Ghost Box Investigation Villisca Axe Murder House

Villisca Axe Murder House Investigation

by Annette Munnich

On Saturday, January 10, 2009, B.R.U.T.A.L. Paranormal (Anthony and Jennifer Edwards, Herb Cook and Bob Cross) from Minooka, Illinois with Roland and Julz Saenz from Midway Paranormal Society Romeoville, Illinois conducted an overnight investigation at the Villisca Axe Murder House…

The Story

The Villisca Axe Murder House located in Villisca Iowa, is often included as one of the most haunted locations in the United States. It was voted as number one on the Travel Channel’s Most Terrifying Places In America. Villisca, Iowa is a small town in Montgomery County in the southwest corner of the state. This home is the site of eight unsolved murders from June 10th, 1912. Two adults,  Josiah and Sarah Moore, and their children, Herman, Katherine, Boyd, and Paul, were brutally murdered in their beds. There were two little girls visiting that night who were murdered as well, Lena and Ina Stillinger.

It is believed that the killer entered the house and hid while the family and their guests were out at a church function. Later that night after everyone went to bed the killer emerged and killed them all with an axe. It is a horrific crime that stuns the town and police had suspects that included Senator Frank F. Jones, Reverend George Kelly, Henry Moore and William “Blackie” Mansfield. The mystery remains, however, as to who murdered these people and why…

Read more about the crime, victims, and suspects…

The once flourishing town of Villisca is smaller today than it was at the time of the murders in 1912. The residents there were in favor of demolishing the Moore home and putting the tragic history behind them. Instead the house was purchased by Darwin Linn. The home has been restored and tours are available.

Paranormal legend and lore… This house is reported to be very active. Interaction with spirits of the children are common as well as doors that open and close on their own. Something more sinister and frightening is said to be in the house as well.

The Investigation Reports

January 10th 2009
Villisca Iowa
Investigators present- Anthony, Jenny, Herb, Bob, Roland, and Julz
Moon- Full
Temp- 15 Degrees
Equipment- 4 Digital cameras, Digital voice recorders, 2 Still camera 2 K-2 meters, and 2 Emf detectors, Ghost Box, 2- digital Theremometers

