 46 00:03:00,120 --> 00:03:03,560 Speaker 1: One familiar face among the onlookers hurrying to keep up 47 00:03:03,600 --> 00:03:08,160 Speaker 1: with the dogs was local business owner and banker Frank Jones. 48 00:03:09,600 --> 00:03:13,360 Speaker 1: Years later, some would claim to have overheard him saying 49 00:03:13,400 --> 00:03:16,399 Speaker 1: that the dogs were going in the wrong direction, as 50 00:03:16,440 --> 00:03:20,919 Speaker 1: if he knew something of the killer's whereabouts. Once again, 51 00:03:21,360 --> 00:03:24,720 Speaker 1: the dogs eventually lost interest after reaching the bushes by 52 00:03:24,760 --> 00:03:28,920 Speaker 1: the river bank. For Sheriff Jackson, However, it was just 53 00:03:29,000 --> 00:03:32,080 Speaker 1: about the only solid clue they had, believing that the 54 00:03:32,160 --> 00:03:35,400 Speaker 1: dogs had simply lost the scent because the killer had 55 00:03:35,400 --> 00:03:38,000 Speaker 1: waded into the water to get to the other side. 56 00:03:39,040 --> 00:03:42,600 Speaker 1: A one hundred volunteer search party was promptly gathered up 57 00:03:42,640 --> 00:03:46,320 Speaker 1: to search the river banks, with one half cent to Clarinda, 58 00:03:46,520 --> 00:03:50,240 Speaker 1: fifteen miles south and told to walk north, while the 59 00:03:50,280 --> 00:03:54,760 Speaker 1: other was instructed to walk down from Veliska to meet them. 60 00:03:54,840 --> 00:04:06,080 Speaker 1: Nothing useful was found. At some point on Tuesday afternoon, 61 00:04:06,480 --> 00:04:09,720 Speaker 1: a man reeking of Booze, stumbled onto the porch of 62 00:04:09,800 --> 00:04:13,680 Speaker 1: the Moor's home and introduced himself as m W. Mccloffrey, 63 00:04:14,200 --> 00:04:17,799 Speaker 1: Special Agent in charge of the Department of Justice Bureau 64 00:04:17,880 --> 00:04:23,560 Speaker 1: of Criminal Identification at Leavenworth Prison in Kansas. Mcclofrey was 65 00:04:23,600 --> 00:04:27,520 Speaker 1: an apparent expert in collecting finger prints and had volunteered 66 00:04:27,520 --> 00:04:31,240 Speaker 1: its services to help in the case. After being sent 67 00:04:31,320 --> 00:04:34,880 Speaker 1: home by the coroner, doctor Linquist to sober up, he 68 00:04:34,920 --> 00:04:37,920 Speaker 1: returned later in the day to put his finely honed 69 00:04:37,960 --> 00:04:43,040 Speaker 1: techniques to use. After three days scouring the property, however, 70 00:04:43,480 --> 00:04:47,840 Speaker 1: he failed to find a single usable print. Later, at 71 00:04:47,839 --> 00:04:51,240 Speaker 1: the coroner's inquest, members of the community were invited to 72 00:04:51,240 --> 00:04:54,800 Speaker 1: come forward with any information they might have regarding the 73 00:04:54,839 --> 00:04:58,359 Speaker 1: sighting of any suspicious looking people near the moor house 74 00:04:58,440 --> 00:05:01,440 Speaker 1: on the night of the murders, but no one had 75 00:05:01,480 --> 00:05:06,279 Speaker 1: seen a thing, and so with little more to add 76 00:05:06,320 --> 00:05:09,360 Speaker 1: to the investigation. At the end of the second day, 77 00:05:09,800 --> 00:05:15,000 Speaker 1: Sheriff Jackson, City Marshall Houghton, doctor Linquist, a newly appointed 78 00:05:15,000 --> 00:05:20,480 Speaker 1: private detective Thomas O'Leary compared notes, there was little doubting 79 00:05:20,480 --> 00:05:23,159 Speaker 1: the murder weapon, which turned out to be an old, 80 00:05:23,400 --> 00:05:26,719 Speaker 1: blunt and rusted axe of Joe Moore's, taken from the 81 00:05:26,720 --> 00:05:31,000 Speaker 1: wood shed outside the house. Other than that, however, nothing 82 00:05:31,120 --> 00:05:35,080 Speaker 1: much seemed to make sense. Why, for example, had the 83 00:05:35,160 --> 00:05:37,880 Speaker 1: killer taken pains to cover the window in the door 84 00:05:37,920 --> 00:05:42,279 Speaker 1: of the bedroom downstairs. The covering of the mirrors too, 85 00:05:42,760 --> 00:05:45,800 Speaker 1: which extended to the mirrors in the upstairs bedrooms as 86 00:05:45,880 --> 00:05:50,760 Speaker 1: well as the downstairs won was also baffling. Another strange 87 00:05:50,800 --> 00:05:53,839 Speaker 1: feature was the discovery of a watch belonging to Joe 88 00:05:54,120 --> 00:05:57,640 Speaker 1: that had likely been taken from Joe and Sarah's bedroom upstairs, 89 00:05:58,040 --> 00:06:02,240 Speaker 1: but was left abandoned in the bedroom downstairs, And what 90 00:06:02,400 --> 00:06:05,880 Speaker 1: to make of Lena's body found in its peculiar pose, 91 00:06:06,839 --> 00:06:11,080 Speaker 1: not to mention the damp slab of bacon dropped nearby. 92 00:06:11,800 --> 00:06:14,680 Speaker 1: One other oddity was that all the doors, with the 93 00:06:14,720 --> 00:06:17,919 Speaker 1: exception of the front door, were bolt locked from the inside. 94 00:06:18,760 --> 00:06:21,240 Speaker 1: It may well have been that the killer entered through 95 00:06:21,279 --> 00:06:23,360 Speaker 1: one of the bolt locked doors that had been left 96 00:06:23,400 --> 00:06:26,880 Speaker 1: open and simply locked it behind them before locking the 97 00:06:26,920 --> 00:06:31,200 Speaker 1: front door on their way out. However, it offered up 98 00:06:31,240 --> 00:06:35,440 Speaker 1: the tantalizing possibility that the killer already had a key 99 00:06:35,520 --> 00:06:39,400 Speaker 1: for the property, and added to it all was the 100 00:06:39,480 --> 00:06:42,920 Speaker 1: sinister implication that someone had been spying on the family 101 00:06:43,040 --> 00:06:46,800 Speaker 1: from the hayloft for some time before deciding to carry 102 00:06:46,800 --> 00:06:57,919 Speaker 1: out the attack. On Wednesday, June twelfth, the funeral of 103 00:06:57,960 --> 00:07:03,279 Speaker 1: Sarah and Joe Moore and their children, herman Mary, Arthur 104 00:07:03,360 --> 00:07:07,679 Speaker 1: and Paul, along with Lena and Ainah Stillinger, was held 105 00:07:07,680 --> 00:07:11,120 Speaker 1: at Veliska City Hall, with each of the eight closed 106 00:07:11,160 --> 00:07:14,680 Speaker 1: caskets arranged in a semicircle at the back in front 107 00:07:14,720 --> 00:07:19,800 Speaker 1: of a makeshift pulpit. Reverend William Ewing led the service 108 00:07:20,120 --> 00:07:23,680 Speaker 1: as women and men wept openly and loudly at the 109 00:07:23,760 --> 