Towns/Townships

To read about unsolved murders in a particular Iowa community, click on a location from the alphabetical list below.

Articles are added frequently. Check back soon for additional stories.
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☛ A ☚

Adair, Adair County:

• Halloween Homicide: Murder of Walter Schenck 1902

Afton, Union County:

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

Agency, Wapello County:

• Forgotten and Unsolved: Murder of Melvin Royale Adams 1983

Alton, Sioux County:

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

Ames, Story County:

• The Secret Diary: Murder of Fred Hollingsworth 1933
• Who Killed the Corn Canning Czar? Murder of Henry Chavis 1948
• A Story Yet To Be Told: Murder of Sheila Jean Collins 1968

Avoca, Pottawatomie County:

• The Wrong Man: Murder of Joseph Hair 1888

☛ B ☚

Batavia, Jefferson County:

• Death by Politics: Unresolved Murder of Silas McCart 1860

Beaver Township, Polk County:

• Death Going West: “Apple Grove John Doe” 1866

Boone, Boone County:

• Death in the Rail Yard: Murder of Bill Dayton 1894
• Giving Away Money: Murder of John Zauhar 1947

Buffalo, Scott County:

• The Beckoning Hand: Murder of Alma Harrison 1905

Buffalo Grove, Buchanan County:

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

Burlington, Des Moines County:

• The Gun in the Privy: Murder of Louisa Fritzsche 1893
• What the Medium Saw: Murder of John Pierson 1904
• Gas Light: Suspicious Deaths of Clara & Alfred Mellor, Jr. 1920
• Appointment With Death: Murder of Dorothy Miller 1969
• Long Creek Close to Home: Murder of Mary Lange 1970

☛ C ☚

Cincinnati, Appanoose County:

• The Big Swede: Murder of Carl Axel Deer 1925

Clarion, Wright County:

• The Fatal Glass of Beer: Murder of George Diggle 1888

Calamus, Clinton County:

• Blood by Lamplight: Murder of Esther Alger 1872

Camp Dodge, Polk County:

• The Defective Shotgun: Murders of Claud and Anna Miller 1949

Camp Township, Polk County:

• The Veteran Who Lived Alone: Murder of Henry J. Millard 1874

Carlisle, Warren County:

• The Redhead in the Strawstack: Murder of Jane Doe 1925

Carney, Polk County:

• Nearly Home: Murder of Anna Marie Medici 1962

Carroll, Carroll County:

• The Boy on the Train: Murder of Addis Lyman 1905

Casey, Guthrie County:

• Deadly Shot: Murder of Roscoe D. Harris 1963

Cedar Rapids, Linn County:

• Summer Night in the Park: Murder of J.H. Peck 1931
• The Aspiring Actress: Murder of Marlene Padfield 1959
• Death in a Cubicle: Murder of Fred Coste 1959
• Destination Unknown: Murder of Geraldine Maggert 1968
• Foul Play: Murder of Paula Oberbroeckling 1970
• The Dead Suspect: Traci Ann Evenson

Centerville, Appanoose County:

• The Baby in the Pasteboard Box: Murder of a Newborn Girl 1881
• Black Hand and the Coal Miner: Murder of Nicollo Vinceri 1920

Charlotte, Clinton County:

• Outside the Welcome Inn: Murder of Judith Reed 1974

Chelsea, Tama County:

• The Czech Marble Cutter: Murder of Matej Straka 1878
• “Trio of Thugs”: Murder of Officer Rolland P. Smith 1901

Cherokee, Cherokee County:

• Wages in Gold: Murder of John Hill Beal 1893
• Killer in the Tombstone: Murders of Lena and Martin Schultz 1893
• The Eccentric Baggage Hauler: Murder of William Kniffin 1917
• Shock: Suspicious Death of Neva Andrews 1950

Clarence, Cedar County:

• Thrown Away: Murder of Sandra Jo Pittman 1980

Clear Lake Township, Cerro Gordo County:

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

Clinton, Clinton County:

• The Irish Carpenter: Murder of William Martin 1885
• Last Accounts: Murder of Henry Nurre 1890
• Grifters and Cons: Murder of “Lucille Marvin” 1937
• The Widow in the Alley: Murder of Lillian Chapman 1950
• Crossing the Line: Murder of Arlene Adler 1967 Written by David Jindrich
• Shooting at “Ike’s Peak”: Murder of Edwin Jacobs 1972
• When the Dogs Didn’t Bark: Murder of Robert M. Clary 1982

