Paranormal Investigators are usually non-profit groups devoted to the research, documentation, education, and investigation of ghostly phenomena. Investigators normally combine technological equipment such as audio and video recorders, 35mm or Digital Cameras, and EMF readers with scientific methods and/or psychic ability.

The purpose of a paranormal investigation is to study and research events deemed paranormal as well as to assist individuals who may find themselves involved in such experiences.

A big thanks to all you who have shared information for this page!

Paranormal Investigations, Nickerson Nebraska

The first paranormal team to visit the Villisca Axe Murder House was from Nickerson, Nebraska. Paranormal Investigations was founded by Dave and Leslie Christiansen. Dave and Leslie conducted several investigations of the house and were the first investigators to claim the former home of J.B. was actually haunted. Dave also participated in our Thrillseekers Contest with Channel 94.1 Jams from Omaha in October of 2003. Dave and Leslie identified Blackie Mansfield as the murderer and claim his energy is still very much a part of the home and it's subsequent hauntings. Unfortunately, the Christiansen's have refused to share the results of their investigations and retained all of the video footage filmed during the Thrillseekers contest. To watch the video of the investigation that Dave and Leslie did in house on May 6th, 2001 ~ visit our Video Page. We haven't had any contact with either Dave or Leslie for awhile so I'm not entirely sure they're still in the business, however, their website is still active. You can visit it at www.paranormal-investigations.org.

Millers Paranormal Research Group

The second official paranormal team to conduct an extensive investigation of the house, Millers Paranormal Research of Missouri, is the first team to capture a photograph of the person they believe committed the Villisca Axe Murders. The Millers Team has returned to Villisca on many occasions and believe they have finally uncovered the "untold story." Their investigation is featured in it's entirety on their own website. The Millers Investigation is also featured in a video produced by Movie Memories and Studio 9 Productions entitled "Villisca: Axe Murder", the untold story. If you'd like to purchase a copy of the video, click here. Brenda Marble, team founder, has graciously helped us authenticate many of the photos and videos posted on this site. Brenda and her team are extremely professional and we have enjoyed each and every visit. Misty Maeder, the Millers seer or psychic has appeared at several events held in Villisca including our Halloween event in 2008. Misty is unbelievably talented and we can't wait to have her back again.

The photograph above was taken the night the video was filmed for the Untold Story DVD. The apparition appeared as if he was standing in the middle of the bed in the corner of the children's bedroom upstairs. If you look closely you can see the buttons on his coat.

Adsagsona Paranormal Society (APS)

The Adsagona Paranormal Society is based in Tennessee and conducted an investigation at the Villisca House as a part of our Commemorative Weekend in June of 2004. We had some stormy weather and unfortunately these folks had to head home in the worst of it. Despite the jokes about the cornfields - we all got a chance to get to know the members of this team pretty well. Team Leader Donna Marsh uses some psychic information during her investigations and several other members of the team reported nausea and feeling extremely sad while they were in the home. According to Donna, their results from the Villisca Investigation did not warrant a full report. The house was extremely quiet and as the team was actually in the house on the anniversary of the murders, Donna attributes the lack of activity to the fact that the energy in the house would have been nonexistant on this night. APS did submit one photograph that they felt displayed paranormal activity and captured one EVP that they are still attempting to analyze. The majority of the information they received, however, was more intuitive than scientific.

 

 

Paranormal Research & Investigative Studies Midwest

On November 14th of 2004, P.R.I.S.M. (Paranormal Research & Investigative Studies Midwest) Investigator Dan Christianson bravely spent an entire night alone in the Villisca House. He reported sensations throughout the night include a feeling of pressure on his chest and nausea. He also felt his hands "turn ice cold" as he approached the stairwell to the attic. Here's an excerpt from the investigative report regarding a photo that Dan took that night:

"During his visit to the attic, Dan captured what appears to be an outline of a heart in the top left portion of a photo taken in the attic. This heart-shaped anomaly was not visible to the naked eye. It only appeared on the 35mm photograph. A comparison photo, to the right of the original photo, with the heart drawn in, has been added to help show where the heart is noticed in the photograph.

 

 
What happened next, is even more incredible ...the current owner of the home, Darwin Linn, showed Dan a photo of two girls who had previously stayed overnight at the Villisca House prior to Dan's stay. In this copy of the photo, taken in the kitchen of the house, what appears to be a heart manifests itself on the chest of one of the young girls. The girl did not have any birthmarks, tan lines, or the like. Once again, we have added a comparison photograph, with the heart drawn in, located to the right of the zoomed-in portion of the original photograph.

