The Official Site of the Villisca Axe Murders

Suspected of the murders of the family of Josiah Moore

Almost a dozen Villisca and Red Oak residents awoke on Sunday, June 6th, 1916 to find a letter in their mailboxes from an anonymous sender in Kansas City, Missouri. The letter included pictures of a rather rough looking man and sported the caption, "This is the ax murderer. He murdered the Moore family at Villisca. The hypocrite whose dirty money paid for the hellish job wants your support for state senate. Will he get it?"

It was obviously no coincidence that the primary elections in which Frank F. Jones was a candidate for a state senate seat were to be held the very next day. While the Villisca Review reported the scandal and County Attorney Ratliffe hurried to Villisca, Jones denounced the letters and issued a statement caller for the sender to bring forth his accusations in person.

Although Jones was defeated in the election, it was unclear how much of an impact the letters may have had.

A few days later,