Colfax, Jasper County:

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

Colo, Story County:

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

Colon, Mahaska County:

• “Furiously Angry”: Murder of Wesley Wilson 1894

Cottonville, Jackson County:

• The Broken Clevis: Murder of Samuel Cronk 1867

Council Bluffs, Pottawatomie County:

• Coldblooded Desperado: Murder of Officer George W. Wilson 1907
• Neither Rain, Nor Snow, Nor Death: Murder of Walter Baldwin 1921
• In the Garage: Murder of Henry Christensen 1941
• Taxi Ride to Death: Murder of George Massouris 1950
• “Heaven is My Home”: Murder of Gloria Slump 1967

Cresco, Howard County:

• Cold Deep Waters: Murder of Connie Craft 1975

☛ D ☚

Davenport, Scott County:

• Too Long at the Fair: Murder of Robert McQuestian 1873
• Labor Day Excursion: Murder of Alexander McArthur 1899
• Delirium Tremens: Suspicious Death of Sam Anderson 1901
• The Gentle Man: The Murder of Charles Englehart 1935
• “The Tattooed Lady”: Murder of Margaret Treese 1947
• “Maniac” in the Drugstore: Murder of Lucille Bacher 1955
• A Daughter’s Quest for Justice: Murder of Clarence Raymond Case 1961

Decorah, Winneshiek County:

• Strictly Strychnine: Murder of John P. Stickles 1876

Des Moines, Polk County:

• “The Peaceable Negro”: Murder of John Allen 1864
• The Cooler: Suspicious Death of David T. Todd 1887
• The One-Armed Man: Murder of William A. Hunt 1893
• The Well Digger: Murder of Peter Hendrickson 1895
• Picture Imperfect: Suspicious Death of Oliver Pearson 1896
• Below the Melan Arch Bridge: Murder of Baby John Doe 1898
• “All Round Crook”: Murder of Joplin Red West 1900
• The Christmas Eve Brawl: Murder of Charles Johnson 1901
• After Church: Murders of Lena and Tommy Peterson 1902
• Acting Oddly: Murder of Daniel Kelleher 1904
• Double Identity: Murder of George Griswold 1905
• Taking the Waters: Murder of Frank Callahan 1905
• Mistaken Identity: Murder of Peter Ross 1909
• Dead From a “Wallop”: Murder of John Schnellbacker (Schnellbächer) 1913
• “Butcher, Baker”: Murder of Otto H. Samp 1916
• Black Hand At the Bridge: Murder of Francis “Frank” Oliverio 1917
• At Closing Time: Murder of Officer George W. Mattern 1918
• Alleyway Robbery: Murder of Carlisle Hunter 1919
• The Gardener and The Black Hand: Murder of Dominic Sposeto 1919
• Skull By the River: Murder of Jane Doe 1920
• Strangled With His Own Necktie: Murder of David Faulkner 1920
• All Souls’ Day: Murders of Sister Mary Virginis and Sister Mary Rosalita 1921
• “Fear of the Dread Black Hand”: Murder of Domenico Baretto 1921
• Deadly Taxi Party: Murder of Thaddeus Mitchell 1922
• “The King of Little Italy”: Murder of Angelo Ferrari 1922
• “Myself, Meadow, Hawk”: Murder of Evelyn Lee 1930
• Last Day of Work: Murder of Floyd Alloway 1937
• After A Game of Bridge: Murder of Anne M. McGrevey 1948
• Cab in the Snow-Filled Ditch: Murder of Leon Groves 1951
• Under the Court Avenue Bridge: Murder of Charles Sanders 1954
• On the Front Porch: Murder of Rose Grandanette 1958
• “Cold-Blooded Sadistic Type”: Murder of Ramona Jean Cox 1962
• Below Zero: Murder of George Geary 1963
• Cold Night Out: Murder of Donald Nervig 1965
• Mother’s Day Death: Murder of Lillian Randolph 1965 (body found)
• “A Real Nice Girl”: Murder of Janice Snow 1965
• Death at the Chamberlain: Murder of Judy Ann Corbin 1967
• The Neighborhood Grocer: Murder of David R. Morris 1973
• Gunfire At the Holiday Inn: Murders of Danny Peters and Luis Trujillo, Jr. 1974

