Who Was The Axeman Of New Orleans?

🪓From May 22nd, 1918 to October 27th, 1919 a serial killer unleashed his reign of terror over the citizens of New Orleans. They were enthralled in the shear panic caused by this murderer called The Axeman. He lurked in the shadows at night and advanced on his prey while they slept in their beds. The Axeman used whatever he could find in the victim's homes to execute his villainous intentions. Most of the time it was an axe he found, which he would always leave behind when he was finished with his grisly deeds. The Axeman would never steal anything from his victim's homes. And most of those victims were female, Italian immigrants or Italian-Americans. He is responsible for 6 murders and attacked 12 people.

🪓It all started on May 22nd, 1918. 41-year-old Italian grocer Joseph Maggio, and his wife, 36-year-old Catherine, were sleeping at their home at 4901 Magnolia Street. The killer broke in and slashed their throats with a straight razor. Catherine was cut with such anger that she was nearly decapitated. Upon leaving the Axeman bashed their heads with an axe. Joseph survived the attack and held on for nearly two hours. 

🪓It was 4 a.m. when Jake woke up at the sounds of groaning coming from the wall he shared with his older brother Joseph and his sister-in-law Catherine's bedroom. Jake's other brother Andrew was a sleep in the bed next to his, passed out drunk from his night of celebration. Jake went to check what the sound was and was shocked by the carnage that he saw. Joseph and Catherine were lying on their bed surrounded by blood. Catherine had already passed, but Joseph was still clinging to life with a big hole in his head. Jake called the police and the ambulance. Within minutes, Corporal Arthur Hatener arrived to help Joseph, but it was too late, Joseph stopped breathing.

🪓When investigators surveilled the scene, they noticed that bloody clothes of the murderer, the axe that was used kill the couple, along with the chisel, that the killer used to remove the bottom paneling of the kitchen door, were left behind. Andrew told investigators that he saw an unknown man supposedly lurking near the residence prior to the murders.

🪓Andrew became the prime suspect in the crime as the razor blade, that was used in the murders were from his barber shop. Andrew confessed that he did not remember much because he was drunk. He did say, however, that he noticed someone entering their house at around 1:30 a.m. Later he was released because there was no real proof that Andrew was related with the crime.

🪓In front of Joseph and Catherine’s grocery store, there was a message written on a small chalkboard that read,“Mrs. Maggio will sit up tonight just like Mrs. Toney.” Investigators started digging into prior incidents parallel with the crime. It turned out that in 1911, there were around four similar ax murder cases. All four cases the victims were grocers. One of the victims was named Tony and the coroner thought that it was related with “Toney” in the mysterious chalkboard message.

🪓In the early morning hours of June 28th, 1918, Louis Besumer was asleep with his mistress, Ann Harriet Lowe, in the quarters at the back of his grocery store on corner of Dorgenois and Laharpe Street.  Louis was struck in the head with an axe, which caused a skull fracture. Ann was hacked over the left ear. Louis opened the door for John Zanca, a driver of a bakery wagon who was coming to make his daily routine delivery. 

🪓About 7 a.m., John found both Louis and Ann in a puddle of their own blood, both bleeding from their heads. John quickly contacted the police and paramedics, even though Louis didn’t want anyone to find out that he had a mistress. 

🪓By the time police and paramedics arrived, Ann was unconscious. Louis later recovered but one side of Ann's face was partially paralyzed due to the severity of the attack. While at the hospital, Ann claimed that a large white man with a hatchet attacked them. Since she gave out may statements while she was in a delusional state, the investigators didn't site them as credible.  

🪓Investigators discovered that the bottom panel of the door, to the quarters that they were sleeping in, was missing. The ax that the murder used in this hideous crime, belonged to Louis and was found in the bathroom.

🪓At first, police suspected John, but then they moved on to a 41-year-old African American man named Lewis Oubicon. Lewis had been employed at Louis' store just a week before the attacks. Even though there was no evidence of Lewis' guilt, he was arrested anyway. Robbery was theorized as the motive, despite nothing being taken in this case either. Lewis was eventually released, since they couldn't gather any evidence.