 

Dan returned with his team on May 7th of 2005. Also included in this investigation were American Ghost Society members, Troy Taylor and Ursula Bielski. Mr. Taylor is an extremely well known paranormal investigator and author.

P.R.I.S.M.'s investigative reports are by far, the most professional and readable that we've seen yet. During the May 7 and September 9 investigations, the P.R.I.S.M. team managed to record some great EVP audio of what appear to be the Moore/Stillinger children. These were all recorded in the children's bedroom upstairs. On both those visits, they also witnessed the closet door in the children's bedroom close and open on its own. This happened when they asked the Moore children to open and close the door for them. They had infrared surveillance cameras rolling at the time, and managed to catch everything on tape. The PRISM team has returned to Villisca for a total of 7 visits. While I would love to showcase the video and EVP's here on our site, I'd be doing a disservice to the members of PRISM. I therefore am going to strongly encourage you to stop here and take the time to visit their website. The Villisca investigation can be read, seen and heard in it's entirety there. Click here to visit this amazing site!

Vanderworker Todd Paranormal Research Team

In June of 2005, The Vanderworker Todd Paranormal Research Team conducted an investigation of the Villisca House. The results of VTPR's investigation are posted on their website. Click here to visit VTPR's website. The links to their investigation are provided below the pictures.

 Below are three photos submitted to us by VTPR .

 Click on the link below to read VTPR's report.

Investigation History,Photos, Video, EVP 

Paranormal Activity Investigators, Kansas City, Missouri

This team visited the house on July 30, 2005. According to the report posted on their website, they did not collect any evps. There is one photograph that shows some type of anomaly in the attic and a few video clips. While it seems that they didn't collect much physical evidence, several members of the team reported being touched or pushed in the house. Visit their website to read the stories and view their videos here.

Iowa Paranormal Advanced Research Team, IPART

This paranormal team is based out of the greater Des Moines Iowa area and includes team members come from all over Central Iowa. The IPART crew originally visited the house on August 14, 2005. Unfortunately it was during this time frame that the folks from Aries were wrapping up shooting of the film Haunting Villisca. Conversations with one of IPART founders indicated that nothing of any substance really came up during their investigation. Their report is on their website which you can access here along with several good photographs. Joe indicated to me that despite the fact that their investigation was a bit of a flop, the team had scheduled two return visits for October of 2006.

The following are excerpts from the Ipart Investigative Report:

"Robyn advised the curtains in “Blue Room" moving.  This turned out to be a draft from a poorly sealed window.  Scott was sitting in closet in of "Blue Room" and advised – room really cold, colder than draft could account for.  EMF meter going off.  It appeared as if something was moving across room from closet.  Room really cold.  Temperature inside closet read 71 Degrees – EMF meter reading 3 ½ to 4."

"Joel advised that something hit the front of his parabolic mike.  It pulled it down.  This was the second time it happened.  The first time happened about it was about 2:00 A.M. in the kitchen, and now it was happening again in living room."

NIGHT Paranormal, Northern Illinois Ghosthunting Team

The Northern Illinois Ghost Hunting Team (NIGHT Paranormal) conducts investigations into any and all paranormal activities. They use scientific equipment to help them identify hot spots and record their activities. The member of the NIGHT team always looks for natural or man-made explanations before any suggestion of a possible haunting is made. NIGHT is the Northern Illinois Reps for Troy Taylor's American Ghost Society, and have over six years of experience investigating claims of the paranormal. Unfortunately, the website for the NIGHT is no longer online. They visited the house on Nov. 19, 2005 and again on April 22, 2006.

The following report was submitted by NIGHT:

Our Villisca Investigations: On November 19, 2005 NIGHT Paranormal conducted an investigation of the Moore home. The night seemed pretty slow, with the exception of the closet door in the children’s room rattling after one of the investigators asked for a sign of a presence with recording EVP’s in that room. After reviewing all of the video recorded during this investigation anomalous activity was found, mainly centered in the Blue room. A shadowy mist was recorded moving toward the door and as it passes the camera a voice was clearly recorded saying “Kathy.” The moving shadow was recorded two more times that night, moving in different directions each time. Although numerous “orbs” were noted on the video of the first investigation, it is now our opinion that these were nothing more than dust.

