What was the funnest day in American history?? For your consideration - here's the story of the Axeman of New Orelnes - maybe more than one person, maybe just one? But, one very well written person wrote a letter asking everyone in NOLA to have a Jazz band playing one March night in 1919... it might have been fun.
What was the funnest day in American history?? For your consideration - here's the story of the Axeman of New Orelnes - maybe more than one person, maybe just one? But, one very well written person wrote a letter asking everyone in NOLA to have a Jazz band playing one March night in 1919... it might have been fun.
Taylor: I gained a couple pounds during the holidays
>> Taylor: In the matter of the people of State of California vs. Orenthal James Simpson, case number BA096.
>> Farz: And so, my fellow Americans, ask not what your country. Taylor, we are back.
>> Taylor: We're back. I'm a chaos goblin. And we're back. And I just opened these, this whiskey mai tai. I don't know. I drank my body weight in Prosecco this week, but here I am.
>> Farz: It's the hall. You know what I chalk it up to is this, the holidays. It's going to be long. It's going to be stressful. There's going to be a lot of weird stuff happening, and it's.
>> Taylor: I gained a couple pounds. But you know what? Also, like, I feel like in, like, the 2000s and probably now, even though I don't, because I don't read many, like, women's magazines, it's always like, how to avoid losing. How to avoid gaining two pounds during the holidays. And it's like, just f****** eat some Christmas cookies and shut up.
>> Farz: You know, I mean, just. You deal with it in January.
>> Taylor: Yeah, exactly.
>> Farz: It's a January problem. It's not a January, December problem.
>> Taylor: No, have fun. Have, eat whatever you want between Thanksgiving and December. And don't worry about it. Just have fun.
>> Farz: Yeah. Just slowly melt into your couch and. Yeah, enjoy it.
>> Taylor: That's what the week between Christmas and New Year's is for, all that stuff.
>> Farz: Yeah, I agree. I'm with you. I'm melting into this chair that I'm sitting in right now. So I'm with you.
>> Taylor: Nice. I like that. Good for you.
Doom to Travail brings you historical disasters and failures
>> Farz: Would you like to intro us?
>> Taylor: Yes. Hello. Welcome to Doom to Travail. We bring you historical disasters and failures. And I am Taylor, joined by Fars.
>> Farz: And we are here on this lovely day telling a story that Taylor has devised, which I'm sure will be riveting.
>> Taylor: Thank you. So it actually is. I was going. It has nothing to do with the holidays. I felt like, I thought, like, maybe I should do something for the holidays, and I didn't do that. But so the event that I was at this week, there's another one, another meeting of the same kind next quarter in New Orleans. And I want to go because I want to go there. Have you been there? To New Orleans? I'm going to say different every time I say it. Like the way I say data and data, so just I'm letting everybody know.
>> Farz: So I, I, we used to go to Shreveport a lot because Shreveport's right on the border of Texas and it is really close to Dallas, like a couple hour Drive. And that's where gambling was doable. And so when we turned 18, we're like, let's go to Shreveport. And we're just trying to be explore and do kids stuff like that. I had a chance to go to New Orleans this last or this year, but it was gonna be like in August, and I was like, I know.
>> Taylor: I went in August sounds rough. I went in August on time, and it was very rough.
>> Farz: I hear Halloween in New Orleans supposed to be amazing. I do love these spooky vibes. I think there's something about that in Savannah that are very, very appealing to me, but I've never.
>> Taylor: Yeah, we talk about Savannah all the time. Yeah. Yeah. No, I also. I definitely want. I definitely want to go. I remember when August. And I remember, like, the people that we were with. Like, everyone was just, like, soaking wet. Like, you're just, like, so sweaty. It was so gross.
>> Farz: It's crazy. It's great. Yeah, it is very similar. So if anybody here is listening in Houston, it's pretty similar to Houston. Like, it's. Well, you wouldn't know because you live in Houston, but like. Like, whoever's listening, I mean. But when you go to Houston, you immediately just break out sweating, and it is so uncomfortable. For the first couple of days, I.
>> Taylor: Feel like I was like. Did a transfer in the airport in Houston and I was like, this sucks. I was like, inside, but you could feel it. It, like, penetrated the walls. So this doesn't do with Christmas, but it has to do with New Orleans. I'm going to tell you a real classic true crime story. Can you think of who it's about?
>> Farz: Is it Kate Hudson and Skeleton Key?
>> Taylor: No, but, oh, my God, it's so good. I told you how I watched it. And I remember my roommate and I did our, like, went through all of our receipts because we were so scared.
>> Farz: So fun.
>> Taylor: What a good one. No, I want to tell you about the Axeman of New Orleans. Have you heard about it?
>> Farz: I know about the Axeman, who's also known as the Jazz Man, I believe.
>> Taylor: I know he is. Yes. Both axes and jazz. And I'm going to read you. I'm going to read you the entirety of the jazz stuff in a second. But this one has it all. Axes, murders, jazz and humidity, the four.
>> Farz: Vectors of a good story.
>> Taylor: Yeah, this is everything.
