Book Shopping and True Crime Chatter

Hannah 0:05

I was telling them about the Puerto Rican restaurant we tried downtown.

Rob 0:08

Oh yeah, it was pretty good, the pinatas, the pinatas.

Hannah 0:12

I was such an idiot. I was like I think I realized after I said it. I was like she's not going to know what I'm talking about because no one eats the pinata. You eat what's in the pinata usually.

Rob 0:22

Yeah, candy and toys, toys.

Jess 0:25

Yeah, you eat toys, rob. Eat toys, rob. No toys. Okay, I really like the cover of that book, can I see? Yes, but I'll need it back because I have to quote. You're gonna quote, and cocaine, oh, was it good? Yes, yes and no, I'll get into it in the episode. Okay, yeah, that's cool.

Rob 0:47

What is the book called? The man from the train oh, very nice, like the hillbillies thrift books.

Jess 0:53

Yeah, I like thrift I don't pay like more than six bucks for a book hannah but these are used dude, I will spend too much is this a store?

Hannah 1:02

yeah, it's online oh but also book outlet.

Jess 1:05

You get cheap books and they're new and what?

Rob 1:08

what is shipping?

Jess 1:09

Shipping is free if you spend a certain amount.

Hannah 1:13

It'd be so easy to spend 40, 50 bucks they sell gift cards.

Rob 1:17

Send me the site. Thank you, he's thinking for my birthday.

Jess 1:20

I know Book Outlet is free shipping if you spend $35.

Rob 1:24

Oh, okay, that's easy, that's one book.

Jess 1:27

No, it's seven books, because they're usually like five bucks, that's one book. No, it's seven books because they're usually like five bucks. Oh, there we go. They're like new books for really cheap, under $10.

Rob 1:35

And can you sell your own books?

Jess 1:37

on there On thrift books. You can Nice.

Rob 1:42

I was going to try it because I want to get rid of some.

Jess 1:44

I have a whole library full of books that are just sitting here. These are my friends. Rob, do you have a death wish?

Hannah 1:50

I have a relationship with every single one of these. So, shush, do you have a death wish?

Rob 1:54

Not at all.

Jess 1:55

She knows how to murder people. Yeah, I mean, we've been studying it for a while.

Hannah 1:59

A divorce wish, at least, okay.

Jess 2:13

Hi, I'm Jess and I'm Hannah.

Hannah 2:20

Join us as we delve into true crime, paranormal encounters and all things spooky. So grab your flashlight and get ready to wander into the darkness with us.

Jess 2:41

This is Wicked Wanderings. Hello Hannah, hello Jessica and hello Rob.

Rob 2:46

Hello.

Jess 2:47

And we have our special guest Kaylin Kaylin. What's?

Rob 2:51

up.

Hannah 2:51

Junior.

Jess 2:52

Wanderer Kaylin is our Junior Wanderer and we just finished recording her own episode that she's doing.

Rob 2:59

Which will come out in a couple weeks.

Jess 3:00

Yes, from when this airs, so we're excited.

Hannah 3:04

Can't wait to hear my own annoying voice.

Jess 3:08

It does take some getting used to, yeah, but now let's talk about murder, yay. So in my last episode I talked about the velisca axe murders in 1912 in velisca, iowa, where a family of six and two children staying over were killed with an axe while they were sleeping. There are a couple suspects, a shady private detective, a couple of slander lawsuits and two trials involving a perverted Presbyterian reverend who liked eliciting young girls to pose nude for him, ew Gross Gross. The first trial for this reverend ended in a hung jury and second trial he was acquitted and the case is still unsolved. But what if I told you that there were a string of axe murders that happened across the United States from 1898 to 1912?

Hannah 3:57

I'd tell you to get out of town, okay. I'd keep you, jess Aw thanks, hey, you can't be the new favorite. That's not how it works.

Jess 4:10

So I know, when we did the Lizzie Borden episode, we talked briefly about the rumors of a crazed axeman murdering people. However, that wasn't known back then, so I don't think that the murders were really connected until 1910. Plus, the Lizzie Borden case doesn't match this guy's MO at all. Okay, the Lizzie Borden case doesn't match this guy's MO at all. Okay, so this guy I mean, if we think back to Villisca, he killed him in the middle of the night in their beds and the entire family was killed. Where Lizzie Borden, it was just the dad and the stepmom. There were still people in the home and it was during the day. It was the uncle.

The Man From the Train Analysis

Hannah 4:46

So sorry, not sorry. I mean, it would be really cool if it was all connected, but I feel like theirs was way too personal for it to be yeah Right, yeah Okay, consensus, okay. I agree.

Jess 4:56

So the main source I used for this episode is the man from the Train by Bill James and Rachel McCarthy James. You asked how I like this book before we started recording and I kind of go back and forth, Like it has a lot of facts to the cases but also a lot of like conjecture. But they researched, like hundreds of similar crimes that happened during the time, and have written the book giving their opinion about what type of person that they think would commit these crimes and identified the crimes that are eerily, eerily similar to Villisca. While this isn't necessarily a part two, I will be mentioning it a lot during this episode. So if you wanderers out there haven't listened to episode 33 yet, please do so. You can be as intrigued and horrified as we are.

Hannah 5:44

So how did you decide to connect the two together?

Jess 5:47

Honestly, I think I was listening to to morbid one time at band camp and they did an episode on the veliska axe murders and they mentioned this book. Oh, okay, yeah, and so me got your wheels turning in yeah, me being the shopaholic I am, I bought the book at the time you also like your rabbit holes.

