In the sweltering summer of 1918, as a shadow of fear crept over the city of New Orleans, a woman named Harriet Anna Lowe found herself at the heart of a terrifying series of crimes. She lived with Louis Besumer in the back of his grocery store at the corner of Dorgenois and Laharpe streets, a seemingly ordinary existence that was about to be shattered by the brutal serial killer who would become known as the Axeman.
The identity of this phantom attacker, who terrorized the city between 1918 and 1919, remains one of New Orleans' most enduring and chilling mysteries.
In the pre-dawn hours of June 27, 1918, an intruder forced his way into the couple's small apartment. The method was consistent with the Axeman's other attacks: a panel on the back door was chiseled out, allowing the killer to gain entry. Inside, he picked up a hatchet belonging to Besumer and unleashed a savage attack on the sleeping pair. Besumer was struck above his right temple, suffering a significant skull fracture, while Lowe was brutally hacked over her left ear.
The scene was discovered around 7 a.m. by John Zanca, a bakery wagon driver making his routine delivery. He found Besumer and Lowe lying in a pool of their own blood, critically injured but still alive. They were rushed to Charity Hospital, where they clung to life. The bloody hatchet was found in the apartment's bathroom. As police began their investigation, the case, like the others attributed to the Axeman, was marked by a chilling lack of motive; nothing had been stolen from the ransacked apartment.
The investigation quickly became fraught with confusion and conflicting accounts, much of it stemming from Harriet Lowe herself. In the days and weeks following the attack, her story changed multiple times. Initially, she told police their attacker was a "mulatto" man, which led to the brief arrest of Lewis Oubicon, a 41-year-old African American man who had recently worked at Besumer's store. With no evidence to connect him to the crime, he was soon released.
Lowe's statements then took a series of dramatic and bewildering turns that captivated the media and muddled the investigation. The fact that she and Besumer were not married, but lovers, became a sensationalized detail in the local papers. At one point, Lowe accused Besumer of being a German spy, a serious allegation during World War I, which led to his temporary arrest until the claim was dismissed. Her animosity towards the police chief, who had revealed her status as Besumer's mistress to the public, further complicated her cooperation with the authorities.
The severe head wound had left the left side of Harriet's face paralyzed. In early August, she underwent surgery in an attempt to repair the damage. The procedure was unsuccessful, and her condition worsened. On her deathbed, in a final, shocking twist, Harriet Anna Lowe accused Louis Besumer of being the man who had attacked her with the hatchet. She succumbed to complications from the surgery on August 5, 1918.
Based on Lowe's dying declaration, Louis Besumer was arrested and charged with her murder. He spent nine months in prison awaiting trial. In May 1919, after only ten minutes of deliberation, a jury acquitted him. The prosecution's case, resting heavily on the inconsistent statements of a dying woman, was not enough to secure a conviction. The identity of the man who attacked the couple in their sleep was never discovered.
The night Harriet Lowe died, the Axeman struck again, attacking a pregnant woman named Anna Schneider, who miraculously survived. Harriet Anna Lowe is remembered as one of the six confirmed victims who lost their lives during the Axeman's reign of terror. Her case, a whirlwind of violence, scandal, and accusation, remains officially unsolved, a haunting chapter in the violent history of the Axeman of New Orleans.