We returned for a follow up investigation on April 22, 2006. During this investigation unintelligible whispering was heard by an investigator coming from the parent’s bed as he was standing beside it. Later another investigator went to look into this claim and also heard the whispering, but this time it was coming from the area of the attic doorway. Numerous EVP’s were recorded in the children’s bedroom that night. There were also numerous anomalous EMF spikes recorded during this investigation in the parent’s bedroom and also in the children’s room. In both our trips to the Villisca house we were able to record anomalous activity, and investigators had strange experiences. We believe that the claims of a haunting of the Moore house are legitimate.

The Kentucky Shadow Chasers

The Kentucky Shadow Chasers are a paranormal reseach team based out of southeastern Kentucky founded by Joe and Fleshia Patterson. Their team investigated the Villisca Axe Murder House on April 1st of 2006. Following is the report provided to us after their visit. For more information, check out their website here.

The Investigation:

To coin a phrase....it was a dark and stormy night. Thunderstorms were heading for Villisca and the sky was flashing with lightning. The approaching storms definitely gave an eerie feeling to the night. Kentucky Shadow Chasers arrived at the JB Moore home at 6:30 PM. Every member of the team stated they felt an oppressive atmosphere in the house. The team did a walk through and was joined by Darwin Linn, owner of the house. Darwin gave the team a brief history of the house and took the team to the cemetery where the victims are buried.

The team arrived back at the house at 7:30 PM. The equipment team began the setup of the equipment. Infrared bullet cameras that were networked to a multiplex DVMR system with quad display were set up in the upstairs bedroom of the Moore children and in the bedroom the Stillinger girls occupied. Audio equipment was placed in each room of the house. Camcorders with nightshot were placed in the living room and kitchen area. One camcorder was a mobile unit. .Other equipment used included digital cameras, Trifield Natural EMF meters, laptops, Parabolic microphones, thermal imaging camera and laser thermometers.

After the equipment was set up we began the investigation. The first room we concentrated on was the bedroom of JB and Sarah. Tabatha dowsed and contacted the children. As she was dowsing she felt someone push her. Weslynn asked who shoved Tabatha and an EVP was captured saying “it was me”. Immediately after that Fleshia asked the name of the spirit and a female childs voice replied "Kathy". Katherine was one of the Moore children. Visit our EVP page to hear this EVP. We moved into the Moore children's bedroom. We asked the spirits to open the door to the closet. The door to the closet slowly swung open six inches. We asked the spirits to close the door and the closet door slammed shut. This was captured on camcorder and the bullet cameras. This footage is featured on the front page. We asked the spirits to open and close the door several times during the night and the door would open and slam shut. We also captured the door leading to the attic space opening and closing.

When the train whistle sounded at 2:00AM (the authorities think the killer waited on the train to come by so it would mask the sounds of the slaughter taking place), we asked the killer to show us what happened. Weslynn captured an EVP that says "Bring out the axe" at this point. Visit our EVP page to hear this EVP. An orb was captured on camcorder, the dvmr system and on a digital camera entering the room, staying a few moments then leaving the room. Fluctuating EMF readings of 10 and above were captured on the Trifield on the closet door in the childrens bedroom when the door had opened and closed on request. This footage is in the photo gallery in the video album.

We went outside to take a break and Weslynn and Tabatha went upstairs to check on the equipment. As they came into JB and Sarahs room the closet doors slammed. Weslynn and Tabatha checked the equipment and headed back downstairs. Weslynn reported being shoved down the stairs.

Cindy was in the house alone doing a walk through with her camcorder. She felt a presence with her but realized the other investigators were outside. She heard heavy footsteps upstairs. At this time she exited the house to inform the other investigators of what was occurring.

Later in the investigation Joe went into the attic room, where the killer(s) were thought to have hid, to do EVP work. The headphones were pulled off his head. Many EVPs were captured.

Conclusion: The Villisca Axe Murder House is definately haunted. KSC feels the haunting is a residual as well as an active haunting. It is very unusual to have two types of hauntings at one location. We were able to capture many EVPs and video footage of the door opening and closing and a white light eminating from the closet that can be seen in the crack between the door and the door frame.

KSC deems this one of the most haunted locations we have ever investigated. The video footage can be found in the photo gallery in the video album and the EVPs can be found on the EVP page. A follow up investigation is planned. KSC wishes to thank Darwin Linn for his gracious hospitality and for preserving a piece of history and allowing members of the paranormal community to conduct investigations at this wonderful location.