Jess 6:08

You know how I feel about rabbit holes, so I bought this book at the time and figured it would be a good time now that we have a podcast to read it. So, yeah, I think listening to the Villisca episode will kind of help understand more of what we talk about today and why these cases are worth further research. Yeah, and I think you'll see how they 'll be connected once I get talking, obviously. So, after all the research is said and done, bill and Rachel have identified 21 cases that they believe with 70% of certainty that they were committed by the same man. So 21 cases across the United States in 14 years. I am only going to cover a few of these cases, even though more there are more that share some of the same characteristics, but I think we'd be here for like five hours if I talked about all of them.

Hannah 6:59

Hey, I'm okay with that.

Jess 7:02

Kaylin would love to stay, and also I was going to talk about more, but it just is the same thing over and over again and it's kind of horrific. So I am actually going to talk about more, but it just is the same thing over and over again and it's kind of horrific. So I am actually going to start with the one that happened after Villisca and work my way back to the case that the authors believe was the man from the train's first murder. So buckle up, wanderers, as I take you on this wild cross-country ride. I know, I know I'm a nerd. Don't look at me like that, rob. You do not have a poker face, sir.

Rob 7:34

What are you talking about?

Jess 7:36

You gave me the most ridiculous look when I said that you know what it's okay.

Rob 7:41

Maybe we should start doing this podcast as a video podcast.

Hannah 7:44

That would be cool, but I like it dark. You said you won't be able to do it.

Rob 7:48

Yeah, it needs to be brighter.

Jess 7:49

Hannah, but I like it dark. You said you won't be able to do it. Yeah, it needs to be brighter. Hannah lives in darkness. I do. She's a vampire, Uh-huh, All right. So now remember. The Villisca murders happened June 9th 1912. Titanic. There was another murder three months later, on Friday, September 27th 1912. And this involved the Van Schmidt family who lived in a farmhouse near Payson, Illinois.

Hannah 8:14

Van.

Jess 8:14

Schmidt Van Schmidt.

Hannah 8:16

Because that was a Van.

Jess 8:16

Tassel it's spelled P-F-A-N Schmidt.

Hannah 8:22

Oh, schmidt Van Schmidt.

Jess 8:24

Van Schmidt yeah.

Hannah 8:26

Van Schmidt.

Jess 8:26

Oh, not Van Schmidt. I said fan.

Rob 8:29

You know what it's Van.

Jess 8:30

Schmidt. This family lived in a farmhouse near Payson Charles. His wife Matilda and their 15-year-old daughter Blanche, and a 19-year-old school teacher who was boarding with the family were murdered Probably and I use quotations because they did in the book with an axe, and the house was set on fire afterwards.

Hannah 8:51

I guess, guess, like what else would make an axe mark?

Jess 8:54

I mean any blunt force trauma. You know, usually I mean in veliska, use the blunt end. We'll see. In another case there was a gas pipe used a brick, a stone?

Hannah 9:03

well, I'm picturing like an axe. I'm picturing like a pickaxe like the slice, yeah right, all right, what do I know?

Jess 9:11

okay, go ahead out of all that. Well, you'll see why they didn't know. Well, because it was set on, the house was set on fire yes yes, that would definitely not help out.

Jess 9:19

Of all the cases that we will cover, this was the one that was the farthest away from the railroad, which was about six to eight miles. Throughout saturday, the 28th, there was no movement at the farm. Their mail was never collected, chores were never done, horses were never fed and the cows weren't milked, and several phone calls went unanswered. It wasn't until the early morning of Sunday, sunday, sunday, tuesday, sunday, september 29th when the house burst into flames, that anyone knew anything was wrong. Despite the early hours, a crowd of neighbors gathered around the house making futile attempts to put out the fire. The couple's son, ray, was charged, tried and convicted of their murders, despite weak evidence. Oh, that sucks, mm-hmm. He was actually gone seeing his fiancée that night and he actually lived in a different part of town in a tent because he had a dirt moving business. So he had his own land. That's shitty, yeah, oh. So he was convicted, but the farm was in an area where the man from the train was most active and it was only 300 miles away from Villisca and only 100 days after. So getting men to the way back machine to five days before Villisca, june 4, 1912, in Paola, kansas.

Jess 10:40

The home was about 150 yards from the railroad line. That morning Roland Hudson did not report to work and there wasn't any movement around their house. Some neighborly women went to their home and pushed the front door open a little. They could see into the back bedroom where they could make out two forms lying in the bed. The authorities arrived and discovered a ghastly sight. Mister, that's how they said it in the books. I had to include it.

Hannah 11:08

Ghastly, not ghostly.

Jess 11:10

Ghastly sight. I feel bad laughing because people were murdered.

Hannah 11:16

Oh no, but I was laughing at you, yeah absolutely.

Jess 11:21

Mr and Mrs Hudson were lying in bed with the covers pulled up over their heads. Mr Hudson was lying on his right side and the left side of his head and face were crushed. He was killed while he slept. Does that sound familiar to anyone? Does it sound familiar to you? Awkward.

Rob 11:37

Sounds like the last episode.

Jess 11:39

Thanks, Rob Caleb. What's that?

Hannah 11:44

Bueller, bueller, bueller, bueller. Have you seen that movie?

Jess 11:50

Yeah.

Hannah 11:51

See, she's more cultured than I am. I didn't see it until three months ago. Yeah, vicky's face she's.