The Crescent City is also known as the Mississippi Delta
So it is May 1918, and we're in New Orleans, so it's May. So assume it's already hot and humid and It's World War I, so there's that happening in the background New Orleans is also. I just learned this. Also one of the nicknames of. Of many is the Crescent City because of the way that. Like the river. Yeah.
>> Farz: The Mississippi Delta.
>> Taylor: Yeah, Okay, I just heard that. But also, Crescent City is the name of the book series that I've been reading. And although no one has emailed me about these romantic books that I've been reading, when I'm asking them to, I just want to say out loud to the one person who knows what I'm talking about that I heard the Crescent City Book 4 is next. Please write me an email. You know who you are.
>> Farz: He is looking very intently into the camera.
>> Taylor: So she means any of. If those words make sense to you, email me. So we talk about it.
>> Farz: If they don't make sense, just write to her and say, you know, write to me anyway.
>> Taylor: But besides that, let me know.
Was that France that sold us Louisiana? Yeah, because remember Napoleon
So before the arrival of European colonists, the Choctaw people lived in the area. They called it Bulb. Sorry, Bulba Ansha, which translates to land of many tongues. This is a place where, like, a lot of tribes could, like, would meet, obviously, because the bottom of, like, the river and like, a port and all those things. The French took control of it in the early 1700s. Then after the Seven Years War, it went to Spain and it became part of the United States in 1803.
>> Farz: Wait, Spain owned.
>> Taylor: Yeah, because Spain owned, like, New Orleans through Texas, through California and then like that. Then. And then I think it was all part of the Louisiana Purchase, which was like, most of the West.
>> Farz: Was that France that sold us Louisiana?
>> Taylor: Yeah, because remember. Okay, well, s***, hold on. I feel like Napoleon had a big part of this.
>> Farz: I don't think so.
>> Taylor: Because. You remember Napoleon? No. Remember Napoleon? Napoleon sent. Gave us a big part of that because. And. And he. Afterwards, he was like, I probably should have done that, but he was never, ever going to come over here. Gave the U.S. but he gave the U.S. yeah. This is Louisiana Purchase. Everything across the Mississippi river doubled the size of. Yeah. 1903, Louisa. Louisiana Purchase, crucial port of New Orleans was $15 million. It doubled the size of the. Of. Size of the U.S. tJ was president and Napoleon needed the money.
>> Farz: Okay, so it wasn't Spain that owned it. France owned it.
>> Taylor: Yeah, but Spain owned it before then and gave it to France in the Seven Years War.
>> Farz: Okay, I got it the other way around. I thought you said France owned it, gave it to Spain. We'll play this back and we'll find out who's right and wrong.
>> Taylor: But okay, I did say that maybe it's the other way around. It doesn't matter. It's ours now. Okay? That's all. So it's about 100 years or so after. And we'll talk about the axeman, who is a serial killer by maybe. We'll talk about who he killed, some maybes, and then how he did it. Ready?
>> Farz: Yes.
Italian grocer Joseph Maggio and his wife Catherine were murdered in 1918
>> Taylor: So it's May 23, 1918, and Italian grocer Joseph Maggio and his wife Catherine are asleep. A lot of our victims are going to be Italian grocery store owners.
>> Farz: So sad.
>> Taylor: Just so you know, I. Why? Because of the good Italian foods that are probably there.
>> Farz: They're doing nothing but providing you sausage and pasta. Like, what?
>> Taylor: Why would you. Exactly. No, totally. And also, everything's gonna happen in, like, the middle of the night. And I know that I talked about this before. I mentioned this book a bunch of times, but I have a book called the Invention of Murder. And the Invention of Murder book opens up with a story of a woman who is, like, a maid, a housekeeper, whatever, at a house in London. And they have her go out and run an errand at night. And it's so dark, it's hard for her to find her way back because there's, like, no street lights. Like, every. It's just so dark. When it gets dark. And then she also gets back and everyone's been murdered, and it's like a whole thing, but you just, like, don't know where you are. So it's just like. Imagine it's super dark, it's humid.
>> Farz: A lot of mosquitoes probably.
>> Taylor: Oh, yeah, probably a lot of mosquitoes. So he. Someone breaks into the house of. Of Joseph and Catherine, and he slices their throats while they're sleeping. Catherine's head is almost severed like a straight razor that he uses. And her head's cut, like, to her shoulders, like she's super dead after this. Then he axes them and takes the ax and, like, chops them up a little bit before he. Before he leaves. Nearby on the sidewalk, someone, presumably the killer wrote in chalk. He wrote, Mrs. Maggio will sit up tonight, just like Mrs. Tony. And Mrs. Tony was another Italian grocer who was killed a few, like, six years before 1912. So this had happened before. So, like, could it be the same guy? I don't have an answer to that. We don't know. But, like, something similar had happened before. It also reminds me of Jack the Ripper, because do you remember? And we talked about Jack the Ripper, how he would write stuff with chalk on the walls.
>> Farz: Yeah.
