Stella Elizabeth Williamson: The Gallitzin Attic Murders
Overview
Stella Elizabeth Williamson was a woman from Gallitzin, Pennsylvania, whose crimes were discovered only after her death. She was not publicly known as a criminal during her lifetime. To neighbors, she was remembered in sharply different ways: some described her as quiet, religious, and friendly, while others later recalled her as severe, controlling, and difficult. The truth about her life emerged in 1980, when a letter she had written years earlier led investigators to a steamer trunk hidden in the attic of her home.
Inside that trunk were the mummified remains of five infants. The babies were believed to be Williamson's own children. They had been hidden for decades in her house at 310 Forest Street in Gallitzin, Cambria County, Pennsylvania. The remains were wrapped in old newspapers dated from the 1920s and early 1930s. Because the bodies had been concealed for so long, investigators could not determine every detail with certainty. The infants' names were never publicly confirmed, and exact dates of death could not be verified. The available dates come mainly from the newspapers wrapped around the bodies, which helped investigators estimate when the deaths occurred.
Discovery of the Remains
Stella Williamson died in Gallitzin, Pennsylvania, on August 25, 1980, at the age of 76. After her death, family friend Guy Schrack found a sealed letter among her belongings. The letter had reportedly been written around 1960, when Williamson feared she might die during medical complications. In the letter, she admitted that there were babies hidden in the attic and said she did not want anyone else blamed for what had happened.
The letter directed authorities to an old trunk in the attic. On September 2, 1980, investigators found the trunk and opened it. Inside were five small bodies, preserved by time and dry conditions. The discovery shocked Gallitzin because the infants appeared to have been hidden there for roughly five decades. The remains were later sent for forensic examination. Experts concluded that at least three of the infants had been strangled. The causes of death for the other two babies could not be determined with certainty because of the condition of the remains.
The Victims
The victims were five unidentified infants. Their legal names, if they were ever given any, were not publicly verified. Their exact dates of birth and death were also not verified. The best available information places their deaths between the mid-1920s and early 1930s, based on the dated newspapers wrapped around their remains.
- Unidentified Infant 1: Believed to be one of Stella Williamson's children. Exact name unknown. Exact date of death could not be verified. Estimated death period: between 1925 and 1933. Location of death and concealment: Williamson home, 310 Forest Street, Gallitzin, Pennsylvania. Cause of death was not individually confirmed in public records.
- Unidentified Infant 2: Believed to be one of Stella Williamson's children. Exact name unknown. Exact date of death could not be verified. Estimated death period: between 1925 and 1933. Location of death and concealment: Williamson home, 310 Forest Street, Gallitzin, Pennsylvania. Cause of death was not individually confirmed in public records.
- Unidentified Infant 3: Believed to be one of Stella Williamson's children. Exact name unknown. Exact date of death could not be verified. Estimated death period: between 1925 and 1933. Location of death and concealment: Williamson home, 310 Forest Street, Gallitzin, Pennsylvania. Forensic examination found that at least three of the five infants had been strangled, but public reports do not reliably match each specific cause of death to a specific infant.
- Unidentified Infant 4: Believed to be one of Stella Williamson's children. Exact name unknown. Exact date of death could not be verified. Estimated death period: between 1925 and 1933. Location of death and concealment: Williamson home, 310 Forest Street, Gallitzin, Pennsylvania. Cause of death was not individually confirmed in public records.
- Unidentified Infant 5: Believed to be one of Stella Williamson's children. Exact name unknown. Exact date of death could not be verified. Estimated death period: between 1925 and 1933. Location of death and concealment: Williamson home, 310 Forest Street, Gallitzin, Pennsylvania. Cause of death was not individually confirmed in public records.
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