All Cases On Website

 

This website features unsolved Iowa homicides from 1847 to 1965. It is the proverbial work in progress — articles are being researched, written, and posted on a continuing basis as victims are discovered in the dusty archives of history.

Because of individual and special circumstances, a small number of articles about post-1965 murders are also included.

All articles were researched and written by Nancy Bowers between 2009 and the present time, some with the assistance of David Jindrich, who has also authored special contributions.

For many of the victims, these stories were the first preservation of the facts other than newspaper articles from the times of the murders.

This is the only legal and authorized site for these articles — most never seen before.
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“Old Feud Fueled by Drink”: Murder of Nathaniel Carnagy 1847

Narrowly Escaping the Lynch Mob: Murder of Mr. Knisley 1848

Dying For Land: Murder of Andrew Brown 1852

Highwaymen: Murders of Andrew and Nancy Casteel 1856

A Dream of Murder: Mysterious Disappearance of Mr. Thomas 1857

West of Coffin’s Grove: Unresolved Murder of J.N. Covey 1856

The Battered Corpse: Murder of John Doe 1858

Driftwood: Murder of an Unknown Child 1859

Death by Politics: Unresolved Murder of Silas McCart 1860

Flesh and Blood: Murder of Aaron Smith 1864

The “Peaceable Negro”: Murder of John Allen 1864

Death Going West: Murder of Apple Grove John Doe 1866

Pointblank: Unavenged Murder of James Alfrey 1866

The Broken Clevis: Murder of Samuel Cronk 1867

The Dead Horse Trader: Murder of William Clugston 1867

Bullied and Bantered: Unresolved Murder of Jesse Wilkerson 1869

Miller’s Toll: Murder of John Smith Ross 1869

Poison Kiss: Murder of Edwin Hodges 1869

Taken to the Grave: Murder of Juliette Thomas 1871

Blood by Lamplight: Murder of Esther Alger 1872

Too Long at the Fair: Murder of Robert McQuestian 1873

Two Coffins: Death of Mary and Murder of Eli T. Coffin 1873

Assassination: Murders of Lizzie and Andrew Brownlie 1874

The Veteran Who Lived Alone: Murder of Henry Millard 1874

Unwitnessed: Murder of Washington Irving Crow 1875

Christmas Day Death on Mud Creek: Murder of Henry Stephens 1876

The “Menial Drudge”: Murder of Lovina Kneeskern 1876

Strictly Strychnine: Murder of John P. Stickles 1876

The Brave Girl: Murder of Augusta Kading 1877

Dead In Bed: Murder of Thomas Tolbert 1877

Lynch Law: Murder of Reuben Proctor 1877

The Czech Marble Cutter: Murder of Matej Straka 1878

“A Vaudeville of Troubles”: Murder of Deborah Simmons 1879

Stealing Away: Murder of John Ford 1880

“Walking Corpse”: Suspicious Death of Nancy Duncan 1880

Baby in the Pasteboard Box: Murder of a Newborn Girl 1881

The Body in the Pasture: Murder of Elmer Penderson 1881

The Money Lender: Murder of Gustav Rechfus 1881

Death Comes to the Mayor: Murder of Robert W. Stubbs 1882

“Violent Excitement”: Murder of Robert Lee Clingan 1883

“A Miserly Life”: Suspicious Death of Gideon Hall 1884

The Irish Carpenter: Murder of William Martin 1885

The Cooler: Suspicious Death of David T. Todd 1887

Bright, Bold Blackmailer: Murder of Alice Kelley 1888

The Fatal Glass of Beer: Murder of George Diggle 1888

The Wrong Man: Murder of Joseph Hair 1888

Last Accounts: Murder of Henry Nurre 1890

“Thick Veil of Mystery” On New Year’s Eve: Murder of C.H. Wessell 1891

“Foully Treated”: Murder of Thomas McGary 1892

The Gun in the Privy: Murder of Louisa Fritzsche 1893

Killer in the Tombstone: Murder of Lena and Martin Schultz 1893

Murder Behind the Meat Market: David P. Sutton 1893

“None But a Frenzied Women”: Murder of Anna Wiese 1893

The One-Armed Man: Murder of William A. Hunt 1893

“That Old —“: Murder of John Rohrer 1893

The Wabash Trestle: Murder of James Chamberlain 1893

Wages in Gold: Murder of John Hill Beal 1893

Death In the Rail Yard: Murder of Bill Dayton 1894