00:07:28,120 Speaker 1: senseless waste of human life. Seated at the front were 110 00:07:28,200 --> 00:07:32,240 Speaker 1: Joe and Sarah Moore's parents and siblings, alongside the heavily 111 00:07:32,280 --> 00:07:36,040 Speaker 1: pregnant Sarah Stillinger and her husband Joe, as well as 112 00:07:36,080 --> 00:07:39,720 Speaker 1: their seven remaining children, all of whom sat in a 113 00:07:39,800 --> 00:07:45,800 Speaker 1: shocked days. Perhaps Reverend Ewing's words brought comfort and the 114 00:07:45,840 --> 00:07:50,160 Speaker 1: conviction that, if nothing else, the victims, both young and old, 115 00:07:50,680 --> 00:07:54,080 Speaker 1: were at the very least now in heaven, basking in 116 00:07:54,120 --> 00:07:58,560 Speaker 1: the warm embrace of God's love, but in reality there 117 00:07:58,680 --> 00:08:02,240 Speaker 1: was likely no amount of faith or anything Ewing could 118 00:08:02,280 --> 00:08:05,320 Speaker 1: do or say that could possibly plug the chasm of 119 00:08:05,360 --> 00:08:08,680 Speaker 1: grief that had been ripped open inside the More and 120 00:08:08,720 --> 00:08:13,440 Speaker 1: would remain there until their own dying days. At the 121 00:08:13,560 --> 00:08:16,280 Speaker 1: end of the service, the caskets were carried out by 122 00:08:16,320 --> 00:08:19,360 Speaker 1: poor bearers in front of a crowd of roughly seven 123 00:08:19,400 --> 00:08:23,600 Speaker 1: thousand people, almost half of them journalists who'd gathered to 124 00:08:23,640 --> 00:08:28,480 Speaker 1: pay their respects, and then one by one, the coffins 125 00:08:28,520 --> 00:08:32,880 Speaker 1: were transported north to Veliska Cemetery and committed to the earth. 126 00:08:35,080 --> 00:08:38,400 Speaker 1: Back at the More property, a cleaning team stripped the 127 00:08:38,440 --> 00:08:41,760 Speaker 1: bloodstained bedding and mattresses from the beds, much of it 128 00:08:41,880 --> 00:08:45,960 Speaker 1: still dotted with pieces of skin, brain, and fragments of bone, 129 00:08:46,720 --> 00:08:49,880 Speaker 1: then carted it off to the local dump and burned 130 00:08:49,880 --> 00:08:55,080 Speaker 1: it all. A few days later, roughly fifty miles away 131 00:08:55,200 --> 00:08:58,880 Speaker 1: in Council Bluffs, a bag was left at a laundrette 132 00:08:59,240 --> 00:09:03,240 Speaker 1: with no name or identifying marks, with an instruction to 133 00:09:03,320 --> 00:09:06,240 Speaker 1: simply clean the contents and have it all placed in 134 00:09:06,240 --> 00:09:08,760 Speaker 1: a basket of laundry that was due to be sent 135 00:09:08,800 --> 00:09:12,760 Speaker 1: to a drug store in Macedonia. When the worker on 136 00:09:12,840 --> 00:09:16,200 Speaker 1: duty emptied the bag. They were surprised to find a wet, 137 00:09:16,480 --> 00:09:21,320 Speaker 1: starched white shirt inside that was completely covered in a pale, 138 00:09:21,440 --> 00:09:25,440 Speaker 1: dark red stain which looked to her professional eye like 139 00:09:25,679 --> 00:09:29,800 Speaker 1: blood that had been soaked in water. Thinking little of 140 00:09:29,840 --> 00:09:32,600 Speaker 1: it at the time, she duly cleaned the shirt and 141 00:09:32,720 --> 00:09:36,240 Speaker 1: sent it back as requested, to the drug store in Macedonia, 142 00:09:36,360 --> 00:09:40,400 Speaker 1: where it was later collected. After hearing about the killings 143 00:09:40,400 --> 00:09:44,120 Speaker 1: in Veliska, she then reported the incident to local authorities, 144 00:09:44,320 --> 00:09:47,000 Speaker 1: who managed to track down the man who picked it up. 145 00:09:48,120 --> 00:09:52,679 Speaker 1: His name was Reverend George Kelly, the same reverend who'd 146 00:09:52,679 --> 00:09:55,520 Speaker 1: been in Veliska on the night of the murders and 147 00:09:55,600 --> 00:09:59,600 Speaker 1: who talked about nothing else since his return to Macedonia 148 00:09:59,679 --> 00:10:09,840 Speaker 1: where he lived. Back in Valiska, as the initial shock 149 00:10:09,840 --> 00:10:13,040 Speaker 1: of the event began to wear off, people turned once 150 00:10:13,080 --> 00:10:17,360 Speaker 1: again to speculating about the identity of the killer. One 151 00:10:17,400 --> 00:10:21,040 Speaker 1: early name in the frame was Sam Moyer, Joe Moore's 152 00:10:21,160 --> 00:10:24,200 Speaker 1: feckless brother in law by marriage to a younger sister. 153 00:10:25,400 --> 00:10:29,000 Speaker 1: Moya offered little by way of stability or financial support, 154 00:10:29,320 --> 00:10:34,079 Speaker 1: and frequently came to blows with Joe about it. Another 155 00:10:34,120 --> 00:10:37,680 Speaker 1: early candidate was Roy van Gilder, an ex brother in 156 00:10:37,760 --> 00:10:43,080 Speaker 1: law of Sarah Moore. Like Moya, van Gilder was considered 157 00:10:43,120 --> 00:10:46,000 Speaker 1: to be a man of poor moral qualities who was 158 00:10:46,040 --> 00:10:50,560 Speaker 1: also prone to violence. A handful of itinerant workers and 159 00:10:50,640 --> 00:10:56,120 Speaker 1: traveling salesmen were also considered suspects, including one laceller who 160 00:10:56,200 --> 00:10:58,640 Speaker 1: was known to have visited the Moor house the day 161 00:10:58,640 --> 00:11:03,880 Speaker 1: before the killings. For Detective O'Leary, However, given the barbarity 162 00:11:03,960 --> 00:11:08,120 Speaker 1: of the crime, none of these possibilities seemed plausible, and 163 00:11:08,280 --> 00:11:12,440 Speaker 1: soon another theory began to emerge. As shocking as the 164 00:11:12,520 --> 00:11:15,959 Speaker 1: Viliska murders were, they were only one of a string 165 00:11:16,000 --> 00:11:19,080 Speaker 1: of violent murders involving the use of an axe that 166 00:11:19,240 --> 00:11:23,520 Speaker 1: took place in the Midwest around the same time. Back 167 00:11:23,559 --> 00:11:27,680 Speaker 1: in September nineteen eleven, six hundred miles west of Viliska 168 00:11:27,840 --> 00:11:31,880 Speaker 1: in Colorado Springs, a couple and their daughter were murdered, 169 00:11:32,080 --> 00:11:35,360 Speaker 1: along with their neighbor and her two sons. Each of 170 00:11:35,400 --> 00:11:37,679 Speaker 1: them had been smashed in the head with an axe. 171 00:11:38,520 --> 00:11:42,480 Speaker 1: Two weeks later, this time in Monmouth, Illinois, two hundred 172 00:11:42,480 --> 00:11:46,040 Speaker 1: miles east of Veliska, another couple and their daughter were 173 00:11:46,120 --> 00:11:49,640 Speaker 1: killed in a similar fashion. Found close to the scene 174 00:11:49,920 --> 00:11:55,680 Speaker 1: was a flashlight bearing the inscription Colorado Springs September fourth. 