🪓Louis also became a suspect after a series of letters written in German, Russian, and Yiddish were discovered in a trunk in his home. After one of Ann's claims stated that Louis was a German spy, he was arrested. However, he was released two days later, and two lead investigators of the case were demoted due to unacceptable police work. 

🪓In August 1918, Louis was arrested again after Ann, who lay dying in Charity Hospital after a failed surgery, stated that it was really he who had attacked her with his hatchet. Ann had survived for 7 weeks, but passed away two days after doctors performed the surgery. Louis was charged with murder, and served nine months in prison before being acquitted on May 1, 1919, after a ten-minute jury deliberation.

🪓On August 5th, 1918, 28-year-old Anna Schneider  was 8 months pregnant and sleeping in her home on Elmira Street.  She woke up to see a man bash a lamp into her face repeatedly and cut open her scalp. She was discovered by her sister. Anna's face was covered in blood and she was rushed to the hospital where she gave birth to a healthy baby girl. Anna's husband, Ed, was at work at the time she was attacked.

🪓When investigators looked at the scene, it was discovered that the Schneider's axe was missing from their shed. There was no signs of forced entry. Ex-convict James Gleason was arrested shortly after, but was later released due to a complete lack of evidence. He originally ran from authorities because he had so often been arrested. 

🪓On August 10th, 1918,  80-year-old barber Joseph Romano was sleeping in his room when he was attacked by the Axeman. His two nieces, Pauline and Mary Bruno, lived next to Joseph. They heard him struggling and went to see what was going on. They found their uncle lying on the floor with a blow to the head as the Axeman was fleeing the scene. Joseph was seriously injured but he was able to walk to the ambulance once it arrived. The home had been ransacked, but appeared that nothing was stolen. Authorities found a bloody ax in the back yard and discovered that a panel on the back door had been chiseled away. Authorities found a bloody ax in the backyard and discovered the back door to be missing a panel. 

🪓Joseph's nieces were able to give a description of the Axeman to authorities. He was a dark-skinned, heavy-set man, who wore a dark suit and slouched hat. 

🪓Joseph died two days after the attack.

🪓It seemed like the Axeman took a break for 6 months.

🪓On the night of March 10th, 1919, immigrant laborer Charles Cortimiglia, his wife, Rosie, and their 2-year-old daughter, Mary,  were in their home sleeping when the Axeman came calling. Rosie woke up to see her husband, Charles, fighting the Axeman. When Charles lost the fight, the Axeman then attacked Rosie and little, innocent Mary who was sleeping in her mother's arms.

🪓Screams were heard coming from the Cortimiglia residence. Grocer Iorlando Jordano rushed across the street to investigate and found Rosie with a severe head wound, standing in the doorway with her dead baby girl in her arms. Charles was on the ground bleeding profusely. The couple was rushed to the hospital, where it was discovered that both had suffered skull fractures. 

🪓Nothing was stolen from the house, but a panel on the back door had been chiseled away and a bloody axe was found on the back porch of the home. 

🪓Charles was released after the brutal assault on his family. Rosie remained in the care of doctors. Upon gaining full consciousness, Rosie made claims that Iorlando Jordano and his 18-year-old son, Frank, were responsible for the attacks. Iorlando was a 69-year-old man and in too poor of health to have committed the crimes. Frank Jordano, more than six feet tall and weighing over 200 pounds and would have been too large to have fit through the hole in the back door. 

🪓Charles denied that Frank and Iorlando were responsible, but police unjustly arrested the two and charged them with the murder. The men would later be found guilty. Frank was sentenced to hang, and his father to life in prison. Charles divorced Rosie after the trial. Almost a year later, Rosie announced that she had falsely accused the two out of jealousy and spite. Her statement was the only evidence against the Jordanos, and they were released from jail shortly after.

🪓Five days later, a New Orleans newspaper named The Times Picayune received a letter from someone calling himself the Axeman.

🪓The Tuesday that the Axeman claimed he was going to unleash his fury on those not listening to Jazz was March 19th, 1919. Most citizens didn't want to take any chances and the city of New Orleans was blasted with Jazz. Those people whom did not have anything to play jazz on, poured into local clubs to escape the wrath of the Axeman. There was known victims of the Axeman being killed on that date.

