Motives for Murders

The most important yet complicated and sometimes even unknowable aspect of a homicide is what compels one person to take the life of another.

In cases of unsolved or unresolved, the “why” is often a matter of conjecture or speculation formed by law enforcement, the legal system, or public opinion based on the evidence and circumstances.

Below are motives that provoked killers who took the lives of victims featured on this website. Click on a name below to read the victim’s story.
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☛ Argument ☚

• “Apple Grove John Doe,” a.k.a. Stephen D. Cooper
• Elmer Anderson
• Hulda Emma Fischer
• John Schnellbacker (John Schnellbächer)
• Washington Irving Crow

☛ Argument Over Politics ☚

• Silas McCart

☛ Argument Over A Woman ☚

• Wesley Wilson

☛ Assassination (Personal) ☚

• Elizabeth “Lizzie” Brownlie
• Myrtle Cook
• William D. Mullikin

☛ Avoiding Arrest ☚

• Allan F. Shoemaker
• Fred Widmann
• George W. Mattern
• George W. Wilson
• Jacob O. Neibert
• James Alfrey
• Joseph Kashmetter (Kaeshmetter, Kashmitter)
• Pitt McClellan Doxsie
• Rolland P. Smith
• Virgil Untied
• William Meadows

☛ Becoming Free of Spouse ☚

• George Diggle

☛ Black Hand Vendetta ☚

• Angelo Ferrari
• Domenico Barretto
• Dominic Sposeto
• Francis “Frank” Oliverio
• Joseph Busemi
• Nicollo Vinceri
• Phoebe Jane Vigoletti

☛ Bootlegging Intrigue ☚

• Floyd Melvin Alloway

☛ Bullying ☚

• Jesse Skinner Wilkerson

☛ Business Quarrel ☚

• George Ruggles Griswold
• Gustav Rechfus
• Oliver Pearson

☛ Chinese Tong Vendetta ☚

• John “Jack” Fong

☛ Collateral Damage ☚

• Andrew J. Brownlie

☛ Concealing a Botched Illegal Abortion ☚

• Paula Oberbroeckling

☛ Concealing Criminal Activity ☚

• John Ford
• “Lucille Marvin”

☛ Concealing a Secret From the Past ☚

• Price Vincent Evans
• Dr. William F. Swisher

☛ Drinking Party Gone Wrong ☚

• Catherine Decora (Katherine DeKora)
• James Banda
• Jane Doe 1925 (Strawstack Murder Carlisle)
• John F. Brennan
• Melvin Royale Adams

☛ Drug Trade Intrigue ☚

• Terry Lee Vanden Hull

☛ Drunken Aggression ☚

• John Allen

☛ Drunken Mob Action ☚

• Charles Johnson

☛ Drunken Quarrel ☚

• Carster Henry “C.H.” Wessel
• David P. Sutton, Jr.
• Judith I. Reed
• Elmer Dudrey
• Nathaniel Carnagy

☛ Elimination of Husband to Obtain Wife ☚

• Edwin F. Hodges

☛ Elimination of Witness ☚

• Edward A. Kriz

☛ Family Dispute Concerning Incest ☚

• Aaron Smith

☛ Family Dispute, Ongoing ☚

• Deborah Simmons

☛ Family Jealousy ☚

• Lena Peterson
• Tommy Peterson

☛ Family Neglect and Abuse ☚

• Lelia I. Long
• Mary R. Coffin
• Nancy Duncan

☛ Family Quarrel ☚

• Fred Quade
• Winfield S. Carpenter

☛ Grudge ☚

• David A. Faulkner
• Harry Overturf
• Henry William Chavis
• Jeremiah R. Zollinger
• Walter L. Baldwin

☛ Hit and Run ☚

• Anna Marie Medici
• Sister Mary Rosalita (née Agnes McLaughlin)
• Sister Mary Virginis (née Mary Agnes Austin)

☛ Home Invasion ☚

• Augusta Kading
• Robert Wadsworth Stubbs

☛ Infanticide ☚

• Alfred P. Mellor, Jr.
• Baby John Doe 1898 (Des Moines)
• Infant Girl 1910
• Newborn Girl 1881
• Sioux City Babies 1925
• Unknown Child 1859

☛ Jealousy ☚

• Anna Wiese

☛ Jealousy/Avoiding Responsibility for Pregnancy ☚

• Mamie Peterson

☛ Land Dispute ☚

• Andrew Brown

☛ Lonely Hearts Scam ☚

• Michael Featherstone

☛ Love Triangle ☚

• Alta Fisher Paul
• Chester N. Van Horn
• Edward D. Hughes
• Elizabeth Anthony
• Fred Hollingsworth
• John P. Stickles
• Josephine Goodwin
• Josiah M. Pratt
• Juliette Thomas
• Louisa Fritzsche
• Lovina Kneeskern
• Mary B. Lange
• Mary Gilfillan
• Myrtle Cook
• Robert M. Clary
• Roger E. Atkison
• Rose Z. Burkert
• William F. Lewis

☛ Lover’s Quarrel ☚

• Alma Harrison

☛ Mistaken Identity ☚

• Joseph Hair

☛ Mob Hit ☚

• Richard B. Buchanan
• Willard Woodring

☛ Obtaining an Inheritance ☚

• Alonzo Lyman Rhode
• Anna H. Puttkamer Miller
• Claud Miller
• Earl Hardy
• James Hardy
• Leonard L. DeLong
• Lucy Kemp Rhode
• Maria Dulin
• Mary Ann Green
• Mary Hardy
• Winifred Rhode Elefson