175 00:11:56,920 --> 00:12:00,880 Speaker 1: The following month, another couple and their three children were 176 00:12:00,920 --> 00:12:06,080 Speaker 1: also brutally murdered by acts in Ellsworth, Kansas, three hundred 177 00:12:06,080 --> 00:12:10,439 Speaker 1: miles away. Then on the fifth of June in nineteen twelve, 178 00:12:10,920 --> 00:12:14,560 Speaker 1: only five days before the Veliska killings, a husband and 179 00:12:14,679 --> 00:12:19,080 Speaker 1: wife were murdered in their sleep in Paola, Kansas. The 180 00:12:19,160 --> 00:12:22,319 Speaker 1: pickaxe used to kill them was left behind on their 181 00:12:22,320 --> 00:12:28,200 Speaker 1: neighbors front porch. In some cases, windows were once again 182 00:12:28,440 --> 00:12:32,600 Speaker 1: covered haphazardly with clothing, while all victims were dispatched in 183 00:12:32,720 --> 00:12:36,280 Speaker 1: much the same way, with no wounds occurring below the neck. 184 00:12:37,200 --> 00:12:39,920 Speaker 1: In at least two of the attacks, oil lamps were 185 00:12:39,920 --> 00:12:44,400 Speaker 1: found with their globes removed, just as they were in Veliska, 186 00:12:44,760 --> 00:12:48,679 Speaker 1: all of which led detective O'Leary to speculate that the 187 00:12:48,800 --> 00:12:59,360 Speaker 1: crimes were all committed by the same person. It was 188 00:12:59,480 --> 00:13:02,960 Speaker 1: roughly a week after the Vliska murders the Sheriff Jackson 189 00:13:03,360 --> 00:13:07,080 Speaker 1: was contacted by a man named Tom Dyer, a foreman 190 00:13:07,400 --> 00:13:10,200 Speaker 1: who was overseeing the building of a railroad bridge in 191 00:13:10,280 --> 00:13:15,080 Speaker 1: Creston who had a troubling story to tell. Back. Early 192 00:13:15,120 --> 00:13:17,880 Speaker 1: in the morning of Monday the tenth, the day the 193 00:13:18,000 --> 00:13:22,160 Speaker 1: more and stillinger bodies were found, Dia was approached by 194 00:13:22,200 --> 00:13:26,840 Speaker 1: an unshaven, disheveled looking man who was also soaking wet 195 00:13:26,920 --> 00:13:30,120 Speaker 1: from the knees down, as if he'd been wading through water. 196 00:13:31,559 --> 00:13:35,520 Speaker 1: The man, who introduced himself as Andy Sawyer, was looking 197 00:13:35,559 --> 00:13:39,400 Speaker 1: for work and claimed to have experience operating steam engines. 198 00:13:40,679 --> 00:13:43,839 Speaker 1: Though a little put off by his appearance, Dia was 199 00:13:43,880 --> 00:13:46,439 Speaker 1: in need of men and agreed to give him a go. 200 00:13:48,000 --> 00:13:52,840 Speaker 1: Later that afternoon, DIA's crew arrived in Greenfield, fifty miles 201 00:13:52,840 --> 00:13:56,960 Speaker 1: northeast of Vliska, to begin work constructing a bridge, where 202 00:13:56,960 --> 00:14:00,120 Speaker 1: it quickly became clear that Sawyer had never operated to 203 00:14:00,240 --> 00:14:03,280 Speaker 1: the steam engine in his life. Keen to keep him 204 00:14:03,280 --> 00:14:07,240 Speaker 1: on regardless, Da assigned him the job of chopping wood 205 00:14:07,679 --> 00:14:10,839 Speaker 1: and sharpening the large wooden stakes that were driven into 206 00:14:10,880 --> 00:14:14,760 Speaker 1: the ground to form the foundation of the bridge. Sawyer 207 00:14:15,080 --> 00:14:18,520 Speaker 1: took to the work with gusto, wielding his axe with 208 00:14:18,559 --> 00:14:21,640 Speaker 1: a speed and skill that DA had never seen before, 209 00:14:22,520 --> 00:14:25,640 Speaker 1: and he was barely seen without it. Either he was 210 00:14:25,720 --> 00:14:28,600 Speaker 1: using it to chop wood or he was busy sharpening 211 00:14:28,600 --> 00:14:32,240 Speaker 1: it some even later said he took it to bed 212 00:14:32,280 --> 00:14:35,440 Speaker 1: with him at night. But there was something else about 213 00:14:35,520 --> 00:14:39,720 Speaker 1: him too. He muttered constantly to himself under his breath 214 00:14:40,080 --> 00:14:42,920 Speaker 1: and seemed not to want to engage with anyone else, 215 00:14:43,280 --> 00:14:46,480 Speaker 1: taking his breaks alone away from the rest of the crew. 216 00:14:47,440 --> 00:14:49,760 Speaker 1: There was no other way to put it, said Da. 217 00:14:50,640 --> 00:14:54,080 Speaker 1: He just seemed kind of mad, And when the team 218 00:14:54,160 --> 00:14:58,000 Speaker 1: read about the killings of Veliska in that Monday's afternoon paper, 219 00:14:58,520 --> 00:15:02,520 Speaker 1: it seemed to trigger something Sawyer. He couldn't stop talking 220 00:15:02,560 --> 00:15:05,640 Speaker 1: about it, how he himself had been in Vliska that 221 00:15:05,800 --> 00:15:09,360 Speaker 1: night but had left to avoid suspicion, even though the 222 00:15:09,400 --> 00:15:12,520 Speaker 1: crime had yet to be uncovered. When he apparently did 223 00:15:12,560 --> 00:15:17,480 Speaker 1: so the next day when the crew passed through Veliska, 224 00:15:17,640 --> 00:15:20,960 Speaker 1: Sawyer seemed to take delight in pointing out exactly where 225 00:15:21,000 --> 00:15:24,320 Speaker 1: the crime took place, and even speculated on the route 226 00:15:24,320 --> 00:15:28,160 Speaker 1: the killer had taken when he fled the scene. And 227 00:15:28,200 --> 00:15:32,880 Speaker 1: so on Tuesday, June eighteenth, Sheriff Jackson headed down to 228 00:15:32,920 --> 00:15:35,960 Speaker 1: the Red Oak rail yard, where Dyer and his crew 229 00:15:36,000 --> 00:15:40,520 Speaker 1: were then stationed, to pay Sawyer a visit. It isn't 230 00:15:40,600 --> 00:15:43,720 Speaker 1: known exactly what was said between the two men, only 231 00:15:43,760 --> 00:15:48,480 Speaker 1: that afterwards Sawyer seemed deeply rattled. The next day, he 232 00:15:48,600 --> 00:15:51,120 Speaker 1: quit his job and asked for his pay to be 233 00:15:51,240 --> 00:15:56,160 Speaker 1: forwarded to an address in North Dakota, and then promptly disappeared. 