“Furiously Angry”: Murder of Wesley Wilson 1894

Boxcar Hanging: Murder of Leopold Glatzer 1895

Dead at the Gate: Murder of Jeremiah Zollinger 1895

Dead In a Cornfield: Murder of David Conners 1895

The Frozen Body: Murder of James Edgar “Ed” Knotts 1895

“Lilies of Soul-Less Sin”: Murders of Max Noack and Ora Minter 1895

“A Splendid Gentleman, A Good Scholar”: Murder of Price V. Evans 1895

The Well Digger: Murder of Peter Hendrickson 1895

“A Bitter Taste”: Murders of Alta Paul and Maria Dulin 1896

Corpse in the Pump House: Murder of Mary Gilfillan 1896

Lumberyard Tramps: Murder of Officer Jacob Neibert 1896

Obsession: Murder of Mamie Peterson 1896

Picture Imperfect: Suspicious Death of Oliver Pearson 1896

The Poison Strawberry: Murder of Lelia Long 1896

Poisoned and “Outraged”: Murder of Maud Straw 1896

Riding the Blinds: Murder of Elmer Dudrey 1896

The Tramp at Breakfast: Murder of Andrew Hart 1896

The Clue in the Dress Pattern: Murder of Fred Quade 1897

The “Criminal Operation”: Murder of Belle Sutliff 1897

Down in Darkness: Murder of Officer Pitt McClellan Doxsie 1897

Green Corn Dance Tragedy: Murder of Se-Ton-a-Qua 1897

“Ground Into a Hundred Pieces”: Murder of Elmer Anderson 1897

The Insane Tramp: Murder of Will Sargent 1897

“Shot Into Eternity”: Murder of John Legall 1897

A Spoonful of Medicine Makes the Poison Go Down: Murder of Sarah Kirker 1897

Two Guns, Two Policies, One Woman: Murder of Henry Duffy 1897

“The Whole Affair is a Deep Mystery”: Murder of Adelbert Rowland 1897

Apparition: Murder of Edward Hughes 1898

Death of the Photographer’s Daughter: Murder of Clara Gray 1898

Drinking Bout: Suspicious Death of John F. Brennan 1898

In the Corner Under a Blanket: Murder of George Sulzberger 1898

Sandbagged: Murder of George Carter 1898

Shot Down in the Street: Murder of William F. Swisher 1898

Tracks in the Night: Murder of Edward Moore 1898

Below the Melan Arch Bridge: Murder of Baby John Doe 1898

Deadly Holiday Excursion: Murder of Alexander McArthur 1899

Mangled Bodies: Murders of Jack Wilson and Con Matthews 1899

“All Around Crook”: Murder of Joplin Red 1900

The Christmas Eve Brawl: Murder of Charles Johnson 1901

Delirium Tremens: Suspicious Death of Sam Anderson 1901

“Trio of Thugs”: Murder of Officer Rolland P. Smith 1901

After Church: Murders of Lena and Tommy Peterson 1902

Back to the Window: Murder of William Mullikin 1902

A Woman and Her Dog: Murder of Maude Lambert 1902

Halloween Homicide: Murder of Walter D. Schenck 1902

“Bones In A Haystack”: Murder of Justus Herwig 1903

“Love and Absence of Love”: Suspicious Death Of William F. Lewis 1903

“Sensational and Cold-Blooded Affair”: Murder of Arthur Mead 1903

The White-Spotted Woman: Suspicious Death of Kate Slifer 1903

Acting Oddly: Murder of Daniel Kelleher 1904

The Coffee That Killed the Frog: Murder of Winfield Carpenter 1904

Horse Medicine: Murder of James Banda 1904

The “Inoffensive, Harmless Man”: Murder of John Murphy 1904

Knockout Drugs: Murder of Harry Salisbury 1904

Poison in the Whiskey: Murder of Leonard DeLong 1904

Struck Down: Murder of Frank Sandquist 1904

Under the Willows: Murder of John Doe 1904

What the Medium Saw: Murder of John Pierson 1904

The Beckoning Hand: Murder of Alma Harrison: 1905

“Belle of the Tribe”: Murder of Ma-Sha-Che 1905

The Boy on the Train: Murder of Addis Lyman 1905

Double Identity: Murder of George Griswold 1905

The Interrupted Funeral Procession: Murder of Josiah Pratt 1905

Taking the Waters: Murder of Frank Callahan 1905

Coldblooded Desperado: Murder of Officer George W. Wilson 1907

“Very Maw of Death”: Murder of Officer Fred P. Widmann 1908

Mistaken Identity: Murder of Peter Ross 1909

Babe in the Woods: Murder of an Infant Girl 1910

The Dead Bulgarian: Murder of Welio Tsnoff 1910

Elgin Watch Number 138033: Murder of John Doe 1910 (Delaware County)

