Villisca, Iowa Ax Murder House Investigation

We reached Villisca, Iowa at approximately 6pm on July 26th, 2011. The weather was balmy as it has been most of the summer of 2011. This night was a calm one with little to no breeze or wind. The tour was conducted by Renee who is a psychic, and is also a paranormal investigator herself. During the tour of the cemetery I asked Renee what her thoughts were on the number of killers that were there that night at the house on June 10th, 1912. She stated that there were 2 at the house that night. The 3rd suspect was Frank Fernando Jones, or FF as some called him. Josiah Moore was an employee of Jones for approximately 9 years at his John Deere hardware and implement store. Taken from other online articles it was reported that In 1907 Joe left and opened a competing hardware and implement store. When Josiah left he took the John Deere Plow Company franchise with him, which added salt to the open wound of FF’s pride. The business conflict between Frank Jones and Joe Moore had grown so intense that by 1910 they wouldn’t speak and would cross the street to avoid meeting each other. Renee stated that she believes it is because of this that FF hired these 2 killers to “take care of” Josiah. Renee believed William Mansfield of Blue Island, Illinois was the actual ax wielder. Online reports were written saying that Mansfield was said to be a cocaine fiend and serial killer. It was also believed Mansfield was responsible for the axe murders of his wife, infant child, father-in law and mother in law in Blue Island, Illinois on July 5, 1914 (2 years after the Villisca murders). The axe murders committed in Paola, Kansas, 4 days before Villisca murders and the murders of Jennie Peterson and Jennie Miller in Aurora, Colorado were also said to be the work of Mansfield. In fact, the mode of operating of the Villisca ax murderer (habits, traits and or practices of the killer or killers) were overwhelmingly similar to the ax murders of Paola, Kansas and Aurora, Colorado. The second one in the house on the night of June 10th, 1912, Renee stated, was one who served as a look out. Renee conveyed to us that the lookout posted himself in the pantry area of the house while the ax wielder mercilessly made his way around upstairs. The Stillinger sisters were the last ones to be killed because the killers did not know they were staying at the house that night.

According to other online articles there were other prime suspects in the Villisca murders, 2 of which were Reverend George Kelly and Henry Lee Moore (No relation to the Josiah Moore family). Reverend Kelly was charged with one of the murders, but his first trial resulted in a hung jury and he was finally acquitted by the second. Henry Lee Moore was another viable suspect due to the fact that he was actually convicted of the murders of his mother and maternal grandmother in Columbia, Missouri, just months after the murders in Villisca. Henry Moore's family members were killed just as brutally as the victims in Villisca and the weapon he used was an axe. In those murders there were also similarities in his methods when compared to the Villisca, Iowa murders.

Accounts taken from the documentary “Villisca, Living With a Mystery” stated that all of the victims’ faces, along with the windows and mirrors in the house, were covered with either curtains, blankets, or clothing after the murder. Curtains were drawn on all of the windows in the house except two, which did not have curtains. Those windows were covered with clothing belonging to the Moore's. All of the victim’s faces were covered with the bedclothes after they were killed. A kerosene lamp was found at the foot of the bed of Josiah and Sarah. The chimney was off and the wick had been turned back. The chimney was found under the dresser. A similar lamp was found at the foot of the bed of the Stillinger girls, the chimney was also off. The axe was found in the room occupied by the Stillinger girls. It was bloody but an attempt had been made to wipe it off. The axe belonged to Josiah Moore. The ceilings in the parent's bedroom and the children's room showed gouge marks apparently made by the upswing of the axe. A piece of a keychain was found on the floor in the downstairs bedroom. A pan of bloody water was discovered on the kitchen table as well as a plate of uneaten food. The doors were all locked.

We started out the investigation at approximately 9:00 pm on the night of July 26th, 2011. Dave, Jen, and I were the first to go into the house to conduct e.v.p. sessions. We started out in the upstairs kid’s bedroom, which was Herman, Paul, Boyd, and Katherine’s room. We were utilizing some trigger objects by setting them in front of the closet door in that room. I recorded nursery rhymes on my phone. I realized that I did not bring my phone up with me. I left the upstairs and went outside to get my phone. Video was running along with the audio recorder in that room with Jen and Dave present. We did not catch anything on the video audio. The digital voice recorder did catch a voice just before Jen says “You know what I really want you to do?” Here are those video and audio sections. 

Please wear headphones to better hear the e.v.p. sections on all of the audio and video.

From the upstairs kid’s bedroom we moved into Josiah and Sarah Moore’s upstairs bedroom, who were the parents of the house. We seemed to have caught what seemed to be a response to Jen’s question, what the voice is saying we could not interpret. Below is the original clip, then the same clip again but with amplification of the possible e.v.p. and with some of the background noise removed.

