From 1918 to 1919, a serial killer, dubbed the “Axeman” haunted New Orleans. Focusing primarily on Italian Immigrants, he attacked his victims with an axe, killing some, but not all of them in the process. Today the identity of the Axeman remains unknown.
On May 23, 1918, the Axeman visited Italian grocer Joseph Maggio and his wife, Catherine. The couple were sleeping when the killer entered their home at 4901 Magnolia St.; a bottom panel of the kitchen door had been knocked out.
Using a straight razor he cut the couple’s throats. But that wasn’t all. He took an axe to finish the job. Catherine had been almost entirely decapitated, and Joseph had sustained several severe injuries.
Investigators on the scene discovered that money and valuables that had been sitting in plain sight, went untouched, ruling out a robbery. Furthermore, they found that the killer had left his bloodied clothes behind, clearly changing into a clean set before fleeing.
Then they discovered something unexpected. The killer had used an axe that belonged to the Maggio’s, and left it behind. Although fingerprinting technology was around at the time, it was not standard procedure.
A message written in chalk had been left near the couple’s home reading, “Mrs. Joseph Maggio will sit up tonight. Just write Mrs. Toney.” Though this led police to question several people, nothing ever came of it.
On June 27, 1918, baker John Zanka was making his morning deliveries when discovered Louis Besumer and his mistress, Harriet Lowe, had been attacked. The couple had been staying in the quarters at the back of the grocery store and were found lying in a pool of their own blood.
Besumer had been struck with an axe above his right temple and Lowe had been hacked over the left ear. Unlike the first attack, these two survived. Just like the first attack though, the weapon, also an axe, had been left behind.
People were questioned and 41-year-old Lewis Oubicon, an African American man who had been employed in Besumer’s store, was arrested. Police stated that Oubicon had been employed in the store just a week before the attacks, and though there was no evidence that directly tied him to the crime, he had offered conflicting alibis.
With no tangible evidence, Lewis Oubicon was released.
The story made it to the newspaper, but shockingly people were more struck with the “scandal” that was the mistress than the attack itself.
The attack left Harriet Lowe partially paralyzed and on August 5 she underwent surgery to fix it. Unfortunately she died just two days later, but not before confessing to police that the killer was a large white man with a hatchet. She told them she suspected it was Louis Besumer who had attacked her.
As police began to look into Besumer they discovered a series of letters written in German, Russian, and Yiddish in a trunk in his home. They suspected him of being a German spy. Harriet Lowe confirmed their suspicion when she claimed he was a Nazi spy.
Besumer was arrested and served nine months in prison before being acquitted on May 1, 1919, after a ten-minute jury deliberation. Meanwhile, the Axeman continued his work.
On August 5, 1918, 28-year-old Mrs. Edward Schneider awoke to see a dark figure standing over her. Her assailant bashed in her face repeatedly. She wasn’t discovered until shortly after midnight when her husband returned from work. Her scalp had been cut open and her face was covered in blood. But she survived and was rushed to Charity Hospital.
Two days later, she gave birth to a healthy baby girl – she had been 8 months pregnant at the time of the attack.
Investigators at the scene discovered that an axe was missing from the shed behind their home.
Shortly thereafter, police arrested James Gleason, an ex-convict. He was later released due to a complete lack of evidence.
Joseph Romano, an 80-year-old grocer lived with his two nieces, Pauline and Mary. On August 10, the girls awoke hearing a commotion coming from their uncle’s room. When they entered they discovered that his head had been bashed in, and spotted the Axeman fleeing the scene.
Though he was able to walk to the ambulance when it arrived, he did not survive. Joseph Romano died two days later due to severe head trauma. He had been hit with his own axe.
The girls gave investigators the best description of the assailant so far. They described him as dark-skinned, heavy-set, and he wore a dark suit and slouched hat.
The home had been treated in the same way as the previous ones – ransacked, but nothing stolen. Panels of doors had been removed, and the weapon of choice always belonged to the victim. His bloody axe was found in the backyard.