Family Annihilation: Murders of James, Earl, and Mary Hardy 1910

Dark Byway: Murder of Marshal Joseph Kashmetter (Kaeshmetter, Kashmitter) 1911

“He’s Got A Roll”: Murder of Jared Ham 1911

“Slay Utterly”: Villisca Axe Murders 1912

Dead From a “Wallop”: Murder of John Schnellbacker 1913

“Thin Veil Over Her Face”: Murder of Chester N. Van Horn 1914

Leave Town or Die: Murder of Richard Huggins 1914

Letters in Russian: Murder of Ben Mikovitch 1914

Ancient Vendetta: Murder of Joseph Busemi 1915

Blood in the Barn: Suspicious Death of John L. Rogers 1915

Butcher, Baker: Murder of Otto H. Samp 1916

After the Merry-Go-Round: Murder of Alta Marie Braun 1917

Black Hand at the Bridge: Murder of Francis “Frank” Oliverio 1917

The Eccentric Baggage Hauler: Murder of William Kniffin 1917

In the Head and Heart: Murder of John Doe 1917

“True Disciple of Pollyanna”: Murder of Thecla Gerken 1917

At Closing Time: Murder of Officer George W. Mattern 1918

Alleyway Robbery: The Murder of Carlisle Hunter 1919

The Gardener and the Black Hand: Murder of Dominic Sposeto 1919

Black Hand and the Coal Miner: Murder of Nicollo Vinceri 1920

“Hacked to Pieces”: Murder of John McGill 1920

Gas Light: Suspicious Deaths of Clara & Alfred Mellor, Jr. 1920

Skull By the River: Murder of Jane Doe 1920

Strangled With His Own Necktie: Murder of David Faulkner 1920

The Wrong Brother? Murder of William VandeBrake 1920

All Souls’ Day: Murders of Sister Mary Virginis and Sister Mary Rosalita 1921

Charred Remains: Murder of Jane Otis 1921

“Fear of the Dread Black Hand”: Murder of Domenico Baretto 1921

Neither Rain, Nor Snow, Nor Death: Murder of Walter Baldwin 1921

Deadly Taxi Party: Murder of Thaddeus Mitchell 1922

Death Along the Lincoln Highway: Murders of Rose and Homer Brownfield 1922

“The King of Little Italy”: Murder of Angelo Ferrari 1922

65 Cents: Murder of “Smitty” Smith 1924

The Apron in the Shack: Murder of Erma (Irma) Caldwell 1924

Chinese Tong Ritual: Murder of John “Jack” Fong-1924

Lonely Hearts Scam and the Veteran: Murder of Michael Featherstone 1924

The Big Swede: Murder of Carl Axel Deer 1925

The Burning Shack: Murder of Martin Cummins 1925

Deadly Tramps: Murder of Allan F. Shoemaker 1925

Death at the Hardware Store: Murders of Harry Jones and William Laugesen 1925

Mayhem: Murder of W.A. Davies 1925

“No Necking Here”: Murder of Harry Overturf 1925

The Redhead in the Strawstack: Murder of Jane Doe 1925

Sisters Act: Suspicious Deaths of Josephine Goodwin and Elizabeth Anthony 1925

Slaughter of Innocents: Sioux City Babies 1925

Teatotaling Klanswoman: Murder of Myrtle Cook 1925

Third Time, No Charm: Murder of Benjamin “Barney” Kaplan 1925

Black Hand Vendetta? Murder of Phoebe Jane Vigoletti 1926

Death at the Box Company: Murder of Earl Paris 1928

At the Crossroads Store: Murder of George Hardy 1929

Never Three Without Four? Murder of George G. Shackell 1929

“No Women Or Children Allowed”: Murder of Winfield Scott Rouse 1929

Undercover: Murder of Louis H. Dayton 1929

“Myself, Meadow, Hawk”: Murder of Evelyn Lee 1930

“‘Stick ’em Up, Louie'”: Murder of Louis Friedman 1930

Gun Battle in the Night: Murder of Virgil Untied 1931

Summer Night in the Park: Murder of J.H. Peck 1931

Butter and Egg Day: Murder of Nels Louvring 1933

The Secret Diary: Murder of Fred Hollingsworth 1933

What the Poultry Men Found: Murder of Ashley Downing 1933

The Gentle Man: Murder of Charles Englehart 1935

In the Big Muddy: Murder of Sherman Casper 1935

The Woman Who Bought Her Own Tombstone: Murder of Sarah Tracy 1935

Coal Mine Plunge: Suspicious Death of Robert Ruby 1936

Staged Scene: Murder of Charles Shamblen 1936

Grifters and Cons: Murder of “Lucille Marvin” 1937