From the parent’s room we proceeded downstairs to do our final e.v.p. session for that first hour and a half. At one point when we were down on the main level floor, no one was upstairs, yet the voice recorder running, sitting on a stand, in the kid's room upstairs caught the sound of a footstep and then a knock on the stand where the digital voice recorder was resting. Here is an audio clip of what we caught.

As we were downstairs Dave tried to entice whatever is there to play with the ball that was sitting on the floor in the parlor area. Again, an evp is there, yet we could not make out what was said for certain. The first is original clip, then the same clip with amplification with some background noise removal.

As we were exiting the house, this next catch caught us off guard on the audio review. Jen states on the audio about us being finished with our sessions. We catch what appears to be a voice of a young female. Though pleased with this e.v.p. catch, it did sadden some of us a little.

During the investigation we did have a few personal experiences happen that evening. One of which was when I was standing in Josiah and Sarah Moore’s bedroom, the upstairs parent’s bedroom. The stairway rail and balusters are visible in this room. I glanced over at one point during the evening, towards the rail, and I thought I saw what was a head peek up between the balusters and then lower back down again. This surprised me to the point where I jumped back.

There was an incident where Mike, Craig, and I were up in the upstairs kid’s room doing an e.v.p. session. Mike was asking questions during this e.v.p. session when I heard a “Ting” type of noise. This sound ended up being the chimes hanging on the crib-like bed in that room. There were no drafts that could have moved these chimes, nor did anyone bump the bed, or cause any type of floor movement or vibrations. In fact, when we tried to move the chimes with our fingers to recreate the sound, it took a little bit more force than we thought it would to move the chimes. Here is a video clip of that incident.

At close to 2 a.m. Jen volunteered to go into the house alone.  During the time she was in there we did catch a voice on one of the audio recorders that were sitting in Ina and Lena Stillinger’s bedroom on the main level floor.  This is an interesting e.v.p. catch because it had me wondering, was this being directed towards Jen?  Or was this a type of residual effect of what the killers said to each other that night.  You will hear the original clip first.  The e.v.p. comes across first then you will hear Jen cough at the end.  On the next clip it is the same clip but I amplified the e.v.p. section a little.

The sad history held within the Villisca, Iowa ax murder house walls alone made it worth investigating.  We thought maybe someone, or something there may have had something to tell us, and others.  The e.v.p. did convince us that there is indeed inhabitants, unseen by the human eye, still residing at the house.  You don't have to be a psychic or a sensitive to feel the sadness when you enter this place.  The history of the house and the horrific acts of violence are still soaked deep within its walls.

Note: If you are having problems with this section loading properly there is an audio report on our YouTube page.  http://www.youtube.com/user/PinSprs#p/u/4/49AGcW1dFxk 

 Report written by: Dean

Abandoned Hospital Investigation and Personal Experiences

The abandoned hospital building is one experience I would have never have expected to have ever experienced, even as a paranormal investigator. I, at this time, was working for a security company as an armed security officer. This particular building had to be boarded up due to a fire. The security company had the task of guarding it until it could get properly sealed and cleaned up. I was not assigned to this post at this building, but three fellow officers that I knew well were. The structure was said to have housed mental patients in it's earlier days. In the latter years the building became more of a home for the aging. Security did regular sweeps of the entire building to make sure it was clear of trespassers. During those sweeps it was said that there were some very odd occurrences. One of the officers stated that he and another two officers were in the basement level of the building, the last level of their sweep. They were standing in one spot when they said out of nowhere this large glass jar dropped, which seemed out of thin air, and landed in between the three of them. No one but them were in the basement, or the entire building for that matter. It was also said in a separate incident that there were 3, 9 volt batteries sitting on a shelf in one of the main floor rooms. Later that evening during an area check, one of the batteries thumped against the wall in an adjacent room to the one with the shelf with the batteries on it. The officer then went to the room to check the shelf where the batteries were, there was only one that remained on that shelf.

I knew all three officers, that experienced these instances, well since I did work with the same company. All three knew I was a paranormal investigator also. I decided to ask them if I could get in and look at the place. They agreed to allow me to do so. Unfortunately I was limited on the amount of equipment I could bring in the building, because technically I was not assigned there to work, and wasn't authorized to bring in such equipment. I did however bring in a k2 e.m.f. meter, digital voice recorder, and a digital camera. I was going in there to find logical reasons, in the adult human's mind way of thinking, for the things that were happening. The first incident is when 2 officers, a female, and I were on the main floor of the building. We were all looking around on the floor at the various objects and where they were laying. All of us then went around the corner into a small room that housed the stairway to the basement. We were no more than 10 feet from where we were prior when there was a thud and then a few bounces on the hallway floor. When entering the hallway to investigate the noise it was noticed that a padlock had moved approximately six feet from it's previous resting place. The noise of it hitting the floor sounded as though it was thrown to the floor. Here is an audio clip from that incident.

