Omaha daily bee., 1917-09-27
HISTORY Of AK MURDER CASE
AT V|LL|SCA IN WHICH LIVES OF
0PERSONs WERE SNUFFED OUT
Rev. LynG j. Kelly First One Ever to be Put on Trial for
Mysterious Crime Which Has Become Politi.
cal Issue in Hawkeye State; Arouses
-. Intense Interest. .-.

The Villisca AK murder for whic
Rev. Lyn G. ]. Kelly was tried OF
cured Sunday night. June 9, 1912, 4
he home OF Mr.. and Mrs. Joe Moor
The victims we're; Mr.. and Mr..
Moore, their children, Herman, Boyc
Paul and Katherine, II, 7, S and /
years of age, respectively; and Len
md Ina Stillinger, II and s year
Did, daughters of Mr.. and Mrs. 10
;eph Stillinger.
The Stillinger sisters had attended
shildren's day exercises in the Pres
5yterian church at Vilisca and ac
connpanied the Moores home. for tn,
night as guests. Herman Moor.
spoke a piece about God Watching
Over the Sparrows," and Lena Still
linger also took part in the program
The crime was discovered at 8:3(
o'clock Monday morning, when Ed
Selley, clerk in the Joe Moore store
became anxious because Moore failed
to appear at his place of business al
the usual hour. Ross Moore, brother
of Joe Moore, with Marshal Horton,
went to the zoe Moore home and dis
covered the eight victims of the
murdcrer's AK
Find Bloody Ak.
The gruesome weapon was found
near the bed of the Stillinger sisters,
who occupied downstairs bed room.
The bodies Of the Moore family
were found In two rooms upstairs.
Many detectives worked on the
case, foremost among them being ].
n Wilkerson, former Burns opera
tive. During July, 1916, Wilkerson
went 10 Kansas City and arrested
'Bilp Mansfield, packing house em-
ploye, and brought him back to Red
Oak, where grand jury inyesti-
gated the charges against him. The
vote of the grand jury was four to
indict and three against Ii required
four to indict.
Last April Attorney General Hay-
ner brought before the grand jury
sufficient evidence to indict Rev. Lyn
6. j Kelly. The little minister was
brought to. Red Oak May IA by At
torneys A. /. Sutton and ]. A. Nc
KeQzie from Alta Pass, Ill, where
Kelly had been preaching. Accord
ing to the contention OF Sutton, he
had to urge Sheriff Dunn at Red Oak
TO take the ministerlinto custody.
Tried for One Murder.
The trial Of Kelly ,was OF, sfrst
degree murder charge Of killing Lena
Stillinger. although the trial Ia fact,
covered the Staying Of eight victims.
Particular reference. was made ID
Lena Stillinger on account OF the con-
dition in which witnesses said her
body was found and the further fact
hat witness for the prosecution
.cstified that in one of his cor,versa-
lions on the murder at Macedonia on
the day after the crime. Kelly said
one OF the girls was aroused and the
murderer had more trouble killing her.
The trial started Tuesday morning.
September 4. Much time was taken
up selecting q jury from l40 men ex-
amined. The extent of the feud which
has been engsudcrcd was demon-
stratcd in the examination of yef,ire-
men. Many of them declared they
had contributed toward the Kelly de-
Tense fund,
The defense called forty-six wit
nesses and the prosecution eighty-fve.
The state sought to prove that Kelly
related details of the crime before Il !!
had been discovered at Viitisca; that
ne sent a bloody shirt to a Council
Bluffs laundry; that he made various
confessions before signing the Logan
confession, and that he sent obscene
letters to girls.
Wore Same Clothing.
The defense placed stress on the
contention that Kelly was paranoi-
&C; that he was susceptible to sugpes- |
tons; that in his state of mind he
accepted accusations Of detectives
and Others as realities; that the |
Logan confession was obtained by
third degree methods, that the state |
was trying to protect others. and
offered testimony to impeach prose- |
cution's witnesses regarding the time |
Kelly was alleged to have related de- |
tails OF the crime at Macedonia.
The defense further contended that
Kelly ocucpied the bed at the Ewing |
home, where he was guest on the
night OF the crime; that he did not
know the Moores and Stillineers.
who were murdered; that his first |
day in Villisca was the Sunday OF the
night Of the crime. that he returned I
TO Macedonia the following Monday
morning wearing the same clothes |
and personal effects which he took |
when he left home; that he was home I
with his wife In Macedonia during
the hours OF Monday when Mace |
aonia witnesses testified he talked TO
them OF the AK murder.
Starts County Feud.
One of the outstanding features Of
the case is the marked division OF
public sentiment in Montgomery
county. AS soon as Detective VIII
kerson returned from Illinois last
May, at the time Kelly returned with
sutton and Mckenzie, he entered |
~f :. 'a6SlOuS NdliipdiRU IN DSnalt |
Of Kelly. Aligned with him were
relatives of the AK murder victims
Among these were. Joseph Still |
niger, John Montgomery, father OF |
Mrs. Joe Moore; Mr.. and Mrs. Ross |
Moore, and many others. Wilkerson |
was enjoined from holding public |
meetings. under an act of the last |
Iowa legislature, known as the
Thompson bill and otherwise re-
ferred to as the anti-Wilkerson bill |
The operation Of that law was sns-
pended and Wilkerson held thirty.fIye
meetings after arrival OF Kelly IN
Red Oak last May. One Of the |
meetings was held in the BOYD thea
ter, Omaha. Thousands of dollars
were contributed toward the legal and
personal expenses of Kelly. At each
meeting a committee solicited funds
after Wilkerson spoke.
Stillinger Il President.
This Kelly defense organization
was headed by Joseph Stillinger as