234 00:16:03,440 --> 00:16:07,280 Speaker 1: A week later, on Monday, June twenty fourth, Reverend George 235 00:16:07,360 --> 00:16:11,080 Speaker 1: Kelly arrived back in Vliska for the first time since 236 00:16:11,120 --> 00:16:14,960 Speaker 1: the morning of the murders. In a letter written the 237 00:16:14,960 --> 00:16:18,920 Speaker 1: week before to Reverend Ewing, Kelly claimed to have experience 238 00:16:18,960 --> 00:16:22,360 Speaker 1: in the art of criminology, having apparently studied it for 239 00:16:22,440 --> 00:16:25,200 Speaker 1: a number of years in England before he decided to 240 00:16:25,280 --> 00:16:29,640 Speaker 1: join the church. Ewing had been kind enough to arrange 241 00:16:29,640 --> 00:16:32,240 Speaker 1: it for Kelly to take a look inside the moor 242 00:16:32,280 --> 00:16:34,600 Speaker 1: House to see if he might be able to lend 243 00:16:34,640 --> 00:16:39,480 Speaker 1: a hand in cracking the case. That afternoon, Ewing escorted 244 00:16:39,560 --> 00:16:42,600 Speaker 1: Kelly to the property, where he proceeded to examine the 245 00:16:42,680 --> 00:16:47,080 Speaker 1: various rooms, often stopping still for prolonged periods of time, 246 00:16:47,720 --> 00:16:52,000 Speaker 1: claiming to be experiencing strange sensations as if a higher 247 00:16:52,000 --> 00:16:56,600 Speaker 1: power were trying to communicate with him. After taking down 248 00:16:56,640 --> 00:17:01,680 Speaker 1: a number of notes, he then returned to Macedonia in 249 00:17:01,800 --> 00:17:06,679 Speaker 1: July with Detective O'Leary making little progress, the state stepped 250 00:17:06,680 --> 00:17:10,800 Speaker 1: into help, with State Governor Beryl Carroll announcing a five 251 00:17:10,920 --> 00:17:14,280 Speaker 1: hundred dollar reward for any information leading to the arrest 252 00:17:14,359 --> 00:17:17,840 Speaker 1: of the culprit, while also granting permission to the Iowa 253 00:17:17,960 --> 00:17:23,520 Speaker 1: Attorney General, George Cosson to hire another detective. C. W. 254 00:17:23,800 --> 00:17:27,199 Speaker 1: Toby was promptly assigned from the Kansas office of the 255 00:17:27,240 --> 00:17:32,320 Speaker 1: William Burns Detective Agency. The agency was established in nineteen 256 00:17:32,320 --> 00:17:36,480 Speaker 1: o nine by William J. Burns, who'd achieved notoriety for 257 00:17:36,560 --> 00:17:40,800 Speaker 1: his work investigating the Los Angeles Times bombing of nineteen ten, 258 00:17:41,400 --> 00:17:44,760 Speaker 1: one of the largest domestic terror campaigns in American history, 259 00:17:45,359 --> 00:17:48,160 Speaker 1: and was considered one of the very best the country 260 00:17:48,200 --> 00:17:53,280 Speaker 1: had to offer. A few weeks later, detective Toby, along 261 00:17:53,320 --> 00:17:57,359 Speaker 1: with Detective O'Leary and a number of other law enforcement officials, 262 00:17:57,840 --> 00:18:03,560 Speaker 1: received letters from Reverend Kelly. In them, Kelly, now referring 263 00:18:03,600 --> 00:18:07,159 Speaker 1: to himself as a detective, having by then digested his 264 00:18:07,240 --> 00:18:10,439 Speaker 1: findings from the crime scene, shared his belief that a 265 00:18:10,520 --> 00:18:13,639 Speaker 1: member of the Moore family was most likely responsible for 266 00:18:13,680 --> 00:18:17,119 Speaker 1: the murders. He also claimed to have found an empty 267 00:18:17,200 --> 00:18:20,000 Speaker 1: vial in one of the bedrooms, which he believed was 268 00:18:20,040 --> 00:18:23,440 Speaker 1: evidence that the family had been drugged before they were murdered. 269 00:18:24,680 --> 00:18:28,800 Speaker 1: Perhaps more revealingly, however, Kelly also claimed to have possibly 270 00:18:28,880 --> 00:18:32,199 Speaker 1: seen the killer at the train station shortly before he 271 00:18:32,280 --> 00:18:36,080 Speaker 1: boarded the fifteen nineteen train back to Macedonia on the 272 00:18:36,160 --> 00:18:40,000 Speaker 1: morning of the attacks. Kelly had apparently spoken to the 273 00:18:40,080 --> 00:18:44,160 Speaker 1: suspicious looking man, who he said may also have boarded 274 00:18:44,160 --> 00:18:48,280 Speaker 1: the same train as Kelly went on to explain, being 275 00:18:48,320 --> 00:18:51,679 Speaker 1: a light sleeper, he'd found himself going out for walks 276 00:18:51,720 --> 00:18:55,160 Speaker 1: at night during his stay in Veliska and had apparently 277 00:18:55,280 --> 00:18:58,919 Speaker 1: seen this same man aimlessly walking the streets in the 278 00:18:58,960 --> 00:19:03,240 Speaker 1: early hours of Fay and Saturday morning. After speaking to 279 00:19:03,320 --> 00:19:07,800 Speaker 1: some acquaintances back in Vliska, Kelly had apparently also ascertained 280 00:19:08,080 --> 00:19:11,399 Speaker 1: that this mystery man had been asking around about the 281 00:19:11,440 --> 00:19:15,440 Speaker 1: Presbyterian church where the Moors and Stillinger girls attended the 282 00:19:15,520 --> 00:19:20,280 Speaker 1: children's exercises the night before they died. Kelly also claimed 283 00:19:20,440 --> 00:19:22,800 Speaker 1: that he might have even seen the man at that 284 00:19:22,920 --> 00:19:28,160 Speaker 1: very service. The man, he concluded, had also been staying 285 00:19:28,200 --> 00:19:31,520 Speaker 1: by the river and was seen running toward it sometime 286 00:19:31,600 --> 00:19:35,280 Speaker 1: around one and two am on Sunday morning, a little 287 00:19:35,320 --> 00:19:38,520 Speaker 1: after the time that the Moors and Stillinger Girls were 288 00:19:38,560 --> 00:19:45,960 Speaker 1: thought to have been killed. This podcast is sponsored by 289 00:19:45,960 --> 00:19:49,199 Speaker 1: better Help. Is there something interfering with your happiness or 290 00:19:49,200 --> 00:19:52,359 Speaker 1: preventing you from achieving your goals? Better help will assess 291 00:19:52,440 --> 00:19:54,560 Speaker 1: your needs and match you with your own license to 292 00:19:54,600 --> 00:19:58,320 Speaker 1: professional therapist. 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Dot Com forward slash unexplained one zero. 310 00:21:00,560 --> 00:21:03,720 Speaker 1: Though Detective O'Leary was keen to hear more from Kelly, 311 00:21:04,160 --> 00:21:08,240 Speaker 1: Detective Toby, who by then considered the missing Andy Sawyer 312 00:21:08,359 --> 00:21:11,359 Speaker 1: as the prime suspect, was adamant he was not to 313 00:21:11,400 --> 00:21:16,960 Speaker 1: be engaged in any professional capacity whatsoever. On July eleventh, 314 00:21:17,359 --> 00:21:21,440 Speaker 1: Toby filed his first report for the Attorney General, explaining 315 00:21:21,440 --> 00:21:25,080 Speaker 1: what he believed had taken place, basing his interpretation on 316 00:21:25,160 --> 00:21:29,199 Speaker 1: a coroner, doctor Linquist's disturbing analysis of the crime scene. 