Billy the Axeman: The Unidentified Killer Behind a Series of Early American Family Murders
Who Was Billy the Axeman?
Billy the Axeman, sometimes called the Ax-Man or the Midwest Axeman, is the name given to an unidentified killer who has been linked to a disturbing series of household murders committed across the United States during 1911 and 1912. The name does not identify a known individual. Instead, it developed as newspapers and investigators began noticing similarities between several seemingly inexplicable attacks in which entire families were killed inside their homes during the night.
The strongest version of the theory connects five separate crime scenes in Colorado, Illinois, Kansas and Iowa between September 1911 and June 1912. Those crimes resulted in the deaths of 24 people. Two earlier attacks in Oregon and Washington, involving six additional victims, have frequently been included in discussions of the same killer, although the connection is considerably more disputed. No court ever established that all of these murders were committed by one person.
The theory of a traveling serial murderer developed because the crimes shared unusual characteristics. Victims were generally attacked while sleeping. Entire households were targeted instead of a single individual. Axes or other heavy blunt instruments were commonly used, yet robbery usually appeared to be absent as a motive. In several homes the killer covered windows, mirrors, telephones or the victims themselves. Lamps were manipulated in an unusually similar way, and several crime scenes were located close to railroad tracks.
Victims in the Suspected Billy the Axeman Series
The following victims belong either to the principal Midwestern series historically associated with Billy the Axeman or to the two earlier Northwestern crimes frequently discussed as possible parts of the same series. Because the identity of Billy the Axeman was never established, these should be regarded as linked or suspected victims rather than legally proven victims of one serial killer.
- June 9, 1911 – Ardenwald, Oregon: William Hill, Ruth Cowing Hill, Philip Rintoul and Dorothy Rintoul. The four members of the household were murdered in their home in the Ardenwald community outside Portland. Contemporary reports place the killings during the overnight hours surrounding June 9. The Hill murders are an often-mentioned but disputed early addition to the Billy the Axeman series.
- Night of July 9-10, 1911 – Rainier, Washington: Archie Coble and Nettie Coble. The married couple was killed inside their home near Rainier. Their deaths have sometimes been connected with the later family murders, although a local railroad section foreman was convicted of second-degree murder in connection with the crime, creating substantial doubt about its inclusion in the Axeman series.
- Night of September 17-18, 1911 – Colorado Springs, Colorado: May Alice Burnham, her daughter Nellie Burnham and her young son John Burnham. All three were killed inside the Burnham residence. Contemporary and later historical records differ slightly on the children's given names and ages, but May Alice, Nellie and John are commonly identified in research on the connected murders.
- Night of September 17-18, 1911 – Colorado Springs, Colorado: Henry F. Wayne, Blanche Wayne and their young daughter, commonly recorded as Lula or Lulumay Wayne. Some contemporary accounts instead referred to the child as Blanche. The Wayne family lived immediately behind or near the Burnham residence and was killed during the same period.
- Night of September 30-October 1, 1911 – Monmouth, Illinois: William E. Dawson, Charity Dawson and their daughter Georgia Dawson. The three members of the Dawson family were murdered in their home and discovered on October 1 after William failed to arrive at the First Presbyterian Church, where he worked as caretaker.
- Night of October 15-16, 1911 – Ellsworth, Kansas: William Showman, Pauline Showman and their three children, Lester Showman, Fern Showman and Fenton Showman. The entire five-member household was murdered inside its small home on the outskirts of Ellsworth.
- Night of June 5-6, 1912 – Paola, Kansas: Rollin Hudson and Anna Hudson. The young married couple was killed inside their home at Paola. Their bodies were discovered June 6 after Rollin's unexplained absence from work caused concern.
- June 10, 1912 – Villisca, Iowa: Josiah B. "Joe" Moore, Sarah "Sara" Moore, Herman Montgomery Moore, Mary Katherine Moore, Arthur Boyd Moore, Paul Vernon Moore, Lena Gertrude Stillinger and Ina May Stillinger. The six members of the Moore family and the two visiting Stillinger sisters were murdered overnight between June 9 and June 10 at the Moore residence at 508 East Second Street.
The Colorado Springs Murders
The murders in Colorado Springs represented the beginning of what is generally considered the principal Billy the Axeman series. During the night of September 17, 1911, an intruder entered two neighboring residences occupied by the Burnham and Wayne families. By the time the killer left, six people were dead, including four children.
The murders were particularly mysterious because the homes remained silent for days afterward. The Burnham victims were discovered on September 20 when relatives became concerned. Once news of those deaths spread through the neighborhood, attention turned to the nearby Wayne residence. Henry Wayne, his wife Blanche and their young daughter were then found dead as well.
