About this episode
In 1912, an entire family was murdered in their sleep. Explore the botched investigation, the ritualistic crime scene, and the suspects of this unsolved case.[INTRO]ALEX: Imagine waking up to find that every mirror in your house has been covered by a cloth, and there’s a two-pound slab of raw bacon sitting on your floor next to a bloody axe. JORDAN: That sounds like a horror movie trope, but let me guess—this actually happened?ALEX: It did. On June 10, 1912, in the tiny town of Villisca, Iowa, eight people were found bludgeoned to death in their beds. It’s one of the most brutal unsolved mass murders in American history.JORDAN: Eight people in one night? How does someone pull that off without the whole town waking up?ALEX: That’s the mystery we’re diving into today—a story of ritualistic madness, a botched investigation, and a killer who might have been riding the rails from town to town.[CHAPTER 1 - Origin]ALEX: To understand why Villisca was so traumatized, you have to picture the town in 1912. It was a classic Midwestern community of 2,000 people. Nobody locked their doors. Violence was something that happened in big cities or on the lawless frontier, not in Iowa.JORDAN: So a safe haven. Who were the victims?ALEX: The Moore family. Josiah was a successful businessman, and his wife Sara was a pillar of the local church. They had four kids ranging from five to eleven years old. That Sunday night, they’d been at a church program, and their daughter Katherine invited two friends, the Stillinger sisters, to stay for a sleepover.JORDAN: So ten people in the house?ALEX: Eight survivors of the church service walked home that night. They were last seen at 10:00 PM. By 7:00 AM the next morning, the house was eerily silent. A neighbor noticed the family hadn't started their chores, which was unheard of for the Moores.JORDAN: Did the neighbor go inside?ALEX: No, she called Josiah’s brother, Ross. He unlocked the door with his own key, walked into the guest room, saw two bodies covered in blood, and ran out screaming for the marshal.[CHAPTER 2 - Core Story]JORDAN: Okay, walk me through the scene. If it’s as ritualistic as you said, the killer didn't just strike and run.ALEX: Not at all. The killer used Josiah’s own axe. Every single person—all eight of them—had been bludgeoned with the blunt end of the tool while they slept. The force was so incredible that the axe left gouge marks in the ceilings on the upswing.JORDAN: That’s terrifying. And the mirrors?ALEX: Every mirror and glass surface in the house was covered with clothes or linens. The killer also took the bedsheets and covered the faces of all the victims after they were dead. JORDAN: That feels personal. Like he couldn't stand them 'watching' him. What about that bacon you mentioned?ALEX: A two-pound slab of uncooked bacon was leaning against the wal
