Villisca Axe Murders case linking The Burnham And Wayne Family Massacres

wiki wrote:
Nine months before the murders at Villisca, another similar case of ax murder occurred in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Two additional ax murder cases followed in Ellsworth, Kansas, and Paola, Kansas. All cases were similar enough that the possibility that all were committed by the same person was impossible to dismiss. Other murders mentioned as being "linked" to these crimes include the numerous unsolved ax murders along the Southern Pacific Railroad from 1911-1912, the unsolved Axeman of New Orleans killings, as well as several other ax murders during this time period.

According to the "Villisca Axe Murders House" website, the murders that took place in Colorado Springs, Colorado, were mysteriously closely related to the murders that took place in Villisca. Only nine months before the Villisca murders took place, H.C. Wayne, his wife and child and Mrs. A.J. Burnham were also found dead, murdered by axes. The Colorado Springs Police found it difficult to believe that the same person could do the same crime, just in different cities. Like the Villisca murders, bed sheets were used to cover the windows to prevent passerby's from looking in, only in the Villisca case, aprons and strung skirts were used. And similar to how the murderer in Villisca wiped the blood off his axe and covered the heads of the victims with bed cloth, the same situation was found in Colorado

top 10 list wrote:
Around 2:00 in the afternoon on September 20, 1911, in Colorado Springs, the bodies of Alice May Burnham, her six-year-old daughter, and her three-year-old son were found dead in their beds. Alice’s sister, who discovered the bodies, ran to the road, attracting the attention of all the neighbors except for the Wayne family, who lived next door. When people went to check on them, they too were found dead in their beds. The young Wayne family consisted of 30-year-old Henry, 25-year-old Blanche, and their one-year-old baby.

Sometime in the night, the killer had climbed in through one of the windows, knocking over a bottle of ink. He then grabbed an axe, leaving a handprint on the handle from the ink. One by one, he beat the victims to death with the blunt side of the axe. He then neatly made the beds, tucking the still-warm corpses into their bedsheets, and left, leaving the axe in the house.

When the murders were discovered, A.J. Burnham, who was Alice’s husband, was arrested but not charged with the crime. Using the handprint left on the axe, cold-case researchers are still looking into the crime. One investigator believes that the murders were committed by a serial killer who rode the rails and claimed the lives of 25 people across the Northwest.

Inspector Rex wrote:I believe a family member was responsible for Villisca murders.

Inspector Rex wrote:Newspapers.

Inspector Rex wrote:Yep.

Inspector Rex wrote:Here's just one example.  Journalists liked to include all the gory details in those days.

http://genealogytrails.com/colo/elpaso/news/burnham.html

Inspector Rex wrote:Josiah's brother, Ross.

Jealously.

Inspector Rex wrote:I don't have any idea.

Axe was as common a weapon then as gun is now.  Now not so much as an axe is no longer at hand for wood chopping.  People who used them often became very skilled and big men prided themselves on their ability with the axe.

Read back through the evidence and coroner's inquest with my suspect in your mind and you may find a couple of clues.  The fact that this person copy-catted another crime that was still on people's minds, directed their attention away from the inconsistencies in the evidence that pointed to him.

Inspector Rex wrote:I shall watch the Lin Family murders trial (brother-in-law accused) with interest.

I think there will be parallels with the Villisca Axe murders of over 100 years ago.

yk robert wrote:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oklahoma_girl_scout_murders
 I am biting my teeth on this one-- wanting to say so much.
   Hart didn't do it -- there I said it.   Oh well another time ,another forum.