>> Taylor: And, like, everybody Just kind of had chalk in their pocket, which I feel like I wish I knew more about. Like, because you would have to, like, write things. Like, if you and I were of the fars, meet me at this place. And then I got there, and all of a sudden I had to leave. I would write on the sidewalk, like, far as I'll be back in 30 minutes, or whatever. You know what I mean? There's no way to do anything to communicate. So you would write, use, talk all the time. Yeah. It's kind of wild, which is wild. And I feel like I never see that in movies. And I wish I saw more of it, I guess, is my point. But Joe lives for a little bit. A little bit, like, laying in bed. What a terrible night. Like, laying in bed, kind of half conscious. Your wife has been, like, pretty much decapitated. You've been axed and had your throat slit. His brother Andrew lived in the apartment next door. And he was drunk, but he heard them, like, rustling around. And he went in there and didn't see anyone leaving, but did, like, see his brother. His brother was alive for a few minutes. Then his brother died. The blade belonged to Andrew. Andrew was a barber, but he had taken it home for, like, some other reason. So the weapon was, you know, from the house. It wasn't something that the killer brought in. And Andrew, the brother, was the main suspect a while, but then he was exonerated. He wasn't the guy who did it. And nothing was stolen. The killer left his bloody clothes in the apartment. He changed. So I don't know if he brought new clothes or wore, like, Joseph's clothes, but he left his bloody clothes on the floor and then left naked. I don't know. And then they found the razor a couple houses down in the yard.
>> Farz: Weird. Yeah. He must have changed into the guy's clothes.
>> Taylor: Yeah, he must have. Or, like, it just feels. It feels so weird to bring clothes. But I guess that could be an option, too.
>> Farz: Yeah. It's like going to the gym and then knowing you're gonna shower there. Except.
>> Taylor: Yeah, murder, blood, right? Yeah. So that's scary. And now there's a murderer out, and there's a couple things that happened. A couple murders that come next that we're not 100 sure are the same guy. But they could be.
Louis Bessemer and his mistress Harriet Lowe were axed in June
So on a month later, on June 27, Louis. Louis Bessemer and his mistress, Harriet Lowe, are in the bedroom behind his grocery store. And he's hatcheted in the head. And she's hatcheted in her head. Over her left ear, and they're both alive. So as soon the police find them, like, people find them in the morning, but they've been laying there all night, like, bleeding from their heads. And they immediately blame a black guy who was working for them. But that guy ended up getting off, but. But there was no evidence at all. Harriet said that it was a good man who was maybe mixed race, that. That had done it. Like, she had maybe seen him. And then again, nothing was stolen. But then she said that Louis did it, that the guy that. That she was with had did it, and that he was a German spy because World War I, he got arrested. And then she dies a month later from, like, certain complications of surgery because, like, him imagine, like, sewing her head back together. And the.
>> Farz: She said the guy that got axed with her is the one that axed her.
>> Taylor: Yes. And he's charged for murder after she dies from surgery.
>> Farz: Wasn't he axed?
>> Taylor: Yes. I wrote. I also don't know how. Know how you ax yourself or. Like, that feels like a lot.
>> Farz: Yeah, it sounds like someone who had traumatic brain injury.
>> Taylor: Like, if. Yes, like, if you were. If you were like. I've heard of people, like, shooting someone and like, you shoot yourself in the leg and you're like, someone shot at us, you know?
>> Farz: Yeah.
>> Taylor: Like, you don't ax yourself in the head.
>> Farz: No. That's a rough way to get away from it.
>> Taylor: Yeah. So the things that are against, like, this being part of it, it's just that, like, some people think it might have been something, like, domestic or something that involves the family. But, I mean, nothing was stolen. It's an Italian grocer, and they were axed. I feel like that fits my bill. Middle of the axe. Yeah. It seems like it might be a part of it. Another one a couple days later on August 5th, there's a woman named Anna Schneider. She's eight months pregnant. She sees someone looming over her bed. She's there alone, and she's axed in the face. Also, her husband finds her a couple hours later because he comes home from work, and she's okay. And also the baby's okay. It's a girl. Baby was fine. Nothing was stolen aside for a few dollars. But she was probably hit. I'm sorry. She wasn't axed. She was bashed. So she was bashed in the head, probably by a lamp. It was, like, by her bedside. But it didn't kill her. And he arrested an ex convict. He was released. So, like, it could be just because it's dangerous. To be around this area, like it's dangerous to be alive. Or it could be the guy that one's not like proven to be him. Those are the two, the two iffy ones. So that was a little iffy because like it. He didn't, he didn't find anything sharp, but still he hit her and, but maybe he was like targeting women and like saw she was pregnant and then like decided to hit her again, you know what I mean? Maybe like, I don't know, I don't know other things. But now the next ones we know are, are him, whoever he is. So on August 10, an old man named Joseph Romano is found by his nieces, Pauline and Mary. The girls say they saw a dark skinned, heavyset man running away. Joseph dies two days later. And again, nothing was stolen. There was a bloody ax in the yard and a panel on the door had been chiseled away. So that's going to be his like MO from now on that like he cut a big part of the door out and then like the submachine is that he climbed through. But I also feel he could have. Yeah, yeah, exactly. So maybe that. And this is when people start to get really scared. Like now we think that there might be a guy going around axing people in town. So you get to be a little bit nervous. So some of the theories that we have is like, is this the same guy from 1911, 1912. Also, is it the man on the train? Because remember the ax, the ax murder one that you did of that family?
