The Axeman of New Orleans

World War I and the Great Depression were not the only concerns that Americans had during the beginning of the 20th century. The citizens of the state of New Orleans, after the war ended also had another reason to keep themselves awake at night. It might have been due to the constant fear of someone driving an axe into their head while catching some shut-eye probably caused many sleepless nights.

Luckily for the victims, the Axeman was a lousy murderer, might I say. More than a third of his victims survived (which is a good thing... to us sane folk), even after being attacked in their sleep. Some argue that the Axeman might me an impersonator of Jack "the Ripper". I believe it is possible that this Axeman might have seen Jack as a sort of inspiration. In order to be inspired by something like this, you've got a problem. So since the 13 victims were believed to be chosen at random, and have no relations with eachother, makes me believe that this person might have had something horribly wrong in his head.

I'm surprised there hasn't been a movie based on this unknown killer. Although, American Horror Story did do an episode based on the Axeman. The nature of his crime is very odd, and this case probably has the most unknown factors. A part of me wants to believe that maybe this killer isn't nuts after all and is just going with his reason. Maybe he knew all his victims, and something happened where the killer thought his only option was to end their lives. 

Also, I'm skeptical about how 5 of his victims survived an axe attack in their sleep. I'm questioning if he had certain people he wanted to seriously injure, and others that he wanted to eliminate? 

I assume this person was a man, who had a hard life. Probably witness to abuse and neglect as a child, which developed into a form of mental misunderstandings. It's very possible he didn't know the victims, and killed them out of pleasure, like cases I've discussed in the past. He might not have been completely aware of the severity of his actions; A misunderstanding. 

Source(s)
-http://www.crimelibrary.com/serial_killers/weird/axeman/9.html
-http://altereddimensions.net/2013/axeman-serial-killer-new-orleans
-http://www.fearnet.com/news/news-article/real-story-american-horror-storys-axeman-new-orleans

The HinterKaifeck Farm Murders

This next case is easily one of the most terrifying. It takes place in early 20th century Germany, on a remote farm, where the Gruber family was brutally murdered, about 1 hour from the nearest city. The Gruber family was kilometres away from the nearest home, surrounded by empty crops and vegetation. The property was also very run-down, not taken care of, and the house and barn were beginning to fall apart. The husband of the household is known to have beaten his children, but I do not suspect it as the reason for murder since the kids, wife and maid were also killed in cold blood.

The family was average, not particularly liked, but also not hated. The day of the murder, the maid had been replaced with a new one. This rises my interest. To me, it seems too unlikely to be a coincidence, but there is no way to prove me right or wrong. The thought of the old maid killing the family after replacing her, popped into my head. But it seems unrealistic. The previous maid left on good terms. Four of the family members were found dead in the barn, believed to be lead there by someone. The other two kids, were killed in their sleep in the house.

This case reminds me of the movie The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, which remains one of the most disturbing movies I've ever seen. The killer in this case killed the victims with a strike on the head with a pickaxe. Not a very friendly weapon. Andreas Gruber, the father, saw many signs to show that someone had been watching them, but he never put the pieces together. There were mysterious items placed around the house (such as a newspaper he had never heard of), there were foot prints in the snow found one morning coming from the forest. Also, one night Mr Gruber awoke in his sleep when he heard noises arising from the attic. That's the scary part, the fact that this killer might have been spying on them for days with out the family even knowing.

I get this feeling that the killers might have been distant neighbours, who may have had some unknown reason to kill the family. The police says that after the Grubers were killed, the murderer(s) lived in the Kaifeck farm for days afterward and even took care of the farm animals. It seems a little pathetic, but it's all I can think of. The family was obviously hated by the killers since they drove a pick between their eyes. The reason I think the murderer(s) were locals is because they took care of the animals.

There is also the spiritual possibility, where it is believed that the family was murdered by ghosts or some type of paranormal creature. The reason the first maid left, was because she believed the house was haunted... I seriously doubt it, but there technically is no proof against it.

"[The person who created] those strange footprints that cold March morning, only they know exactly what occurred in Hinterkaifeck." (Ghost Theory).



Source(s)
-https://excitingearth.wordpress.com/2013/03/26/the-mysterious-hinterkaifeck-murders/
-http://www.ghosttheory.com/2013/06/01/from-beyond-the-woods-the-hinterkaifeck-murders

The Ripper Murders

It has been 120 years since the famous Ripper Murders took place in London, so to burst your bubble before you get too anxious, there will never be justice for these victims. Jack "the Ripper" is dead by now, and there will most likely never be any new evidence presented. He was given his name by the town newspaper because he liked cutting the body open multiple times after their death.

Jack "the Ripper" has more books/movies made about him, then every United States President combined. We find his life so interesting and hard to turn away from, because of his uniqe was of killing his victims. "He comes from out of the fog, kills violently and quickly, and disappears without a trace.” (Crime Library). One of the reasons that Jack received his name is because he would cut open his victims throats, which tore their vocal chords (restricting them from screaming) and causing them to hemorrhage (loose blood extremely quickly) to death within a matter of seconds. There is no antidote for something like that. No fixing it.

