Amber Hunt - Unsolved Murders: True Crime Cases Uncovered

Main image: The parlor bedroom in the Moores house.
Clockwise from top: Exterior of the Moore family house; a Villisca Review newspaper article on the murders; a sheet-covered mirror in the parlor bedroom.

The night before the deaths, J.B. and Sarah were at the local Presbyterian church watching their children perform Childrens Day exercises. Lena and Ina also took part, and the two girlsaged 11 and 8, respectivelywere invited to stay the night at the Moore home. The young guests were in a downstairs bedroom, while the rest of the family was upstairs. Investigators determined Lena and Ina were the first victimsand that one of them had awakened, judging by a defensive wound that suggested shed thrown up an arm to ward off a blow. Its possible that Sarah had also awoken during the attack. One neighbor told police she thought she heard Sarahs voice in the night yelling: Oh! Dear! Oh! Dear! Dont! Dont! Dont!

ALL THE BODIES WERE FOUND IN A NATURAL SLEEPING POSTURE WITH HEADS BEATEN ALMOST TO A PULP.

ADAMS COUNTY FREE PRESS, JUNE 15, 1912

It appeared the killer had taken pains to conceal himself. The blinds had been tightly drawn closed on the windows. Glass doors had been covered with articles of clothing. Even the mirrors inside the house had been shrouded. The attack was not a robbery, as no valuables were taken or even disturbed. It seemed that the killer wasnt in a rush: he had taken time to partially clean the murder weapon before leaving it propped against the wall of the downstairs bedroom.

The crime scene had some odd elements that still perplex researchers today. One four-pound slab of bacon was left leaning against the wall next to the ax, while another piece of bacon was found on the piano in the parlor. On the kitchen table was a plate of uneaten food and a bowl of bloody water. Its perhaps noteworthy, too, that Lenas nightgown had been pushed up, leaving her exposedthough doctors determined she had not been sexually assaulted.

The police made a crucial error in failing to immediately secure the crime scene, allowing dozens of people to trample through the murder house. One suspect actually had a portion of skull in his possession that he bragged to several witnesses belonged to J.B. However, this man was able to plausibly explain he had simply picked up the piece of bone off the floor as he gawked.

The investigators best guess was that the killer must have been a relative of the family, and early reports tossed out some names: Samuel Moyer, a brother-in-law of J.B., and John Van Gilder, a former brother-in-law of Sarah. Townspeople racked their brains for clues and alerted police to every stranger theyd seen or bizarre scenario theyd witnessed. Many of the resulting tips ultimately proved useless.

May Van Gilder, the 16-year-old niece of J.B. and Sarah, said the Saturday before the murder, a stranger asked her where the Moores lived. When the girl later told Sarah of the query, Sarah reportedly replied that someone matching the description had been hanging around the home. That exchange prompted police to arrest a man in bloodstained shoes named Joe Ricks in Monmouth, Illinois. When May traveled to identify him, she said they had the wrong man.

Another dead end came when a supposed expert named C.M. Brown reached out to detectives and offered to obtain an image of the killer from the retina of Lena. The theory was that because Lena had awoken, the last sight she saw was the killerand that image would be imprinted on her retina much like a photograph. Detectives agreed, and Brown said he recovered an image that indicates a man of stout build, very broad shoulders, and extraordinary length between the shoulders and hips. Unsurprisingly, nothing came of it.

June 9, 1912 / Strangers spotted near the Moores house.

However, some tips were more promising. Cora McCoy, who lived two blocks from the Moore house, said she saw two strangers walk by at about 3:00 p.m. on Sunday afternoon, the day before the murders. The men walked close together, as if talking confidentially. McCoy said she saw them again at dusk. One of them looked like a man named William Blackie Mansfield, a supposed Army deserter and cocaine fiend who, two years after the Villisca murders, was suspected in the similar ax slaying of his wife, daughter, father-in-law, and mother-in-law.