We eventually made it back to the stairwell and into the basement of the building. As we were walking around the basement I said "Why don't you throw something." In the small room directly across from me something thudded against the wall very hard. I will admit it did catch me off guard a little. I then went directly into the room from where the thud sound came from. No one was in there. There was a fixed type of window in there but it was not broken and was intact. I could not come up with an explanation. I left the digital voice recorder recording on a shelf on the far end of the basement hallway, while we went upstairs. I did wish I would have brought it upstairs with us but it turned out to serve a valuable purpose later, in that spot. Leaving the recorder on the shelf while we were upstairs would have picked up anyone entering the basement other than us. There would not have been anyone down there because of the area checks by security anyway, but the recorder just legitimized that fact more so. While we were upstairs things started to get more and more odd. At one point an officer and I were standing outside of a doorway in the hallway, the two others were using the k2 e.m.f. meter to do a check in the room. The electricity was shut off to the building. While doing the K2 sweeps the meter spiked up to red. It was very close to that exact time that a metal object went whizzing by the officer and I in the hallway and struck the wall on the very far end. It definitely shocked us both. The object struck the very same end that the picture below was taken.

We all went to the area where the object seemed to have been thrown, the area was clear. We then went to the end where the object struck. It is on that end we found a small piece of metal that was for a piece of plumbing attachment. It is that piece we believed was the object that struck the wall. While investigating the end the above picture was taken, myself and the female in the group saw another object down on the 'A' end of the hallway get tossed. The object that got tossed on the other end came from the left side and flew to the right. We then traveled down to the other end marked with the 'A'. Again, the end was clear, no one was there. We identified the piece that was tossed on that end as yet another piece of plumbing attachment. We also noted a metal allen wrench shaped pin, on that end, that also proved to be a valuable bit of information to us later yet in the evening. The event that ties into the allen wrench shaped pin is an interesting one. All of us were standing on this end of the hallway where the above picture was taken. Two security officers were standing in this small room on the side marked with a 'C'. They were facing the side marked with a 'B'. The female of the group was standing on the side marked with a 'B'. She was facing the officers standing on side 'C'. I was facing the exact direction from which this picture was taken. Standing on side 'B' she began to rub the right side of her face and stated she felt a little paranoid. She then began to move to the side the officers were standing on. In a matter of seconds, of her moving away from that area, a metal piece flew and hit the wall where she was moments prior. The object hit with a great amount of force. Keep in mind that, also, the object would have had to have been thrown from the point marked 'D' on the picture to have struck the area it did strike. We would have seen an individual there in that spot. No one was there, no one that could be seen by the human eye anyway. Here is the audio clip.

Yet another incident occurred that really caught me off guard yet again. I was shining my flashlight down the hallway. As I was doing so a rock seemed to appear out of thin air no more than 10 feet from me. The rock appeared and flew through the air as if it were thrown. It wasn't there, then it was. That was also another 1st for me.  We all decided to go down to the basement again and pick up the voice recorder that I left on the shelf. This next incident blew my mind, and yet another 1st for me. I picked up the voice recorder off the shelf. We started back down the hallway. One officer was walking along side of me and the others were walking ahead of me. As I was carrying the voice recorder I said, "Can you throw something for us, down here?" It is then a long piece of wood struck me square in the back. I was psyched as you will hear on this next clip below. You also hear the guard mention, before it happens, that a particular device he is carrying seems to be losing battery power.

Wrapping up this investigation report is a few more of the e.v.p. we did catch. The language is kind of harsh on a couple of them, and it is clear on what the voice is saying, so keep that in mind. I used to think, before I ever started the investigating, that the submitted clear e.v.p. was either a hoax or just mistaken noise contamination by others. Of course I am still skeptical of some that some have submitted, but being actually on this journey of investigating the paranormal, it has really opened my eyes that a lot of it could be legit. I say that because of the amazing e.v.p. our groups have caught on investigations. I must admit, I am on this journey for selfish reasons, not to make others believe, but rather to find the truth out for myself. That is why I get a great deal of enjoyment and satisfaction from it.  On this particular building we asked the owners of the property if we could get in as a group with all our equipment and investigate it.  The owners would not allow us to investigate the building.  I am very pleased to have experienced the events I did though in this structure.  I am however withholding anything that would give the identity of this building away, out of the respect for the owner's privacy.  Located below are some of the e.v.p. we did catch.

