Summary: From 1910 to 1919, New Orleans suffered at the hands of its
very own Jack the Ripper–style killer. The story has been the subject of
websites, short stories, novels, a graphic novel, and most recently the FX
television series American Horror Story. But the full story of
gruesome murders, sympathetic victims, accused innocents, public panic, the New
Orleans Mafia, and a mysterious killer has never been written. Until now.
The Axeman repeatedly broke into the homes of Italian grocers in the dead of night, leaving his victims in a pool of blood. Iorlando Jordano, an innocent Italian grocer, and his teenaged son Frank were wrongly accused of one of those murders; corrupt officials convicted them with coerced testimony. Miriam C. Davis here expertly tells the story of the search for the Axeman and of the eventual exoneration of the innocent Jordanos. She proves that the person mostly widely suspected of being the Axeman was not the killer. She also shows what few have suspected—that the Axeman continued killing after leaving New Orleans in 1919. Only thirty years after Jack the Ripper stalked the streets of Whitechapel, the Axeman of New Orleans held an American city hostage. This book tells that story.
Angie’s comments: Besides being a fascinating account of a strange series of
crimes, the book is an account of New Orleans in the late 1800s and early
1900s. It is about corrupt police and government, immigrants, false tales of
immigrant societies, and the lives and deaths of New Orleans residents.
It is very well researched, and Davis doesn’t
make any wild claims.
Recommended for readers of true crimes.
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May 2, 2017
The Axeman of New Orleans
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