Just about anything can be picked up and used as a weapon, from umbrellas to hammers. In the past, as opposed to the present day, people were more apt to use the tools around them as deadly weapons. Sure, there were plenty of murders committed by guns back in the early 1900s, but those are very similar to the stories of today. The interesting murders were those done with the regular, old household item.
1. To Catch a Rooster Thief
John C. Wanner of Newark, New Jersey was not only a wild beast trainer and zoo owner, he also had a collection of capons (castrated roosters). Back in 1927, he was also having problems with someone stealing his prized roosters.
One night he decided to go hide and wait for the chicken thief or thieves to come steal another one of his roosters, but after he did not return from his crime busting adventure, his wife went out to look for him.
Sadly enough, Mrs. Wanner found her husband’s body. A nearby hammer told the story. [1]
2. Gave Someone Else a Pain in the Head
Nineteen-year-old Chicago man, Edgar Hettinger, was arrested for murder in 1916. Apparently, the young man had been suffering from severe pains in his head and in his madness, grabbed a hammer and struck a hat maker, Mrs. Middleton, in the head with it, killing her instantly. [2]
3. Practicing the Hammer Throw
Stupid things happen when grownups don’t pay attention to what children are up to. For instance, in Greenleaf, Kansas, 1910, the kids at school appeared to be doing their own things. That included a young boy practicing his hammer throw on the school grounds. Unfortunately, the boy made a bad aim and his hammer hit an eight-year-old girl on the head, killing her instantly. [3]
4. Confessed to Killing 20 People
Henry Spencer was originally arrested for murdering Mildred Allison-Rexroat with a bullet in 1913. However, shortly after he was arrested, the self-confessed opium addict began admitting to other murders as well. He claimed to have beaten some of his victims to death, many more were shot with a gun, and several women were beaten to death with a hammer.
Whether or not Henry Spencer committed all of these murders was in doubt. First of all, the man was a drug addict. Second, he had been incarcerated during the time of some of the murders, which lead police to suspect he was taking claim for murders he did not commit.
Regardless of whether Spencer committed twenty murders, he was hanged to death in 1914. [4]
5. A Bad Ending to Payday
Payday could be the most dangerous day of the week for some men in the past. Take, for instance, the men who worked the railroads. It was a tough life, the pay was not that great, but there were plenty of people who didn’t have a job and were all too willing to take what they could.
It was 1894 and Joseph Kennedy went to his cabin at around 9 pm. Inside his cabin, he was attacked by two men who beat him, gagged him, and tied him to his bunk. His roommate showed up an hour later. The two men attacked Dennis Scanlon who tried to fight back. While none of us can blame Dennis for fighting back, one of the criminals did not take kindly to it, grabbed a hammer and knocked Dennis in the head with it, killing him.
The criminals took their victims’ paycheck money and left. Their identities were unknown. [5]
6. Mother and Five Children
The terrible tragedy happened in the fall of 1905. A mother and her five young children, ages three to eighteen, were found murdered.
The mother, Mrs. McWilliams, was found severely beaten and stabbed. A hammer blow to the head was believed to have caused her death. In her arms was her three-year-old who had been murdered with a blow to the head with a hammer.
Her four other children were found throughout the house. All were killed with a hammer to the head.
The husband and father was arrested and charged with murder. [6]