Jess 12:01

It appeared that Mrs Hudson had woken up. When her husband was killed and raised her head, she was struck on the backside of the head and her face. Sitting on a box. Next to the bed was a lamp without its chimney and a window was open in the other bedroom. The screen had been removed.

Hannah 12:21

I'm sorry, a lamp without chimney.

Jess 12:22

Yeah, like the old oil lamps or kerosene lamps. Oh, okay, okay, that's what I actually had to Google this and see. I had an idea of what it was, but if you remember, in Villisca there were some chimneys under the dresser and under the bed that had been taken off, because the house you can visit for the Villisca Axe Marge you said still has no electricity in it.

Hannah 12:43

Yeah, okay, I'm pretty sure.

Rob 12:45

And no plumbing.

Hannah 12:46

No, we love plumbing.

Jess 12:47

Yes, we love plumbing. See, you love plumbing.

Hannah 12:48

Yes, we love plumbing. See love plumbing right.

Jess 12:51

Love plumbing. Sitting on a box next to the bed was a lamp without its chimney. A window was open in the other bedroom which had its screen removed, and the previous night's dishes weren't done and serving dishes for three people were on the table along with photo albums and a box of letters. So they must have spent their last meal reminiscing with a friend and there was rumors of like people had seen someone come in and ask for the hudson's. The friend is the killer, you would think, but why would the friend sneak into the window and take off the screen if he was already there? Right to make it look like someone else did it.

Hannah 13:29

I mean I guess.

Jess 13:31

What is incredibly interesting about this case, at least to me, is that one of Hudson's co-workers named Mr Longmire lived three houses up the street. Shortly after midnight of June 5th, mrs Longmire was awakened by a crash of breaking glass. She stumbled into the hallway and saw the shadow of a man fleeing from her kitchen. Being this true bad bitch that she is, she raced into the kitchen in time to see the kitchen door open and heard footsteps on the porch running away. She then rushed to her eight-year-old daughter's room, sadie, and her bed was empty, but luckily Sadie was hiding in the corner. Terrified, sadie told her mom that she saw a man crouched over her mother's bed, and Mr Longmire, of course, slept through the intrusion and was groggy when he was awakened, you know, in typical male fashion.

Rob 14:26

Probably taking a couple of those gummies.

Jess 14:28

Maybe. When Mrs Longmire returned to the kitchen she found out that the broken glass had been the chimney to the oil lamp. Its wick turned low so that it only emitted a faint glow. Also on the floor she found a woman's kimono-style dressing gown that was later identified belonging to Mrs Hudson.

Hannah 14:48

Kimono come from the Greek word kimona, which means robe.

Rob 14:55

Really.

Hannah 14:56

My big fat Greek wedding. Yeah, I was looking at Vicky, because we were talking about the movie the other day.

Rob 15:01

Is that a Greek word? Everything can come from a Greek word, because I always thought it's kimono was like an Asian descent. Yeah, because it's a dress, dress.

Hannah 15:14

But the whole point that movie was that everywhere can come back to the greek, so she. So she's like okay, what about kimono? He's like kimono, kimono, which means robe, robe, dress.

Jess 15:27

There you go okay, I understand what you're saying now you got it I get it the following morning, m Longmire noticed that the man had broken into the house by prying off a window screen. Ooh, mrs Longmire went to the courthouse and reported the crime and turned in the kimono. Don't say it again. I think, obviously, that the murderer, because of the kimono, hit the Hudson's first and didn't get what he wanted, and so then he tried the Longmire house. What did he want? As you will see throughout these cases, that our douchiest of canoes had the tendency to go towards houses with children, and a majority of those with prepubescent girls, which also might explain why he hit Felisca four days later.

Unsolved Murder Cases Throughout the States

Rob 16:20

Thank God Mrs Longmire had woken up. He is a major douche canoe, the douchiest he used to go to asylum Right.

Hannah 16:26

He locked up Asylum right. Yes, they sucked his brain.

Jess 16:31

Before Paola Kansas there was Ellsworth Kansas and it was October 15, 1911. So we're going backwards. Remember the Ellsworth city? Marshal Morris Merritt stayed up late at night reading his newspaper. He heard a scratching noise at the back of his house and it sounded like an animal scratching wanting to come in. The noise stopped and Merritt went back to his paper.

Jess 16:54

The next morning Merritt noticed that his back window screen had been taken off and placed next to the house and there looked like there had been an effort to try and pry the window open. The man must have seen Merritt awake and then through the window and then left. But unfortunately on the morning of October 16th the showman's dog was hanging around Lori Snook's yard and the showmans lived two houses up the street from Merritt and their house was on a hill overlooking the railroad track. Lori was a friend of the family and lived a couple blocks away and she went to take the dog back to the showmans and discovered that the family of five had been murdered in their beds, their heads crushed with a blunt side of an axe which was left in the house. The blinds were drawn, the back door was left open, but the murderer had removed a window screen and entered the house through a window.

Rob 17:49

I can totally see where they thought this was all connected with the last case.

Hannah 17:54

Exactly. I'm just glad the dog wasn't murdered. Right, that's what matters.

Jess 17:59

Well, there are only two that are mentioned with dogs, and for the most part I think you steer clear of houses with dogs because obviously they could attack or they make more noise. He had removed the chimney from the lamp, leaving it under a chair in the kitchen in the lamp still burning where the last murders had taken place. He had washed his hands and the axe in a bucket of water that was in the house and he for some reason covered the telephone with a dress and had posed one of the daughter's body in a disgusting manner post-mortem, but had left the other victims in their bed where they were murdered. The axe had been taken from a neighbor's yard.