317 00:21:30,280 --> 00:21:33,160 Speaker 1: The killer, he said, had not acted out of spite, 318 00:21:33,520 --> 00:21:38,119 Speaker 1: but out of an excessive sexual impulse. After killing Lina, 319 00:21:38,440 --> 00:21:41,640 Speaker 1: they'd removed her underwear and kept it tied around their 320 00:21:41,680 --> 00:21:45,600 Speaker 1: neck as they continued killing, and when they'd finished, had 321 00:21:45,600 --> 00:21:50,000 Speaker 1: stayed behind to revel in their crime, arranging Lina's body, 322 00:21:50,359 --> 00:21:54,760 Speaker 1: which had likely been molested to specifically in order to 323 00:21:54,840 --> 00:22:00,080 Speaker 1: pleasure themselves. Though it wasn't mentioned in Toby's report, there 324 00:22:00,119 --> 00:22:03,320 Speaker 1: as the implication that the raw slab of bacon had 325 00:22:03,359 --> 00:22:09,120 Speaker 1: been used for this purpose. In early September, another family 326 00:22:09,520 --> 00:22:13,920 Speaker 1: this time, in Quincy, Illinois, were found brutally murdered, their 327 00:22:13,960 --> 00:22:18,240 Speaker 1: heads chopped and crushed with an axe. The prime suspect 328 00:22:18,280 --> 00:22:23,440 Speaker 1: this time was the sun Ray Van Schmidt. Spotting obvious 329 00:22:23,440 --> 00:22:27,399 Speaker 1: similarities with the Veliska case, O'Leary and Toby traveled to 330 00:22:27,480 --> 00:22:31,720 Speaker 1: Quincy to investigate, with O'Leary concluding that fan Schmidt was 331 00:22:31,800 --> 00:22:35,960 Speaker 1: indeed the culprit, while Toby stuck to his conviction that 332 00:22:36,080 --> 00:22:40,760 Speaker 1: an as yet unknown roving murderer was to blame. In 333 00:22:40,840 --> 00:22:45,159 Speaker 1: the end, the evidence was overwhelming and fan Schmidt was 334 00:22:45,200 --> 00:22:50,720 Speaker 1: convicted of the crimes either way. With roughly thirty people 335 00:22:51,040 --> 00:22:53,919 Speaker 1: having now been killed in a similar manner throughout the 336 00:22:53,920 --> 00:22:57,240 Speaker 1: Midwest in just over a year, there was good reason 337 00:22:57,400 --> 00:23:01,840 Speaker 1: to suspect that at least some were connected. One morning 338 00:23:01,880 --> 00:23:05,680 Speaker 1: in late summer nineteen twelve, a letter sent to Marshall 339 00:23:05,760 --> 00:23:10,920 Speaker 1: Houghton from a Chicago police detective suggested Glasko Nchev as 340 00:23:10,920 --> 00:23:15,480 Speaker 1: a possible suspect. In January nineteen ten, a woman was 341 00:23:15,560 --> 00:23:20,320 Speaker 1: found decapitated in the street in Chicago, and Enchev, originally 342 00:23:20,359 --> 00:23:25,000 Speaker 1: from Bulgaria, had confessed to the crime. Enchev was arrested, 343 00:23:25,200 --> 00:23:29,080 Speaker 1: but then promptly committed to a psychiatric facility, from which 344 00:23:29,280 --> 00:23:33,520 Speaker 1: he then escaped. When it was speculated that the mirrors 345 00:23:33,560 --> 00:23:36,359 Speaker 1: in the moor house had been covered up due to 346 00:23:36,359 --> 00:23:41,679 Speaker 1: an Eastern European superstition, the Bulgarian Nchev suddenly appeared to 347 00:23:41,720 --> 00:23:46,240 Speaker 1: fit the profile. The man, however, was never found and 348 00:23:46,359 --> 00:23:57,520 Speaker 1: before long was forgotten about completely. One night in July, 349 00:23:58,119 --> 00:24:02,200 Speaker 1: Vliska night watchman Might Keirns was called to a disturbance 350 00:24:02,320 --> 00:24:06,000 Speaker 1: taking place at the Vliska Hotel. A man had begun 351 00:24:06,119 --> 00:24:11,320 Speaker 1: vividly and enthusiastically regaling guests with his interpretation of how 352 00:24:11,320 --> 00:24:15,119 Speaker 1: the murders must have occurred, garishly re enacting the axe 353 00:24:15,119 --> 00:24:18,520 Speaker 1: swings and cries of the victims with the perverse relish. 354 00:24:18,840 --> 00:24:22,879 Speaker 1: As the horrified guests watched on, with some brought to 355 00:24:22,920 --> 00:24:27,200 Speaker 1: tears by the strange man's unpalatable display, Cairns was forced 356 00:24:27,200 --> 00:24:30,399 Speaker 1: to step in to calm things down, surprised to find 357 00:24:30,440 --> 00:24:35,199 Speaker 1: that the man was none other than Presbyterian minister George Kelly. 358 00:24:36,920 --> 00:24:40,080 Speaker 1: Some months later in the autumn, Kelly and his wife 359 00:24:40,200 --> 00:24:42,960 Speaker 1: moved to the city of Carroll in Iowa, where he 360 00:24:43,000 --> 00:24:47,000 Speaker 1: continued to talk openly about his fascination with the veliska case. 361 00:24:47,680 --> 00:24:50,000 Speaker 1: He even once told a man that he had been 362 00:24:50,040 --> 00:24:53,560 Speaker 1: accused of committing the crime himself, because it was found 363 00:24:53,600 --> 00:24:56,400 Speaker 1: that he hadn't used his bed the night had occurred, 364 00:24:56,640 --> 00:24:59,199 Speaker 1: and had arrived at the station the next morning a 365 00:24:59,240 --> 00:25:02,520 Speaker 1: full hour before his train was due to leave, a 366 00:25:02,560 --> 00:25:06,879 Speaker 1: fact that was later verified by witnesses. Kelly had also 367 00:25:07,000 --> 00:25:11,320 Speaker 1: become suspicious of anyone he didn't recognize, questioning them to 368 00:25:11,359 --> 00:25:14,399 Speaker 1: see if they were detectives looking for him, and even 369 00:25:14,440 --> 00:25:17,520 Speaker 1: once asked a physician what a rational man would have 370 00:25:17,640 --> 00:25:21,840 Speaker 1: to do in order to appear insane. When he was 371 00:25:21,880 --> 00:25:26,399 Speaker 1: eventually contacted and questioned about the apparent bloodstains found on 372 00:25:26,440 --> 00:25:29,320 Speaker 1: his shirt, he said first that it was from a 373 00:25:29,320 --> 00:25:33,080 Speaker 1: hair tonic of his, then later that it was simply 374 00:25:33,160 --> 00:25:39,199 Speaker 1: catch up. Meanwhile, a third detective named W. S. Gordon 375 00:25:39,720 --> 00:25:43,160 Speaker 1: was