In the winter of 1836, a horrific act of violence brought a somber cloud over the small community of Liberty, Indiana. A three-month-old infant girl, Mary Heller, was brutally murdered on February 27th. The innocence of her young life was cut short in an unimaginable way, leaving a lasting scar on the town's history. Mary was not the only one to perish on that tragic day; her mother, Elizabeth McCollan Heller, and her siblings, John Wesley Heller and Sarah Heller, also met a violent end.
The perpetrator of this familial tragedy was none other than the patriarch, Isaac Heller. Born in 1809, Isaac had a history of violence, having been previously tried for a crime in 1830, though he was found not guilty by reason of insanity at that time. However, the events of that February day in 1836 painted a far more sinister picture. He used a bludgeon to end the lives of his wife and children in a brutal massacre that shook the very foundation of the community.
Following the discovery of the heinous crime, Isaac Heller was swiftly apprehended in February 1836. He stood trial for capital murder, and unlike his previous encounter with the law, there was no leniency. The court sentenced him to death for his brutal actions. On April 25, 1836, Isaac Heller was executed by hanging in Liberty, Indiana. His execution marked the final chapter in a dark and tragic story of a family destroyed from within, leaving the memory of young Mary and her family to fade into the annals of early American crime history.
