In the spring of 1912, fear traveled faster than fact.
Across several states, newspapers were already whispering about an unknown “Ax Man” believed to have slaughtered entire families in their sleep. Then, in Paola, Kansas, neighbors noticed that 22-year-old Rollin Hudson and his young wife had not been seen around their home.
When the door was forced open, the scene inside was horrifying.
The couple was found dead on their bed, their skulls crushed, their bodies mutilated in a manner that reminded investigators and townspeople of the other mysterious ax murders haunting the Midwest. There was no weapon, no clear motive, and no sign of the killer.
Then came the strangest clue of all: a dead woman’s kimono, found inside a neighbor’s house three doors away.
Ax Man at Paola
PAOLA, Kansas. — Has the Ax Man, the slayer of two families in Colorado Springs, one in Monmouth, Ill., and the Showman family in Ellsworth, visited Paola?
Many people here believe that he has. They can account in no other way for the murder of Rollin Hudson and his wife, who were found with crushed skulls in their home here late Thursday afternoon. Their bodies were mutilated much the same as were the bodies of Showman and his wife.
The murderer used an instrument similar to the ax, with which, it is believed, the other murders have been committed. The same veil of mystery enshrouds the cause of the killing and the identity of the slayer.
The discovery came when neighbors, fearing something was wrong when they did not see the Hudsons about the house, broke in the door. They found the bodies of Hudson and his wife clasped in each other’s embrace, lying across the bed. Both their skulls had been crushed with a heavy, dull instrument.
Both bodies were mutilated much the same as victims of the Ax Man elsewhere.
Officers Find No Clue
Officers were called by the women, who made the ghastly find, and they announced after a search of the premises that they had found no trace whatever of the assailant nor had they been able to locate the instrument with which the murders had been committed.
The Hudsons are poor. Hudson worked as a section laborer on the M., K., and T. Railroad here. They came here from Massillon, Ohio, in April. There are stories of former estrangements afloat here, in which another man is mentioned but nothing is known as to the truth of these stories. Hudson was 22 years old and his wife a year younger.
What may yet prove to be a clue to the identity of the slayer of the Hudsons was the report of a startling occurrence at the home of Joseph Longmeyer, who lives three doors from the house of death. In this connection, it is recalled that in the Colorado Springs murder, two families murdered lived three doors apart.
Leaves Dead Woman’s Dress
The night of the murder a stranger called at the home of Mr. Joseph Longmeyer, who lives three doors west of the Hudson home. He was rather flashily dressed, about 35 years of age and wore a light suit of clothes. He represented himself to be an agent for a magazine and when Mrs. Longmeyer refused to buy, he apparently grew angry and left the house.
About midnight, Mrs. Longmeyer was aroused by the falling of a lamp globe in the dining room of her home. Se jumped out of bed in time to see a man disappear through the back door.
On the floor of the room was found a kimono. After the discovery it was learned that the loose fitting dress belonged to Mrs. Hudson, the murdered woman. It is supposed that the murderer wore this when he left the Hudson home in order to conceal his identity.
About 8 o’clock the night of the murder, a stranger was seen talking to Mrs. Hudson at the door of her home. He went into the house and was not seen afterwards.
Source: The Topeka State Journal. Topeka, Kansas. June 7, 1912.