Chasing Midnight

Tony Hart-Wilden journeyed from Los Angeles, California to Villisca, Iowa to spend a night alone in the Villisca Axe Murder House. Although Tony doesn't believe he actually captured any solid proof of the Villisca haunting, his tale "A Night Alone in the Villisca Axe Murder House is one of the most well-written and thought provoking articles we've received. Tony's website is http://www.chasingmidnight.com -unfortunately, however, he seems to be experiencing some technical difficulties and it crashes every time I try to load it. For your convenience, I've recreated his webpage on Villisca here - I hope he doesn't mind. To read Tony's article, click here. Tony is originally from Winchester, Hampshire, one of the most haunted towns in Southern England. While Tony prefers to conduct most of his investigations alone, he has on occasion worked with other paranormal teams. Tony's goal is to capture video or photographic evidence of a full apparition.

St. Louis Area Association for Paranormal Investigations

This team conducted an investigation of the Villisca Axe Murder House on June 2nd and June 3rd of 2006. According to the report posted on the SLAAPI website,the Villisca house warrants additional investigations and their team was able to capture a photograph and 9 EVP's that they believed could be considered paranormal. You may visit the SLAPPI website by clicking here.

The SLAPPI team sent us the following:

"First of all we used several different pieces of equipment on our investigation including IR cameras, 35mm cameras, digital still cameras and digital and tape camcorders, along with 7 digital voice recorders, EMF meters and two different types of digital thermometers, one that measures ambient temperature, that is the air temperature and several that measure surface temperatures. We set up our equipment according to where the activity has been most prevalent. We didn't capture any odd anomalies on any of the 5 video cameras except for "orbs" which were caused by the dust flying around the house and a few stray insects that were flying around. NOTE: SLAAPI does not feel that orbs constitute paranormal activity, we feel that orbs almost always have a natural cause that can be attributed to dust, static electricity, bugs, etc.. There are exceptions but we have found them very rare. We took a total of 800 digital and 35mm still pictures with only one showing anything odd. We also took around 150 hours of audio between the two nights we were there, and caught a number of EVPs, most sound like a male whispering. We only had one male in our group and he talks clearly on the recordings so his voice was ruled out. Most of these I cannot tell what is being said. The picture is a kind of orb picture which I usually never entertain but it is kind of an exception to my rule because I could not find a reasonable explanation for it. (To listen to SLAAPI's evps, please visit their page on Electronic Voice Phenomenon.

Twin Cities Paranormal Society

The Twin Cities Paranormal Society visited the Villisca Axe Murder House on May 5, 2007. Their investigation is posted in full on their website. According to their report, "TCPS decided to take a group trip down to Villisca, Iowa to investigate the renowned Villisca Axe Murder House. We were intrigued by the history of the house and previous investigations done there by various paranormal groups. The trip turned out to be one that none of us would soon forget."

The TCPS group captured both video footage and EVP's in the house. Team members also reported a number of incidents during their visit, "One investigator was sitting in a chair and she was touched several times. She also reported hearing whispering that sounded like someone standing right next to her, whispering in her ear. She did not tell the other members on her team at the time about the phenomena because she wanted to see if anyone else would have the same experiences if they sat where she was. She traded spots with another member of her group and a few minutes later, this other member stated she was touched on her arm. This member was touched a total of five times while sitting in this location." Check out their video here.

Ghost Hunter's Ohio Search Team (G.H.O.S.T.)

This team from Ohio visited the house on May 11,2007. Although their findings were deemed inconclusive, they did indicate that they captured a few evps. Here is a reprint of the report they have posted on their website. To view other investigative reports from G.H.O.S.T, click here.

Location: Villisca, Iowa
Axe Murder House
GHOST members present: Angie, Darla, Brian, Bev, Brenda

"In June 1912 a family of six and two overnight visitors were axed to death in a house in Villisca Iowa. To this day the case has never been solved. Many claim to have experienced voices, mist, apparitions and strange events in what is known as the Villisca Axe Murder House. Others claim that nothing paranormal has ever happened there, that the current owner is just trying to make money off of the tragedy. Five members of G.H.O.S.T. decided to make the 12 hour trip to spend the weekend at the house to see for ourselves.When you enter the house an overwhelming sadness takes over. You find your mind envisioning scenes of what happened in each room on that fateful night.We recorded two possible evps in answer to direct questions. Some knocking sounds were picked up recorders. The knocking was not heard by any of us while in the house or outside. In one of the videos it appears as though someone moved a video camera at a time when no one was in the house. Two of us saw a shadow, each at a different time. in the same location.We found that people's voices and sounds from outside are picked up quite easily by the audio recorders. We feel that there is the possibility that many of the evps that have been recorded at the Villisca house when the recorder was left unattended may not be evps at all but voices from outside the house.

