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All the United States Iowa Villisca Villisca Axe Murder House

Villisca Axe Murder House

This seemingly charming home memorializes and honors the victims of a century-old unsolved murder.

Villisca, Iowa

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The Villisca Axe Murder House   megan
The original headline.   megan
Don’t forget to grab a free souvenir.   megan
Illustrations of the victims.   megan
  PushingUpDaisies / Atlas Obscura User
Ina & Lena   PushingUpDaisies / Atlas Obscura User
Attica space next to the bedrooms.   PushingUpDaisies / Atlas Obscura User
One of the recreated bedrooms.   megan
  SemiruralYeti / Atlas Obscura User
  SemiruralYeti / Atlas Obscura User
Sitting room   PushingUpDaisies / Atlas Obscura User
A not-at-all creepy doll inside the house.   megan
The Moore Family- Copyright US Ghost Adventures   Content We Junket / Atlas Obscura User
Stillinger & Moore graves   PushingUpDaisies / Atlas Obscura User
Villisca Ax Murder House -Copyright US Ghost Adventures   Content We Junket / Atlas Obscura User
  Jennifer Kirkland. All rights reserved.
One of the children’s toys.   megan
  SemiruralYeti / Atlas Obscura User
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About

A brutal, unsolved murder case from last century still attracts morbid visitors to the crime scene that is now unabashedly named the Villisca Axe Murder House. 

Sometime after midnight on June 10th, 1912, six children and two adults were found bludgeoned to death by an axe that was left at the scene. Accusations regarding the culprit spread quickly throughout the small town of Villisca, Iowa, sparking suspicious glances among neighbors that would lead to friendships torn asunder. Unfortunately, the crime-solving technology of 1912 was not sophisticated enough to identify the murderer, and the case has gone unsolved to this day. Amateur detectives ranging from historians to psychics have tried their hand at solving the case, but a verdict has never been reached.

After changing hands a number of times since the crime, the house was eventually sold to local museum operator Darwin Linn in 1994. Linn immediately began renovations on the home, restoring it to a near-perfect replica of its condition at the time of the murders, and gave the site a grisly new name: Villisca Axe Murder House.

Presently, the home is owned by US Ghost Adventures. Visitors can tour the historic crime scene, now free from gore, or stay for a night at the historic home. The entire house can be rented for $600 or a single bedroom for $200.

 

Related Tags

Crime Museums And Collections Museums Crime And Punishment Eccentric Homes Homes

Know Before You Go

You can also visit their graves at the Villisca Cemetery. Enter from Cemetery Road, go straight in about 200 feet or so and loom for the large gray monument that says Moore. Ina and Lena's graves are a row closer to the road and to the left if you are facing the back of the Moore's monument. The Stillinger stones are red.

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megan

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AcreeMacam, PushingUpDaisies, Content We Junket, Shockjenn...

  • AcreeMacam
  • PushingUpDaisies
  • Content We Junket
  • Shockjenn
  • SemiruralYeti
  • melissabollman

Published

October 17, 2014

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  • www.usghostadventures.com
  • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Villisca_Axe_Murders
  • http://iowacoldcases.org/case-summaries/villisca-axe-murders/
  • http://www.villiscaiowa.com/
Villisca Axe Murder House
508 E 2nd S
Villisca, Iowa, 50864
United States
40.927644, -94.978706
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