Joseph Momfre

## Joseph Momfre, "The Axeman"

The infamous Axeman, also known to some as Joseph Momfre. 35 years old, hailing from New Orleans. A monstrously powerful man who loves novels and jazz more than anything else.

## Purgatory Entry

*After becoming infamous for a string of serial murders he committed in New Orleans, the Axeman was recruited by the Hellhounders and treated to Malice infusions that boosted his already monstrous strenth. While he serves as the team's lead demolition man, the Axeman considers himself to be a man of the arts, and writes mystery novels in his spare time.*

## Bio

### Finding The Axeman

In the side story, Finding The Axeman, we find out that The Axeman worked as a security guard at Olivier's Jazz Club, which is located in the French Quarter in New Orleans.

At the end of 1917's Autumn, Joseph first discovered the bar after hearing Sarah Laumann singing with a jazz ensemble. That same night, he ended up killing a drunk heckler who was interrupting the concert. After these events, the co-owner of the bar, Doc, let him stay in the lodgings above the bar. In return he expected Joseph to act as his personal bodyguard during business transactions. Doc had underground connections to the mafia, and engaged in smuggling grocery goods to avoid paying tax. They also worked alongside an Italian grocer called Steve Boca, who sold the smuggled goods on Doc's behalf.

Around September 1918, Joseph started committing his first murders. He did this mainly out of a sense of righteousness and moral good against people who he believed were evil. However, this was all Doc's doing as he was trying to get rid of his competitors by convincing Joseph that his targets were part of a child trafficking ring and that they were only masking as grocerers. Joseph, who is quite naïve, carried out his tasks dutifully and this is how "The Axeman" started to gain notoriety in New Orleans. Among his first victims were Joseph and Catherine Maggio, Louis Besumer and his mistress Harriet Lowe. However, not all victims attributed to his name, were attacked by him. The pregnant woman, Anna Schneider was not one of his victims.

It is also around this time that he started to consider Doc, Steve, Sarah and Mike Pepitone as his closest friends. In November 1918, they even threw him a surprise party for his one-year anniversary at Olivier's. At the party, he recited them a poem he had written for the occasion. In December 1918, Doc convinced Sarah to go on a date with Joseph, which ended on an amicable note as Joseph considered himself more of a father figure towards Sarah. Soon after that, Joseph started to realize that Doc and his friends might not be taking him as seriously as he thought.

In March 1919, Joseph was sent out to murder Charles and Rosie Cortimiglia. During this job, he accidentily murdered their two-year-old daughter, Mary. Stricken by insufferable guilt, Joseph wanted to send a letter to the public to set his image straight. This was very much against Doc's wishes. Growing more and more suspicious of Doc and the others' intentions, he decided to sneak into the back of Olivier's one night to eavesdrop. He quickly heard that they were all laughing behind his back, mocking his letter and even finding out that they bribed Sarah to go on a date with him. All this information caused Joseph to lose control and in a fit of rage, he crashed through the wall and attacked the guys. Even though he ended up getting shot twice by Doc, Joseph managed to kill him. Mike and Steve were able to escape and Sarah was not present at the moment.

The next day, he sent his letter to the press, saying that he would kill again on the night of March 19 but would spare the occupants of any place where a jazz band was playing. That night all of New Orleans' dance halls were filled to capacity, and professional and amateur bands played jazz at parties at hundreds of houses around town. There were no murders that night. In his diary entries, he also vowed to kill Steve, Mike and Sarah.

After that night, Joseph fled the city and started living in the marshlands next to the city where he preyed on crawfish farmers and rural communities. During this period, his violent side started taking control and he killed more frequently. In the fall of 1919 he located Mike, Steve and Sarah and attempted to kill them. Steve and Sarah recovered from their injuries and only Mike died.

On New Year's Eve 1919, the BOI found Joseph and had him surrounded. Right before meeting his end and after putting up a big fight, he was rescued by the Hellhounders and they recruited him.

## Gallery

### Penny Blood: Hellbound

As he appears in Penny Blood: Hellbound.Model floating in the Malice Pool.
## Trivia

* He loves painting, literature, poetry, sculpting, and most of all, jazz music
* Liquor doesn't agree with him, so he only drinks soda pop
* He is very fond of the song Tiger Rag, performed by the Original Dixieland Jazz Band.
* He writes mystery novels, the "Sleuth Master" series, though they are regarded by other characters as pretty poor in quality. Among the titles are "*Sleuth Master and the Chamber of Doom*", "*Sleuth Master and the Forbidden Crossing*", and "*Sleuth Master and the Accursed Fettuchini*" [sic].
* The letter that Joseph sent to the press, was the actual letter that was written by the Axeman in real life.
* Joseph has a large amount of scarves that he collected after joining the Hellhounders. The oldest of which is called the Gloom Scarf.

## Real Life

* The Axeman is based on the unidentified serial killer, The Axeman of New Orleans