Jess 18:41

And what is frustrating during this time is that authorities knew or recognized a pattern with these killings, but it almost seemed like they couldn't fully grasp it, or maybe they didn't want to, because what would that mean? That would mean there was a crazy murderous monster on the prowl throughout the entire united states, attacking at random. That would mean no one was safe and despite their knowledge of this, they still prosecuted and at times convicted people of these murders, despite evidence telling them otherwise. Before the Hudsons was the Dawson family of Illinois. The Dawson's family lived on the wrong side of the tracks. They were a white family in a neighborhood that was mostly black. William Dawson had his own criminal record for stealing horses and had done some hard time.

Rob 19:31

Is that like stealing a car nowadays Apparently Grand Theft Horse?

Jess 19:37

He and his wife moved to Monmouth around 1903, and William was working as a caretaker for a Presbyterian church. He and his wife had 11 children.

Rob 19:48

Damn.

Jess 19:49

Yeah, but luckily most of them had moved out by 1911. Three children were still at home. Two of those were lucky enough not to be home the night of Saturday September 30th 1911. On Sunday, dawson failed to unlock the church and prep it for Sunday services. The minister was worried that Dawson might be ill and sent some deacons over to his house to check on him. They would find William Charity and their 13-year-old daughter, georgia, dead. They would find William Charity and their 13-year-old daughter, georgia, dead.

Jess 20:23

The murders were done with a gas pipe, not an axe, which makes me think that this perp picks a weapon of opportunity, and reasons that the author of the book thinks that this was committed to the man from the train is that the home was only a quarter of a mile away from the railroad. It occurred in a small town. He murdered the entire family in one event, which was actually quite rare for the time, despite us talking about all these cases. The murders were committed late at night, after the family went to sleep. A young girl was among the victims. The body of the young girl had been found staged in a staged position, whereas the adults were killed in their sleep. The blinds were drawn. There's an absence of a rational motive and absence of evidence of struggle.

Hannah 21:12

So I'm sorry. Did he use the train then to get around? Is that why he was caught?

Jess 21:16

That's what these authors were thinking. Okay, that he was a. They called him Tramps back then, which is kind of funny Tramps Lady and the. Tramp Mm-hmm that they're like wanderers and hobos that just travel.

Hannah 21:33

So my grandmother grew up in west springfield, yeah, and where her street was, it was really close to the railroad tracks and her mom would always say do not go play near the railroad tracks because that's where the bums hang out. They would still do it anyways, and there was actually one time they ran into a drunk bomb and scared the living crap out of them that they started running home a A hobo yeah because he used to jump the trains.

Jess 21:54

Drunk bums are scary yeah.

Rob 21:57

That was right around this time 1911?

Hannah 22:00

No, she wasn't born until 1932.

Rob 22:02

Oh, okay.

Hannah 22:03

Jeez.

Jess 22:03

Rob Scratch that the next example is a double event in Colorado Springs from September 17th to the 18th of 1911. The first family was the Burnhams. Aj Burnham had tuberculosis and was living in a sanatorium.

Rob 22:20

Was it called tuberculosis by then? Because wasn't it called consumption at one time? No, Rob, it was called consumption. Okay, I'm just no, you're right.

Jess 22:29

Was it yeah, consumption.

Rob 22:31

Okay.

Jess 22:31

I just chose to use the modern word for it.

Rob 22:34

What year did they change it from consumption to tuberculosis?

Jess 22:38

I have no idea.

Rob 22:40

Hey Siri, what year did they change consumption to tuberculosis? So 1800s, it was changed.

Jess 22:47

Oh, so that's where I used tuberculosis. Duh, okay.

Rob 22:50

Tuberculosis.

Jess 22:51

That's where I use tuberculosis duh Okay, tuberculosis Any who? Aj Burnham had tuberculosis and was living in a sanatorium at the time. His wife and the children were living in their home. On the morning of September 20th, nettie, who was Mae Burnham's sister, had walked over to the house carrying clothes that needed mending. Mae did not answer the door and the house was locked up tight. The curtains were drawn. There was a grocery bill on the front door from someone who had stopped by earlier. She placed a call to AJ at the sanatorium to find out what was going on. He said he hadn't been home in a week and a neighbor had a key to the house and they attempted to open the door, but it was stuck. They were eventually able to open the door, but it was stuck. They were eventually able to force it open and when they did, the stench of death overwhelmed them.

Jess 23:38

The house had been the same as it had been Sunday evening. The night's dishes were still on the table and they found three bodies May, nellie, six years old, and John, three years old. Nellie had either awakened during the event or moved after death, as she was not found in the aspect of sleep and there was something found in the room. That would cause investigators to call the perp a moral pervert, or rather, like I said, the douchiest of canoes. But it was never revealed as to what that evidence was. Thank God, the blinds were drawn, the house was locked up, except for the window that the perp escaped out of and there was a bowl of bloody water on the table where he had washed his hands, just like Feliska.

Jess 24:25

With the news of the murders, the crowd gathered around the home. All of the homes on the street were full of activity, except for one. The crowd had noticed that a home that was a few feet away from the Burnhams was eerily quiet. It belonged to Henry and Blanche Wayne and their baby Lula, age two. Henry also had tuberculosis and had moved to Colorado Springs only a month before he had met Burnham at the sanatoriumatorium, who told Henry that there were homes for rent in his neighborhood.

Hannah 24:56

Have you ever been tested for TB?