Police were publicly speculating that these attacks were all related. John Dantonio, a then-retired Italian detective, made public statements in which he hypothesized that the Axeman was the same man who had killed several people in 1911. He cited similarities in the manner by which the crimes had been committed.
Dantonio described the killer as an individual of dual personalities, who killed without motive. He believed he could have been a normal, law-abiding citizen, who was often overcome by an overwhelming desire to kill. He described the killer as being a real-life “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.”
Newspapers ran with a story where they recounted “Armed men are keeping watch over their sleeping families while the police are seeing to solve the mysteries of the axe attacks… Extra police are being put to work daily.”
The newspaper was right and the people were vigilant. Citizens kept a watchful eye, reporting every supposed “sighting” of the Axeman to police. They claimed to see the assailant lurking in neighborhoods. They found axes and chisels in backyards and doors and windows that appeared to have been tampered with.
But the Axeman had gone quiet. For seven months he was quiet and the people began to relax.
But he wasn’t finished yet. On March 10, 1919 screams were heard coming from the Cortimiglia residence. Charles Cortimiglia was an Italian immigrant and grocer who lived with his wife, Rose, and their 2-year-old daughter, Mary. Lorlando Jordano rushed across the street to investigate and found that the three had been attacked.
Rose had awoken to the sound of her husband fighting with the Axeman. She held her daughter in terror as she watched her husband fall to the floor. The Axeman turned on her and though she begged for their lives he was not swayed. He slammed the axe down on them both.
When Lorlando arrived, it was too late. Charles lay on the floor in a pool of blood while Rose stood in the doorway with an obvious head wound, still clutching little Mary, who had been struck in the back of the neck and did not survive the attack.
The couple was rushed to the hospital where they were treated for skull fractures. Charles was released two days later, while Rose remained.
Having had the closest look at the Axeman, Rose identified him to police. She stated that it was Lorlando Jordano and his 18-year-old son, Frank, who had attacked them.
Police arrested Lorlando and Frank, despite the evidence pointing away from them. First of all, Lorlando was 69 and in poor health. His son, Frank, was a big guy, weighing in at more than 200 pounds and stood more than six feet tall. He was too big to fit through the removed panel in the back door.
Charles Cortimiglia denied his wife’s claims that it had been their neighbor, but the pair were still charged with the murders, and were subsequently found guilty. Lorlando was sentenced to life in prison while Frank was sentenced to death by hanging.
After the trial, Charles divorced his wife, and about a year after that, Rose reversed her statement. She claimed that St. Joseph had come to her in a dream and told her she had to tell the truth. She claimed that she had falsely accused Lorlando and Frank out of jealousy and spite. Since her testimony was the only evidence in the case against the Jordanos, they were released from jail.
Meanwhile the citizens of New Orleans were once again terrified. Police reinforced their belief that the crimes had all been the work of the same man, “a bloodthirsty maniac, filled with a passion for human slaughter.”
Then things took an interesting twist. On March 14, 1919 the Times-Picayune newspaper received a letter.
Hell, March 13, 1919
Esteemed Mortal:
They have never caught me and they never will. They have never seen me, for I am invisible, even as the ether that surrounds your earth. I am not a human being, but a spirit and a demon from the hottest hell. I am what you Orleanians and your foolish police call the Axeman.
When I see fit, I shall come and claim other victims. I alone know whom they shall be. I shall leave no clue except my bloody axe, besmeared with blood and brains of he whom I have sent below to keep me company.
If you wish you may tell the police to be careful not to rile me. Of course, I am a reasonable spirit. I take no offense at the way they have conducted their investigations in the past. In fact, they have been so utterly stupid as to not only amuse me, but His Satanic Majesty, Francis Josef, etc. But tell them to beware. Let them not try to discover what I am, for it were better that they were never born than to incur the wrath of the Axeman. I don’t think there is any need of such a warning, for I feel sure the police will always dodge me, as they have in the past. They are wise and know how to keep away from all harm.
Undoubtedly, you Orleanians think of me as a most horrible murderer, which I am, but I could be much worse if I wanted to. If I wished, I could pay a visit to your city every night. At will I could slay thousands of your best citizens, for I am in close relationship with the Angel of Death.
