If You Really Want to Avoid Becoming a Suspect in a Mass Murder

Ellsworth, Kan. (1911)

Oct. 6, 1912, William Showman, his wife, and three other family members were murdered with an ax, perhaps as revenge by Charles Marzyek, who had been convicted of stealing grain, in part based on evidence provided by William. [1]  Later accounts blamed a Bohemian who had registered in a local hotel as the imaginatively named “John Smith,” and left a blood-stained shirt behind.[2]

Category: Residential non-family.

Suicide: No.

Cause: revenge

Weapon: ax. [3]

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[1] “Think One Man Did Three Jobs,” Democratic Banner [Mt. Vernon, Ohio], Oct. 20, 1911, 1; “Brutal Killings Laid at His Door,” Time-Dispatch [Richmond, Va.], Oct. 19, 19122, 1.

[2] “Posse on Trail of Butcher,” Chickasha Daily Express [Chickasha, Indian Terr.], Oct. 19, 1911, 1.

[3] “Think One Man Did Three Jobs,” Democratic Banner [Mt. Vernon, Ohio], Oct. 20, 1911, 1; “Brutal Killings Laid at His Door,” Time-Dispatch [Richmond, Va.], Oct. 19, 19122, 1.