Jess 24:58

Yes, you have to be in the military.

Hannah 25:01

Well, I know I had to for school.

Jess 25:04

If you have it, you get. The bubble grows in your arm.

Hannah 25:07

Yeah, you get the circle. You probably haven't yet right, kaylin? Yeah, you will for college if you go.

Rob 25:14

Really it was college.

Hannah 25:15

I thought I was much younger when I had it no 18 yeah, I'm pretty sure it was before high school.

Rob 25:20

Well, you went to a private school, so how?

Hannah 25:25

don't know how to flip my.

Jess 25:26

I'm pretty sure for public school I didn't need it really well, you were inhmm.

Rob 25:30

Well, you were in Utah.

Hannah 25:31

No, she was in Colorado, colorado, whatever.

Rob 25:33

Same thing. I'm sorry, it's okay, I don't care. I'm pretty sure I remember very young.

Jess 25:43

I got the T-dab with the tetanus shot, but not the TB. Not until the Marlowe story, hmm, mm-hmm.

Hannah 25:49

Anyways, not until the Marvel story Hmm.

Rob 25:51

Mm-hmm, anyways.

Hannah 25:53

I mean, it's not a big deal or anything, it's just this little prick and then you have to watch it.

Jess 25:58

Those little pricks.

Rob 25:58

Yeah, it's like a little circle thing yeah.

Jess 26:00

You're not supposed to get the circle thing.

Rob 26:03

No, but the test is a circle.

Hannah 26:05

Which the Band-Aid leaves a circle. At least for me it did, and yeah, because they gave me a circle band-aid.

Jess 26:16

So when I took it off I was like, but it was just like the imprint of the band-aid. Anywho, back on track. There was no answer at the door, but the screen door had been cut and so the police forced their way in. There were three more bodies, all murdered with the blunt side of an ax. The bloody ax that killed both families, borrowed from a neighbor, was found resting against the Wayne house. In each home, like the other ones I had mentioned, there was a lamp that had its chimney removed. Aj Burnham was initially arrested for the crimes, but he had an alibi he was too sick to commit the murders and he would die of tuberculosis a few months later. No one else was brought to trial for these murders.

Rob 26:56

Wow.

Unsolved Family Murders Mystery

Jess 26:57

The next family that was murdered was the exact year to the exact day of the Villisca murders, so one year prior to Villisca. On the same day, the Hill family lived south of Portland Oregon. Same day the Hill family lived south of Portland Oregon and on the morning of June 10th, once again a neighbor noticed no movement or activity around the Hill house. The observant, yet coward of a neighbor sent his wife to check on the family. Oh my gosh, really Typical male thing to do. Would you go check it out, rob, or would you send Hannah? I'd probably go check it out with Hannah, but she'd be walking in front. She knocked on the door and there was no answer. She tried to look through the window but they had been covered with clothes. But there was a small gap where she saw the bloody body of five-year-old Dorothy Hill laid out on the floor, and she ran away screaming. Mrs Hill had stirred a bit when her husband was murdered, but they had both still been in bed. Their eight year old son was murdered in bed and Dorothy was the only one not in bed and she was covered with bloody fingerprints. I think you get the idea what this man is capable of. I think you get the idea what this man is capable of. I want to skip over the rest of the 15 cases the authors had mentioned with almost certainty that they were completed by the same man, but I want to name them so they won't be forgotten.

Jess 28:24

The Casaways, louis, elizabeth and their three children, josie, age 6, Louise, age 3, and Alfred, 5 months, march 21, 1911,. In San Antonio, texas. The Schultzes of Houston Heights, texas, march 11, 1910,. Gus, 23, and Alice, 21, and their children, 3-year-old Bessie and an unnamed 6-month-old. The Hood family of Beckley, west Virginia, october 31, 1909. George, his son Roy, his daughter Almeda, and Almeda's daughter, 12-year-old Emma. The Meadows family, buchanan County, virginia, september 21, 1909. George, his wife Lydia, their three children Will, noah and Lafayette, all under the age of 10. Lydia's mother, betty Justice, who owned the cabin they were living in. The Lilerley family, september 13, 1906. Barber Junction, isaac, lilerley, augusta, john, alice and their daughter. Alice was still alive but died the next day, and this is the only story that has survivors. I'm not sure if the man was in a hurry or if he just didn't know. Other people were in the house due to it being large rundown plantation house. But their three older daughters survived and woke up when they could smell the smoke of the house being started on fire.

Rob 29:52

That's a new MO.

Jess 29:54

Well, as we go back, he actually started doing that in the beginning and he did it at the murder after the Villisca. And I always wonder why? Because it seems to me that would cause more like bring more attention to the homes.

Rob 30:12

But it also destroys evidence, but it also destroys evidence.

Jess 30:14

And the reason why it wasn't done in in velisco was because they were closer to neighbors than some of these other ones the hughes of trenton, south carolina, december 8th 1904 benjamin hughes and his wife ava, and their daughters, emma 19 andie 14. Now that we've paid our respects and trust me, there were a ton more cases with similarities but, like I said, it would have taken forever. But let's get down to the nitty-gritty about who the authors think this man from the train was and, spoiler alert, they have a name. Granted, there is no, no evidence. But based on the similarities of the crimes, they have identified the very first murder and the suspect who they think committed it. So tell me what you think. The first murdered family could very well be the newtons of west brookfield, massachusetts really I had no idea that this was going there.

Hannah 31:12

That's a fun fact.

Rob 31:14

Remind me what that is.

