The Unsolved Axeman Murders In New Orleans
By Julie Sullivan

For a long time now, Americans have taken an interest in murder and death, and it remains unchanged even today. Murder does reign high on the list from news headlines to television shows to movies and fiction/nonfiction books. Why are we so fascinated with murder and violent crime? The answer is simple. It's an engrossing subject no matter how grisly or heinous it may be in reality. Violent crime seems to have its own cult following, and cases that have the most longevity are those that have never been solved. Unsolved violent crimes are mysterious and remain mysterious for all time.    An unsolved tale of violence and homicide that has become a true part of criminal history and popular culture. It is the famed Axeman of New Orleans. A case that contained an unidentified and unknown serial killer who went on a bloody rampage in New Orleans with an ax. This case of sheer violence and horrific crime could be compared to that of Jack The Ripper killings in that the murders started and then ended as abruptly as they had begun. Jack The Ripper was never identified, and neither was the Axeman of New Orleans.

The Axeman of New Orleans homicide crime spree took place between May 1918 to October 1919. It was believed that the murders were done by a serial killer who was attacking victims with an axe in the city of New Orleans and other outlying communities such as Gretna, Louisiana. New Orleans, which is recognized widely for so many things from Mardi Gras to Jazz music to French Creole food, also had its own dark side in addition. This dark side included Voodoo, ghostly haunting, and cases of unsolved violence such as this one are. The Axeman of New Orleans is one of those shadow fugitive killers who will always remain a shadow in criminal history.

'The Axeman' as this murderer became known by was never caught or identified by police authorities. In some of the crimes, this serial killer even went so far as to bash in the doors of victims home, by using the same tool that they would hack away at victims with in the end. The identity of the 'Axeman' remains unknown to this day. Some of the 'Axeman' victims did not all die. However, the randomness and brutality of this unknown serial killer, truly did terrify all those who lived in and around New Orleans during the time of the homicides. The 'Axeman' early victims were of Italian, American origin, and, it was thought in the beginning that the violence was linked to the Mafia. However, this was later disproved, due to later killings that did not fit the profile.

The 'Axeman' of New Orleans had a total of twelve victims and eight of them died from wounds inflicted by a wielding ax. A letter that was supposedly authored by the serial killer himself stated that he would kill once more fifteen minutes past midnight on March 19, 1919. Nonetheless, there were no more murders that night, the 'Axeman' vanished from view.