assigned to the case by the Burns Agency. He 376 00:25:43,200 --> 00:25:47,720 Speaker 1: too quickly pinpointed Andy Sawyer as a leading suspect, only 377 00:25:47,760 --> 00:25:51,320 Speaker 1: to find, much to his frustration, that nobody seemed to 378 00:25:51,359 --> 00:25:56,080 Speaker 1: know where he was. Making it his mission to find him. Gordon, 379 00:25:56,440 --> 00:26:01,080 Speaker 1: along with Montgomery County Attorney William Ratcliffe, eventually tracked the 380 00:26:01,119 --> 00:26:04,119 Speaker 1: man down to North Dakota, where he lived on a 381 00:26:04,160 --> 00:26:08,520 Speaker 1: homestead with his wife and children. Sawyer denied flat out 382 00:26:08,640 --> 00:26:11,720 Speaker 1: that he'd committed the crime, claiming that he'd boarded a 383 00:26:11,720 --> 00:26:15,840 Speaker 1: train at ten twenty two pm that night from Osceola 384 00:26:16,000 --> 00:26:19,480 Speaker 1: and arrived in the city of Creston sometime between three 385 00:26:19,520 --> 00:26:22,879 Speaker 1: to four am the next morning, a period of time 386 00:26:23,119 --> 00:26:27,520 Speaker 1: that would span the entirety of the crime. His alibi 387 00:26:27,840 --> 00:26:38,960 Speaker 1: checked out, Andy Sawyer was not their man. At the 388 00:26:39,119 --> 00:26:44,240 Speaker 1: end of nineteen twelve, Attorney General Cosson assigned Assistant General 389 00:26:44,280 --> 00:26:48,080 Speaker 1: Attorney Henry Sampson to take over the investigation from the 390 00:26:48,119 --> 00:26:52,399 Speaker 1: state perspective. Soon after, he received a letter from a 391 00:26:52,480 --> 00:26:56,280 Speaker 1: private detective unrelated to the case, who had some interesting 392 00:26:56,320 --> 00:27:00,520 Speaker 1: things to say about Reverend George Kelly. The man, it 393 00:27:00,680 --> 00:27:06,000 Speaker 1: was claimed, was a window peeker who harbored unusual sexual proclivities. 394 00:27:06,720 --> 00:27:10,840 Speaker 1: He was slippery too, often borrowing money but neglecting to 395 00:27:10,880 --> 00:27:14,040 Speaker 1: pay it back, and continued to talk often about the 396 00:27:14,119 --> 00:27:19,120 Speaker 1: Veliska killings. Deciding Kelly should be questioned at once, Sampson 397 00:27:19,400 --> 00:27:23,639 Speaker 1: sent the Assistant State Fire Marshal Ja Tracy to speak 398 00:27:23,640 --> 00:27:26,679 Speaker 1: with him in Omaha, Nebraska, where he was then living. 399 00:27:27,760 --> 00:27:31,320 Speaker 1: There Kelly repeated his story about the strange man he 400 00:27:31,359 --> 00:27:35,040 Speaker 1: apparently saw at the train depot. Only by now this 401 00:27:35,119 --> 00:27:40,480 Speaker 1: mysterious figure had become a dark complexioned man. Tracy was 402 00:27:40,520 --> 00:27:44,400 Speaker 1: convinced that Kelly was hiding something and suggested to Sampson 403 00:27:44,520 --> 00:27:48,080 Speaker 1: that they keep an eye on him back in Veliska. However, 404 00:27:48,320 --> 00:27:51,639 Speaker 1: Sheriff Jackson was of the opinion that the then thirty 405 00:27:51,640 --> 00:27:54,600 Speaker 1: five year old Kelly was little more than a harmless 406 00:27:54,640 --> 00:27:59,480 Speaker 1: eccentric with no history of causing harm to anyone. With 407 00:27:59,560 --> 00:28:02,639 Speaker 1: Andy Sawyer now out of the picture, however, they were 408 00:28:02,680 --> 00:28:08,080 Speaker 1: struggling to identify any other likely culprits. Things only got 409 00:28:08,119 --> 00:28:11,800 Speaker 1: worse when Detective O'Leary, having come round to the mass 410 00:28:11,880 --> 00:28:15,920 Speaker 1: murderer theory, began looking closer into the other recent acts 411 00:28:16,040 --> 00:28:19,800 Speaker 1: murders that had occurred in the region. Though all were 412 00:28:19,840 --> 00:28:23,879 Speaker 1: superficially similar to the Viliska killings, it soon became clear 413 00:28:24,040 --> 00:28:26,880 Speaker 1: that most were not connected in any way at all, 414 00:28:28,119 --> 00:28:31,720 Speaker 1: and as time went on, the town's fear and fascination 415 00:28:31,800 --> 00:28:35,920 Speaker 1: with the case morphed inevitably to anger at the authority's 416 00:28:35,960 --> 00:28:40,560 Speaker 1: inability to catch the killer. The town, and most of all, 417 00:28:40,600 --> 00:28:45,040 Speaker 1: the stillinger and more families were restless for answers, and 418 00:28:45,160 --> 00:28:49,080 Speaker 1: as one possible suspect after another was scratched off the list, 419 00:28:49,480 --> 00:28:52,680 Speaker 1: it was only natural that the local community would be 420 00:28:52,760 --> 00:28:58,560 Speaker 1: drawn to the names that were left. In April nineteen thirteen, 421 00:28:59,040 --> 00:29:03,440 Speaker 1: at all broad shouldered Texan arrived in Veliska, claiming that 422 00:29:03,520 --> 00:29:06,120 Speaker 1: he was there on behalf of some investors who were 423 00:29:06,160 --> 00:29:10,520 Speaker 1: looking to purchase farmland in the county. In truth, forty 424 00:29:10,560 --> 00:29:15,200 Speaker 1: eight year old James Newton Wilkerson was another private investigator 425 00:29:15,360 --> 00:29:18,920 Speaker 1: from the William Burns Agency who liked to covertly bed 426 00:29:19,000 --> 00:29:21,680 Speaker 1: himself in with the locals to get a sense of 427 00:29:21,720 --> 00:29:23,920 Speaker 1: what the person on the street had to say about 428 00:29:23,960 --> 00:29:27,880 Speaker 1: it all, and one name in particular seemed to crop 429 00:29:28,000 --> 00:29:32,400 Speaker 1: up more than any other local businessman, and as of 430 00:29:32,480 --> 00:29:38,960 Speaker 1: October nineteen twelve, recently elected Iowa State Senator Frank Jones. 431 00:29:46,320 --> 00:29:50,320 Speaker 1: The then fifty seven year old Frank Fernando Jones was 432 00:29:50,360 --> 00:29:53,880 Speaker 1: originally from Steuben County in New York, but moved to 433 00:29:53,920 --> 00:29:57,560 Speaker 1: Veliska in eighteen seventy five along with his parents and 434 00:29:57,640 --> 00:30:01,080 Speaker 1: brother when they purchased a small plo to farmland just 435 00:30:01,160 --> 00:30:05,440 Speaker 1: outside the town. Jones began his working life as a 436 00:30:05,480 --> 00:30:09,680 Speaker 1: farmer and teacher, before eventually becoming a full time bookkeeper 437 00:30:09,880 --> 00:30:14,280 Speaker 1: for the Baines and Waterman Farming implement store in Veliska. 