Despite the many accusations against William Mansfield, a paking house worker many believed was hired by Senator Jones to kill J.B. Moore, Dr. Edgar Epperly, one of the foremost authorities on the murders of 1912 staunchly insists that not only was Mansfield innocent of the crime but that absolutely no links could be established that would even have made him a viable murder suspect.

Mansfield was originally named as the killer by James N. Wilkerson, an operative for the Burns Detective Agency. For whatever reason, Wilkerson settled on Senator Jones as his prime suspect in the summer of 1914 and according to Epperly began building a case that would support his accusations. Epperly believed that the murders of Mansfield's family in Blue Island, Illinois and the initial speculation that Mansfield was involved provided Wilkerson with the fodder he needed to include Mansfield in the plot he was creating around Senator Jones.

The fact that the details of the murders of Jacob Mislich, his wife, daughter and granddaughter closely resembled those of the murders of the Moore family only added more fuel to the fire. (According to Epperly, Mansfield was cleared of any involvement in the murders of his wife and her family. The Mislich murders were considered solved in 1915 when an immgrant by the name of Casimer Arezewski confessed to the crime.)

Wilkerson made a visit to the crime scene in Blue Island and quickly declared that the scene was identical to that in Villisca and the murderer had to be the same person. He began insisting that William Mansfield had committed both crimes and it was actually his reports that nicknamed Mansfield "Blackie". The name stuck and was used widely by newspaper reporters around the country. According to Wilkerson's theory, William Mansfield was hired by Jones along with two other co-conspirators; John Oviett and his brother-in-law Harry Whipple. Although Mansfield was to be the one to swing the axe, the other two were along to step in if needed.

According to Wilkerson, the three met with Senator Jones on two separate occasions to finalize the details of the crime. Once on June 8th and again the following evening of June 9th. A grand jury, however, refused to indite Mansfield when he was able to prove that he was actually working in Illinois at the time of the Moore murders.

Epperly also refutes Wilkerson's accusations regarding Mansfield's drug use and suggests that not only had he never been in Villisca but he had also never met Frank Jones. According to Mansfield's obituary he died in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and was an honored member of the packing house worker's union. If Ed Epperly's assertations are true, William Mansfield may have also become a victim of the Villisca Axe Murders along with Senator Frank Jones.