Our findings are inconclusive. We plan to return to Villisca Axe Murder House in the future."

Omaha Research Beyond the Supernatural (ORBS)

This team from Omaha, Nebraska visited the Villisca house twice, once on June 7, 2007 and again in October of 2007. They have several photographs posted on their website that show the energy rods that we've photographed before at the house as well as a couple of EVP's. To visit their website click here.

The San Diego Ghost Hunters

The San Diego Ghost Hunters is an intimate team of paranormal investigators who specialize in assisting historical landmarks owners discover or confirm occupants and events that, despite having passed from our mortal plane, today exist in spirit form. This team conducted an investigation of the home of J.B. Moore on August 10, 2007 and returned again in June of 2008. They have posted quite a few paranormal pics on their website as well as an EVP. Check it out here.

Shadows Paranormal Research of the After Life (S.P.I.R.A.L.)

SPIRAL is a group of paranormal researchers/investigators, based in Bellevue, NE. The SPIRAL team conducts investigations, case studies and research at locations that are believed to have paranormal activity. Three SPIRAL members took a evening/night tour of the Villisca Axe Murder House on Halloween of 2007. Members consisted of Lead Investigators Shane & Tracy Huggins and Investigator J.D. Hudgins. Over 300 photos were taken and 5 EVPs were captured. To see the photos and listen to the evp's visit the SPIRAL website here. Following is an except from the SPIRAL case report:

"We arrived at the location around 6:30 pm. After speaking with Darwin Linn, the current owner of the home, we were free to roam the house. We started out on the outside of the house and gradually moved into the house. We were allowed to conduct EVP sessions as well as take hundreds of digital photos inside the home, as well as the basement and the property. During the case, J.D. had his camera knocked out of his hand by an unknown source. Shane heard whispers in the attic crawl space. Later in the case while in the attic, J.D. felt a tap on the shoulder and heard a little child cry.

While in the "Blue Room" Shane felt light headed and sick to his stomach. While standing in the corner of the Moore’s master bed room at the top of the stairs, Shane again felt uneasy and dizzy. Tracy took over 75 photos throught out the house before returning downstairs to interview Martha Linn, the owner’s wife. We ended the case study at approx. 8:30pm. Throughout the case we took hundreds of photos as well as 1 ½ hours of audio.We hope to get back soon for a full investigation. Just a reminder, this was a photographic & audio case study, not a full investigation. A full investigation will be announced."

Hastings Paranormal Team

This paranormal team picked the anniversary of the Villisca Axe Murders for their investigation. On past anniversaries, the house has actually been very quiet but this team obviously wasn't disappointed. They have the results of their investigation posted on their website as well as individual reports by each member of the team. To read it in it's entirety, click here. I guarantee it's worth your time. Here's an excerpt from their report.

"HPT had the opportunity to embark on a road trip to the Villisca Axe murder house in Villisca Iowa , which is located in southwest Montgomery County, the county seat of Red Oak on June 10th, 2008. The significance of this date is that it is the 96th anniversary of the Villisca Axe Murders. The team had been excited to do this investigation since one of our member’s, Erin, previously visited this place as a guest with the IPRA Team and WE TV crew. This visit was to film a documentary on Psychic Women. So as Paranormal Investigators; you can see we all were quite anxious to check it out! After a 5 ½ hour road trip through Minnesota and Iowa, to include a few stops along the way, we arrived at our destination, Villisca Iowa.

We will say that there were many lessons learned by our team during our investigations of the Villisca house that night. We experienced many things that forced us to think beyond our traditional sphere of the paranormal/Spiritual realms. The Villisca house has altered each of us in some way or another.

