Do Not Fear The Unknown

The Villisca Iowa Axe Murder House Investigation

June 10 th, 2008

Supplemental Report...Submitted by Juli

 We got to the house in Iowa and started setting up about 6:30pm.  Just getting out of the car, I immediately felt submersed in feelings of fear and dread that I knew were not my own.  Before stepping onto the property, I went across the street to an open lot to do a protection meditation. While Tim sorted out the equipment, Butch, Erin’s husband and I spoke with the owner of the house, Darwin Linn.  During a pause in the conversation, my recorder picked up an unfamiliar male voice whisper, “Pssst…Butch!”  During setup, it recorded a very strange noise that sounded like a male voice say, “Terror” and a female voice say, “Night”.

With Darwin’s permission, Erin planted some Love Lies Bleeding plants in front of the barn for Sarah Moore, the mother who was killed there in 1912.  She also brought a lovely purple bouquet for her and put it in the kitchen in the house.

Setup took quite a while since there is no electricity in the house and cords had to be run from the barn.

Before we started our investigation in the house, we went to the cemetery to pay our respects to the family.  Before we entered the cemetery, I led some of the members of the group in the protection meditation.  After some searching, we found the Moore family plot and the graves of the two children that stayed with the family that night, Lena and Ina Stillinger.  We also found the grave of “Infant Son” at the Stillinger plot.  Apparently, when Mrs. Stillinger found out the next day that her daughters had been killed, she went into premature labor and gave birth to a stillborn baby.  Josh made rubbings of all the grave markers.

As we were leaving the cemetery, I received an image of a very thin man dressed all in black with dark hair and wearing a black hat.  I sensed emotions in him that were very judgmental and self-righteous.  He seemed to feel that these people deserved to die.  I described this to the group along with my feelings that this man had been a member of the clergy.  This seemed to affect Erin deeply as she knew much more about the history of the town and the incident than I did.  I was not told a whole lot since I didn’t want any preconceptions before the investigation.

We went back to the house but before entering, Erin, Josh and I went into the back yard.  Josh, who’d napped during setup, said he’d had a dream that he was a little girl feeing the house in terror and having the feelings of terror end in a certain part of the back yard of the house.  While out there, Erin picked up on the spirit of Lena who she believe had fled the house during the attack and then tried to go back into the house for her younger sister.  Erin believes that she was killed when she re-entered the house.

Judy and I started our investigation of the house upstairs.  I sensed both fear and obstinacy in the back bedroom, which had belonged to the parents, Josiah and Sarah Moore.  I also felt a tremendous pressure in my forehead and the beginnings of a headache. 

Judy set down her EMF detector on a table next to some toys and children’s books while she adjusted the IR camera.  Immediately, the EMF detector started going off by itself.  We started asking questions.  We asked if the entity was Katie, to make the EMF beep once.  It beeped once.  We asked if she would make the EMF beep for how many entities there were in the room with us.  It beeped 8 times.  We told Katie she was a pretty girl and the EMF started beeping continuously.  Judy and I talked with Tim over the walkie about the position of the IR camera.  Judy asked her if she was still in the room with us and the EMF beeped once.  Judy and I praised her for being a smart girl and the EMF beeped 5 times.  Then it started beeping again continuously as though she was having fun playing with it.  Judy asked her if she could make it beep faster and immediately it sped up and then stopped completely. 

We praised her again and the EMF beeped 5 times.  It was silent for a while and we asked her if she was still there and it started to beep continuously again.  We asked permission to take her picture and the beeps started racing.  The EMF always beeped like mad every time we went near the toys as though someone was very protective of them.  I sensed the presence of a small boy, maybe Paul.  We invited him to play with the EMF as well, but nothing happened.  As we left the room, we thanked the children and told them we would come back and visit with them again later.  The EMF seemed to respond with 2 beeps.  As we moved back into the parents’ room, the meter beeped several more times.  I sensed Sarah approach us and seemed anxious so we assured her that we would never hurt her children.  I sensed her retreat somewhat.  The EMF continued to beep though.  It abruptly stopped for a few moments and then resumed.  My head started to hurt again.  I sensed the Josiah in the far corner.  Judy took the EMF there and it beeped so fast it sounded like one long tone.  Judy asked them to make it stop and it continued race and then it stopped and started alternately.  I thought I heard a shuffling noise in the children’s room.  I “saw” Sarah next to the dresser with her hands over her ears so I asked Judy to turn off the sound on the EMF.  I sensed from Sarah that she knew that her family had been in danger before the night they were killed and that Josiah had discounted her fears as foolish and would not, even now, admit that she had been right.  We went back into the children’s room and I felt cold spots moving around the room.  Judy turned on the sound on the EMF again and the meter beeped intermittently.  It seemed to beep fastest near the toys.  My chest started to feel tight, so Judy and I left the house.  As we were leaving, Erin said that they had heard a little girl giggle from upstairs while they were in the downstairs bedroom.  At that time, my recorder picked up a female or child whisper, “Turn the light on.”

