About the Documentary

 

Sometime during the night of Sunday, June 9, 1912, a person or persons unknown entered a modest house in Villisca, Iowa and bludgeoned to death Josiah B. Moore, his wife Sara, and their children Herman, Katherine, Boyd, and Paul and overnight guests Lena and Ina Stillinger.  The crime, known thereafter as the “Villisca Axe Murders”, is the most notorious unsolved mystery in Iowa history. The tragedy spawned nearly ten years of grand jury investigations and three sensational trials, made and broke political careers and led to the establishment of the Iowa Department of Criminal Investigation.  

American's greatest unsolved mystery also created a lasting community split over the guilt or innocence of a local State Senator. Was the Villisca crime the work of a serial killer who committed similar homicides in Colorado, Kansas, and Illinois? Rare photos, limited reenactments, computer animation, and fascinating interviews with eye-witnesses, historians, town residents, and forensic experts shed light on the still-unsolved mystery and dramatically reveal the face of a new suspect.

Today the grisly unsolved 1912 murders attract visitors, tourists and overnight guests to the Villisca Ax Murder House. The mystery has generated books, a play, paranormal investigations, television programs,  fictional independent film and a feature-length documentary. 

Villisca: Living with a Mystery premiered in 2004, enjoyed a limited theatrical release in over 60 cities including Los Angeles where it qualified for the 2005 Academy Award® competition. The award-winning true crime documentary aired on PBS stations and was showcased at film festivals across the country. 

Villisca: Living with a Mystery was produced by Emmy Award-winning filmmakers Kelly and Tammy Rundle of Fourth Wall Films and features interviews with people alive during the tragic event. The late Robert K. Ressler, a former FBI agent, forensic profiler and the author of “Whoever Fights Monsters” was also featured in the film. 

Considered the foremost authority on the Villisca axe murder story, Dr. Edgar Epperly was the key consultant on the film. Epperly spent over 60 years researching and interviewing people who were alive at the time the famous unsolved mystery took place. His new true crime book, “FiendIncarnate: Villisca Iowa Axe Murders of 1912” is available via Amazon.com and in bookstores.

The film was partially funded by a grant from Humanities Iowa and the National Endowment for the Humanities.

To stream or order the DVD, visit https://www.fourthwallfilms.com/villisca-living-with-a-mystery