An axe associated with the Wayne property was believed to have been used in the attacks. The victims had been struck while in or near their beds, and their bodies or faces had been covered afterward. Nothing indicated that ordinary robbery was the purpose of the attack. Arthur Burnham, May Alice Burnham's husband, initially attracted attention because he was the surviving member of his household, but investigators established that he had been staying at a sanatorium while suffering from tuberculosis and was not responsible for the murders.
The fact that two households had been destroyed in the same neighborhood without an obvious motive caused investigators to consider the possibility that the murderer had selected the victims largely because their homes were accessible rather than because of a personal grievance.
The Dawson Family Murders in Monmouth
Less than two weeks later, violence struck hundreds of miles away in Monmouth, Illinois. During the night of September 30, William Dawson, his wife Charity and their daughter Georgia were attacked while they slept. William was the caretaker of the First Presbyterian Church. On the morning of October 1, church members became concerned when he failed to appear to open the building and went to the Dawson residence.
Inside, all three family members were found dead. Their heads had been crushed with a heavy object. Money in the house had not been taken, again making robbery an unlikely explanation. Investigators eventually considered a bloodstained length of pipe as a possible murder weapon rather than an axe.
The Monmouth investigation later became complicated by arrests and prosecutions involving local suspects. John Wesley Knight was eventually convicted in connection with the Dawson murders and sentenced to prison, while another suspect, Loving or "Lovey" Mitchell, was prosecuted but ultimately acquitted. These developments are an important reason the theory that one traveling murderer committed every crime in the series cannot be treated as established fact.
The Showman Family Massacre
Only about two weeks after the Dawson murders, another entire family was attacked in Ellsworth, Kansas. William and Pauline Showman had spent the evening of October 15 visiting friends before returning to their small home with their children Lester, Fern and Fenton. They were never seen alive again outside the house.
When repeated telephone calls to the Showman residence went unanswered the following day, a friend went to investigate. Inside she discovered all five family members dead. An axe had been used, and investigators believed the killer had attacked the family while they slept.
Several details attracted particular attention. The telephone had been covered, the windows had been obscured, and the killer apparently used a lamp but removed its chimney, producing a dimmer light. The murder weapon was left behind. Nothing significant appeared to have been stolen.
Bloodhounds were brought to Ellsworth and reportedly followed a trail toward an intersection of railroad lines. This helped strengthen the developing theory that the murderer might be traveling from town to town by train. Newspapers were already comparing the murders with the earlier family killings, helping create the image of a mysterious wandering "Axeman."
Charles Marzyck, who had formerly been related to Pauline Showman by marriage and was alleged to have made threats involving the family, became a major suspect. He was eventually captured and returned to Kansas, but the evidence did not establish that he had murdered the Showmans, and he was not convicted of the massacre.
The Hudson Murders and the Return of the Killer
After the Ellsworth killings, the apparent series abruptly stopped for the winter. Then, during the night of June 5-6, 1912, Rollin and Anna Hudson were murdered in Paola, Kansas. The couple had moved to the community only a short time earlier.
The killer apparently entered through a rear window after removing its screen. Both victims were killed in their bedroom with a heavy blunt instrument. The precise weapon was never conclusively identified, although contemporary reports discussed a pick or similarly heavy tool. Once again, valuables were not taken.
Investigators noticed one detail that strongly resembled the Ellsworth crime scene: a lamp had been used and its chimney removed. An attempted intrusion was also reported at another nearby residence that night, where someone had entered through a rear window and manipulated a lamp before being frightened away.
The Hudson home was also situated close to railroad lines. Local authorities recognized similarities between the Paola murders and the earlier killings, but no suspect was successfully prosecuted.
The Villisca Axe Murders
Only four days after the Hudson murders were discovered, one of the most infamous unsolved crimes in American history occurred in Villisca, Iowa. On Sunday evening, June 9, 1912, Josiah and Sarah Moore attended a Children's Day program at their Presbyterian church with their four children. Two sisters, Lena and Ina Stillinger, accompanied the Moore children home and stayed overnight.
Sometime after the household went to sleep, an intruder entered the Moore residence. An axe belonging to Josiah Moore was used to attack every person inside. Josiah, Sarah, Herman, Katherine, Boyd and Paul Moore were killed, as were Lena and Ina Stillinger. Eight people died, six of them children.
