The case of the Axeman of New Orleans, like the Cleveland Torso Murders, should really be sitting alongside the cases of Jack the Ripper and Zodiac in regards to being fascinating unsolved crimes which involve taunting letters to the Press.
Pre-dating both the Zodiac and Cleveland cases, the setting for these horrific murders was New Orleans, 1918, a melting pot of cultural influences and home to a seedy underbelly of organised crime.
The reign of this mysterious killer held the city (and surrounding areas) in a state of unbridled fear for over 18 months.
Not one person residing in The Big Easy would escape the panic fuelled frenzy that was to whip the city up into one final night of terror which has never been matched by any killer.
And then, as instantly as the killer materialised, he vanished into the fragrant air of the Cajun streets.
The first victims were Italian immigrants Joseph Maggio and his wife. Butchered as they slept, the scene of sheer horror which was to greet detectives would soon become a familiar site.
Having chiselled a panel out of the apartment door (the Maggios lived above their grocery store) the killer entered through this hole and carried out his terrible crimes.
The murder weapon, an axe, was left at the scene, propped nonchalantly against a wall, and covered in the blood of the unfortunate couple.
Investigators were reminded of three similar murders which had taken place in 1911, in which the victims had all been Italian grocers, killed by an axe after the assailant had made entry through a chiselled-out door panel.
At first these crimes were attributed to the Mafia, due to their Italian connection, but it would soon become clear that these were not revenge killings or contract murders.
A maniac was on the loose.
The next attack looks to be a failure on the part of the killer in that the chosen couple both survived the attack.
Louis Bossumer and his wife Annie Harriet Lowe were attacked in an identical manner to the previous crimes, with the killer making his usual entry through a removed door panel, and leaving his axe in the blood drenched room.
Having left the couple for dead, the killer again absconded. But despite receiving several axe blows to their heads, the couple were soon able to describe their attacker.
Annie’s description however was the kind of tangled thought which one would expect from someone recuperating from axe wounds to the head, as she described a “very dark young man” before changing her story to claim that her husband had attacked her!
Bessumer, however, was allowed to go free after recovering from his injuries, as detectives ascertained that even the most dedicated killer would stop short of attacking his own skull with an axe!
The mysterious axe man was also to fail in his next attempt, as he, in a change to his usual modus operandi, attacked a lone female victim.
A Mrs Schneider is reported to have woken to see a “large phantom-like form” standing menacingly over her bed. She screamed as the axe fell onto her head, alerting neighbours who found her unconscious and with missing teeth from the attack. She later made a full recovery from her injuries.
The next victim wasn’t so fortunate. Joseph Romano was set upon in the textbook Axeman manner. A missing panel in his door and a discarded axe was all that remained of the killer when detectives arrived to study the crime scene. Romano was killed instantly by the heavy blows to his skull.
By now, panic in the city had reached fever pitch, with local men forming vigilante groups and taking shifts to watch over their streets and homes as their terrified families tried to sleep.
Rumour and urban legend was also rife, with reports that the killer was masquerading as a woman, or wasn’t of earthly form, circulating around the garden fence grapevine.
However, evidence that the killer was indeed human was soon to be unearthed, as local man, Al Durand reported to police to have found an axe and chisel on his doorstep one morning, with deep scratch marks in the door itself. It would appear that this phantom killer found the heavy door too strong to penetrate, no doubt leading to every carpenter in Louisiana rubbing his hands with glee at the prospect of a massive surge in the need for new, expensive doors within the city!
The next three attempted entries were aborted in a similar way, and the city breathed a collective sigh of relief as the attacks seemed to stop as quickly as they started.
It was several months before the killer was to appear again, this time across the river in nearby Gretna, but this time he left his most gruesome crime scene yet.
The wife of grocer Charles Cortimiglia awoke to find her husband wrestling with a shadowy figure. Despite his struggles, Charles was struck with an axe and fell to the floor. The killer than turned to Mrs Cortimiglia, who by now was shielding her 2 year old daughter.
The dark, hulking shadow then turned the axe on both, fracturing the skull of the mother, and killing the child with one blow.
The testimony of Mrs Cortimiglia was to stump investigators. She described the killer as a large man, yet the panels chiselled out from doors which had been his means of entry were barely big enough for a man of smaller stature to wriggle through.
The police further antagonised the already tumultuous public feeling by describing the killer as “a bloodthirsty maniac, filled with a passion for human slaughter.”
