The Axeman of New Orleans
New Orleans, Louisiana (11 Victims)
It all began in New Orleans in 1918 with The Axeman of New York. He would chop a hole in a door to get into his victim’s house. He would then axe the man or woman to death. In one case he slit the victim’s throat with a barber’s razor. Often leaving the axe behind, he would flee the house.
He usually used the axe that belonged to the victim and took great joy in confusing the police with this. In several cases, a neighbor or relative was arrested for the murder.
The killer often had a cooling down period and would go months between killings. When that happened, the common folk of New Orleans would let their guard down. That’s when he would strike again. In 1919, the killings unexpectedly stopped.
In total, there were eleven people victimized by the Axeman, including one baby. Of the eleven, five people survived their attacks, though none could say who attacked them.
The Capital City Killer
Madison, Wisconsin (8 Known Victims)
In Madison, Wisconsin, over a fourteen year period, women would suddenly disappear, until, in 1968, bodies began to turn up. Police theorized it was the work of a serial killer, but because the bodies were badly decomposed, identification was near impossible, as was the cause of their deaths.
In total, there were eight victims, each a female between the ages of seventeen and twenty-four who wore her hair long and parted in the same way. They were associated with the University of Wisconsin in one way or another, either living on residence, working there, or attending as a student. For those whom the autopsy could verify cause of death, it was discovered that the victim was stabbed, charred, or had suffered blunt force trauma. It was also believed that many of the bodies have never been found as there were many more young women missing.
In 1984, the abduction of women ended, which makes one wonder again: did the serial killer simply stop, die, or move?
The Frankford Slasher
Frankford, Pennsylvania (8 or 9 Victims)
Between 1985 and 1990, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, nine females ranging from twenty-eight to seventy-four were assaulted, raped, and stabbed to death. One victim in particular was stabbed a total of seventy-four times and one was raped with a three-foot piece of wood.
On May 5, 1990, Leonard Christopher was apprehended and convicted in the murder of one of the nine murders, but the others remain unsolved. As Christopher was awaiting trial, another murder took place and police verified that the killings were not connected to Christopher, as the MO was not the same. Christopher did not even match the description that witnesses gave.
Were there two serial killers working in the same region during this five-year span? Public opinion differs. Some think that Christopher did all the killings; more think the killer has not been caught; some believe he died; and others think he is in jail for another crime. Will the residents of Frankfort ever know? Will there ever be closure for the families of the victims?
The Servant Girl Killer
Austin, Texas (8 + Victims)
In Austin, Texas in 1884 and 1885, a serial killer preyed upon citizens, raping and killing women. On December 26, 1885, the New York Times reported that the "murders were committed by some cunning madman, who is insane on the subject of killing women."
On December 31, 1884, a killer entered a little cabin and killed a servant girl, Mollie Smith, twenty-five, and seriously injured a man named Walter Spencer. Each time he killed, he would use a different weapon. He used a knife to stab eleven-year-old Mary Ramey in the ears. Other times he used an iron rod, and even a brick. Many of his victims were raped before being killed, and the people of Austin were fearful of this maniac.
The people suspected the killer had an affinity for negro serving girls, but on December 24, 1885, he struck twice, both times killing a white woman in the same brutal manner as previous. The killings, however, stopped after that night.
In total, he killed one man and seven women, and assaulted another eight victims who managed to survive. Some believe the Servant Girl Killer went on to become Jack the Ripper; we will never know. The period, however, was right, as was the atrocious nature of the killings. The Ripper, though, never raped his victims, as the Servant Girl Killer did.
The Zodiac Killer
San Francisco, California (39+ Victims)
The identity of the Zodiac killer is unknown and probably will always be, but FBI has not stopped looking, and updates are made to the file regularly. In the 1960s and 1970s, the serial killer operated in the North of California. Normally, the media or police dub a serial killer. This arrogant killer, however, made up his own, calling himself Zodiac in a series of letters he sent to the media.
The Zodiac claims, by way of letters, to have killed thirty-seven people. Authorities only know of seven confirmed victims. It all started on December 20, 1968, when David Faraday and Betty Lou Jensen were on their first date together, and planned to go to a Christmas concert, but first drove out to Lake Herman Road, which was a “lover’s lane.” About a half hour later, their bodies were discovered, and the Sheriff’s office was notified. Both had been shot dead.
Darlene Ferrin and Michael Mageau went for a drive on July 4, 1969 and parked just four miles from the first murder site. Another car drove up and immediately drove away. Ten minutes later, the car returned and parked behind them. The killer shot both of them with a 9mm Luger, firing seven shots. Darlene Ferrin, although shot in the chest, neck, and face, survived, and was able to give details to the police. The Vallejo Police received a call from a man the next day reporting himself to be the killer, claiming he killed the couple back in December. The police traced the call to a phone booth, but no evidence was left, and police had no suspect.
The Vallejo Times Herald, the San Francisco Chronicle, and the San Francisco Examiner, each received a letter on August 1, 1969, supposedly from the killer, taking credit for the murders. The catch was that each newspaper only received 1/3 each of the 408 symbol cryptic letter that the killer claimed would identify him. He demanded the letters be printed on the front pages of their papers or he would kill a dozen people over the weekend. This turned out to be a bluff as the Chief of Police Jack Stiltz said in the Chronicle “We’re not satisfied that he letter was written by the murderer.” The Chronicle, however, did publish their part on page four, but no murder took place over the weekend. The other newspapers also published their pieces, but not on the front page, and not the next day.
The cryptic code was cracked by civilians, Bettye and Donald Harden, of Salinas, California, on August 8, 1969. What it contained was not the identity of the killer, as the killer had claimed, but a message claiming the killer to be collecting slaves for the afterlife.