It is the scene of one of Iowa’s coldest cases, in both law enforcement lexicon and folklore. Death came to that small Iowa town in a hush, its perpetrator never caught.

On Saturday, Dr. Edgar “Ed” Epperly will offer his perspective on the multiple murders that for more than 100 years have kept even the greatest sleuths guessing.

“Unsolved Villisca Ax Murders of 1912,” begins at 1 p.m. at the Mulberry Center Church, Wilson Brewer Historic Park, 220 Ohio St., Webster City.

The event is free.

-Submitted photo
The murder house.

Sometime during the early morning of June 10, 1912, someone bludgeoned to death Josiah B. Moore, 43; his wife Sara, 39; their children Herman, 11; Katherine, 10; Boyd, 7; and Paul, 5. Also murdered were two overnight guests: Lena and Ina Stillinger, who were 12 and 8, respectively.

“The sensational crime led to nearly 10 years of investigations and trials,” the media release issued for the event reads. “The small southwest Iowa town of Villisca split over the guilt or innocence of a local businessman and state senator. A traveling minister from England with a history of window peeping was charged and tried. Investigators and reporters across the country speculated that the brutal crime was the work of an early serial killer. Similar crimes had been committed in Colorado Springs, Colorado; Ellsworth, Kansas; and Monmouth, Illinois.”

Epperly has spent 60 or more years interviewing eyewitnesses and key figures and poring over historical records related to the crime. He began his research in 1955 as a college student in Cedar Falls and is now considered to be the foremost authority on the case.

The culmination of his decades of work is a comprehensive book on the subject published at the end of 2021, “Fiend Incarnate: Villisca Axe Murders of 1912.”

Epperly was the key consultant and was interviewed for the award-winning documentary feature film “Villisca: Living with a Mystery” by Fourth Wall Films.

-Submitted photo
A funeral hearse used for one of the Villisca victims is pictured, courtesy of Iowa Cold Cases.

It was public frustration in the inability of law enforcement to solve the murders that led to the formation of the Iowa Bureau of Criminal Investigation, the forerunner of the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation.

The fingerprint collection compiled by the expert who also examined the Villisca crime scene became the basis of the FBI’s current database.

Epperly, who lives in Decorah, has written dozens of articles and blog entries, and has appeared on Court TV and other television and radio programs. He is a popular guest speaker at colleges, universities, historical societies, museums, libraries, and book stores.

His research journey was the subject of the award-winning short documentary film AXMAN.

What drove a college professor Epperly with a doctorate to such lengths?

In the basement of his comfortable home that backs into a wooded deadend street, he has filled three large file cabinets with copies of court documents, transcripts of interviews and handwritten index cards marking the decades of peering at microfilm before it was even possible to print its images.

Epperly will start by saying it’s a hobby, like woodworking, a curiosity that went beyond proving who did it, although he’s still tracking down leads.

Copies of “Fiend Incarnate: Villisca Axe Murders of 1912” will be available for purchase.

Mulberry Center Church is air conditioned. Donations to the church and/or park are accepted.