Numerous EVP’s were recorded by team members. Multiple Team Member's reported hearing noises or vocalizations that could not be explained. Team Members experienced multiple incidents of apparent interaction to include…

• A door which appeared to open and close by itself.
• A ball which was stationary on the floor moved towards the attic door by itself.
• Team members were playing “ball’ in a bedroom where the ball apparently would not be allowed to roll to one team member (Juli).
• One Sensitive Team Member reported feeling an entity “move” through her during a vigil.
• Multiple Team Members witnessed an EMF meter apparently reacting to questions being asked during multiple vigils within the house.

One Team Member reported having her hand touched by “something”.

Mississippi Valley Paranormal

On August 9th, 2008, 4 members from the MVP team made a trip to Villisca to visit and investigate Villisca Axe Murder house. Participants included team members, Becky, Steph, Chris and Diana, along with Chris's friend Cliff, who is a member of Wabash Paranormal Investigation and Research Group (W.P.I.R.G.) formed in Wabash, Indiana.

 

The following is from Chris about what he experienced upstairs in the home shortly after their arrival:  

“When we first entered the home me and Becky went upstairs to set up equipment. Sitting on the floor, trying to play with the kids of the home, I saw what seemed to be a shadow that came in front of the window in the parent’s room. It stopped briefly and moved on, I can't explain what it was at all. Shortly after I looked up and to my right, above the baby bed, there was a bright flash of light, unlike anything I've seen before.”

Team member Diana also had some personal experiences in the house.  Her experiences from her own words… 

“The only things that I can say I experienced was, at one point when we were sitting in the living room, It felt to me like child's fingers walking up my right arm. It was brief but there. I wasn't moving at the time nor did I bump anything." Stories from other members of the team are posted on their website along with several evps that were captured in the house. To check them out, click here.

The team's conclusion? ~ "All in all, this trip will not forgotten by any of the members that were there.  We ended up leaving Villisca around 4:30 a.m. (with no sleep) and headed home.  Was it worth it?  Yes.  With so many experiences how could it not be?  We would like to recommend it to anyone interested.  We would also like to return to the house someday and see what else we can find."

NightWatchers Omaha

Nightwatchers Omaha is the Nebraska chapter of Nightwatchers WorldWide, LLC. According to their website, the Nightwatchers investigate the paranormal all over the United States and the World. They visited the Axe Murder House in October of 2008 and are currently planning a return visit in May. I hear they've got a few spots open so if you'd like to check it out with them, visit their website.

Here's the report about that visit that they have posted on their website. " Our first investigation of the JB Moore home in Villisca, IA was amazing. Darwin and Martha were great hosts and welcomed the Nightwatchers crew into there home. Darwin (who has to be one of the great american story tellers) spent about 40 mintues talking to us about the history of the house, the families involved, and the wild events that took place after the murders. He also told us about all of the reported hauntings and used a crystal pendulum to talk with spirits in the house.

Martha even told us about her personal experiences in the house. Jason had the big toe on his right foot grabbed by an unseen hand coming from under the bed in the parents bedroom and less than 2 minutes later JulieV (Nightwatch Radio) was poked in her side. The night was filled with a lot of doors opening and shutting, a lot of unexplained noises. Unfortunately none were caught on camera. We did catch one great EVP in the attic (see "there not gonna help you" in the EVP section of the website). The digital recorder was left in the attic alone for over an hour. About 38 minutes after the recording starts you hear a voice and a loud bang. No doors were being shut anywhere else at the time and no one was in the attic.

Allthough we did not catch any concrete evidence on this trip, we did have a few personal experiences. The house is amazing and we will return in the future."

Paranormal Workshop

This team conducted an investigation of the house on October 9th of 2008. Craig Fahrenkrug, lead investigator provided the following report:

Before beginning investigating, we had a meeting in which to go over our approach to investigating this house. Now knowing the history of house, location and people murder as well the previous accounts of paranormal activity, Lowell recommended that we use Mary and Janet to gain a trust and repo ire with the 4 children that were murdered in the upstairs bedroom. This room has been known to be one of the paranormal "hot spots".
We set up 2 cameras in this room. The HD camera was placed on the bed in the southeast corner of the room, aiming at the bed room closet. Another camera was placed to be focused on the attic door. We also placed one EVP on the bed behind the HD camera as well as one EVP inside the bedroom closet.

Lowell recommended that w Janet and Mary use an indirect conversation technique. In this technique, they don't acknowledge any paranormal presence, but instead carry on a conversation between the 2 of them. This proved to be very effective. Within a small amount of time, the closet door opened and stayed opened a bit, and then eventually slammed shut.