🪓On August 10th, 1919, the Axeman was at it again. Grocer Steve Boca was sleeping at his home when he awoke during the night to find a dark figure with an axe looming over his bed. Suddenly, Steve lost consciousness.  When Steven woke up again, he ran to the street to investigate the intrusion, and found that his head had been cracked open. He then ran to the home of his neighbor, Frank Genusa, where he lost consciousness again and collapsed. Frank called the police. Again, nothing had been taken from the home and a panel on the back door of the home had been chiseled away. Steve recovered from his injuries, but could not remember any details of the trauma.

🪓19-year-old Sarah Laumann moved by herself into a house on 2128 second street.  On September 3rd, 1919, at 3:30 a.m. she was sleeping when she was attacked. Sarah was found after neighbors busted into her home when she didn’t answer. Sarah had a severe head injury and was missing teeth. The Axeman had entered through a window and attacked her with his axe which was later found on the front lawn. Sarah recovered from her injuries but doesn’t recall any of it.

🪓On the night of October 27, 1919, at the corner of South Scott and Ulloa street, Mike Pepitone's wife, Esther awakened by a noise and arrived at the door of his bedroom just as two dark figures were fleeing the scene.

To Esther's horror, she discovered that Mike had been struck 18 times in the head, and was covered in his own blood. Blood splatter covered the majority of the room, including a painting of the Virgin Mary. A bolt with a heavy nut, like something to secure a circus tent, was alleged to be one of the weapons used.  There was a circus nearby that weekend. Mike died two hours later. Esther, the mother of six children, was unable to describe the killers.  Mike murder was the last of the alleged the Axeman attacks.

🪓Where all the murders the act of the Axeman? Or maybe some of the murders were that of a copy cat?  Was the Axeman really two people working together? Maybe some of the murders was committed by the mob? Some people think that the Axeman is a man named Joseph Momfre.

🪓Joseph Momfre was shot to death in Los Angeles in December 1920 by Esther Pepitone. 

🪓Esther had moved to Los Angeles after Mike's death. She remarried a man named Angelo Albano. Strangely, on the second anniversary of Mike's death, Angelo disappeared and was never seen again. 

🪓Before Esther married Angelo, he ended a business relationship with a man that went by many names, one of those names was Joseph Momfre.

🪓On December 5th, 1921, Joseph visited Esther's Los Angeles' home at 5554 east, 36th street. He demanded $500 and Esther's jewelry. And when he threatened to kill her the way he killed her husband, Esther shot and killed him.

🪓When Esther was arrested for killing Joseph, she claimed that he was the Axeman. The LAPD noted that their was evidence linking Joseph to Mike's murder. Ester was acquitted for Joseph's death.

🪓Joseph supposedly had ties to New Orleans. He allegedly lead a blackmailing gang in New Orleans that targeted Italians.

🪓The Axeman was never identified, and the murders remain unsolved.

The Watcher of 657 Boulevard

👀In 2014, in Westfield, New Jersey, Derek and Maria Broaddus and there three young children were almost ready to move into their new dream home. It was June, and just three days after closing the sale. The renovations being made were almost done on their the colonial, six-bedroom, $1.3 million house, which is located a few blocks from Maria's childhood home. It was 10 p.m., Derek had just finished some painting on the house and went to get the mail from their mailbox. Inside the mailbox there was a letter with hand written script on the envelope that read, "The New Owner." 

👀Inside was a typed letter that began innocently enough, "Dearest new neighbor at 657 Boulevard, allow me to welcome you to the neighborhood." 

👀The writer then cryptically asked,“How did you end up here? Did 657 Boulevard call to you with its force within?” 

👀The letter went on: "657 Boulevard has been the subject of my family for decades now and as it approaches its 110th birthday, I have been put in charge of watching and waiting for its second coming. My grandfather watched the house in the 1920s and my father watched in the 1960s. It is now my time. Do you know the history of the house? Do you know what lies within the walls of 657 Boulevard? Why are you here? I will find out. I see already that you have flooded 657 Boulevard with contractors so that you can destroy the house as it was supposed to be. Tsk, tsk, tsk … bad move. You don’t want to make 657 Boulevard unhappy.” 