Investigation time- 4:30pm till 4:00 am

Jennifer Edwards B.R.U.T.A.L. Paranormal Minooka, Illinois

History-
On June 10th of 1912 in a small town in Villisca Iowa, was one of the most horrific murders of that era. 8 people were bludgeoned to death by an axe. There is 7 different suspects, no one was caught.
The Moore family was a very prominent family in Villisca. This was a family of 6. They were people of faith and went to church and church functions all of the time. Mr. Josiah Moore (Father) was a successful business man. Sarah Moore (mother) was active in the church and busy being a mother of 4. Herman Moore the oldest boy was 11, Katherine the only girl was 10, Boyd was 7 and Paul was 5.
On the night of the murder, the family went to a church program that the children were in. It ran a bit late and by the time it was over it was dark and almost 10 pm. Two friends of the children Ina and Lena Stillinger were supposed to walk to their grandmothers house, but it was dark and they were too scared to walk so they went to spend the night with the Moores. They all got home around 10pm and had milk and cookies and went to bed, never to awake again. According to the coroners they had all been killed around midnight, all killed by an axe. The murderer snuck into the house while they were at church. He waited for them to all fall asleep and when the midnight train went by, that is when he killed all of them. All 8 people Mr. Moore, Sarah Moore, their 4 kids and the two Stillinger sisters. He had went into the bedroom on the first floor off of the parlor and killed the Stillinger sisters frist, then he went up the stairs and killed Mr. and Mrs. Moore, then walked down the hall and killed their 4 children last. A total of 8 people all together. He then proceeded to eat breakfast leave the axe in the house with blood on it, and it happened to be Mr. Moore’s axe that he used to chop wood. The family and the Stillinger sisters were all buried in the Villisca cemetery. There was 7 possible suspects but no one was ever caught. The neighbor and Mr. Moore’s brother were the two who discovered what had happened first. It was a horrible crime that shook this small community.
Investigation report-
Upon arrival we were taken into the barn and watched a video of the event and history of the murder and family and home. We then went on a tour conducted by Mr. John Houser. He took us through the house and into each room and told us who was were and how they were found murdered. Then we were left to investigate the rest of the LONG ACTIVE night.
With in the first 5 minutes of the tour, a ball rolled out from under a bed and stopped directly in front of Bob. Bob is sensitive and so was another member of the group. They both felt many emotions as the night occurred. Sadness, Happiness, Depression, Fear, and possibly evil. We all had personal experiences. Anthony had someone touch his hand, Julz had someone touch her head, Herb got the chills in some spots as well as I did Roland also felt strange at a few points in the night.
We used the ghost box for most of the night, asking questions that were answered by many spirits in the house. The box said all of our names except for Herb. The box said Jenny…..Help me. I asked what I could do to help and got a response of blood, and sad.
The words that came out of the ghost box were
Blood
Torture
Get out
Out now
Out
Blackie, Henry, Frank, and Hank…These are names of suspects
Julz, Bob, Anthony, Roland, Jenny
Joseph, Sarah, Lena, Paul, Herman, Boyd
Not with me
These were all answers to some of our questions and then some words were just what the spirits said.
There was a point in the night around 11pm when the house got darker and colder and the box said “GET OUT NOW!” The 2 sensitives felt something strong that wanted control and wanted us out. Then all the children left. We took a break and the house then felt empty. That point we turned the box back on and were speaking to Sarah Moore and Joseph Moore, they validated who they were and answered a few questions. We have yet to go over all the hours of evidence, we did get a few videos of orbs flying by the cameras. Mind you the temp was 15 degrees out. Bugs are not what caused these orbs. We did get most of the talking of the ghost box recorded. It was a very active place, and an experience that I will NEVER forget. If there are people out there that do not believe in the afterlife, then maybe they should spend the night here! -Jen

Saturday Jan 10, 2009
Villisca Iowa
Axe Murder house

Bob Cross B.R.U.T.A.L. Paranormal Minooka, Illinois

Arrived at the house about 4:40pm
Watched video/slide show about the house and its residents, took tour of the house
started downstairs in the kitchen, then the parlor, the downstairs bedroom where I felt the presence of something but not very strong, continue the tour and went up stairs to the parents bedroom in which I felt a strong presence of something, as the guide continues to tell the story in the parents bedroom I went to the upstairs children’s bedroom and felt very heavy atmosphere when everyone else came in, the room became so heavy to me that I had to leave it so I went back to the parents room to wait on the rest of the group. The tour guide came in there and was telling me that he was feeling the same things as I was, then all of a sudden a ball comes rolling out from under the bed right to my feet, I immediately ask him if he kicked it and his response was NO, there was no one near him to see if he kicked it, if the ball was set close enough to the edge and hidden by the bed cover/blanket he could have very well kicked it and no one would have known, so to say that was paranormal there is doubt in my mind. I did feel the presence of a child standing to my right and I also had a feeling of happiness and good. I set the ball back under the bed
in a specific location and filmed it, later that night Roland and Julie were in the room sitting on the bed, the ball was at the edge of the bed on the floor covered by the blanket, when Roland sat down on the bed and moved his feet the ball came rolling out, I never told anyone I did this so I think it is very easy for the guide to set this up and make it look paranormal.