☛ Psychopathy, General ☚

• Gloria Faye Slump

☛ Psychopathy, Mass Murder ☚

• Arthur Boyd Moore
• Herman Montgomery Moore
• Ina Mae Stillinger
• Josiah B. Moore
• Lena Gertrude Stillinger
• Mary Katherine Moore
• Sara Montgomery Moore
• Paul Vernon Moore

☛ Rage ☚

• Traci Ann Evenson

☛ Resisting Being Removed From Train ☚

• Cornelius “Con” Matthews
• John E. “Jack” Wilson

☛ Revenge for Blackmail ☚

• Alice Kelley

☛ Revenge for Seducing and Abandoning ☚

• Henry V. Duffy

☛ Revenge for Snitching ☚

• John “Joplin Red” West
• James M. Bailey, Jr.
• Louis H. Dayton, a.k.a. “Clarence L. Plummer”

☛ Robbery ☚

• Alexander McArthur
• Andrew Hart
• Andrew J. Casteel
• Andrew T. Hatges
• Arnold Sansgaard
• Arthur C. Mead
• Benjamin “Barney” Kaplan
• Carl Axel Deer
• Carlisle Hunter
• Charles Englehart
• Charles O. Shamblen
• Charles Edward Sanders
• Clarence Raymond Case
• Dale Redman
• Daniel Kelleher
• Danny Peters
• David R. Morris
• Earl Paris
• Edward A. Schmidt
• Edward Moore
• Emma Sophia Lewis
• Ewald “Ed” Bandixen
• Francis John Rafferty
• Frank Callahan
• Fred Coste
• George H. Geary
• George Massouris
• Gideon Hall
• Harry H. Jones
• Harry H. Salisbury
• Henry J. Millard
• Henry Nurre
• Henry Stephens
• Homer Brownfield
• J.H. Peck
• J.N. Covey
• Jane Otis
• Jared Ham
• John Hill Beal
• John Legall
• John Pierson
• John Smith Ross
• John William Rohrer
• Justus Herwig
• Leon E. Groves
• Leopold Glatzer
• Luis A. Trujillo, Jr.
• Louis Friedman
• Lucille Bacher
• Martin Cummins
• Matej Straka
• Max Noack
• Mr. Knisely
• Myrtle Zelda Cumpston
• Nancy Casteel
• Nels Petersen Louvring
• Ora Minter
• Otto H. Samp
• Robert McQuestian
• Rose Brownfield
• Samuel Cronk
• Sherman G. Casper
• “Smitty” Smith
• Thaddeus Mitchell
• Thomas Tolbert
• Walter D. Schenck
• Will Sargent
• William A. Hunt
• William Clugston
• William E. Kniffin
• William Laugesen

☛ Robbery Gone Wrong ☚

• Rose Danato Grandanette

☛ Romantic Entanglement ☚

• Anne M. McGrevey
• George Carter
• Richard William Huggins

☛ Romantic Obsession ☚

• Henry Christensen
• Thecla Gerken
• William E. “Will” VandeBrake

☛ Rumor of Large Amount of Money Hidden in the Home ☚

• Ashley Downing
• George Hardy
• George G. Shackell
• George Sulzberger
• Lena Schultz
• Martin Schultz
• Sarah D. Tracy
• Winfield Scott Rouse

☛ Sexual Psychopathy ☚

• Alta Marie Braun
• Arlene Grace Adler
• Beverly Brenneman
• Dorothy Miller
• Evelyn Lee
• Geraldine Maggert
• Janice Marie Snow
• Lillian Chapman
• Ma-Sha-Che (“Nelly Davenport”)
• Margaret Treese, a.k.a. “The Tattooed Lady”
• Marlene Padfield
• Maud Straw
• Ramona Jean Cox
• Ruby Ciler
• Sarah Ann Ottens
• Se-Ton-a-Qua
• Sheila Jean Collins

☛ Sociopathy, General ☚

• Sandra Jo Pittman

☛ Spousal Abuse ☚

• Sarah Ann Kirker

☛ Spousal Elimination to Avoid Alimony ☚

• Lillian Randolph

☛ Teenage Sociopathy ☚

• Angela Marie Altman
• Esther Alger

☛ Termination of Pregnancy/Love Triangle ☚

• Clara Belle “Belle” Sutliff

☛ Unknown ☚

• Addis Lyman
• Adelbert D. Rowland
• Ben Mikovitch
• Bill “Billy” Dayton
• Clara Kelley Gray
• Clara Mellor
• Connie Craft
• David Conners
• David T. Todd
• Donald Amos Nervig
• Edwin Harry Jacobs
• Elmer Penderson
• Erma (Irma) Caldwell
• Frank Sandquist
• Henry J. Hults
• James Edgar “Ed” Knotts
• James Lewis Chamberlain
• Jane Doe 1920 (Des Moines)
• John Doe 1858 (Sac County)
• John Doe 1904 (Perry)
• John Doe 1910 (Delaware County)
• John Doe 1917 (Sheldon)
• John L. Rogers
• John McGill
• John Murphy
• John Zauhar
• Judy Ann Corbin
• Kate Slifer
• Lucille DeVries
• Maude Stubbs Lambert
• Mr. Thomas
• Neva Andrews
• Peter Hendrickson
• Peter Ross
• Ronald Craig Butler
• Robert D. McCullough
• Robert Lee Clingan
• Robert Lee Ruby
• Roscoe D. Harris
• Sam Anderson
• Thomas McGary
• W.A. Davies
• William Martin

☛ Vigilantism ☚

• Eli T. Coffin
• Reuben Proctor