 I took a turn at command central with Butch noting any anomalies taking place on the stationary cameras.  While in the barn, we heard footsteps and scraping noises from above us in the barn loft.  There was no one there at that time.

 After my shift at command, I went to the side of the house where the cistern had been.  Someone had told Judy that there was something about a well.  I concentrated on visualizing the inside of the cistern and “saw” a wooden box about the size of a cigar box.  I sensed that there was something of importance hidden inside the box.  After some meditation on it, I believed that there was a solid metal object in the box. 

I asked Erin to come with me to the cistern to see if she could pick up on anything.  She said she could “see” the cistern and something about a necklace.

Erin, Josh and I then went into the backyard and toward the pump.  I mentioned that I kept “seeing” a doll near the pump.  Both Josh and Erin said that they had images of a doll as well.  At this point, my recorder picked up two EVP’s, both female whispers – “Get out of here!” and “Oh, she’s in there – it’s terrible!!”

Tim, Josh, Erin and I went back into the house and up to the attic.  It was very moldy in there and I was having trouble breathing so we left the attic and went into the children’s room.  I got out my dowsing rods to try to communicate with any entities present.  I explained to Katie that we wanted to ask her questions and that she could answer yes by crossing the rods and no by separating the rods.  I asked Katie:

“Are you and all three of your brothers in this room with us tonight?”

“Yes.”

I asked her if she had crossed over into the light.  I sensed confusion from her and the rods did not cross.

Tim asked: “Do you like to stay here and play with your brothers?”

“Yes.”

 “Is this the only room you stay in or do you go other places in the house?  Can you please cross the rods if you go other places in the house?”

Again, I sensed confusion from her so I asked:

“Do you always stay in this room?  Please cross the rods if you always stay in this room.”

The rods did not cross.

Erin said: “I think you go downstairs sometimes.  Do you go downstairs and play in the parlor?”

I “saw” Katie with her hand over her mouth, giggling.  I got the impression that perhaps she wasn’t supposed to play in the parlor.  The rods swung back and forth almost playfully.

Tim asked: “Paul, are you in here with us tonight?”

Nothing happened.

“Katie, is your brother Paul here with us tonight?”

“Yes.”

“Can you please point the rods to where Paul is?”

The rods slowly swung to a corner of the room.

 “Thank you.  Now can you point to where Boyd is please?”

The rods swung around as if uncertain.

“Are your friends still here with you, Katie?”

“Yes.”

“Katie, would you like to leave here?”

The rods did not cross.

“Are your mother and father here too, Katie?”

The rods crossed.

Erin asked:

“Is Lena outside?”

“Yes.”

We went back into the parents’ room and started doing EVP work by asking questions.  I felt a sharp stabbing pain on the side of my head.  Tim asked her if she stayed for the sake of the children.  Sarah spoke to me and said, “My husband won’t let me leave.”  Tim asked me if the husband was still here and if so where he was in the room.  I pointed to the side of the bed by the window.  Tim then addressed him and asked, “Josiah, why are you holding her here?”  Josiah relayed his answer to me, “None of your business.”  Erin then faced him down, “This situation is all because of you…all of it.  You need to admit it.”  Josiah replied, “Who are you to tell me?”  Erin said , “Because I know.  Don’t ask me how, but I know, and you know too.”  Tim then confronted him, ”Josiah, do you realize that everything that happened to your wife, your children and their friends is because of you?”  Erin started taking pictures of that area of the room.  Tim continued questioning Josiah, “Why don’t you want to let her leave?”  Josiah answered through me, “Because she’s my wife.  She belongs here.”  Tim asked him, “So where do you belong?”  Josiah did not answer that question.  Erin challenged him, “Because you’re afraid to move on.  You’re going to keep them here because you know what happened?  You shouldn’t have done it, should you?  You shouldn’t have let them in, should you?”  I sensed that his reasons for keeping his family there went back much further than the night they were killed and relayed this thought.  Tim asked, “What did you do, Josiah?  Why don’t you admit it to us and to her (Sarah)?”  Erin “heard” Josiah say, “She knows.”  Tim asked him, “And this is fair?  Because you’re a coward?  This is fair to your wife and children because you’re a coward?  I sensed and related to the group that Josiah felt entitled to do what he did and wouldn’t accept full responsibility for what happened.

Sarah seemed to become panicked as we challenged her husband.  She seemed terrified of Josiah and I “saw” her pacing and wringing her hands frantically.  I assured her that she would be all right and that she could draw strength from us.  Erin continued to challenge Josiah during this time.  Erin tried to take another picture and her camera wouldn’t work.  She said she had just put new batteries in it that day then the batteries in the video camera Josh held died this time too.  After this, Sarah seemed to gain a little more confidence and I then I felt her pass right through me.  I felt overwhelmed as I seemed to feel all of her emotions at once.  Erin and I left the house and Tim continued to try to communicate with Josiah.  Erin and I both commented that as we went down the stairs that we experienced the sensation that something was shoved down our throats.  The sensation subsided as we got farther from the house.

