1885. After attending a concert at the State Institution for the Blind, Moses Hancock had been dozing in a chair at his home on San Jacinto Boulevard. When he woke he found his wife Susan missing. She had been dragged from her bed. He found her lying dead in the back yard, her head cleaved open with an axe, and a sharp, thin implement was sticking out of her brain. Blood was pouring from her ears and soaking into her hair. Amazingly she was not dead, though she never regained consciousness. It was also plain that she had been raped. But unlike the other victims Mrs Hancock was white.
Like his predecessor, Marshal Lucy brought in the bloodhounds. Again they drew a blank, but the killer had not finished for the night. Within an hour, society beauty Eula “Luly” Phillips was dead. One of the loveliest women in Austin, she had dark curly hair, pale skin, doe eyes and an exquisite figure that turned men’s heads in the street. She lived with her husband and infant son in her father-in-law’s house in one of the richest neighbourhoods of Austin. But although she was married to the son of a prominent citizen, it seems that she also entertained other distinguished lovers.
As before, she had been attacked at home in bed. Her husband Jimmy, who lay beside her, had also been assaulted. He was left unconscious with a huge gash on the back of his head. Their son, though, who was also present, was uninjured. The bloody axe was left in the middle of the bedroom floor. A trail of blood led from the bedroom, down the stairs, out of the house and into a nearby alley. There Eula Phillips had been raped and her head smashed in. Her naked body had been left spread-eagled with her arms pinned under timber. The only clue was a bloody shoeprint left on the porch. It was large and made by a man.
Now that leading – white – citizens were being struck down the newspapers went into overdrive. Some suggested that, as the killer could come and go without being seen, he had supernatural powers. Marshal Lucy brought in more detectives from out of town. Citizens kept loaded guns to hand. Five hundred attended a public meeting. Fresh rewards were raised and bars were closed at 12 o’clock. But the murders suddenly stopped.
With no fresh leads there was nowhere for the investigation to go. Consequently, both Moses Hancock and Jimmy Phillips were suspected of killing their wives – even though Phillips had been badly injured in the attack. The suggestion was that they had both raped their wives, then killed them with an axe to make it look like as the Servant Girl Annihilator had done, though that they had both chosen to do the deed at the same hour on the same night seemed something of a coincidence. Nevertheless they were both arrested. A letter found in a trunk at Hancock’s house indicated that his wife had intended to leave him over his drinking. The DA maintained that Moses Hancock had found the letter, got drunk and attacked his wife, but the jury were not convinced that Hancock had even seen, or knew of, the letter. He was acquitted.
A more substantial case was brought against Jimmy Phillips, a known alcoholic. His two-year marriage had been troubled. The prosecution caused a sensation by suggesting that his wife had been prostituting herself at a “house of assignation”. Indeed, she had even gone there on Christmas Eve. Witnesses were called to testify about her comings and goings and their suspicions that she had been seeing another man behind her husband’s back. A number of local politicians were implicated. Phillips was known to have thrown things at his wife and threatened her with a knife. Indeed it was Eula who had brought the axe to the bedroom to protect herself from him. This had given him the opportunity for a copycat killing, murdering his wife for personal reasons and blaming it on the serial killer that was stalking the streets. He had attacked her with the axe then carried her body outside. A bloodhound called in to
Like his predecessor, Marshal Lucy brought in the bloodhounds. Again they drew a blank, but the killer had not finished for the night. Within an hour, society beauty Eula “Luly” Phillips was dead. One of the loveliest women in Austin, she had dark curly hair, pale skin, doe eyes and an exquisite figure that turned men’s heads in the street. She lived with her husband and infant son in her father-in-law’s house in one of the richest neighbourhoods of Austin. But although she was married to the son of a prominent citizen, it seems that she also entertained other distinguished lovers.
As before, she had been attacked at home in bed. Her husband Jimmy, who lay beside her, had also been assaulted. He was left unconscious with a huge gash on the back of his head. Their son, though, who was also present, was uninjured. The bloody axe was left in the middle of the bedroom floor. A trail of blood led from the bedroom, down the stairs, out of the house and into a nearby alley. There Eula Phillips had been raped and her head smashed in. Her naked body had been left spread-eagled with her arms pinned under timber. The only clue was a bloody shoeprint left on the porch. It was large and made by a man.
Now that leading – white – citizens were being struck down the newspapers went into overdrive. Some suggested that, as the killer could come and go without being seen, he had supernatural powers. Marshal Lucy brought in more detectives from out of town. Citizens kept loaded guns to hand. Five hundred attended a public meeting. Fresh rewards were raised and bars were closed at 12 o’clock. But the murders suddenly stopped.
With no fresh leads there was nowhere for the investigation to go. Consequently, both Moses Hancock and Jimmy Phillips were suspected of killing their wives – even though Phillips had been badly injured in the attack. The suggestion was that they had both raped their wives, then killed them with an axe to make it look like as the Servant Girl Annihilator had done, though that they had both chosen to do the deed at the same hour on the same night seemed something of a coincidence. Nevertheless they were both arrested. A letter found in a trunk at Hancock’s house indicated that his wife had intended to leave him over his drinking. The DA maintained that Moses Hancock had found the letter, got drunk and attacked his wife, but the jury were not convinced that Hancock had even seen, or knew of, the letter. He was acquitted.
A more substantial case was brought against Jimmy Phillips, a known alcoholic. His two-year marriage had been troubled. The prosecution caused a sensation by suggesting that his wife had been prostituting herself at a “house of assignation”. Indeed, she had even gone there on Christmas Eve. Witnesses were called to testify about her comings and goings and their suspicions that she had been seeing another man behind her husband’s back. A number of local politicians were implicated. Phillips was known to have thrown things at his wife and threatened her with a knife. Indeed it was Eula who had brought the axe to the bedroom to protect herself from him. This had given him the opportunity for a copycat killing, murdering his wife for personal reasons and blaming it on the serial killer that was stalking the streets. He had attacked her with the axe then carried her body outside. A bloodhound called in to
Similar Books