Throughout the night we had similar events. We were able to catch the door opening and closing a couple of times on video. We also captured a few EVP's, one that was particularly significant.

At one particular point, we were able to catch a faint orb on video that moved slowly till about the middle of the screen, stopped and then went back the opposite direction.
Kyle, Lowell and I also had a personal experience as we were setting up for another interaction. We were standing in the kids' bedroom upstairs and heard a deep man's voice, almost demonic sounding that seem to come from the adjacent bedroom. I personally thought it was 2 syllable's but not intelligible. It was one of those sounds that I had to do a double take because I wasn't sure if I was just hearing things, but as I looked at Kyle and his expression, I could tell he had heard it too. Unfortunately, since we were setting up, we didn't have any EVP's running.

Overall, it was a very good experience. We have tried on numerous occasions to debunk the closet door opening and shutting, but have not been able to.  There was a very slight breeze off and on that evening and was reported to range around 5mph during that evening.

Update: 12/31/2008

I remember after doing some review that during the filming of the Janet and Mary being in the kid's bedroom for the second time, that the HD camera suddenly shut off. We suspected a battery drain. This happened during the peak of activity during that recording. I decided to run a test to see how much time I should've had remaining on that battery for recording. After all my calculations and testing, there should have been another 30 minutes of record time. I went into the investigation with a fully charged battery and was only able to get about 64 minutes of record time off of one charge (with the light on). When I ran test again, with a fully charged battery. I was able to record 1hr and 40 minutes (with the light on) before the camera shut off. I have concluded that this was a battery drain. Kyle also had a similar experience early on in the investigation with his brand new (Energizer) batteries. He place brand new batteries in his digital camera, and within a minute they were drained. His digital camera shut off and he couldn't get it back on until put another set of new batteries in.

Other members of the team share their experiences as well on the team's website. To read their stories, click here.

 

B.R.U.T.A.L. Paranormal

On Saturday, January 10, 2009, B.R.U.T.A.L. Paranormal (Anthony and Jennifer Edwards, Herb Cook and Bob Cross) from Minooka, Illinois with Roland and Julz Saenz from Midway Paranormal Society Romeoville, Illinois conducted an overnight investigation at the Villisca Axe Murder House. The team amazed Darwin with a "ghost box". (For a great article on what this actually is, how it works and how you can make your own... visit this link.) The team posted a great report on their website. To view their comments, click here.

"There was a point in the night around 11pm when the house got darker and colder and the box said “GET OUT NOW!” The 2 sensitives felt something strong that wanted control and wanted us out. Then all the children left. We took a break and the house then felt empty. That point we turned the box back on and were speaking to Sarah Moore and Joseph Moore, they validated who they were and answered a few questions. We have yet to go over all the hours of evidence, we did get a few videos of orbs flying by the cameras. Mind you the temp was 15 degrees out. Bugs are not what caused these orbs. We did get most of the talking of the ghost box recorded. It was a very active place, and an experience that I will NEVER forget. If there are people out there that do not believe in the afterlife, then maybe they should spend the night here!" -Jen

Spirit Chasin' Ladies

This group visited the Axe Murder house on XXXXXX, and is an all female team. They captured some very interesting photographs in the house as well as a few evps. The photograph displayed below caught my eye because this creeping black mist shows up in many of my own photos as well as those submitted by other visitors. Black is never a good color when it's associated with spirit energy so it's always a cause for alarm when I see it. When questioned, most people who take the photos in which this mist appears confirm that some type of negative energy seemed to be at play at the time. To visit the website of the Spirit Chasin' Ladies, use this link. Be sure to click on their photo page. Villisca has it's own album.

 

Premiere Paranormal Research, Kansas City

On March 7th of 2009, the Premiere Paranormal Research Team from Kansas City launched their investigation of the Villisca Axe Murder House. The results of their investigation should be available on their website soon. Meanwhile here's a quote from their website. "As soon as we set foot in the home, we were experiences phenomena. Within 10 minutes of being in the house, we heard a man singing or speaking. Dustin actually experienced his first real paranormal experience. He heard loud boot-heavy footsteps while doing EVP work upstairs with Brad and Matt. Upon reviewing the DVR we caught the footsteps, and even an EVP at the same time! (Evidence coming soon). We all experienced footsteps, voices, and even the sensation of being touched!

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