438 00:30:14,320 --> 00:30:17,920 Speaker 1: After working his way up in eighteen ninety two, Jones 439 00:30:18,080 --> 00:30:21,800 Speaker 1: then bought his own store, quickly establishing himself as one 440 00:30:21,800 --> 00:30:25,080 Speaker 1: of the leading implement sellers in the county, before entering 441 00:30:25,120 --> 00:30:28,080 Speaker 1: the banking trade two years later as a partner in 442 00:30:28,120 --> 00:30:32,840 Speaker 1: the Citizens Bank of Vliska. In nineteen oh one, with 443 00:30:32,960 --> 00:30:37,160 Speaker 1: Jones having sold his implement store, Joe Moore was installed 444 00:30:37,200 --> 00:30:40,640 Speaker 1: as its new manager. When Jones then brought the store 445 00:30:40,680 --> 00:30:45,360 Speaker 1: back soon after, he decided to keep Joe on. A 446 00:30:45,360 --> 00:30:48,960 Speaker 1: few years later, however, Joe left the store to open 447 00:30:49,080 --> 00:30:52,360 Speaker 1: up his own right across the street from Frank's, in 448 00:30:52,480 --> 00:30:57,760 Speaker 1: direct competition with him. This, some believed was one reason 449 00:30:57,800 --> 00:31:01,800 Speaker 1: to suspect that Jones had it in him. Another more 450 00:31:01,880 --> 00:31:05,880 Speaker 1: scourless rumor, however, was that Joe was having an affair 451 00:31:05,960 --> 00:31:09,720 Speaker 1: with Frank's daughter in law, Donna Jones, who was married 452 00:31:09,720 --> 00:31:12,960 Speaker 1: to his son Albert, who also happened to be the 453 00:31:13,040 --> 00:31:17,920 Speaker 1: More's neighbors. This affair was further complicated by the fact 454 00:31:17,920 --> 00:31:22,320 Speaker 1: that Frank was rumored to also be in love with Donna. 455 00:31:22,560 --> 00:31:26,200 Speaker 1: The rumors were given some credibility when it emerged that 456 00:31:26,280 --> 00:31:29,760 Speaker 1: Joe Moore was seen having what some said was an 457 00:31:29,760 --> 00:31:33,800 Speaker 1: intense conversation with Frank's son Albert the night before his 458 00:31:34,040 --> 00:31:38,120 Speaker 1: entire family were butchered. There was no way of knowing 459 00:31:38,200 --> 00:31:41,760 Speaker 1: for sure what was and wasn't true, but one thing 460 00:31:41,880 --> 00:31:46,880 Speaker 1: was for certain. Texan detective James Wilkinson was very keen 461 00:31:47,240 --> 00:31:57,840 Speaker 1: to find out. In the autumn of nineteen thirteen, having 462 00:31:57,840 --> 00:32:01,440 Speaker 1: been forced to drop out of the Omaha Presbyterian Seminary 463 00:32:01,720 --> 00:32:05,040 Speaker 1: due to his debts, Reverend George Kelly and his wife 464 00:32:05,120 --> 00:32:08,680 Speaker 1: Laura moved to Winner in South Dakota, where he took 465 00:32:08,760 --> 00:32:12,240 Speaker 1: up a job as a Methodist preacher. Instead, he also 466 00:32:12,320 --> 00:32:16,400 Speaker 1: worked a second job as a typist for hire. In 467 00:32:16,480 --> 00:32:20,440 Speaker 1: December nineteen thirteen, he placed an advert in the Omaha 468 00:32:20,600 --> 00:32:25,400 Speaker 1: World Herald newspaper appealing for a stenographic typist to help 469 00:32:25,480 --> 00:32:29,560 Speaker 1: him with a novel he was apparently writing. The applicant 470 00:32:29,800 --> 00:32:33,280 Speaker 1: would have to be female, interested in literature and the 471 00:32:33,400 --> 00:32:37,520 Speaker 1: fine arts, and would also have to be comfortable posing 472 00:32:37,560 --> 00:32:40,080 Speaker 1: as a model for all the pictures he planned to 473 00:32:40,120 --> 00:32:43,880 Speaker 1: put in the book. A short time later, he received 474 00:32:43,920 --> 00:32:50,360 Speaker 1: a reply from one Jessamine Hodgson Kelly, referring to himself 475 00:32:50,400 --> 00:32:53,640 Speaker 1: by his first name. Lynn then wrote back to Hodgson, 476 00:32:53,920 --> 00:32:56,840 Speaker 1: thanking her for the response, but wanted to know a 477 00:32:56,840 --> 00:33:00,600 Speaker 1: few more things before they went any further. That she 478 00:33:00,720 --> 00:33:04,040 Speaker 1: was single and free to go wherever she pleased without 479 00:33:04,120 --> 00:33:08,440 Speaker 1: people inquiring of her, while also stressing that with regards 480 00:33:08,480 --> 00:33:11,240 Speaker 1: to the posing, she would have to be willing to 481 00:33:11,280 --> 00:33:15,480 Speaker 1: pose exactly as he wished. He finished by asking her 482 00:33:15,800 --> 00:33:19,120 Speaker 1: what she thought of the naked human form and whether 483 00:33:19,160 --> 00:33:23,000 Speaker 1: she objected to studies of nudes, saying that she shouldn't 484 00:33:23,440 --> 00:33:29,120 Speaker 1: because art is beautiful and God made us. So. Disturbed 485 00:33:29,120 --> 00:33:32,720 Speaker 1: by his response, Hodgson passed the letters on to her pastor, 486 00:33:33,280 --> 00:33:37,640 Speaker 1: who in turn forwarded them on to authorities in Council Bluffs. 487 00:33:39,280 --> 00:33:42,840 Speaker 1: The authorities duly wrote back to Kelly, pretending to be 488 00:33:42,960 --> 00:33:47,000 Speaker 1: Jessamine Hodgson, and were deeply alarmed at what he replied, 489 00:33:47,760 --> 00:33:51,360 Speaker 1: with one letter reading, I am a favorite with everyone, 490 00:33:51,840 --> 00:33:55,760 Speaker 1: especially with the girls. They like me, they trust me, 491 00:33:56,360 --> 00:34:00,480 Speaker 1: and I have never wronged one yet. Please jessimin, I 492 00:34:00,640 --> 00:34:03,800 Speaker 1: faithfully promise you I shall never utter a word about 493 00:34:03,800 --> 00:34:08,280 Speaker 1: your correspondence or your relations with me. Our relations together 494 00:34:08,440 --> 00:34:11,360 Speaker 1: of work and pleasure shall be kept a secret with 495 00:34:11,440 --> 00:34:15,440 Speaker 1: me forever. I want you to be faithful to me. Jessamine, 496 00:34:15,880 --> 00:34:19,160 Speaker 1: never breathe one word of what we do together alone 497 00:34:20,560 --> 00:34:25,280 Speaker 1: another read now, I am only human. I must not boast. 498 00:34:25,960 --> 00:34:30,160 Speaker 1: Sometime I may do wrong. I may yield to temptation sometime. 