The following morning, neighbor Mary Peckham became alarmed when the normally active Moore household remained unusually quiet. Josiah's brother Ross Moore entered the house and discovered the crime. The family's axe was found inside.
Investigators discovered details that appeared strikingly similar to earlier killings attributed to Billy the Axeman. Windows and mirrors had been covered. The victims were covered after being attacked. A lamp had been manipulated, and its chimney had been removed. There was no convincing evidence of robbery. The house was also located only a short distance from railroad tracks.
The Villisca investigation produced numerous suspects but no conviction. Traveling preacher Reverend George Kelly eventually confessed under controversial circumstances and was tried for murder. His first trial ended without a verdict after the jury could not agree. At a second trial he was acquitted. The Villisca murders officially remain unsolved.
The Earlier Oregon and Washington Crimes
Researchers attempting to reconstruct the series have also looked westward to two murders that occurred before Colorado Springs. On or around June 9, 1911, William Hill, his wife Ruth, and Ruth's children Philip and Dorothy Rintoul were murdered in their Ardenwald, Oregon, home. An axe was used, the bodies were covered or moved, and the killer apparently remained in the residence after the attack. A neighbor, Nathan Harvey, was charged during the investigation but was not ultimately convicted.
About one month later, Archie and Nettie Coble were murdered at Rainier, Washington. They were attacked while in bed with an axe. Similarities with Ardenwald and the later Midwestern crimes led some writers to include them in the same series. However, a railroad section foreman confessed and was convicted of second-degree murder in the Coble case. That conviction creates significant uncertainty over whether the Rainier murders actually belonged to the Billy the Axeman series.
The Railroad Theory
One of the most enduring theories is that Billy the Axeman was a transient worker or experienced railroad traveler who moved across the country by train. Several of the suspected murder scenes were situated either immediately beside railroad tracks or within convenient walking distance of rail lines. In the early twentieth century, the enormous American rail network allowed a traveler to arrive in a community and disappear again without producing the kind of permanent record that modern transportation creates.
The theory also provides a possible explanation for why seemingly unrelated families in widely separated states were attacked. A stranger could leave town immediately after a murder and be hundreds of miles away before investigators even realized a crime had occurred. Police departments in different jurisdictions had limited ability to exchange evidence, photographs, fingerprints or investigative records quickly.
Railroad proximity alone, however, does not prove that the same offender committed the crimes. Rail lines passed through thousands of American communities during this period, and axes were ordinary household tools. The similarities become more significant when considered together with the covering of windows and bodies, manipulation of lamps, lack of robbery and repeated destruction of entire households.
Possible Identity of Billy the Axeman
Numerous men have been proposed as the mysterious killer. Reverend George Kelly became the best-known suspect because of the Villisca investigation, but he was acquitted. Other local suspects were investigated in Colorado Springs, Illinois and Kansas without establishing responsibility for the entire series.
A much later theory identified a German-speaking immigrant named Paul Mueller, sometimes recorded as Paul Miller, as a possible traveling family murderer. Authors Bill James and Rachel McCarthy James argued that Mueller may have begun killing much earlier and could have been responsible for a far larger number of axe murders across the United States. Their theory connects the Midwestern crimes to an 1897 family murder in Massachusetts and proposes that the offender moved through the country by rail.
The Mueller theory dramatically expands the possible number of crimes associated with the mysterious killer, but it remains a historical hypothesis rather than a solved identification. There is no surviving forensic evidence capable of proving that Mueller committed the Villisca murders or the other crimes traditionally attributed to Billy the Axeman.
An Unsolved Chapter in American Crime History
If the principal Midwestern murders were the work of one person, Billy the Axeman killed at least 24 people during five attacks between September 1911 and June 1912. Including the disputed Ardenwald and Rainier murders raises the often-associated total to 30 victims. Broader theories have proposed many additional cases, but those connections become increasingly uncertain.
More than a century later, the identity of the person behind the apparent series remains unknown. The crimes occurred during an era when forensic science was primitive, crime scenes were frequently contaminated by crowds, fingerprint evidence was inconsistently collected, and police departments separated by hundreds of miles had few effective methods for coordinating investigations.
The Villisca murders remain the most famous crime attributed to the unknown Axeman, but the larger sequence gives the mystery its true historical significance. From Colorado Springs to Monmouth, Ellsworth, Paola and Villisca, families were attacked in remarkably similar circumstances while an unknown offender appeared to move across the country and disappear. Whether every crime was committed by the same person can no longer be proven, but the possibility that an unidentified serial killer traveled America's railroad network during 1911 and 1912 remains one of the most unsettling unresolved theories in early American criminal history.