Jess 31:17

Brookfield Massachusetts.

Rob 31:19

Yes, brookfield, but the Newtons, yeah, the Newtons. Am I supposed to know them? No, but it was in.

Jess 31:23

Massachusetts, which is cool that it's like the first ones.

Hannah 31:26

Yes, Okay.

Rob 31:29

I see where we're going now. Yes.

Jess 31:31

It was Sunday, january 9th 1898. No one had seen Francis Newton since Friday, and by Sunday afternoon the Newton's 15 cows were lowing loud apparently.

Rob 31:43

Lowing.

Jess 31:44

Lowing and desperate. They were unfed and strained by two days of milk. I've never had kids, so I don't know what it's like to have two days worth of milk in the Nellies. So you put lowing.

Rob 31:56

Yeah, that's what it says, Did you mean?

Jess 31:57

mooing, no lowing.

Rob 31:59

Do you think it was a typo?

Jess 32:00

No, it was in the book.

Rob 32:01

Oh.

Jess 32:01

That way. Okay, Some of the neighbors. I'm not an expert on bovine terminology. What Bovine Cows?

Hannah 32:13

are bovine Cows. Are a bovine? Yeah, what's a bovine Cows? I don't understand. Is that like the Latin term, or something? No, it's Greek, oh Sorry.

Rob 32:26

Everything gets back to the Greek.

Hannah 32:31

Oh man.

Jess 32:32

Anyway.

Jess 32:39

So, the cows had some milk in their nellies. That does sound painful though. Yeah, some of the some of the neighbors came over to help with the livestock, concerned why the newtons would go out of town and not tell one of them. But by 10 pm that night they went over to the two-story farmhouse to investigate. The front and back doors were locked, the curtains were drawn. There were no answers to their knocks or calls. The men eventually found their way in through an unlocked window with a broken pane leading into the parlor. In the first room they found the mother and daughter in bed, soaked with blood, with covers pulled up all the way to their head.

Jess 33:15

Francis lay in his bed, his head bashed beyond recognition. His body remained in his nightclothes with blankets piled tightly to cover his body and face. He was struck four times over the left temple. Downstairs, his wife and daughter's head in a similar state, except their nightgowns had been pulled up and their bodies had been attacked as well as their faces. They were not robbed, nor was there evidence of rape. Death was instantaneous for all victims and the murder had exited the house by crawling out the window, leaving the doors locked from the inside. Missing from the scene was the farmhand, paul Mueller. He was last seen the night of the murder heading towards the nearest train yard. Ooh, newton had hired Mueller as a farmhand as he needed help on the farm. Obviously, jess, he was a good help at a good price. Mueller slept in the room just off of newton's mueller just off from newton's old bedroom.

Jess 34:20

So it's like the lizzie bourne house where you had to go through newton's bedroom to get to mueller's bedroom, which is kind of weird do we know how far away?

Rob 34:30

um what town was this again?

Hannah 34:34

west brookfield.

Rob 34:34

West brookfield do we know how far away west brookfield, massachusetts, is from where lizzie borden was?

Hannah 34:40

oh, it's probably a good. It's by stir bridge, oh, okay, yeah, oh, west brookfield yeah, isn't that where aubrey lives? Or her fiancee.

Rob 34:49

Yeah, they got a brewery there, that's right, yeah that's where he grew up, west brookfield, okay, okay, so I mean but we know, uncle train ride I'm. I'm thinking Lizzie Borden.

Jess 34:59

No, the MO was different. Yeah, there's, yeah, so many differences.

Rob 35:03

I know, but it was we figured out. It was 12 years earlier than the Velastic.

Jess 35:10

Lizzie Borden happened in 1892, and this was in 1898. So he could have very well been in the state, but Lizzie Borden's, that stuff does not match.

Rob 35:20

Right, but that could have been like his very first murder.

Jess 35:23

This one is the very first murder, rob, I'm just saying Stop trying to make.

Hannah 35:27

Fetch happen. It's not going to happen. Fetch Agree to disagree.

Jess 35:32

It's Mean Girls.

Rob 35:34

Which one, the new one or the old one?

Jess 35:36

The only one that matters why do they have to keep remaking shit? I? Don't know no one can have their own creative thought.

Hannah 35:43

I just don't like how they made the new one. We're like this isn't your mom's Mean Girls. It was not supposed to mean Mean Girls was Mean Girls. Stop trying to make fetch happen. It's not going to happen.

Jess 35:53

Does that make you?

Hannah 35:54

feel old. No, I am young.

Jess 35:57

I heard that no one was really bad good, I'm so glad, like all remakes usually are. According to reports, newton was happy with mueller's work but said that mueller could be cranky. But then again, newton did have the reputation for being a strict man and speaking sharply to his hired men. He had also been hard on Mueller and told him that if he didn't do better work that he had to leave. Mueller was notably other. He was very short and stout, between 5'4 and 5'5. He had long greasy hair and a poorly trimmed mustache. He was believed to be 35 in 1898. He spoke with a German accent and his feet were a size 6, which is the same size of the footprints found around some of the crime scenes, and he was an experienced tramp or vagabond. At 1130 that Friday night neighbors had seen Mueller walking away from the farm in the direction of the Brookfield train depot. Others seeing him called out to him saying hello, but he ignored them. The man at the ticket counter remembers a poorly dressed man buying a ticket for Springfield at 1.05 am.

Rob 37:11

Ooh, springfield Mass, yes, ooh.