Now its time to start the investigation, when we all return to the house the first thing we found was a ball in the kitchen that was located in the northeast corner of the room on our tour, now it is in front of the hutch, no one was in the house after the tour, we tried to debunk this by placing the ball in different places on the floor then walking and jumping on the floor to get the ball to move and we could not duplicate it. So possible paranormal activity.
Roland and Julie were very intrigued with the Radio Shack hack box so we started upstairs in the parents bedroom, as we asked questions the names of Paul, Ina, Hank, came out several times, the name Boyd came out only 1 time, many, many, times upstairs I felt the children, Julie is also very sensitive and she also had the same feelings. I left them in the parents room to use the hack box and I went to the children’s bedroom. I could never get them to play ball or move anything but I just felt as if they were there with me.  Now its break time.
Breaks over and we start again, we continue to play with the radio hack box where we get more information out of it, this time they here the name Joseph, Paul, Ina and a child saying help me, we asked how many people were in the room and it replied 11, (that would be the 8 murdered and myself, Roland and Julie) we also asked who did this to you and they heard what sounded like Blackie, I myself could not make it out. As we get ready to wrap this session up we ask if they know who is here with them and the hack box replied Julie, my response was WHO IS JULIE ? at that time I did not know Julie’s name.
Roland intoduced her as Jewels to me so I didnt know her name was Julie. Break time.
Breaks over and we all decide to put the radio hack box in the parlor and all of us will stay there and ask questions and see how it answers, most of this i do not remember so Jen will have to fill this in. I am drawn to the children’s bedroom downstairs, I have terrible feelings in there and I ask Julie to come in there and tell me what she feels and she also has this terrible feeling, I was feeling sad, depressed, sicken, pain, grief, I wanted to cry. I asked what time did the murders take place and Jen said around midnight, Now if you take into consideration the time change 11pm in January would be midnight in June, I just know that was a very devastating point of time to me.  Then we decide to try the spirit writing and I say I will try so they take the hack box upstairs and everybody goes upstairs except myself. I try to do the writing but all I get is “GET OUT” over and over it becomes overwhelming so I stop and go upstairs with the rest of the group and I tell them what I’m getting, also at this time the hack box is telling them to get out. we all go downstairs to take a break and the hack box very sternly tells us to get out !!! I tell everybody do not leave, I go upstairs and proceed to tell the spirit we will not leave this is our house I am in control you will leave etc… Once I feel the spirit knows I am in control we go to break.
Breaks over and for the most part the house is empty to me, I feel nothing, Julie feels nothing, they play with the hack box upstairs and get a few more names and things from it but I got nothing, It did tell Roland his name when asked who am I, but
I was not there. For the rest of the night I am just exhausted mentally, I have had a headache, been sad, feeling exhausted, depressed, ever since the 11pm hour. Before we left I had everyone tal to the hack box and tell the spirits that they must go
back to the other that they can not follow us we waited for the OK which we did get. then we turned the hack box off and left.

Now I want to say this to the group, I do not know some of you, I want the entire group to understand that this investigation was very real, there was massive amounts of energy there. There was sadness, death, control, massive mood swings, a lot of pain and suffering. I did not feel any evil though. If you are weak minded and I DO NOT MEAN THIS IN A BAD WAY but most people are not as strong as myself please be careful with this stuff. I never beleived that a spirit could bring harm to a living human but after feeling the emotions and energy from this house I am having different thoughts about it. I feel that if you allow a spirit to control or take control you may get hurt and that is why I stopped everyone from leaving when it told us to get out. ALWAYS ALWAYS STAY IN CONTROL and pay very close attention to what is being told or felt. At the end of the investigation always tell the spirits to go back to the other side and not to follow you. Just do this for your own protection. I do know that spirits will follow you. I have had many do this to me. One day I hope to be able to meet all of you and do and investigation with all of you. MAYBE IN THE SUMMER ALL OF YOU CAN DO THE VILLISCA HOUSE and I promise I will be there again. One last word of advice PLEASE BE CAREFUL there is a lot to be learned and stay in control. -Bob

