Entrances, Exits and Procurement…

The neighborhood the Burnham and Wayne families lived in was decidedly lower class and populated by people of very little means. It was just a half a block away from the Denver & Rio Grand railroad tracks. To the west of the homes ran a trolley line which ran late at night in order to accommodate the late shift workers of the Golden Cycle Mill to the west. Below is a (not scale) map of the neighborhood from 1909. The map is running with North on the right side. The arrows indicate the two houses and are pointing in the direction the front doors faced. The houses running along the trolley tracks were all vacant but due to the high use of the road they faced, there were electric street lamps running in front of them. The “Alley” to the east of the two houses was dark.

I think the most likely path of the killer was along the Alley. He could have come in from the west but would have risked being seen entering the back yards of the vacant houses along the trolley line. By coming in from the railroad tracks in the east and cutting south into the Alley, the killer would have been moving in almost complete darkness. Why did he then choose the Wayne’s house to enter? By coming from either the south or the north through the alley he would have passed two other occupied houses first; Joseph and Martha Evans to the south of the Wayne’s house, and Mrs. C. L. Brown's house just across the Alley from the Burnhams. There are two characteristics that stick out to me as possible reasons for skipping those two houses. First, the Browns were African-American. Second, the Evans were in their fifties. Opportunity didn’t seem to be a factor since the killer forced entry into both murder houses so if he was willing to break into those two houses, why not the Evans or Brown homes? "But Inspector...you are implying the murders weren't random!" Kind of, yeah. I don't think the killer actively stalked the victims in Colorado Springs but I also don't believe he just broke into a house without any idea who might be in there. There is circumstantial evidence to suggest the killer observed his victims at Ellsworth and Villisca. I think it is likely he did the same in Colorado Springs. There were numerous spots, including vacant houses, surrounding the crime scenes where the killer could have hidden and observed his targets. A worker on his way to the Golden Cycle Mill reported that he observed a man "loitering" in the vicinity around midnight on the night of the murders. Could this have been our guy?

Maybe one of these guys knows?

Victimology: Blanche V. Wayne

I have already gone into Blanche Wayne’s family background here so I won’t repeat it. I want to try, as best I can, to follow her movements before the night of September 17^th, 1911. Blanche had just turned 23 and from photos and descriptions was quite pretty.

Based on Arthur Burnham’s statement that Henry Wayne had called him on August 23^rd (a Wednesday) then it is likely that the entire Wayne family arrived in Colorado Springs either on or near that date. Burnham stated that he spoke to Wayne about the cottage and the next time Burnham went home (Wednesday the 30^th) the Waynes had moved in. The little cottage was $6 per month rent (about $138 today) and Henry paid for two months in advance. Lulumay and the Burnham children played in the back of the houses from time to time and May Burnham had told Arthur “[Blanche was] a nice little woman.”

Colorado Savings Bank (1950s)

From the time the Waynes moved into the little cottage, Blanche would be seen around the neighborhood with her daughter while on walks to the corner store and to the park a few blocks away. To a person, those in the neighborhood said they didn’t know the Waynes well. The only exceptions were apparently May Burnham and Grant Collins, the owner of the corner store. Collins told investigators he saw the Wayne family almost every day but hadn’t really talked to them until the Sunday afternoon before their deaths. Blanche apparently did speak to her neighbors as some of them stated she told them the $55 Henry placed into savings was from the sale of furniture in Indiana. Some time during the week of September 17^th, 1911, Blanche spoke to her neighbor, Martha Evans, about barrowing her axe, which would ironically become the murder weapon. There hasn’t been anything in my research to indicate Blanche or Henry were high probability targets for violent crime. If anyone has any more information about Henry or Blanche Wayne, particularly from relatives, I would really appreciate hearing from you. I would like to flesh out these victimologies with a bit more info and history.

Victimology: Henry Wayne

September 17^th, 2011 will mark 100 years since the (unofficial?) beginning of the series of murders known as the Midwest Axe Murders. I am in the camp of these murders being the work of a highly mobile serial killer. Of particular interest to those who study serial killers are the victimology. What traits, characteristics or actions lead to the killer choosing this particular victim? Ideally I want to start examining the victims a bit more in order to gather information that could lead to, at least a few, conclusions about victim selection by the killer. Since the Wayne’s were possibly the very first victims of the Midwest Axeman, I’ll look at them first, starting with Henry “Frank” Wayne.

Henry Wayne was the third of eight children born to George and Terrissa Wayne. Henry grew up in Pulaski County, Indiana, near the small town of Medaryville. George was a farmer, originally from Ohio, and made sure his children went to school. Henry alternatively went by Frank which was the short form of his middle name, Francis. Henry married Blanche McGinnis in 1908 and their daughter, Lulamay was born in 1909. Probably around September of 1910 Henry left for Colorado Springs to receive treatment for tuberculosis at the recently opened Modern Woodman Sanatorium. He stayed in the Sanatorium for 11 months and was released. Arthur Burnham told investigators he had told Henry about the cottage next to his and Henry decided to move in. According to Burnham that was the extent of their socializing. In early August of 1911 Burnham was told by the cook at the sanatorium that Henry was to be his replacement in the kitchen. Henry worked there for a few days then went back to Indiana to bring out his family. On August 23, Henry placed a call with the operator to Burnham and asked about the empty cottage next door. On August 31, 1911 Henry made a deposit of $55.00 ($1300 today) in a local bank. Blanche Wayne had told neighbors this was from the sale of furniture in Indiana.