Jess 37:14

Yes, right in your backyard. So now I have to go to the book because I didn't finish typing, so here I quote and here I am quoting he paid for the ticket with a half dollar coin from 1836.

Connections Between Unsolved Murders

Jess 37:30

Arthur rice, one of the neighbors who discovered the bodies and saw m Mueller we imagine that Mr Rice was all up in the police's face about this case said that the coin belonged to Newton, who had a coin collection that Rice had admired. The story of Newton's coin collection survived the newspaper accounts of the crime for years and it was mentioned as late as 1902. The story of Newton's coin collection survived the newspaper accounts of the crimes for years and was mentioned as late as 1902 as one of the key facts establishing Mueller's guilt. It seems odd that a ticket agent would not at first remember selling a ticket at 105 am to a shabbily dressed troll who paid for the ticket with an antique coin. But the police relied on the ticket agent's revised memory and followed Mueller's trail to Springfield. The brakeman on the Springfield Express night train, arthur Cooley, remembered a small, stout, laboring man with long dark hair, acting shifty, first on the Springfield platform, presumably buying another ticket, and then again in the smoking cab. The man got off, or at least off the smoking car in New Haven, connecticut, but not before the brakeman noted his dress in some detail. He wore the dark clothes and his coat was a rusty color. He wore a light checked cap and had no bags.

Jess 38:56

Like the Brookfield ticket taker, new Haven ticket agent had delayed realization about a man of Mueller's description in the wake of the attention of the Globe reporters. He too sold Mueller a ticket at 4 am on Saturday, about five hours after the murders. The ticket was again for a short distance only, to Bridgeport, connecticut. Though Mueller disappeared onto the train immediately thereafter and the agent also noted his golf cap of check design with a red thread. A baggage handler, tracy, saw the short capped man getting off the smoking train at New Haven and did not see him get back on. The apparently fashionable and observant man said we see a good many men wearing those caps, but they are all students and so I was somewhat surprised to see a man of his appearance with a style of cap. Brotherton seemed amused by the golf cap, calling it singular in contrast with his poor clothing. Tracy watched the man leave this area and he did not return.

Jess 39:57

Mueller's trail vanished near the coast of southern Connecticut. He had received mail from his sister living in Patterson, new Jersey, and it was suspected that he might be headed there to seek shelter with his sister. From New Haven to Patterson is 88 miles, but the Mueller-Newton-Brookfield crime was not invisible or underreported and it was actually widely reported in its day, as the Villisca murders had been. Enough information exists that a short book could be written on the case and the New York newspapers published long stories about the Brookfield murders and the search for Paul Mueller. Reports of Mueller in one prison or another poured across the country in the first month. Are you laughing at how I say Worcester?

Rob 40:51

No transients.

Jess 40:53

Yeah.

Rob 40:54

So do you want me to take the word that you just said, transients, and replace it with tramps?

Jess 40:59

No, transients are tramps. Okay, yeah, but that's fine. Okay, tramps is fun to say.

Hannah 41:06

But I thought tramp was a hooker.

Jess 41:09

No, well, eventually, that lady is a tramp.

Hannah 41:12

I mean, that's what Frank Sinatra said, yeah but he don't.

Rob 41:17

But isn't a hooker, a skinwalker?

Jess 41:20

Don't say that word. You're not supposed to say it out loud.

Rob 41:26

What's the other name for a skinwalker? Flesh pedestrian, Flesh pedestrian. So when I was editing that episode I finally looked it up. You did yes.

Jess 41:35

There's some creepy story. I have a friend I don't know if he listens, but his friend is Joe. His name is Joe and he's a Navajo Indian and I call him Nava Joe.

Rob 41:46

Nava Joe Hi Nava.

Jess 41:47

Joe. But we were camping one night and he refused to talk about him. He refused to even say the word. So don't say it Anywho. Back to Mueller.

Jess 42:04

On the morning of January 7th 1899, paul Mueller probably did not believe he was going to murder Frank Newton and his family. In the two months of working on the Newton farm, mueller had grown to intensely hate Newton. He was a big, strong man who insulted him, ordered him around and treated him without much respect, although Mueller knew that he had worked hard and that he did good work. He hated Newton and he fantasized about hitting him in the head with an axe. Yes, but he had fantasized about killing people for many years all of his life really and he had never done it. He did not truly expect this Friday would be any different. Something must have happened that day, though, that would make it different.

Jess 42:52

Friday is usually payday. Newton was close with a dollar. He was cheap. It was possible that there was a disagreement about money. Perhaps Mueller broke something on the farm or in the house and Newton was going to hold the cost of it out of his pay. Or maybe Newton and Mueller had gone somewhere on an errand and had lunch and he expected Mueller to pay for his share. Mueller had limited command of the english language and apparently I do too and almost certainly did not self-advocate effectively even in his native tongue, and probably he accepted whatever newton said or did, but seethed about it. I mean, I don't know about you, but there's some times at work that I'm like, oh motherfucker, but I don't say anything.

Hannah 43:40

Every other word yeah.

Jess 43:42

Sentence Praise but it may not have been about the money. It may have been that Newton tried to get an extra hour's work out of Mueller that was late in the day, or there was a misunderstanding about some task that was late in the day, or there was a misunderstanding about some task, or it is possible that Mueller, living in the Newton house, may have happened to catch a glimpse of Elsie in a naked or vulnerable position and has fired his perverted lust. So this is one thing that I don't like about the book is like they they take it in this direction a little too much. So maybe even that didn't happen and they mention a lot throughout with the younger girls, and I think it is something that should definitely be taken into consideration about what kind of guy, what type of person this guy was. But maybe he had seen Mrs Newton in a naked or vulnerable.