It was also around this time that the killer decided to go public, writing a chilling letter to local newspaper the New Orleans Times-Picayune.
The letter, addressed to the editor read;
Hell, March 13, 1919
Esteemed Mortal:
They have never caught me and they never will. They have never seen me, for I am invisible, even as the ether that surrounds your earth. I am not a human being, but a spirit and a demon from the hottest hell. I am what you Orleanians and your foolish police call the Axeman.
When I see fit, I shall come and claim other victims. I alone know whom they shall be. I shall leave no clue except my bloody axe, besmeared with blood and brains of he whom I have sent below to keep me company.
If you wish you may tell the police to be careful not to rile me. Of course, I am a reasonable spirit. I take no offense at the way they have conducted their investigations in the past. In fact, they have been so utterly stupid as to not only amuse me, but His Satanic Majesty, Francis Josef, etc. But tell them to beware. Let them not try to discover what I am, for it were better that they were never born than to incur the wrath of the Axeman. I don‘t think there is any need of such a warning, for I feel sure the police will always dodge me, as they have in the past. They are wise and know how to keep away from all harm.
Undoubtedly, you Orleanians think of me as a most horrible murderer, which I am, but I could be much worse if I wanted to. If I wished, I could pay a visit to your city every night. At will I could slay thousands of your best citizens, for I am in close relationship with the Angel of Death.
Now, to be exact, at 12:15 (earthly time) on next Tuesday night, I am going to pass over New Orleans. In my infinite mercy, I am going to make a little proposition to you people. Here it is:
I am very fond of jazz music, and I swear by all the devils in the nether regions that every person shall be spared in whose home a jazz band is in full swing at the time I have just mentioned. If everyone has a jazz band going, well, then, so much the better for you people. One thing is certain and that is that some of your people who do not jazz it on Tuesday night (if there be any) will get the axe.
Well, as I am cold and crave the warmth of my native Tartarus, and it is about time I leave your earthly home, I will cease my discourse. Hoping that thou wilt publish this, that it may go well with thee, I have been, am and will be the worst spirit that ever existed either in fact or realm of fancy.
The Axeman
The events of that strange Tuesday night are told beautifully by Troy Taylor on his fabulous website www.prairieghosts.com
“The people of New Orleans did their best to follow the Axeman’s instructions to the letter. Restaurants and clubs all over town were jammed with revelers. Friends and neighbors gathered in their homes to “jazz it up” and midnight found the city alive with activity. Banjos, guitars and mandolins strummed into the night while Joseph Davilla, a well-known local composer, created the theme song for the night. He titled his composition “The Mysterious Axeman’s Jazz” and in typical New Orleans fashion, it became a huge hit.
When the sun rose the next morning, it was learned that not a single attack had occurred that night. Even though it’s doubtful that every home was filled with the sounds of jazz, the Axeman passed the city by, perhaps well satisfied by the celebration that was held in his honour.
Another quiet period followed this incredible night, until a young woman was attacked in her home by an axe-wielding assailant.
Sarah Laumann survived the attack, but due to the fact that the attacker strayed from his usual modus operandi (the girl was not a grocer, nor was any of her family, and the method of entry was different) the public felt that any one of them was now a target for murder.
Many believe, however, that this was either a copycat attack, or somebody had used the Axe Murderer as a convenient cover to settle their own scores.
The next victim was Steve Boca, who was seen staggering from his home on Elysian Fields Avenue covered in blood. He made it to a friends house, who treated his wounds and called the police. Boca survived, but he was extremely lucky, as police found all the tell-tale signs of the killer at the crime scene.
A few weeks later, pharmacist William Carson disturbed an intruder in his home and fired several shots at the retreating figure. On returning to his residence, he found a chiselled out panel in his door, and an axe resting menacingly against the wall.
The final victim was Mike Pepitone, who was butchered as he slept, luckily, his wife and six children who were sleeping in an adjoining room were left untouched. The killer only wanted one victim.
Here the killings ended, and life in New Orleans slowly returned to normal, however, police were still no closer to uncovering the identity of the killer than they had been at the beginning.
Someone had literally got away with a string of brutal murders.
The case remains unsolved to this day.
To read Troy Taylor’s wonderful article on the Axeman of New Orleans, go to www.prairieghosts.com
Red Ink Letters 