A restored TB hut on the old grounds of the Modern Woodman Sanatorium

Initial investigations of the murders focused around love triangle hypotheses and it wasn’t just regarding the Burnhams. Remember I said in a previous post that Denver Chief of Police Hamilton Armstrong believed the murderer was a woman? Well the hypothesis behind this belief was Henry, away from his family for so long, had been friendly with another woman and Henry broke the whole thing off when his wife and daughter got to town. There isn’t anything to suggest this was the case at all. In fact it’s very likely that Henry spent the majority of his time at the sanatorium before he was released. According to accounts in the newspaper, Henry had no friends in the city and only vague acquaintances at the sanatorium any way. The only solid evidence of Henry interacting with anyone was an argument he was seen having with another man in the front yard of his cottage the week before the murders. No one could say what the argument was about and the man was never found.

The Cobles of Rainier...

Just 150 miles north of Ardenwald, in a little cottage just outside Rainier, Washington, Archie Coble, formerly of Topaz, Missouri, was just starting his life with his brand new wife, Nettie. Nettie was about 10 years younger than Archie and said to be quite attractive. Archie worked in Rainier at a general store as a clerk and had to start his way into town very early, following the nearby railroad tracks into town. On the night of July 10, 1911 it was a full moon. Archie set his alarm clock for midnight so he could begin his day. Archie did not make it to work that morning.

I have only mentioned this case in passing. I now want to go into a bit more detail about it. I told you before that I am not certain about the link between Ardenwald and the rest of the “Midwest Axe Murders.” But I have more information about the Coble crime scene that makes this particular murder very intriguing to me. When the bodies were discovered on Tuesday night, the back door of the cottage was open. The bed in the front room where the bodies lay was tucked into a corner. Archie slept on the outside and was lying on his back. Nettie slept on the inside against the wall and was lying on her left side, facing the wall. So what are the similarities here?

First, the disposition of the bodies; both lying in bed with sheets pulled up over the victim’s heads. Archie had been hit once or twice and I’m not certain how many blows Nettie absorbed. Archie had a cotton handkerchief placed on top of his face. Nettie was positioned slightly down off her pillow and lower in the bed. The position was believed by investigators to suggest she had awoken and made an attempt to evade the killer’s axe. If you want comparison see here. Left out of the news reports was the fact that Nettie had been “criminally assaulted” which would have occurred postmortem (see here and here).

Another, similar element was an oil lamp. On top of the lantern glass were smears of blood, indicating the killer had handled the chimney after the attacks. Was this to remove the chimney in order to look upon the scene by the flicker of a dim, open flame? The murder weapon was a double bitted axe and had been placed on the bed cover. The crime was described by investigators as “cleaned up” which, while vague, indicates that little bit of OCD inherent in serial killers. The killer apparently exited the cottage through the bedroom window as indicated by shoe prints found in the soft soil outside the window. In a “tent house” located behind the cottage was found a bloody newspaper which either means the killer went into the tent after the murders to look around or went there to go to sleep. I’ll get into the suspects in another post. So was this a random act of violence or the second (or first) in a series of bloody murders?

Darwin Linn (1934 - 2011), owner and restorer of the old farmhouse now known as The Villisca Ax Murder House, passed away July 15th, 2011. My condolences to his family and friends. I never met Mr. Linn but I have him to thank, or blame, for my interest in this series of historic crimes. I recall when I first heard of Villisca which set me off on this goose chase of history. I was doing some research on Lizzy Borden and came across a link to a site about the restoration of an old farmhouse in a town I'd never heard of. Being the macabre sort I figured there must be a reason the link popped up at all so I checked it out and I was hooked.

In spite of controversy Mr. Linn pressed on with the restoration. The house has been placed on the National Register of Historic Sites and won an award from the Iowa Historic Preservation Association. Mr. Linn was an historian, plain and simply put. He will be missed by many. Rest in peace, Darwin.

Red Herrings and such...

Some things I know that may or may not be true (or important):

Paola, KS: June 6th, 1912, shortly after midnight, a night watchman for the MK&T railroad saw an "ungangly" figure running south down the tracks, "wildly flailing." The figure tripped and ate dirt, got back up and continued his run.

In August July of 1911, a young Rainier, Washington couple was found dead in their bed, having been bludgeoned to death in their sleep. Both bodies were covered with bed clothes and at least one of the victims' face was covered with a "cotton handkerchief."

At least one of the crime scenes in Louisiana and Texas had victims faces covered with bed sheets as well as an article of clothing or some other piece of cloth.

Just some little things I've discovered. Feel free to discuss :)