3. The Villisca, Iowa axe murders and subsequent haunting
The southwestern Iowa town of Villisca had a population of about 2,000 in 1912, among them Josiah Moore, a prominent local businessman who ran the Moore Implement Company, distributing farming equipment manufactured by the John Deere Company among other products. On the morning of June 10, 1912, Moore, his wife, their four children, and two additional children who had been guests in the Moore home, were discovered dead in the Moore home. All had been killed sometime after midnight, and all had been killed with an axe which belonged to Josiah Moore. Despite having several suspects, including one brought twice to trial (the first resulted in a hung jury, the second an acquittal) nobody was ever convicted for the eight murders, and the case was never officially solved, though researchers have proposed several solutions.
The house went through numerous owners over the years before being renovated and restored to its 1912 appearance. Since then it has been open to tours and overnight stays. Visitors have reported the house as being haunted, with the voices of children heard despite no children being in the house at the time. Tours have been discontinued by falling lamps, banging sounds, and children’s laughter. Although none of the paranormal activity associated with the house was reported by any owners prior to the house being renovated and restored, ghost hunters and psychics have claimed it to be one of the most haunted sites in the United States. Despite several psychics reporting the ability to communicate with the spirits occupying the house, none of them have reported who it was that committed the ghastly murders of eight people in 1912.