Click on a title below to read about defenseless victims, heartless killers, and unfathomable motives associated with historical Iowa unsolved murders from 1900 through WWI.
All the following articles were researched and written by Nancy Bowers between 2009 and the present, some with the assistance of David Jindrich. For many of the victims, these stories were the first preservation of the facts other than newspaper articles from the time of the murders.
This is the only legally authorized site for the research and articles — many never seen before. Check back soon; articles are added often.
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☛ 1900 – 1917 ☚
“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