Herb Cook B.R.U.T.A.L. Paranormal Minooka, Illinois

Ok from the start of the tour I felt a heavy pressure in the house. Some places more than others. The house had a lot of energy in it. Base readings were at a 1.5-2.0 any thing over 2 would set off the lights of the EMF’s. It was really weird that, if you held the device straight up you got the base readings. If you held it sideways you pegged the meters. I have no reason to believe that they were not working. 4 devices all could not malfunction at once could they? I went for a walk outside. I walked to what I will call east first. I had to walk across the road and about 50 feet into the next yard. Before the E.M.F would not get a reading the same to the other directions. I was holding the meter straight up. We went into the basement to see if there may have been a power source. There was not any thing in there base reading = .03-1.3 straight up. sideways would make the meter go off. not pegged but really strong. In the house I did fell some sort of heavyness. Not a sick feeling or anything just heavy. I can’t explain it, you would have to be there. Now when John was taking us on tour. While I was in the upstairs bed room. Bob and John left the room. They were in the parents room. A ball came out from under the bed and stopped at Bob’s feet. Did it do it on it’s own?  I would like to think so. But every time I went back up there the ball was still in the same place under the bed. I would take a pic. every time and it was in the same place. Now when we were in the kids room down stairs. Me, Ro and julz were the only ones in the room. A ball rolled and hit Julz foot. Could have Ro kicked the ball. Maybe he said that he did not. I did not see him do it. But it was dark in there. So I can not say for sure. I have a few pics with orbs all different sizes. All over the place inside and out. I took a pic of the moon. and one showed up. As of the ghost box it seemed to answer questions as did the lights on the E.M.F.’s when Anthony asked questions. Do I believe in them? Maybe, I know that it seemed to work. It did answer some questions. Now for the very wierd part of the night. Ro’s camera went dead then all of a suden It would come back on. I do not think that a camera with a dead battery would  come back on. We asked that it turn it on and it did. I think that we should go back as a team. Really work the house half go in at a time. Since it is small. I have some pics with orbs in them. Yeah I know orbs right? I have searched to many sites on this place. I would have to say that every one of the sites has pics with orbs. So I am leaning toward these things being something. It was too cold for bugs outside. No snow or rain Just the biggest full moon of the year. -Herb

Roland “Ro” Saenz Midway Paranormal Romeoville, Illinois

This was the highlight of my night….
Much later on in the night we all decided to sit in the parlor, while using the ghost box, and decided to sit as a group and one by one ask “Do you want me to leave?” I was 5th to ask as everyone before me did not get a negative response. I decide to say “This is Roland,do you want me to leave?” We get a response “yeah”. Anthony then asks”Why do you want Roland to leave?” We get a response “yes”. He then asks “You don’t want Ro to leave the house do you?” Replies “yes”. Julz then asks who is this and whats your name?” Replies, “Mike”. Anthony again. “What did Ro do?” Response back “nothing.” I then ask “Why are you intimidated by me?” and the response came back as a faint “creepy.” I then ask why do you not like me? Few seconds goes by and then a very strong response of “Creepy”. I think in all it says the word “creepy” during this part of questioning 4 times. A spirit actually called me creepy! I thought that was one of the funniest things I have ever heard.
Now you ask if I personally believe in these ghost boxes? Well by the experiences I had there that night and hearing my name come through the box 3 times that night and hearing Julie’s name several times and getting a female response in regards to me asking can you say Ro and getting a response back right away as “Ro” then immediately I ask can you say “Julie” and within 3 seconds a female voice says “Juulll-ee” I was very impressed.

Now remember back in 1912 people dressed much differently and were very proper and men did not wear earrings,as I have a loop earring in each ear as well as I have my eyebrow pierced with a loop/hoop ring. I may have looked a little odd to someone from 1912.

As far as my photos, I cannot explain the images that I captured that night. One thing I do know is that we will return to that house again one day to once again confront what lies in the shadows of a house that sits forever in time known as the Moore home. -Roland

Editor’s Note

I am hoping to be able to provide audio files from the ghost box soon to accompany this story. Please check back soon

Johnny Houser will be locking himself into the Villisca Axe Murder House for 30 nights to make a documentary on this famously haunted location. Find out more about this project…

Read More About Villisca Axe Murder House

B.R.U.T.A.L. Paranormal on my space

Roland Saenz on my space

Tags:Annette Munnich,B.R.U.T.A.L. Paranormal,ghosts paranormal,Midway Paranormal Society,Paranormal Articles,Paranormal Python,Villisca Axe Murder House

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