Last Day of Work: Murder of Floyd Alloway 1937

In the Garage: Murder of Henry Christensen 1941

Giving Away Money: Murder of John Zauhar 1947

“My God, It’s a Man”: Murder of Robert McCullough 1947

“The Tattooed Lady”: Murder of Margaret Treese 1947

After a Game of Bridge: Murder of Anne M. McGrevey 1948

The Poisoned Family: Rhode-Elefson Murders 1948-1949

Who Killed the Corn Canning Czar? Murder of Henry Chavis 1948

The Defective Shotgun: Murders of Claud and Anna Miller 1949

Shock: Suspicious Death of Neva Andrews 1950

Taxi Ride to Death: Murder of George Massouris 1950

The Widow in the Alley: Murder of Lillian Chapman 1950

Cab in the Snow-Filled Ditch: Murder of Leon Groves 1951

“Brutal Killer”: Murders of Beverly Brenneman and Ruby Ciler 1953

Under the Court Avenue Bridge: Murder of Charles Sanders 1954

“Maniac” in the Drugstore: Murder of Lucille Bacher 1955

On the Front Porch: Murder of Rose Grandanette 1958

The Aspiring Actress: Murder of Marlene Padfield 1959

Death in a Cubicle: Murder of Fred Coste 1959

Brothel Double Homicide: Murders of Willard Woodring and Richard Buchanan 1960

A Daughter’s Quest For Justice: Murder of Clarence Raymond Case: 1961

Explosion in the Night: Murder of William Meadows 1961

Burning Murder?: Death of Lucille DeVries 1962

Cold-Blooded Sadistic Type”: Murder of Ramona Jean Cox 1962

Nearly Home: Murder of Anna Marie Medici 1962

“Right Place, Wrong Time”: Murder of Edward Kriz 1962

Below Zero: Murder of George Geary 1963

Burning Mystery: Murder of Henry Hults 1963

Deadly Shot: Murder of Roscoe D. Harris 1963

Bound and Gagged: Murder of Francis Rafferty 1964

Among the Tropical Fish: Murder of Myrtle Cumpston 1965

Cold Night Out: Murder of Donald Nervig 1965

Mother’s Day Death: Murder of Lillian Randolph 1965

“A Real Nice Girl”: Murder of Janice Snow 1965

Valentine Death: Murder of Catherine Decora 1965

Crossing the Line: Murder of Arlene Adler 1967 Written by David Jindrich

Death at the Chamberlain: Murder of Judy Ann Corbin 1967

“Heaven Is My Home”: Murder of Gloria Slump 1967

Death at the Dairy: Murder of Dale Redman 1968

Death of the American Dream: Murder of Andrew Hatges 1968

Destination Unknown: Murder of Geraldine Maggert 1968

A Story Yet to be Told: Murder of Sheila Jean Collins 1968

Appointment With Death: Murder of Dorothy Miller 1969

Foul Play: Murder of Paula Oberbroeckling: 1970

Long Creek Close to Home: Murder of Mary Lange 1970

Shooting at “Ike’s Peak”: Murder of Edwin Jacobs 1972

Stingiest Man in Town: Murder of Edward Schmidt 1972

The Neighborhood Grocer: Murder of David R. Morris 1973

Sarah Ann Ottens: A Remembrance and Tribute by David Jindrich

Spring Break Killer: Murder of Sarah Ottens 1973

The Gruff Good Man: Murder of Ewald Bandixen 1974

Gunfire At the Holiday Inn: Murders of Danny Peters and Luis Trujillo, Jr. 1974

Outside the Welcome Inn: Murder of Judith Reed 1974

Cold Deep Waters: Murder of Connie Craft 1975

Death on the Way to Sturgis: Murder of James M. Bailey, Jr. 1975

Dying For Drugs: Murder of Terry Vanden Hull 1975

The Neighbors: Murder of Hulda Emma Fischer 1975 Written by David Jindrich

The Shy, Quiet Victim: Murder of Emma Lewis 1976

Good Neighborhood Kid: Murder of Ronald Butler 1977

Death at the Morticians’ Convention: Murders of Rose Burkert and Roger Atkison 1980

Thrown Away: Murder of Sandra Jo Pittman 1980

A Mother Never Forgotten: Murder of Angela Altman 1981

When the Dogs Didn’t Bark: Murder of Robert M. Clary 1982

Forgotten and Unsolved: Murder of Melvin Royale Adams 1983

The Scarred Man: Murder of Arnold Sansgaard 1984

Hired Killer: Murder of Mary Ann Green 1987

The Dead Suspect: Murder of Traci Ann Eveson 1997

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