>> Farz: Who was the family?
>> Taylor: The, the Vaselka ax murders in that family. I thought you did it.
>> Farz: You did it.
>> Taylor: No, I think you did it.
>> Farz: Okay, we can debate it, but like, yeah, I know which one you're talking about.
>> Taylor: Whatever, that one. So like they, those, those people who were murdered, they could have been the same guy. And then like another one is like, I don't know where I read it, but like, could it have been Jack the Ripper? Because that was like 20 years before, which is like not at all the same M.O. just like that.
Italian immigrant Charles Cortimilla accused of murdering his family in 1919
He' just like scary and like mysterious. But I think that would be fun.
>> Farz: That was like, wasn't that like the great grand nephew of Jack the Ripper that made that up? We have to run. H.H. holmes. Never mind, I'm making.
>> Taylor: Oh, maybe. Oh no. Yeah, because there was a guy who like says it was my grandpa.
>> Farz: Exactly, exactly. Yeah.
>> Taylor: And you're like, it's not like your grandpa's not that interesting. There's no way. But still, that thing so whoever he is, the X Men takes a few months off. And then on March 10, 1919, Italian immigrant Charles Cortimilla and his family, his wife Rosie and their baby daughter Mary, screaming. And their neighbor, who was an Italian grocer, so they live like next door to a grocery store, heard them screaming. The baby dies from being axed. But nothing was stolen. And the door panel had been chiseled. Chiseled off, just like in the last one. So that starts to be the things that are happening. Yeah. So robbery is not the motive. It's definitely to. To kill people. So Rosie says, it's my neighbors who did this. So the neighbor is the Italian grocer and his 18 year old son. And she says they definitely did it. And they're like, what are you talking about? We just came here to help you, you know, like, we did not do this. But they get charged and the son, who's 18, gets sentenced to hanging and the dad gets sentenced to life. So the neighbors who are the Italian grocers are the ones who get, get convicted of doing this. Charles and Rosie, they're still alive. And so Charles is like, rosie, you're being insane. Like, that is not what happened. They did not do it. And he divorces her because he's so mad at her for like accusing their neighbors of doing this. And after a year, she admits that she made it all up and both of them get out of jail.
>> Farz: It was this at a time when Arabs or Arabs, when Italians weren't considered white yet.
>> Taylor: Yes, okay. Yes, absolutely, absolutely. So there is some like race stuff and like mafia related stuff. Like what, you know, what are the reasonings behind this? But yes, there's definitely discrimination against, against Italian people during this time. So right after this, on March 13, 1919, we get the famous letter from the jazz man that goes to a newspaper.
>> Farz: So amazing.
>> Taylor: It's so I'm gonna read the whole thing.
>> Farz: It's my favorite thing.
>> Taylor: I haven't practiced. I'm just gonna read the whole thing to you. So buckle up. I do like at the very top of the letter, you know how you put like, you know, remember how we had to learn how to write formal letters? That was dumb. But like, but sure, if put like your name and your address in the top right corner and like the date, you know, that kind of thing. But it start h***, March 13, 1919. So he's writing from h***.
>> Farz: That's so cool.
>> Taylor: Yeah. So esteemed mortal, it starts for you. They have never caught me and they never will. They have never seen Me, For I am invisible even as the ether that surrounds your earth. I am not a human being, but a spirit and a demon from the hottest h***. I am what you or Linians and your foolish police call the Axeman. When I see fit, I shall come and claim other victims. I alone know whom they shall be. I shall leave no clue except my bloody axe besmeared with blood and brains, of he whom I'm sent below to keep me company. If you wish, you may tell the police to be careful not to rile me. Of course. I am a reasonable spirit. I take no offense at the way they have conducted their investigations in the past. In fact, they have been so utterly stupid as to not only amuse me, but but His Satanic Majesty, Francis Joseph, etc. But tell them to beware. Let them not try to discover what I am. For it were better that they were never born than to incur the wrath of the Axeman. I don't think there is any need of such a warning, for I feel sure the police will always dodge me as they have in the past. They are wise and know how to keep away from all harm. Undoubtedly, you or Linians think of me as the most horrible murderer which I am. But I could be much worse if I wanted to. If I wished, I could pay a visit to your city every night at will. I could slay thousands of your best citizens, for I am in close relationship with the angel of Death. Now, to be exact, at 12:15 earthly time on next Tuesday night, I am going to pass over New Orleans. In my infinite mercy, I am going to make a little proposition to you people. Here it is. I am very fond of jazz music and I swear by all the devils in the nether regions that every person shall be spared in whose home a jazz band is in full swing at the time I have just mentioned. If everyone has a jazz band going, well, then so much the better for you people. One thing is certain, and that is some of your people who do not jazz it out on that specific Tuesday night, if there be any, will get the axe well, as I am cold and crave the warmth of my native terror terrorists, man, that means h***. And it's about time I leave your earthly home. I will cease my discourse hoping that thou wilt publish this, that it may go well with thee. I have been and will be the worst spirit that ever existed, either in fact or realm of fantasy.