He was a creative killer, not encouraging it, but it's hard not to be fascinated by his various methods of torture. This is pretty solid proof, if I might say, that he might have suffered from a mental illness or something of the sort. On one occasion, Jack would stab his victim a good 40-50 times. You would think that 1 or 2 would be enough. This murder alone leads me to think that some sort of hatred inspired him to kill that person. I hypothesize if Jack might have had Intermittent Explosive disorder, which causes you to go on extreme rampages without fearing consequences. On another account, the victim was found dead with "[...] a blunt instrument rammed into her vagina" (Crime Library) which was her cause of death.

His victim count has not been confirmed since other unsolved murders in the area could possibly also be from him, but the 5 victims that were certainly him were female prostitutes in a small town in London, but none of his victims had been raped before death. I can't stop to wonder why prostitutes? He doesn't seem to be much of a vigilante, so what could it be?

There have always been speculations on who it might have been, but never any justice. I'm determined that Jack "the Ripper" was a younger man who had been suffering from an undiagnosed mental illness. To do those kinds of brutal killings, you must not be concious of the severity of what you are doing. Killing someone is one thing It doesn't take a psychopath to murder someone, but to impale someone, or to stab someone 50 times, that takes a real lunatic. I still don't completely understand why he chose to murder prostitutes, if he didn't sexually abuse them, then why them? There is always the thought in my head that he might kill these women to feed hunger for murder. He might have chosen prostitutes because to him, they might have been the most vulnerable, and most unlikely to defend themselves or seek protection.


Little Side Note:
Frances Coles was a woman who was found dead near the Ripper murders locations, but her death was assumed to be by another man of the area. He was sentenced, then years after, it was finally discovered that he wasn't Coles' killer, but she had in fact been part of the Ripper serial killings.

Source(s):
-http://www.jack-the-ripper.org/

-http://www.crimelibrary.com/serial_killers/notorious/ripper/lady_2.html

-http://www.crimelibrary.com/serial_killers/notorious/ripper/index_1.html

-http://www.crimelibrary.com/serial_killers/notorious/ripper/suspects_11.html

"O.J Simpson: Monster or Myth?"

This next case is a little different. There was a suspect who was nearly proved guilty thanks to DNA evidence, but in the end, he still got away with the murder and he is living like a free man today.

The reason I am discussing this case is because, despite the evidence nearly proving that he committed the murder, other evidence or tampering or mishandling of evidence brought to the trial was enough to create a reasonable doubt that he was guilty.

Orenthal James Simpson was a star NFL player who played for the 49ers until 1979. He was accused for the murder of his ex-wife, Nicole Simpson, and her friend, Ronald Goldman, during the summer of 1994.

In June 1994, O.J arrives home shortly after dinner. He leaves for a flight at 11pm to Los Angeles. Simpson's ex-wife and her friend are found dead outside of his house. He evades the scene and has 20 police cars chasing him down the freeway for hours because he refused to pull over. Why would he do this if he "has nothing to hide"? Doesn't make any sense to me.

Since there are many dates involved in this process I took the liberty of arranging it into a time line to simplify your understanding of it all.  O.J pleads "absolutely, 100% not guilty" during his trial.

August 1994
In court, it is revealed that O.J's DNA is found around the scene of the crime.

January 1995
911 dispatch operator testifying in court, claims to have heard a woman screaming and someone being hit in the background during the emergency call.

February 1995
Nicole Simpson's sister admits that her husband has been physically abusive in the past. A former friend of Orenthal's testifies that O.J told him he fanaticized about killing his wife.

July 1995
Toxicologist assigned to the case says that he found that the evidence on scene had ben tampered with. He believes that the police may have manipulated some evidence.

Because of this, the case is pretty much destroyed. Who knows what evidence is actual evidence. It could all be fake for what we know and he might in fact be innocent!

September 1995
It turns out that the detective responsible for the case, Mark Fuhrman, has a history of racism. He believes all black people are inferior and identifies them as n****s. "if [Fuhrman] had his way, n****s would be gathered together and burned".


After Fuhrman's racism toward O.J was exposed, the evidence was no longer trust-worthy. Because like the toxicologist had predicted, it may have been tampered with. O.J Simpson was a free man as of October 1995. I believe if Fuhrman had not been judgemental to the color of Simpson's skin, then he might have succeeded in putting O.J behind bars. By being racist, he created a reasonable doubt for the case.

A part of me wants to believe that he is the innocent man that he claims to be, but I can't because of his history. The fact that he got in an argument with his ex-wife before her death, and that he used to beat her and also admitted to a friend that he had thoughts of killing her is too big to overlook. He was let free because someone wanted him to go to prison not only for the murder, but because of his skin colour; And because of the unprofessional judgement made by that detective, he is free. He wanted it too badly. Not to forget the fact that O.J refused to pull over after hours of being chased through Los Angeles, while he claimed to have done nothing.


Source(s)
-http://articles.latimes.com/1995-09-06/news/mn-42720_1_mark-Fuhrman
-http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/index/nns053.htm
-http://wheels.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/06/17/o-j-simpsons-white-bronco-police-chase-happened-19-years-ago-today/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=0