  

Report written by: Dean

Iowa Location Paranormal Investigation

Before moving to Nebraska and starting the group P.I.N. I was on a case with Siouxland Paranormal Research Society in Bronson, Iowa. There was a woman who lived on a farm acreage with her husband and 2 children. She had experienced some odd happenings that occurred on the upstairs floors of the house. The upstairs was no longer used by them because of this. The claims of this upstairs dwelling was, when this upstairs was used, that the beds would actually shake and move. Sounds of disembodied voices and footsteps were also experienced. They eventually would not use the upstairs at all because of the odd events. The footsteps and odd noises would however still be heard from the main level, when the upstairs was no longer being used.  This would scare this woman to the point where she would actually shove a mattress against the door that lead to the upstairs. Siouxland Paranormal Research Society was called and was asked to come in and investigate this house by this woman. Below is a peek at some e.v.p. and interesting e.m.f. hits from that night of the investigation.

Use headphones to better hear the e.v.p.

Sadly, the husband died unexpectedly recently. There are more details to the story of his death, but out of respect for the family, we cannot disclose that information. That's all that can be said is that there were problems in his life well prior to us meeting him, and investigating this house. The wife and children no longer live at this house. Certain information has surfaced about his ashes. The ashes were split up between 2 sets of family members. Activity was said to happen at one of these locations.  The location with the activity is said to have the husband's ashes, but also at this house, are specific personal belongings of his. The claims are also that when the wife arrives at this location activity significantly rises. Siouxland Paranormal Research Society (S.P.R.S.) was asked to investigate this house.  S.P.R.S. asked P.I.N. to assist in this investigation. INVESTIGATION COMING SOON.

Due to the possible evidence being contaminated via audio catching devices, P.I.N. decided all potential evidence had to be thrown out.

Report written by: Dean

The Squirrel Cage Jail Paranormal Investigation Part 2

The Squirrel Cage Jail was conducted on the evening of April 9th, 2011.  Paranormal Investigators of Nebraska and Siouxland Paranormal Research Society members arrived at the jail at approximately 7:40 p.m..  After a tour/walk-through we started setting up our equipment.  A few equipment issues prevented us from starting at a desired time, but those issues did not prevent us from having a good and interesting investigation.  Dave (S.P.R.S. founder and director), Amy, Mike, and I started our investigation around the segregation area around 10:40 p.m..  Dave was setting up his full spectrum camera in the area straight across from the segregation area.  During this time the camera picked up a distant and odd voice.  Below is the video section of that clip.

Use headphones to better hear the e.v.p.

There were many interesting events through out the night.  The juvenile holding cell section has been claimed to be one of the hot spots for various levels of activity.  A very interesting series of events that we had in that region of the jail corroborates those claims.  We were in the juvenile holding cell section and within that section of the jail we had e.v.p. that seemed to add validity to a few personal experiences that took place there.  The video below contains those events.

Use headphones to better hear the e.v.p.

If I was to rate the overall experience I got from Squirrel Cage Jail of Pottawatomie County, Iowa, it would be rated a 5 out of 5 stars.  It is our view that there really is something going on at the jail that is paranormal in nature.  The e.v.p. alone that we did catch from this place does appear to support that.  The friendly staff and interesting history of the jail made it a great visit for us.  We are hoping to revisit the jail in the near future.

Report written by: Dean

The Squirrel Cage Jail (Council Bluffs, Iowa) Paranormal Investigation

On the morning of Tuesday, April 5th, at approximately 10:10 a.m. Investigator Craig and myself started our tour/walk through of the Squirrel Cage Jail.  Occupying the building during the tour at the jail was Craig, myself, and a staff member who was in the office.  The tour was of the main level and the upper floor.  We did not have access to the upper levels, above those 2 floors, until the night we would investigate the jail.  The tour was a very interesting one.  After the actual tour with staff we were allowed to walk freely on the floors we were shown.  We brought with us to the tour our digital cameras.  Making our way around and exploring the jail we took pictures and also shot some short video clips.  We both had 1 personal experience that was very interesting.  I was in a cell sitting where the toilet area used to be.  Craig was outside of the cell and was taking a picture of me in that cell.  I heard a voice come from within the cell, which really took me by surprise.  I then looked at Craig and he had a surprised look on his face and said "What the hell was that?"  From the place I was sitting the voice seemed to come from the top sleeping bunk, which was located to my right, in very close proximity to the right side of my head.  I asked Craig, who was standing just outside of the cell door, where he thought that noise came from.  He replied "It came from inside of the cell."  Unfortunately we did not have any video running at the time to catch this incident.  Within the short time we were there, approximately an hour and a half, we found some very interesting segments on the video from our digital cameras, one of which is on our website.  http://www.paranormalinvestigatorsofne.com/#/squirrel-cage-jail-1/4553831459

report written by: Dean