>> Farz: The Axeman okay, several comments here, please.
>> Taylor: I'm excited.
>> Farz: Okay. I only remember the jazz part because that was really like Hannibal Lectery.
>> Taylor: But.
Six people died and 16 were injured on Halloween in New Orleans
>> Farz: He sounds like an absolute dweeb. I'm gonna pass over New Orleans. The dark one, mere mortal. Like, it's just like.
>> Taylor: Shut up.
>> Farz: Like, I don't know. It just sounds like a nerd.
>> Taylor: Well, absolutely sounds like. I do feel like he's a good writer.
>> Farz: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. It's. Yeah, it's very stimulating writing. Sure.
>> Taylor: Right. I think it's kind of fun. And I also think that that night would have been really f****** fun because people did it. Every jazz band in New Orleans was booked. Every jazz club was full of people. Like, that's fun as s***. Like, you walk down the street, every house has jazz playing as loud as humanly possible at midnight 15. I love that. Dude.
>> Farz: They should have remade Halloween for that night. How fun would have been if everybody's doors are open, they're blasting jazz, and kids are running around with, like, axes to be so cool.
>> Taylor: I know. I think that. I think that part, like, and that night passed and no one got. No one got axed. Which I think is fun. I don't know. I think that that seems like one of the funnest nights in American history.
>> Farz: Yeah, no kidding.
>> Taylor: You know, like, everyone's kind of scared, but you're out and listen to jazz and it's humid, and you're, like, walking around and, like, just. I don't know. That seems really fun.
>> Farz: How many guys at bars were talking to him, being like, hey, this could be our last night.
>> Taylor: 1,000%. Hey, babe, I got a trumpet at home. Yeah, I'll keep you safe. I'll play my tromp all night.
>> Farz: So fun.
>> Taylor: So fun. So that goes in the paper. That's the only time he ever communicates with, like, anyone. Like, if it is one person, if this is written by him, all the things. But I think it's super fun. And that night would have been really fun. So that's in March, and he takes a little bit of a break. And then August 10th, a. Another grocer, his name is Steve Boca, is attacked by a dark figure. He has his head cracked open and he lives. He runs into the street for help, and his neighbor comes and helps him and all the things which. I mean, I feel like I have this story. Six people died and, like, 16 were injured. I feel like he. Those he didn't kill. He didn't kill as many people as I would have suspected.
>> Farz: Yeah, the body's really resilient. Your skull is super, super thick. Like, you gotta really work at it to get to the insides.
>> Taylor: Yeah, yeah. And. But that. So at Steve's house, it's the same thing. Nothing's taken. There's. There's the ax, the bloody ax found around the scene. And the door was chiseled open or the panel was chiseled off. On September 3, a woman named Sarah Lauman, who lived alone. She was only 19. She had. She was hit by a blunt object through an open window, but recovered. That kind of feels like that one might not be a part of it because it doesn't follow the pattern. But that's another thing that happened then.
On October 27, 1919, a man named Mike Pepitone is axed
And then finally, the last one is. On October 27, 1919, a man named Mike Pepitone is axed in the head. His wife said that she saw someone large running away, and he did. He did die.
>> Farz: Was he gross?
>> Taylor: And that's it? I don't. I think. I think so.
>> Farz: I think he's a theory.
>> Taylor: Yes.
>> Farz: Because this would have been around the time when, like, union and worker stuff was, like, crazy violent. What if it was, like, some group trying to unionize grocery people?
>> Taylor: Yeah.
>> Farz: And these people all own grocery stores to intimidate. Yeah.
>> Taylor: I think that's interesting, because there are Italian.
>> Farz: I'll go even more, I guess, prejudice with it. They're all Italian. What if there's, like, a mob thing? What if, like, the mob was trying to, like, break into the grocery. The pasta business? I don't know, but, like.
>> Taylor: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Like, the. The mob. The mob thing is like, a real theory. I didn't see the union thing, but that also kind of makes sense to.
>> Farz: Me, too, because the union kind of. Back then, like, there were. Both sides were scary.
>> Taylor: Yeah. I feel like I've been. I've been interested to learn more about that, too. Right. Because, like, the union guys would kill you.
>> Farz: Yeah, yeah. And the union busters would kill the union guys. Like, they were actually very scary groups of people.
>> Taylor: Yeah. Maybe. Maybe it is that. Maybe it is the. Maybe it is the. The union busting or something.
>> Farz: Well, I'm sure you get into, like, the suspects.
