The Denison review. [volume] (Denison, Iowa) 1867-current, 1912-08-28
BLOOD AT0NEMENT
g ! BELIEF OF SECT
A Religious Sect With Headquarters
at Denver, Who Cry for Blood
Atonement.
Denver Detectives at Work on Theory
That Religious Sect May be
Cause Of Moore Family Murder

point, the arrest of Seward or Saw
yer, at Clarinda, and who was Tues
day, held by United States Com
missioner Hanna, of Creston, to the
federal grand jury, has peculiar in
terest, and two detectives in Denver
who have been working on the sOlu
ton of the Villisca and other similar
crimes, and who hold to the belief
that the murderer in each of these
cases is a member of a sect which
demands the blood atonement, are
coming to Iowa to look Seward over
to interview him and to determine
in their minds what, if any, relation
Seward bears to the Denver sect, says
the Jefferson Bee.
The claims of the Denver secret
service men are borne out by numer-
Gus incidents occurring in connection
with the crime, and it is confidently
believed that the army of detectives
who are at work on the Villisca MUIR
Gers have at last hit upon real and
possible solution of the crime, and
that if the murderer has not yet been
apprehended, he will be before long.
That there is a religious sect in
Denver who cry out for the blood
atonement, and who believe that by
Staying and human sacrifice they will
be blessed, is the Denver theory and
belief. A half dozen crimes of sim
liar character, committed in various
parts of the country, are now charged
to this sect. and the actual murders
are believed by the Denver police to
have been committed by some relig-
ious fanatic, member of this strange
creed. Crimes similar to the eight
murders at VilliSca were done at Colo
RADIO Springs, Colo; Ellsworth, Kan;
Monmouth, ILL.,; Rainier, Ore, and one
or two other places.
While the home of the SANITY
brigands" is declared to be in Den
yer, the police of the entire country,
working in the case, say they have
traced the crimes to the religious
sect there.
Like mothers of ancient India, who
cast their babes as a sacrifice into
the river, SO, it would seem, are the
mysterious band of slayers driven to
commit the dastardly, believing that
they will grow in grace. The human
death messengers" have formed an
organization of their strange cult, it
is believed by eastern and western
criminologists, and have wiped out
whole families in night without ap-
parent provocation, merely to satisfy
their lust for insane blood sacrifice.
Although the Denver authorities de-
clare that the death dealing sect en-
lists, they have so far been unable to
get an inkling as to the location of
the headquarters of the sect. While
there are strong suspicious pointing
to q certain section of the city which
is now being investigated, no one at
work on the case will reveal his find
ings.
So sure are men at work on the case
that they have at last solved the mys-
terry of the ak murderer, that they
have a description of the leader OF
the religious sect. He is said to be a
man below the medium height, has
long black hair, black eyes, wears
mustache and full beard, which he
keeps we'll groomed. All of the male
members of the cult are said to fol-
low their leaders, example as to the
manner in which they wear their
boards.
Two Denver detective agencies
have been at work upon the case for
several months, but it was not until
the last few weeks that the theory
of the religious sect was advanced.
from New York are to the
effect that the Burns detective agency
has number of men working in Den
YER and in Iowa, while all of the cities
in which the crimes have been CON-
mitted are aiding in the attempt to
locate the blood fanatics.
A Denver detective said: eve have
been working upon this thing for
some time. If there is such gang
of slayers in Denver we will have
them all behind the bars soon. There
is strong evidence that Denver is the
headquarters of such an organization
and we have set a net that they can't
escape"
Clues which led to the theory that
the murders at Villisca were commit
ted by a religious fanatic were in the
hands of the secret service men a few
hours after the murders were discov.
cred, and some of the Iowa officials
who have been working upon the case
nave held to their belief from the very