Dubuque, Dubuque County:

• Bound and Gagged: Murder of Francis Rafferty 1964

Duncan, Hancock County:

• Horse Medicine: Murder of James Banda 1904

Dysart, Tama County:

• Drinking Bout: Suspicious Death of John F. Brennan 1898

☛ E ☚

Eldon, Wapello County:

• Dead in Bed: Murder of Thomas Tolbert 1877

Ely, Linn County:

• Tracks in the Night: Murder of Edward Moore 1898

☛ F ☚

Fayette, Fayette County:

• Butter and Egg Day: Murder of Nels Louvring 1933

Florence Township, Benton County:

• Poison Kiss: Murder of Edwin Hodges 1869

Folletts, Clinton County:

• The Gruff Good Man: Murder of Ewald Bandixen 1974

Fort Dodge, Webster County:

• A Mother Never Forgotten: Murder of Angela Altman 1981

Frankville Township, Winneshiek County:

• The Dead Horse Trader: Murder of William Clugston 1867
• “The Menial Drudge”: Murder of Lovina Kneeskern 1876

☛ G ☚

Glenwood, Mills County:

• Never Three Without Four? Murder of George Shackell 1929

Gravity, Taylor County:

• Charred Remains: Murder of Jane Otis 1921

Near Guthrie Center, Guthrie County:

• Mother’s Day Death: Murder of Lillian Randolph 1965 (disappeared)

Near Guernsey, Poweshiek County:

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

☛ H ☚

Hamburg, Fremont County:

• Bullied and Bantered: Unresolved Murder of Jesse Wilkerson 1869

Hampton, Franklin County:

• The Poison Strawberry: Murder of Lelia Long 1896

Hazelton, Buchanan County:

• Taken to the Grave: Murder of Juliette Thomas 1871

Near Hills, Johnson County:

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

Homer, Webster County:

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

☛ I ☚

Independence, Buchanan County:

• Down in the Dark: Murder of Officer Pitt M. Doxsie 1897

Iowa City, Johnson County:

• The Coffee That Killed the Frog: Murder of Winfield Carpenter 1904
• Babe in the Woods: Murder of an Infant Girl 1910
• “He’s Got a Roll”: Murder of Jared Ham 1911
• “Brutal Killer”: Murders of Beverly Brenneman and Ruby Ciler 1953
• “Right Place, Wrong Time”: Murder of Edward Kriz 1962
• Spring Break Killer: Murder of Sarah Ann Ottens 1973

☛ J ☚

Johnson County, Coralville Reservoir:

• Destination Unknown: Murder of Geraldine Lempke 1968

☛ K ☚

Keokuk, Lee County:

• The “Inoffensive, Harmless Man”: Murder of John Murphy 1904
• Death at the Box Company: Murder of Earl Paris 1928
• Brothel Double Homicide: Murders of Willard Woodring and Richard Buchanan 1960

Near Keota, Keota County:

• Body in the Pasture: Murder of Elmer Penderson 1881
• In the Corner Under a Blanket: Murder of George Sulzberger 1898

☛ L ☚

LaMoille, Marshall County:

• The Tramp at Breakfast: Murder of Andrew Hart 1896

La Porte City, Black Hawk County:

• Death at the Dairy: Murder of Dale Redman 1968

Le Mars, Plymouth County:

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

Lenox, Adams County:

• Dead In a Corn Field
  

Long Grove, Scott County:

• Assassination: Murders of Lizzie and Andrew Brownlie 1874

Low Moor, Clinton County:

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

☛ M ☚

Malvern, Mills County:

• Staged Scene: Murder of Charles Shamblen 1936

Manson, Calhoun County:

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

Maquoketa, Jackson County:

• The Woman Who Bought Her Own Tombstone: Murder of Sarah Tracy 1935
• The Neighbors: Murder of Hulda Emma Fischer 1975 Written by David Jindrich

Marion, Linn County:

• “Old Feud Fueled By Drink”: Murder of Nathaniel Carnagy 1847

Marshalltown, Marshall County:

• Mangled Bodies: Murders of Jack Wilson and Con Matthews 1899
• A Woman and Her Dog: Murder of Maude Stubbs Lambert 1902
• The Dead Bulgarian: Murder of Welio Tsnoff 1910
• The Apron in the Shack: Murder of Erma (Irma) Caldwell 1924
  
• Lonely Hearts Scam and the Veteran: Michael Featherstone 1924

Mason City, Cerro Gordo County:

• Apparition: Murder of Edward Hughes 1898
• Burning Murder?: Death of Lucille DeDries 1962
• Death of the American Dream: Murder of Andrew Hatges 1968

Near Maxwell, Story County:

• Dying For Drugs: Murder of Terry Vanden Hull 1974

Mediapolis, Des Moines County:

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

Melrose Township, Grundy County:

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

Meriden, Cherokee County:

• The Burning Shack: Murder of Martin Cummins 1925

Merrill, Plymouth County:

• 65 Cents: Murder of “Smitty” Smith 1924

Meskwaki Settlement, Tama County:

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

Millersburg, Iowa County:

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

Milo, Warren County:

• The Brave Girl: Murder of Augusta Kading 1877
• Lynch Law: Murder of Reuben Proctor 1877

Minburn, Dallas County:

• Gun Battle in the Night: Murder of Virgil Untied 1931

Missouri Valley, Harrison County:

• Deadly Tramps: Murder of Allan F. Shoemaker

Montezuma, Poweshiek County:

• Highwaymen: Murders of Andrew and Nancy Casteel 1856

Montour, Tama County:

• “The Belle of the Tribe”: Murder of Ma-Sha-Che 1905
• “No Women Or Children Allowed”: Murder of Winfield Scott Rouse 1929

Montrose, Lee County:

• Back to the Window: Murder of William Mullikin 1902

Muscatine, Muscatine County:

• Lumberyard Tramps: Murder of Officer Jacob Neibert 1896

Mystic, Appanoose County:

• Ground Into a Hundred Pieces: Murder of Elmer Anderson 1897

☛ N ☚

New Virginia, Warren County:

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

Newton, Jasper County:

• Dead at the Gate: Murder of Jeremiah Zollinger 1895
• Sandbagged: Murder of George Carter 1898

☛ O ☚

Oelwein, Fayette County:

• Black Hand Vendetta? Murder of Phoebe Jane Vigoletti 1926

Osage, Mitchell County:

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

Osceola, Clarke County:

• Corpse in the Pump House: Murder of Mary Gilfillan 1896

Oskaloosa, Mahaska County:

• Stingiest Man In Town: Murder of Edward Schmidt 1972
• Hired Killer: Murder of Mary Ann Green 1987

Ottumwa, Wapello County:

• Bright, Bold Blackmailer: Murder of Alice Kelley 1888
• “Foully Treated”: Murder of Thomas McGary 1892
• Murder Behind the Meat Market: David P. Sutton 1893
• The Wabash Trestle: Murder of James Chamberlain 1893
• Mistaken Identity: Murder of Peter Ross 1909 (body found)
• Letters in Russian: Murder of Ben Mikovitch: 1914
• “No Necking Here”: Murder of Harry Overturf 1925

Oxford Junction, Jones County:

• Burning Mystery: Murder of Henry Hults 1963

Oxford Mills, Jones County:

• The “Criminal Operation”: Murder of Belle Sutliff 1897

☛ P ☚

Pacific Junction, Mills County:

• “Walking Corpse”: Suspicious Death of Nancy Duncan 1880

Parnell, Iowa County:

• At the Crossroads Store: Murder of George Hardy 1929

Perry, Dallas County:

• Under the Willows: Murder of John Doe 1904

Plainfield, Bremer County:

• Explosion in the Night: Murder of William Meadows 1961

Pleasanton (formerly Pleasant Plain), Decatur County:

• Pointblank: Unavenged Murder of James Alfrey 1866

Polk City, Polk County:

• Death Comes to the Mayor: Murder of Robert W. Stubbs 1882
• “Violent Excitement”: Murder of Robert Lee Clingan 1883

☛ Q ☚

☛ R ☚

Red Oak, Montgomery County:

• Death of the Photographer’s Daughter: Murder of Clara Gray 1898
• Knockout Drugs: Murder of Harry Salisbury 1904

Redfield, Dallas County:

• Among the Tropical Fish: Murder of Myrtle Cumpston 1965

Rock Valley, Sioux County:

• The Wrong Brother? Murder of William VandeBrake 1920

Rudd, Floyd County:

• Driftwood: Murder of an Unknown Child 1859

☛ S ☚

Saylor Township, Polk County:

• Flesh and Blood: Murder of Aaron Smith 1864

Seymour, Wayne County:

• The Insane Tramp: Murder of Will Sargent 1897

Sheldon, O’Brien County:

• Poisoned and “Outraged”: Murder of Maud Straw 1896
• John Doe 1917

Sherman Township, Jasper County:

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

Sioux City, Woodbury County:

• “That Old —“: Murder of John Rohrer 1893
• Boxcar Hanging: Murder of Leopold Glatzer 1895
• “Lilies of Soul-Less Sin”: Murders of Max Noack and Ora Minter 1895
• “True Disciple of Pollyana”: Murder of Thecla Gerken 1917
• “Hacked to Pieces”: Murder of John McGill 1920
• Chinese Tong Ritual: Murder of John “Jack” Fong 1924
• Death at the Hardware Store: Murders of Harry Jones and William Laugesen 1925
• Mayhem: Murder of W.A. Davies 1925
• Sisters Act: Suspicious Deaths of Josephine Goodwin and Elizabeth Anthony 1925
• Slaughter of Innocents: Sioux City Babies 1925
• Third Time, No Charm: Murder of Benjamin “Barney” Kaplan 1925
• “Stick ‘Em Up, Louie”: Murder of Louis Friedman 1930
• In the Big Muddy: Murder of Sherman Casper 1935
• Valentine Death: Murder of Catherine Decora 1965

South Fork Township, Delaware County:

• Elgin Watch Case #138033: Murder of John Doe 1910

South Fork Township, Jackson County:

• Dying for Land: Murder of Andrew Brown 1852
• “The Whole Affair is a Deep Mystery”: Murder of Adelbert Rowland 1897

Spencer, Clay County:

• Undercover: Murder of Louis H. Dayton 1929

Spirit Lake, Dickinson County:

• “Shot Into Eternity”: Murder of John Legall 1897

Storm Lake, Buena Vista County:

• Stealing Away: Murder of John Ford 1880
• Struck Down: Murder of Frank Sandquist 1904

☛ T ☚

Tabor, Fremont County:

• The Poisoned Family: Rhode-Elefson Murders 1948

Teeds Grove, Clinton County:

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

Turkey Grove (Now Grove City), Cass County:

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

☛ U ☚

Unionville, Appanoose County:

• Obsession: Murder of Mamie Peterson 1896

☛ V ☚

Van Cleve, Marshall County:

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

Vienna Township, Marshall County:

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

Villisca, Montgomery County:

• “Slay Utterly”: Villisca Axe Murders 1912

Vinton, Benton County:

• Teatotaling Klanswoman: Murder of Myrtle Cook 1925

Near Vinton, Benton County

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

Volga City, Clayton County:

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

☛ W ☚

Wapello County, Polk Township:

• Coal Mine Plunge: Suspicious Death of Robert Ruby 1936

Waterloo, Black Hawk County:

• “A Vaudeville of Troubles”: Murder of Deborah Simmons 1879
• “Very Maw of Death”: Murder of Officer Fred P. Widmann 1908
• Leave Town or Die: Murder of Richard Huggins 1914
• Ancient Vendetta: Murder of Joseph Busemi 1915
• Good Neighborhood Kid: Murder of Ronald Butler 1977

Waukee, Dallas County:

• The Shy, Quiet Victim: Murder of Emma Lewis 1976

Waukon, Allamakee County:

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

Webster City, Hamilton County:

• Riding the Blinds: Murder of Elmer Dudrey 1896

Westgate, Fayette County:

• What the Poultry Men Found: Murder of Ashley Downing 1933

West Liberty, Muscatine County:

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

Williamsburg, Iowa County:

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

Woodbine, Harrison County:

Unwitnessed: Murder of Washington Irving Crow 1875

Woodburn, Clarke County:

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

☛ Y ☚

Yetter, Calhoun County:

• The Interrupted Funeral Procession: Murder of Josiah Pratt 1905

☛ Z ☚