>> Taylor: Yeah. Here are my other theories. Here's what we know. If the letter is real. We have someone who, like, has to do with jazz music, I think is, like, a pretty good writer. So he has, like, some education, you know? And, like, me, like, if maybe he, like, hated jazz, all that stuff that's kind of weird. Like, it's only mentioned one time. So there's that. We know that about them. We know he loves murdering people. We know that, like, there's evidence that maybe he went for the women First. And so, like, maybe he wanted to murder women for some reason. Reason it could be someone who hates Italian people.
>> Farz: Wait, do we know that for sure that he went for the women?
>> Taylor: It's like.
>> Farz: Because that's weird.
>> Taylor: But. But that's, like, part of the. The thing is that, like, in most cases, he attacked the woman first because.
>> Farz: In most situations like this, they go for the man first because then the woman is more helpless.
>> Taylor: Right. And as far as I can tell, there's no, like, sexual assault or anything. It's just, like, comes in, axes you and leaves.
>> Farz: Weird. Okay.
>> Taylor: Yeah. Some people think that it could have been a woman because if she. If she got that little panel of the door off and went through it. But I also feel like I'm picturing. I don't know exactly what I'm picturing. I'm picturing, like, when I look at, like, a door in my house, there's like four panels, you know, of, like, shapes in a door. Do you have those in your doors or yours flat?
>> Farz: No, I have the glass thing, you.
>> Taylor: Know, ourselves, like, you know, it was like, fake panels. So imagining one of those, and it's like, kind of like maybe 2ft high and like, 10 inches wide. So maybe he went through it, but I also feel like he could have done that and just, like, use that to, like, flick a latch, you know?
>> Farz: Yeah.
>> Taylor: So I don't know. I don't know exactly know how the door thing works, but, like, maybe it was someone smaller and it was a woman, but I kind of feel like I doubt it was a woman because we don't have very many women ax murderers. But I don't know. Women's rights. Could have been a lady.
>> Farz: Yeah, we're equal opportunity.
>> Taylor: We're feminists, so. So the other ones, obviously, like, the. It's not Jack the Ripper. Not Jack the Ripper. But the similarities are fun because it's like someone who, you know, wrote letters to the press and there was no arrest and will never have any closure on who it was, you know, and then there's murders that they attribute to it when they probably aren't his, things like that.
Is it an opportunity for other people to do it when there's a murderer
So, like, that's always kind of fun to be like, you know, did he do everything? Did he do some of them? Is it an opportunity for other people to do it? To murder when there's a murderer around?
>> Farz: You know, I mean, I do think so. When you told me what you say, the first one, it was when he did the killing and then left the chalk march, the murder that he referred to. Was six years prior.
>> Taylor: Yeah.
>> Farz: So there's like. I don't know. From what little I understand, like, they don't. That's a crazy cooling off period.
>> Taylor: It really is.
>> Farz: So it could be like copycats and then. Yeah.
>> Taylor: I don't know. And also he like, could have gone somewhere. Because the other option is there's like, I would say the man from the Train who we talked about before is like someone who potentially is like a mass murderer who. There's a book called the man from the Train. I felt it was kind of like not the most solid argument I'd ever heard for it all being one person, but it was like in, in that case, they said it was a German man named Paul Mueller who, like, was just jumping off of trains and going into towns and killing people, you know, and like, he could have been the guy in the Hinterkaifeck murders, the ones in Germany. We talked about that too. So like, there's. There's that. So, like, but with that idea of that kind of murderer, like, you can just leave.
>> Farz: Yeah.
>> Taylor: You know, there's no real.
>> Farz: Get your bindle.
>> Taylor: Yeah. There's no evidence that's going to find you, you know, unless you do the exact same thing again somewhere else and someone there happens to have heard the story, like, they're never going to connect it, you know. And then. So then the most popular person who they think might have done it, like the most popular suspect is a guy named Frank Doc Mumfrey. And he died in 1921. And he also had a couple aliases. There was Leon Joseph Monfre, Manfree. But he had like a jazz business. And during this time his jazz business got a big bump because people like, wanted to learn how to play jazz more because of this. So they think that, like, he could have done it because he was kind of a shady guy. I mean, if you have a couple aliases, you know, you're not. Not shady. And. But they never like arrested him for anything. And I feel like the chances are high that he maybe wrote the letter and tried to attribute it to. To the axeman and make it a jazz associated thing to kind of add to like, the allure of like New Orleans and jazz and murder and all these things. Like you want to go and do it.
>> Farz: So my really good move.
>> Taylor: So my money is that he wrote the letter because he was like this. Something's happening. This is fun. And then like some other person killed some people, specifically Italian grocers. And I feel like that potential mafia union thing is up there because you're like, why? Why are you focusing on these people? Yeah. And then it just stopped. So Frank died in 1921. The last murder was in 19. Like, in most cases, like, there's, like, there's three very clear options. Like, maybe the guy, Maybe he moved, the murderer moved, or he was put in jail for something else. Like, that happens all the time with serial killers that we know about now. There's a cooling off period of a couple years because they, like, went to jail for a minor infraction, but they were not for this. Or maybe he died.
