Who was murdered?
The Moore family was murdered. The family consists of Josiah "Joe" Moore, Sarah Moore, Herman Moore, Katherine Moore, Boyd Moore, and Paul Moore. They had two house guests that horrible night, the Stillinger sisters, Ina and Lena. It is said that Katherine asked her two friends if they could stay the night at her house tonight. For the sisters were going to go to their grandparent's house after the Children's Day service at the Presbyterian Church and did not want to go there afterwards. (Villisca Axe Murders)
Josiah Moore
Josiah Moore; age 43 at the time of the murders. Josiah Moore was a prominent business man in the town of Villisca and was liked by many. He was a resident of Villisca for 13 years and was employed by Frank Jones at the Jones Store for nine years. Joe Moore was beaten the worst out of the family, his head was so mangled that he was not be able to recognized, it also looked like he had no eyes.
Father of: Herman, Katherine, Boyd, and Paul Moore.
Married to: Sarah Montgomery/Moore. They had only been married 13 years when they were murdered.
(Villisca Axe Murders)
http://www.villiscaiowa.com/images/cover-joe_moore.gif
Father of: Herman, Katherine, Boyd, and Paul Moore.
Married to: Sarah Montgomery/Moore. They had only been married 13 years when they were murdered.
(Villisca Axe Murders)
http://www.villiscaiowa.com/images/cover-joe_moore.gif
Sarah Montgomery/Moore
Sarah Montgomery/Moore; age 39 at the time of the murders. Not much has been given on Sarah Montgomery/Moore. Sarah was an active member of the Presbyterian Church and led the Children's Day Exercises on June 9th. Sarah, like all the others, where murdered in bed, and were hit in the face as many times as the others, at least 20-30 times. Josiah was the only one hit more than 30.
Mother of: Herman, Katherine, Boyd, and Paul Moore.
Married to: Josiah Moore. They had only been married 13 years when they were murdered.
(Villisca Axe Murders)
http://www.villiscaiowa.com/images/cover-sara_moore.gif
Mother of: Herman, Katherine, Boyd, and Paul Moore.
Married to: Josiah Moore. They had only been married 13 years when they were murdered.
(Villisca Axe Murders)
http://www.villiscaiowa.com/images/cover-sara_moore.gif
Herman Moore
Herman Moore; age 11 at the time of the murders. He is the oldest of the Moore children and often helped his father with the livestock, and with other responsibilities children his age were trusted with.
(Villisca Axe Murders)
http://i.cdn.turner.com/trutv/trutv.com/graphics/photos/notorious_murders/mass/villisca/Herman-Moore200.jpg
(Villisca Axe Murders)
http://i.cdn.turner.com/trutv/trutv.com/graphics/photos/notorious_murders/mass/villisca/Herman-Moore200.jpg
Katherine Moore
Katherine Moore; age 10 at the time of the murders. She is the second oldest of the Moore children and the only female out of the four children. She helped with feeding the horses (which she loved the most), and let out the chickens everyday like her brother Herman did. Had invited Ina and Lena Stillinger to stay the night of the murders.
(Villisca Axe Murders)
http://iowacoldcases.org/images/cases_photos/katherine-moore.jpg
(Villisca Axe Murders)
http://iowacoldcases.org/images/cases_photos/katherine-moore.jpg
Boyd Moore
Boyd Moore; age 7 at the time of the murders. Was found dead in his bed next to his younger brother Paul, in the room they shared with their two other siblings.
(Villisca Axe Murders)
http://iowacoldcases.org/images/cases_photos/boyd_moore.jpg
(Villisca Axe Murders)
http://iowacoldcases.org/images/cases_photos/boyd_moore.jpg
Paul Moore
Paul Moore; age 5 at the time of the murders.
(Iowa Cold Cases)
http://iowacoldcases.org/images/cases_photos/paul_moore.jpg
(Iowa Cold Cases)
http://iowacoldcases.org/images/cases_photos/paul_moore.jpg
Lena Stillinger
Lena Stillinger; age 12 at the time of the murders. She is the daughter of Joe and Sarah Stillinger. Lena and Ina were both good friends with Katherine Moore. Lena and Ina were sleeping in the downstairs guest bedroom at the time of the murders. Ina was the one closests to the wall. Lena was found with her head bashed into the pillow, and her left arm hanging out from under the covers. From her peculiar angle they found her in, and for the fact her underwear was removed, they can only think this was an act of a sexual pervert. But why to murder a whole family?
(Iowa Cold Cases)
http://www.villiscamovie.com/images/mystery/lena_stillinger.jpg
(Iowa Cold Cases)
http://www.villiscamovie.com/images/mystery/lena_stillinger.jpg
Ina stillinger
Ina Stillinger; age 8 at the time of the murders. She is the daughter of Joe and Sarah Stillinger. Lena and Ina were both good friends with Katherine Moore. Lena and Ina were sleeping in the downstairs guest bedroom at the time of the murders. Ina was the one closets to the wall, her head bashed in like the others.
(Iowa Cold Cases)
http://www.villiscamovie.com/images/mystery/ina_stillinger.jpg
(Iowa Cold Cases)
http://www.villiscamovie.com/images/mystery/ina_stillinger.jpg
WHy WERE they MURDERED?
To this day, no one knows why they were murdered. Was it at random? Was it someone who held a grudge against Josiah Moore? But, Josiah Moore was a respected man in the town of Villisca. Who would want to murder them, especially why would they want to murder the whole family and two neighbor girls? (Villisca Axe Murders)