 When we got back into the barn, Judy said she’d just heard a male voice say, “I’m mad.”

Erin had said that she believed that the attack happened about 1:20am so we all prepared to go back in a little after 1:00am to document any activity.

Erin, Josh and I stationed ourselves in the Blue Room, the downstairs bedroom where Lena and Ina spent the night.  We were the first to go back into the house and I thought I heard a footstep upstairs.

When we got situated, the curtain rod over the closet doorway dislodged and fell on top of Erin.  She jumped and we all laughed it off.  Just then my recorder picked up a child’s voice saying, “I don’t want you to be hurt.”

As the train went by, I started seeing the events of that night replayed.  I “saw” Josiah being killed downstairs and “heard” the noise of the attack upstairs.  We all “saw” Lena fun outside and scream when she saw Ina being attacked.  Lena ran back to the house and was then killed herself.  I had to halfway tune it out to keep myself emotionally detached. 

At this time, everyone reported hearing all the dogs in town start barking madly.

It didn’t seem that the entities in the house were aware of the re-enactment.  Almost like 2 layers of haunting…intelligent and residual.  At this time, my recorder picked up 2 more EVP’s – a child whispering, “Reverend Kelly” just before I said the name myself, and a creepy raspy male voice saying, “Girls, come with me.”  We all heard a child crying at the time, but my recorder didn’t pick this up.

Erin used the dowsing rods to try to communicate with Ina.  We asked her if she would be willing to talk to us and she crossed to rods for us.  Erin asked:

“Do you still get to play with the Moore kids, or do you not see them in the house?”

“Yes.”

“Good, that makes us very happy that you do.  Do you get to see Lena?”

The rods did not cross. 

“I bet you miss her a lot.  Do you like it when people bring you presents?  Do you like the balloons that we brought?”

“Yes.”

I told Ina that I was getting a message from her mother that she loved her very much and that her mother was watching her.   Erin’s arm was touched by something unseen at this point and the rods swung back and forth.  We told her that Josh wanted to take a picture of her but she seemed shy.

Erin asked: “Do you like it when people come to visit you and try to talk to you?”

“Yes.”  Erin “heard” her say, “Because they bring me things.”

Erin asked:

“Was that you we hear giggle earlier?”

“Yes.”

 “Do you get to go play upstairs sometimes too?”

“Yes.”

“Do you ever get to go outside?”

“Yes.”

“Does Herman get to go outside to be with Lena sometimes?”

“Yes.”

We thanked her and put aside the rods.  We then started rolling a ball between us.  When Josh and Erin tried to roll it to me and say that it was “Juli’s turn”, the ball would always change course abruptly and take different paths.  The floor seemed level and the ball perfectly round.  One time, the ball rolled in loops and circled the leg of the bed twice and then without slowing down, abruptly stopped in front of the bed.

We then went upstairs.  In the hallway between the two bedrooms, Tim and Judy were watching the attic door open and close seemingly by itself.  I sensed it was Katie playing a game.  Tim and Judy were attempting to capture the activity on the video camera.  At one point, Tim and Judy felt a cold breeze pass by them though all the windows were closed. 

At this time, my recorder picked up a child whisper, “I’m not going back.”  Shortly after that, the recorder picked up a male voice say, “…need some water to clean this up.”

We all left the house then.  When we back to the barn, Butch said that he’d been hearing strange noises out there; footsteps upstairs, a chair being pulled out behind him where there was no chair and the sound of a hand saw on wood.  While out there, all of us heard strange noises at one time.

All evening, there was a storm brewing in the area, lots of lightning and we heard the emergency sirens go off in neighboring towns.  We finally decided it would be prudent to pack up the truck and head for home.

Technically, this crime has never been solved.  There have been many theories as to what really happened, but no one was ever captured or prosecuted for the killings.  Erin has a documentary on DVD about the incident and after we returned, we watched it together.  After our impressions during the investigation, hearing Darwin’s stories and the information imparted by the documentary, she and I agreed on our own theory of what happened.  It’s reported that Josiah Moore took away an important client from his rival in the hardware business, Frank Jones as well has having an affair with Frank’s son’s wife.  There was a traveling minister named Reverend Kelly in the area at that time.  I believe that Frank’s son, Arthur was directed by his father to eliminate their problem.  I believe that Reverend Kelly assisted Arthur by holding down the members of the family while Arthur killed them.  I believed they accomplished this while the old steam train went by, covering up the sound of the attack.  I think Josiah was the first to be killed, followed by Sarah and the children upstairs.  I think Lena fled the house at this time and then had to witness her sister be killed through the window.  She went back inside for her sister only to be killed herself.  Then the victims were placed back in their beds.  When the townspeople found out, the whole house was flooded with people.  I believe the neighbors cleaned up much of the mess along with cleaning up the evidence.  No one will probably ever know