>> Farz: You know, I'm really hung up on the Italian grocer thing because, like, yeah, in a lot of situations, people end up victimizing their own cultures more than others. And I don't know, it's not insane to think that, like, someone shows up, they speak the same dialect from Sicily, and then. Yeah, I don't know. It just. You got to pay this money, and if you don't, bad things happen.
>> Taylor: Right, Right.
>> Farz: I watch a lot of movies. You know, that could be a. Yeah, yeah, that.
>> Taylor: That. I feel that. I feel like it makes a lot of sense.
There's a good chance it was a demon who killed 35 people
But also then I guess we had a question that just came up to me, but, like, why would you only hire one guy to do it?
>> Farz: Well, we don't know if it's one guy.
>> Taylor: I guess it could be. Like, the people who remember are, like, there was one man here. They weren't. Like, there was a bunch of guys here. But I guess maybe you could hire one guy.
>> Farz: Subterfuge. Then it's like they're looking for a serial killer and not, like, the mob, you know?
>> Taylor: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
>> Farz: Because also, the meth is changed, right? Because in one situation, he's using, like, a. A straight edge to cut the throat, and then another one, he's using the blunt side of an ax to bash in someone's face.
>> Taylor: Like, Right. Totally weird. But all the weapons were, like, founded. Like, they were, like, theirs, which is, like, he didn't come in with anything. He used, like, their ex.
>> Farz: We should start, like, a cold case podcast where we try and solve these things.
>> Taylor: I actually kind of. Now that we're talking about this, I think also there's a good chance it was a demon.
>> Farz: You're really reading the letter too literally.
>> Taylor: Because we're ignoring the fact that he confessed that he was a demon. And it's New Orleans. And it's New Orleans. He was like, he does. He just, like, flies over and access people and he could kill everyone. I'm gonna look at this word. I couldn't say this Tartarus word. Yeah. I don't know.
>> Farz: There's also a woman named Clementine Barnabit. Apparently I did look at that.
>> Taylor: That was scary.
>> Farz: Voodoo priestess and ax murderer.
>> Taylor: Yeah.
>> Farz: During this time who killed 35 people with axes. So that seems like pretty. Pretty evidence.
>> Taylor: Yes. The X Men said he lives in Tartarus, which is the dense, deep, dark abyss beneath the underworld as a prison for the most wicked mortals and fallen gods.
>> Farz: If it was gonna happen anywhere, I could totally see it being New Orleans.
>> Taylor: Exactly.
>> Farz: So witchy.
>> Taylor: Exactly. Like, I don't think this is, like, a story that could happen. Like, that would happen other places.
>> Farz: Vermont.
>> Taylor: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Exactly. It's like a. It's a very. And it really is just f****** like that. Like, I remember walk through, like, the little towns, and they have, like, the. The outskirts of, like, the city part. There's, like, cute little houses with their porch, and it's foggy and it's hot and humid and, like, it's that Southern Gothic vibe that we talk about.
>> Farz: Yeah, yeah, yeah. What about someone that we know? I'll tell you later. But, like, his. His tradition was Halloween in New Orleans every single year. And he was like, it is so fun and so moody, and the whole thing feels like it should be Halloween 24 7. Which I totally buy.
>> Taylor: Yeah, I totally buy that. I met a woman in Japan who was from Dubai, and she told me that she was driving over a bridge into New Orleans one time, and she said I felt fear like I'd never felt before. I got her way in and I was like, I believe you.
>> Farz: Yeah. Remember that one woman I covered where Nicholas Cage bought her house, but it was, like, known as, like, the torture house? Like, killed all her slaves and, like. Yeah. Like, there's a lot of gory stories that come out of this place, including this one, which is really, really fun. Yeah. I think we settled it, though. It's something mob or union oriented.
>> Taylor: I think so, too, also. Or demon also, I think. I'm pretty sure they cover this in the American Horror Story coven.
>> Farz: I could not watch that one. I only got a few episodes into it.
>> Taylor: There is. Because there's a man that, like, the. The Supreme Witch is, like, kind of on and off with. But he is the axeman in the thing. And he's Danny Houston, like, Angelica Houston's cousin. I like him. He's in. He's. He's also in that one with the. The town in Alaska where the 30 days and 30 nights or whatever. 30 oh, yeah, yeah. That guy, he was accident.
>> Farz: That movie does not hold up. I just watched that again fairly recently, and it was not good.
>> Taylor: I feel like I was. I was saying that because, like, I don't understand the clothes they're wearing. I don't understand what they're doing.
Taylor: You should still do it, because if they find that guy
I don't understand how they go through many days with nothing happening. We have a lot of questions.
>> Farz: Yes. Yep. Same page. Fun. All right, well, we're. We're going to keep investigating this. If you want to hear us do a podcast on cold cases to remember that time I wrote to the city of Austin for a FOIA request on the yogurt shop murders.
>> Taylor: I do. You should still do it, because if they find that guy.
>> Farz: They found him.
>> Taylor: Yeah.
>> Farz: I mean, it's not a fun story because the guy just killed himself, like, 30 years ago. Like, he's been dead forever. It's also, I hate stories where it's just like. I mean, how many times can you talk about sexual assault? Like, you.
