Francis Marion Snow

Serial Killer

Francis Marion Snow: The Butcher of Stephenville

Background and Classification

Francis Marion Snow was born in Texas on June 6, 1881. He became known as the "Butcher of Stephenville" after committing a notorious triple murder in rural Erath County, Texas, in 1925. Snow was convicted of killing three members of his household during a single violent episode. He later claimed responsibility for additional killings, causing some accounts to describe him as a suspected serial killer. However, only the murders of his wife, mother-in-law and stepson were conclusively established and prosecuted. Snow was 44 years old when the confirmed murders occurred. He lived with his wife, Maggie Mae Snow, Maggie's elderly mother, Samantha Ann Olds, and Maggie's teenage son, Bernard "Bernie" Connally, on a farm near Selden, a small community south of Stephenville. Snow had married Maggie only a short time before the killings. Contemporary descriptions portrayed the household as isolated, financially strained and marked by frequent disagreements.

The Murders of November 27, 1925

On November 27, 1925, an argument reportedly began after livestock entered or damaged a cotton field on the family property. Snow blamed Maggie for allowing the animals to get loose. What began as a domestic dispute rapidly escalated into lethal violence. Snow attacked Maggie with a heavy wooden object, killing her on the farm. Snow next turned on Maggie's mother, Samantha Ann Olds. Samantha was elderly and was described in historical accounts as having serious difficulties with her hearing and eyesight. She may not have fully understood what had happened to her daughter or recognized the danger confronting her. Snow killed her with an axe or another heavy implement. Bernard Connally, commonly called Bernie, was away from the property when his mother and grandmother were killed. He had reportedly traveled toward Stephenville with a load of wood. Snow went looking for him and persuaded him to return by claiming that Maggie was ill and needed him at home. After Bernie arrived at or near the farm, Snow shot him with a Winchester rifle. Accounts commonly state that Bernie was shot twice in the back. Snow then attempted to conceal all three murders. He burned the remains of Maggie Snow and Samantha Olds in a fireplace or stove on the property. Their bodies were reduced to ashes and small bone fragments. He transported Bernie's body away from the farm, removed the young man's head and concealed the head inside a sack in the cellar of an abandoned farmhouse. The rest of Bernie's body was left at another isolated location near Cedar Point in Erath County. ...

Confirmed Victims: (3)

Maggie Snow Age: (42), Date of Death: November 27, 1925

Suspected Victims:

Unnamed victim , Date of Death: 1912

Unnamed victim , Date of Death: 1910s - 1920s

Unnamed victim , Date of Death: 1910s - 1920s

Gene Graves , Date of Death: 1925

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