Ep 13 - The Axeman of New Orleans

The Axeman, active in 1918 and 1919, attacked Italian-Americans who owned grocery stores in New Orleans and the surrounding areas. He broke into their houses at night, gaining entry by cutting a panel out of each of their doors and then attacking the sleeper with their own ax.

Though he had a clear MO, his attacks had elements that threw off investigators: 1) he could be active twice within a few days then stop attacking for months, 2) his attacks were quick enough that those sleeping in the next room barely got a look as he left the house, and 3) many (but not all) of his victims survived these brutal assaults, so his motive was hard to pin down.

There’s one major suspect in this case, Joseph Manfre, but, as always, not everything is as it seems. In this episode, Robin and Zoey talk all about what the people of New Orleans were going through at this time, who the Axeman might be, and what was going on with his infamous letter commanding all of New Orleans to play jazz music.

But first, in Something Spooky, Zoey talks about a lotion she found on TikTok that smells like human cadavers and Robin winces through the whole thing.

Jazz music in this episode is "Dm_Improvisation_LooP.mp3" by ValentinSosnitskiy on Freesound and can be found here.

Trigger warning: violence and gore.

Show notes: https://hauntedhospitality.wordpress.com/2021/06/15/ep-13-the-axeman-of-new-orleans

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