>> Taylor: Like. Yeah.
>> Farz: At some point it's like you're just, like, saying it for the sake of saying it. Like, it's not fun anymore. Like. Yeah, so not that it's fun. You know what I mean? Like, it's like there's not much beyond the grossness of the whole thing. So that's why I never did it.
>> Taylor: But, yeah, no, that's fair.
>> Farz: Well, thank you for sharing, Taylor.
>> Taylor: Yeah, that'll round us out for the year, because we're going to skip the week of New Year's, but then we'll be back in 2026.
>> Farz: Man, how time flies, huh?
>> Taylor: Yeah. What a. What a. What a time. These are also alive.
>> Farz: Who knows what 2026 is going to bring? Bloody gums and copper taste. Who knows?
>> Taylor: There's a comedian that I love, and he does, like, he did the Ghost of Christmas feature. He just goes, it's gonna get worse.
>> Farz: Who is it?
>> Taylor: I'll find him. And I don't know. He's, But I do have some mail.
>> Farz: Yeah.
>> Taylor: Let's hear it from Morgan. My friend Morgan is. Watches Jeopardy. And I just want to say to the person that works at Jeopardy. Who is our listener, please email us and say hello. Because in the past two months, three of the Jeopardy. Questions have been episodes that we've done, like, in the past two months.
>> Farz: It's kind of wild.
>> Taylor: So from six weeks ago, there was the question is. Or like, the answer is, she's a songwriter behind such hits as if I Could Turn Back Time and How Do I Live and that is Diane Warren, who wrote Blame it on the Rain. So there's that one. Then just this week, there were two. One of them was Luis Valdez. Directed and wrote a play that appeared on Broadway about The riots in SoCal, named for this title. Fashion item, obviously, a zoot suit. Shut up. Then the next day, it was the COVID Cold era, Cold War era. MK Ultra program sought to develop means of using that. This technique on human subjects. What is mind control? What? Like, that's. That's. The Zoot sue riots is wild. I feel like, why are they thinking about that the same time I was thinking about it just after I did MK Ultra. So come on, don't be shy.
>> Farz: Out yourself.
>> Taylor: Out yourself. Send an email. Person who works at Jeopardy.
>> Farz: They're gonna. They're gonna start with Dear Mort. Hey, if you. If it's you, you don't use an alias. Just say, like, dear Mortal.
>> Taylor: Yeah, yeah. You can write to us like, you are the jazz man, and we will accept it that you come from a spot. Don't tell us what rundle you're in in Learner League because we know you're better than us. But just you say hi, because there's. I just. It's. That's such a. That's wild. Three in, like, six weeks.
>> Farz: Yeah. That's crazy. Yeah.
>> Taylor: Yeah.
Learn Learned League is this online trivia thing. It is incredibly well organized
So just say hi. We want to say hi. Morgan said you're a witch. And.
>> Farz: And you're right. This person is absolutely in Learned League. If nobody knows. Learned League is this online trivia thing. It is incredibly well organized. It is run on the honor system, so you're not supposed to Google things. It is so fun and so hard, but it's like, it's really fun when. When you actually get some stuff right. You're like, oh, wow. Okay. I know something.
>> Taylor: Sometimes I'm still mad how last year you got Spatchcock as the way to cook a turkey.
>> Farz: Yeah. Yeah.
>> Taylor: And then. But then as far as you were really high up in our group, which is called a rundle. So you. You flew very close to the sun earlier this year. You're back down.
>> Farz: But can I tell you. Can I tell you? The biggest miss I had was the last question from Friday, which had to do with what is the darkest color ever created?
>> Taylor: And.
>> Farz: And I put Vanta. Even though I knew it's Vanta Black. I put Vanta. I did not get that one. And that one would have given me three points if I put Vanta Black. But I was just like, everybody knows it's black. Like, the darkest right?
>> Taylor: Because they said it was black.
>> Farz: Yeah, they said it. And then like. And so I was like, like, I don't have to say this part. And so I just said vanta, because that's the hard thing to figure out. And they didn't give it to me.
>> Taylor: I didn't get Katie Delect Katie Ledecky, and I should be put in jail. I want to put myself in jail.
>> Farz: For how I don't got that, but I definitely got. I put Ledecky. I forgot her first name. So, anywho. Yeah, check out Learned League, actually. Well, here. Here's a reason why you should write to us. You can only get into Learned League through invitation. And Taylor and I are proud, esteemed members in 21st and 28th place. And so if. If you would like an invitation to learnedly, write to us gmail dot com. We love fellow nerds to join us on this journey of humiliation and humility.
>> Taylor: So that's what it is. Yep. Indeed.
>> Farz: Very fun.
>> Taylor: Yeah. Thanks, everyone. Happy New Year. Merry Christmas.
>> Farz: Happy holidays on the other side of it.
>> Taylor: Sounds good. Oh, tell your friends. Write to us sudanvillepot@gmail.com and everywhere. Thank you.