499 00:34:30,600 --> 00:34:33,440 Speaker 1: Who can ever tell? None of us know what we 500 00:34:33,520 --> 00:34:35,879 Speaker 1: will do. I will be as good to you as 501 00:34:35,920 --> 00:34:38,279 Speaker 1: I can. But we may fall in love with one 502 00:34:38,280 --> 00:34:41,640 Speaker 1: another if we work long enough. I am sure you 503 00:34:41,640 --> 00:34:45,480 Speaker 1: will keep whatever is done between us always a strict secret. 504 00:34:46,239 --> 00:34:59,160 Speaker 1: I will affectionately lynn. On the thirtieth of January nineteen fourteen, 505 00:34:59,600 --> 00:35:02,560 Speaker 1: a man and walked into Reverend Kelly's office in winter 506 00:35:02,880 --> 00:35:07,600 Speaker 1: and introduced himself as a Deputy United States Marshal. Kelly 507 00:35:07,640 --> 00:35:10,560 Speaker 1: slouched at his desk, telling the man he knew they 508 00:35:10,560 --> 00:35:14,160 Speaker 1: were coming for him about the Veliska murders, but the 509 00:35:14,239 --> 00:35:18,239 Speaker 1: deputy looked confused he was in fact there because of 510 00:35:18,280 --> 00:35:23,440 Speaker 1: the letters. As it transpired, Kelly had successfully convinced a 511 00:35:23,560 --> 00:35:26,879 Speaker 1: number of young women to unwittingly pose nude for him. 512 00:35:28,080 --> 00:35:32,480 Speaker 1: After being arrested, he was found guilty of perpetrating immoral acts, 513 00:35:32,920 --> 00:35:35,680 Speaker 1: with the judge describing some of what he'd written in 514 00:35:35,719 --> 00:35:40,680 Speaker 1: his letters to obscene, lewd, lascivious, and filthy to be 515 00:35:40,760 --> 00:35:44,800 Speaker 1: spread upon the record. At his indictment, Kelly was sentenced 516 00:35:44,840 --> 00:35:47,520 Speaker 1: to a year in jail and placed in prison in 517 00:35:47,719 --> 00:35:52,120 Speaker 1: Sue Falls, where he frequently acted out violently toward guards 518 00:35:52,520 --> 00:35:55,360 Speaker 1: and was accused of trying to engage other prisoners in 519 00:35:55,480 --> 00:36:00,560 Speaker 1: sexual acts. A few months into his incarceration, gan telling 520 00:36:00,600 --> 00:36:05,319 Speaker 1: officers that he'd committed the murders in Viliska. After being 521 00:36:05,400 --> 00:36:09,640 Speaker 1: judged potentially insane, he was taken to a psychiatric facility 522 00:36:09,680 --> 00:36:12,919 Speaker 1: in Washington, d C. For a number of months, where 523 00:36:12,920 --> 00:36:16,120 Speaker 1: he was said to be a highly troublesome patient, again 524 00:36:16,480 --> 00:36:20,440 Speaker 1: frequently flying into violent fits, and who was often observed 525 00:36:20,719 --> 00:36:24,640 Speaker 1: concealing portions of meat then dropping them in random places 526 00:36:24,800 --> 00:36:29,359 Speaker 1: without any apparent interest in eating them. After a few 527 00:36:29,360 --> 00:36:32,520 Speaker 1: months in DC, he was returned to Sioux Fall's prison, 528 00:36:33,000 --> 00:36:36,200 Speaker 1: but was never sentenced for his original guilty plea, and 529 00:36:36,400 --> 00:36:39,760 Speaker 1: was released a few months after that before eventually moving 530 00:36:39,800 --> 00:36:45,359 Speaker 1: once more to Sutton, Nebraska. It was sometime later in 531 00:36:45,480 --> 00:36:49,440 Speaker 1: May nineteen fourteen that a woman walked into the Attorney 532 00:36:49,480 --> 00:36:53,800 Speaker 1: General's office in Des Moines, Iowa's capital, asking to speak 533 00:36:53,840 --> 00:36:57,440 Speaker 1: to Assistant Attorney Harry Sampson, who she'd heard was now 534 00:36:57,520 --> 00:37:01,960 Speaker 1: spearheading the Viliska case. The woman had come on behalf 535 00:37:02,000 --> 00:37:05,279 Speaker 1: of some one called Veena Tompkins, who'd come to her 536 00:37:05,320 --> 00:37:08,400 Speaker 1: and her husband begging for shelter from a group of 537 00:37:08,480 --> 00:37:14,520 Speaker 1: violent criminals, which included her husband and brother among them. Tompkins, 538 00:37:14,800 --> 00:37:17,719 Speaker 1: who had two sons and was keen to escape her 539 00:37:17,760 --> 00:37:21,680 Speaker 1: treacherous life, claimed to be in possession of a big secret, 540 00:37:22,520 --> 00:37:26,200 Speaker 1: the true identity of the More family and the Stillinger 541 00:37:26,239 --> 00:37:31,960 Speaker 1: Girl's murderer. For Texan Detective James Wilkinson, it was a 542 00:37:32,000 --> 00:37:35,520 Speaker 1: story as long as it was convincing, and all of 543 00:37:35,560 --> 00:37:46,480 Speaker 1: it led inexorably back to Iowan's Senator Frank Jones. You've 544 00:37:46,520 --> 00:37:51,120 Speaker 1: been listening to Unexplained Season six, episode twelve, A Darkness 545 00:37:51,160 --> 00:37:54,920 Speaker 1: on the Edge of Town. Part two. The third and 546 00:37:55,000 --> 00:38:02,000 Speaker 1: final part, will be released next Friday, April fifteenth. If 547 00:38:02,000 --> 00:38:04,440 Speaker 1: you enjoy Unexplained and would like to help support us, 548 00:38:04,680 --> 00:38:07,920 Speaker 1: you can now do so via Patreon. To receive access 549 00:38:07,920 --> 00:38:11,160 Speaker 1: to add free episodes, just go to patron dot com 550 00:38:11,280 --> 00:38:15,160 Speaker 1: Forward Slash Unexplained Pod to sign up. Unexplained, the book 551 00:38:15,200 --> 00:38:18,719 Speaker 1: and audiobook, featuring ten stories that have never before been 552 00:38:18,760 --> 00:38:22,160 Speaker 1: covered on the show, is now available to buy worldwide. 553 00:38:22,480 --> 00:38:25,879 Speaker 1: You can purchase through Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Waterstones, 554 00:38:26,000 --> 00:38:30,600 Speaker 1: among other bookstores. All elements of Unexplained, including the show's music, 555 00:38:30,719 --> 00:38:34,239 Speaker 1: are produced by me Richard McClain smith. Please subscribe and 556 00:38:34,360 --> 00:38:37,200 Speaker 1: rate the show wherever you listen to podcasts, and feel 557 00:38:37,239 --> 00:38:39,640 Speaker 1: free to get in touch with any thoughts or ideas 558 00:38:39,640 --> 00:38:42,640 Speaker 1: regarding the stories you've heard on the show. Perhaps you 559 00:38:42,680 --> 00:38:44,760 Speaker 1: have an explanation of your own you'd like to share. 560 00:38:45,200 --> 00:38:48,719 Speaker 1: You can reach us online at Unexplained podcast dot com 561 00:38:48,880 --> 00:38:53,760 Speaker 1: or Twitter at Unexplained Pod and Facebook at Facebook dot com, 562 00:38:54,040 --> 00:39:00,800 Speaker 1: Forward Slash Unexplained Podcast