Jess 44:37

Come on, come on, come on. We will never know what it was, but the volcano in Paul Mueller's horrible heart could no longer be contained.

Jess 44:47

Oh brother Mueller did cut firewood every day and probably carried firewood into the house On this day. Maybe he snuck the axe into the house up to his room. Maybe he hid it under his bed. He was waiting for the family to fall asleep. Paul Mueller, in Bill James' and Rachel McCarthy James' opinion, was the man from the train. And Paul Mueller committed these murders in Villisca as well as other crimes.

Jess 45:19

A serial murder must of course have a first crime and it is common for the first crime to reveal information about him and the later crimes he will conceal. A serial murder's first crime is often poorly planned or completely unplanned. Often in his first crime he kills a person or persons with whom he has known ties, making him the obvious suspect. So to end this episode, I am just going to talk about the similarities between Brookfield murders and Villisca. Brookfield murders all doors locked and jam shut. Same with Villisca Brookfield all window shades and blinds completely closed. Same with Villisca Brookfield murder murder weapon was an axe. Same as Vill Veliska Brookfield blunt side of the axe or sharp. It was the blunt end in both.

Jess 46:25

Both families were attacked after they had gone to sleep. All victims hit repeatedly in the head, some in the body Victims. All were hit repeatedly in the head. Brookfieldfield victims heads were covered with cloth, same as veliska in brookfield a 10 year old and mother were sexually exposed in death. Veliska, the 12 year old lena stillinger, was sexually exposed in death. She had her underwear taken off. The axe was left on the floor next to the girl's bed in both murders and jewelry and valuables were left in plain sight. With both murders brookfield murders paul was known to be left-handed and with veliska, investigators believe that their murderer was left-handed. The fact that lynn kelly was left-handed was used against him when he was put on trial for the velisca murders. So I don't know what you guys think, but I don't think all these are coincidences?

Hannah 47:28

no, that's very compelling.

Rob 47:30

Yes just think if they had a fingerprint back then that.

Jess 47:33

Well, that, and in the technology, I think it would be really cool if we had like some genealogy dna or dna left from the murder scenes that could like connect all these cases.

Rob 47:49

Yeah well, you said the the last.

Jess 47:51

I don't know how to say that was never solved, so maybe it's all in a box somewhere, maybe, but things were kind of done differently back then actually like the murder I was reading in this book and with the other murders, the um, the police would release the houses within like three days and people would come in and buy the stuff oh my god within three days of the murders. That's crazy.

Jess 48:17

So even if there was anything of use, evidence yeah yeah, and another thing that was interesting in this book is that we always talk about it being crazy that people come in and like destroy crime scenes. But that was very common back then and a lot of neighbors would go in and do the investigations themselves, and that was so. When we hear about crowds of people going into these homes where these murders had happened, it was, it was just common practice and looking at it from a 2024 lens, we're like, oh my God, the evidence.

Rob 48:56

But they didn't know.

Jess 48:57

They didn't know back then.

Rob 48:58

That's crazy it was entertainment.

Jess 48:59

That's why you wear gloves. Yes, wear gloves. But I can totally see all these cases being connected. Oh yeah, absolutely I think there were. Of all the cases they researched, there were 101 victims, to include people who were wrongfully accused. In the South there were some. So another interesting thing everything is interesting, so I'll just stop saying that word is that the man on the train never hit in the cold months, so during the cold months he would actually go South, and so all of the ones in the North were done during the summer fall months, but the ones in the South were done during, like, the summer fall months, but the ones in the south that happened during the winter time. They were also in a racially charged area and almost automatically all the share crop or the share croppers, I think is what they call them were charged, the black share croppers. And there was one case where three men were lynched, oh, and they were hung for the murders, for something they didn't do, for something they didn't do.

Hannah 50:05

It was kind of sad, very sad, but yeah so when did the bodies like smell in the summer, though probably, oh god, yeah, there are.

Jess 50:12

There were a couple where they weren't found for a couple days, and so, yeah, thank you, jessica, thanks guys.

Rob 50:19

Yeah, thank you very much.

Jess 50:21

And thanks Kaylin for joining us. Thanks, kaylin.

Hannah 50:24

Thank you guys for coming, yes we love guests and thanks Wanderers for supporting us.

Jess 50:30

Go like and subscribe on all of our socials, please and thank you. Please and thank you.

Rob 50:35

And a shout out to our new subscriber, Kate. Thank you very much.

Hannah 50:38

Thanks, Kate, Thanks.

Jess 50:39

Kate.

Rob 50:40

Bye, we'll see you next time.

Jess 50:41

Bye.

Hannah 50:42

Thanks for listening today, wicked Wanderings is hosted by Hannah Fitzpatrick and me, jess.

Jess 50:47

Gunan.

Rob 50:48

And it's produced by Rob Fitzpatrick.

Jess 50:51

Music by Sasha End.

Hannah 50:52

If If you enjoyed today's episode, don't forget to leave us a rating and review.

Jess 50:56

And be sure to follow us on all our socials.

Hannah 50:59

You can find the links down in the show notes and, if you're looking for some Wicked Cozy t-shirts or hoodies, head over to our merch store.

Jess 51:07

Thank you for being a part of the Wicked Wanderings community. We appreciate each and every one of you.

Hannah 51:13

Stay curious, keep exploring and always remember to keep on wandering.