Now, to be exact, at 12:15 (earthly time) on next Tuesday night, I am going to pass over New Orleans. In my infinite mercy, I am going to make a little proposition to you people. Here it is:
I am very fond of jazz music, and I swear by all the devils in the nether regions that every person shall be spared in whose home a jazz band is in full swing at the time I have just mentioned. If everyone has a jazz band going, well, then, so much the better for you people. One thing is certain and that is that some of your people who do not jazz it on Tuesday night (if there be any) will get the axe.
Well, as I am cold and crave the warmth of my native Tartarus, and it is about time I leave your earthly home, I will cease my discourse. Hoping that thou wilt publish this, that it may go well with thee, I have been, am and will be the worst spirit that ever existed either in fact or realm of fancy.
-The Axeman
That Tuesday night, March 19, every home in New Orleans played jazz music. Dance halls were filled to capacity; professional and amateur bands alike played at parties and houses around town.
The killer kept his word, and no one died that night.
The Axeman’s letter inspired the creation of a jazz song entitled, “Don’t Scare Me Papa” also known as the mysterious “Axeman’s Jazz.”
All was quiet for the next few months. Then on August 10, the Axeman claimed another victim.
Grocer Steve Boca awoke during the night to find a dark figure looking down on him. The figure held an axe and struck Boca in the head, but did not kill him. He ransacked the home, but took nothing.
Upon regaining consciousness, Boca ran to the home of his neighbor, Frank Genusa, where he again lost consciousness and collapsed. Doctors treated him for his injuries, but he was unable to remember the details of the attack.
Police on the scene noticed that once again, a panel had been removed from the back door.
The Axeman struck again on September 2, but this time his victim was ready. William Carson fired several shots at an intruder who broke into his home. The intruder escaped, but left the tell-tale signature of the broken door and an axe behind.
The next day brought another attack when Sarah Laumann was attacked with an axe while she slept in her home at 2128 Second St. Sarah lived alone, and when neighbors went to check on her they found her unconscious in her bed, having suffered a severe beating to the head. She was missing several teeth.
Sarah suffered a brain concussion, but ultimately survived. She could not recall any details pertaining to her attack. Police found the killer had entered through a window, and had left a bloody axe on the front lawn.
After two attacks in two days, all went quiet again, until October 27, 1919.
Esther Pepitone awoke around 1am to the sound of screaming. She ran to her husband’s bedroom just as a large, axe-wielding man was fleeing. Her husband, Mike Pepitone had been struck in the head 18 times and was covered in his own blood. The walls of his room were covered in blood spatter, including a painting of the Virgin Mary.
Mike died two hours later, leaving behind a wife and six children.
When questioned about the attacker, Esther was unable to describe any characteristics of the man other than his size.
The Axeman went silent after the death of Mike Pepitone.
After the death of her husband, Esther Pepitone moved to Los Angeles and remarried a man named Angelo Albano. On October 27, 1921, Angelo disappeared without a trace.
Looking for answers, Esther recalled that prior to their marriage, Angelo had ended business relations with a man who went by many names, including Joseph Mumfre. Months later, on December 5, Mumfre visited her home at 5554 East 36th St. in Los Angeles, California.
Mumfre demanded $500 and her jewelry while threatening that he would “kill [her] the same way he had killed [her] husband.” But she refused to be a victim again, and she pulled out a gun and shot Mumfre to death.
When Esther was arrested, she told police that Mumfre was the Axeman, and she had seen him run from her bedroom the night Mike Pepitone had been murdered. The LAPD noted that there was evidence linking Mumfre to the murder of her first husband, and she was acquitted.
Investigators discovered that Mumfre had led a blackmailing gang in New Orleans that preyed on Italians. Additionally, Mumfre had been in and out of prison for the past 10 years, and the time he was out coincided with the timing of the Axeman attacks.
With only circumstantial evidence, police could not charge Joseph Mumfre with the Axeman attacks. As of today no one has ever been charged.
Who was the Axeman of New Orleans?
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