👀The author seemed to notice when the three Broaddus' children were playing with neighborhood kids earlier in the week. “You have children. I have seen them. So far I think there are three that I have counted. Do you need to fill the house with the young blood I requested? Better for me. Was your old house too small for the growing family? Or was it greed to bring me your children? Once I know their names I will call to them and draw them too [sic] me."

👀Then the writer alluded to his identity, "Who am I? There are hundreds and hundreds of cars that drive by 657 Boulevard each day. Maybe I am in one. Look at all the windows you can see from 657 Boulevard. Maybe I am in one. Look out any of the many windows in 657 Boulevard at all the people who stroll by each day. Maybe I am one. Welcome my friends, welcome. Let the party begin."

👀The letter was signed in a cursive font: “The Watcher.”

👀Derek was alone at the new house as he frantically raced around the house and turned off lights. He then called the Westfield Police Department. When the officer came to the house and read the letter he was utterly perplexed. He asked Derek if they had any enemies, which they did not.

👀Derek rushed back to his wife and kids, who were living at their old home elsewhere in Westfield, and informed his wife about the letter. They decided to contact the couple that sold them the house, John and Andrea Woods.  The Woods told Derek and Maria that in their 23 years of living there, they only got a letter like that once. It was a few days before moving out and the note had been “odd,” and made similar mention of The Watcher’s family observing the house over time. Andrea and her husband had thrown the letter away without much thought. The Woods family went with Maria to the police station, where Detective Leonard Lugo told her not to tell anyone about the letters, including her new neighbors, because all of them were now suspects.

👀The letter had been processed in Kearny, the U.S. Postal Service’s distribution center in northern New Jersey. It was postmarked June 4th, before the sale was public, the Woods had never put up a for sale sign. It was also only a day after the contractors arrived. The renovations were mostly interior, and people who lived nearby say they didn’t notice an unusual commotion. When Derek and Maria walked a detective around the house, they showed him that the easel on the porch was hidden from the street by vegetation, making it difficult to see unless someone was behind the house or right next door.

👀Some weird things started to happen.When Derek gave a tour of the renovation to a couple on the block, the wife said, “It’ll be nice to have some young blood in the neighborhood.” 

👀The general contractor arrived one morning to find that a heavy sign he’d hammered into the front yard had been ripped out.

👀Two weeks after the letter arrived, Maria stopped by the house and in the mailbox was another letter. She called the police. This time the letter was addressed to them directly, but their last name was misspelled. “Mr. and Mrs. Braddus. Welcome again to your new home at 657 Boulevard. The workers have been busy and I have been watching you unload carfuls of your personal belongings. The dumpster is a nice touch. Have they found what is in the walls yet? In time they will."

👀The letter identified the three kids by birth order and by their nicknames. “I am pleased to know your names now and the name of the young blood you have brought to me,” it said. “You certainly say their names often.” The letter asked about one child in particular, whom the writer had seen using an easel inside an enclosed porch: “Is she the artist in the family?”

👀The rest of the letter went:

"657 Boulevard is anxious for you to move in. It has been years and years since the young blood ruled the hallways of the house. Have you found all of the secrets it holds yet? Will the young blood play in the basement? Or are they too afraid to go down there alone. I would [be] very afraid if I were them. It is far away from the rest of the house. If you were upstairs you would never hear them scream.
Will they sleep in the attic? Or will you all sleep on the second floor? Who has the bedrooms facing the street? I’ll know as soon as you move in. It will help me to know who is in which bedroom. Then I can plan better.

All of the windows and doors in 657 Boulevard allow me to watch you and track you as you move through the house. Who am I? I am the Watcher and have been in control of 657 Boulevard for the better part of two decades now. The Woods family turned it over to you. It was their time to move on and kindly sold it when I asked them to.

I pass by many times a day. 657 Boulevard is my job, my life, my obsession. And now you are too Braddus family. Welcome to the product of your greed! Greed is what brought the past three families to 657 Boulevard and now it has brought you to me.

Have a happy moving in day. You know I will be watching."

👀After this Maria and Derek decided not to bring the children by the house anymore and put a hold on their plans to move in.

👀A few weeks later a third letter arrived. “Where have you gone to?” The Watcher wrote. “657 Boulevard is missing you.”

👀At one point, after talking to one of his neighbors, Derek thought that the case might be solved. John Schmidt lived two doors down. He told Derek about a neighbor that lived in between his house and Derek's. Peggy Langford was in her 90's, and several of her adult children, all in their 60s, lived with her. John described her and her family as a bit odd, but harmless. He said that one of the  the adult children, Michael, didn’t work and had a beard. John said that he was like Ernest Hemingway, as “kind of a Boo Radley character.”

👀The Langford house was right next to the easel on the porch. The family had lived there since the 1960's. Richard Langford, had died 12 years earlier, and the current Watcher claimed to have been on the job for “the better part of two decades.”

👀Derek told the detective about the family and he said he already knew. He had already brought Michael in for an interview, who denied knowing anything about the letters. Michael had been diagnosed with schizophrenia when he was young. He he did strange things, like walk through their backyard or peek into the windows of homes that were being renovated. People who had known Michael for decades didn’t think he was capable of writing the letters and most of the odd things he did was out of kindness.

👀Derek decided to take matters into his own hands. Derek set up webcams in 657 Boulevard and spent nights crouched in the dark, watching to see if anyone was watching the house.  He had a map displaying when each of 657’s neighbors had moved in. In the map, the Langfords were the only ones there since the 60's. 

👀Derek and Maria also employed a private investigator. He found two child sex offenders within a few blocks. Bill Woodward had also noticed something strange. He was Derek and Maria's house painter and he said that the couple behind 657 kept a pair of lawn chairs strangely close to the property. He claims to have seen a man sitting in one of the chairs staring at 657.

👀Derek reached out to a former FBI agent who served as the inspiration for Clarice Starling in The Silence of the Lambs and they also hired Robert Lenehan, another former FBI agent. Lenehan said that the writer sounded old fashioned. 

👀Lenehan didn’t think The Watcher was likely to act on the threats, but he also thought that there was some kind of “seething anger” directed at the wealthy in particular. The Watcher was upset by new money moving into town. Lenehan recommended looking into former housekeepers or their descendants. 

👀In cooperation with Westfield police, the Derek and Maria sent a letter to the Langfords announcing plans to tear down the house in hopes of goating some kind of reaction, but nothing happened. The detective brought Michael in for a second interview but got nowhere, and his sister, Abby, accused the police of harassing their family. Derek and Maria hired a lawyer, who met with several members of the Langford family, as well as their attorney. The meeting grew tense and the Langfords insisted Michael was innocent. 

👀The investigation stalled and in December of 2014, the Westfield police told Derek and Maria that they had run out of options. 

👀Less than a year after the letters arrived, Maria and Derek decided to sell their home. This proved difficult with rumors buzzing around about the house and Derek and Maria sued the Woods for failing to disclose the threatening letter they'd received.

👀In 2016, Derek and Maria found someone to rent their home, with a clause that let them out if they received another threatening letter. Within two weeks, another letter arrived.

"Violent winds and bitter cold
To the vile and spiteful Derek and his wench of a wife Maria. 
You wonder who The Watcher is? Turn around idiots. Maybe you even spoke to me, one of the so called neighbors who has no idea who The Watcher could be. Or maybe you do know and are too scared to tell anyone. Good move. 

I walked by the news trucks when they took over my neighborhood and mocked me. I watched as you watched from the dark house in an attempt to find me … Telescopes and binoculars are wonderful inventions. My soldiers of the Boulevard followed my orders to a T. They carried out their mission and saved the soul of 657 Boulevard with my orders. All hail The Watcher!!!

Maybe a car accident. Maybe a fire. Maybe something as simple as a mild illness that never seems to go away but makes you fell sick day after day after day after day after day. Maybe the mysterious death of a pet. Loved ones suddenly die. Planes and cars and bicycles crash. Bones break."

👀Even though the renters were mentioned in the letter, they decided to stay if more cameras were added.

👀This year, Derek and Maria finally sold their home for $400,00 less than they paid for it.

👀The case of the Watcher currently remains unsolved. The only real clue is that a DNA test that came from one of the envelope reveals that the person who sealed it was a woman.