A less plausible theory is that the killer committed the murders in an attempt to promote jazz music, suggested by a letter attributed to the killer in which he stated that he would spare the lives of those who played jazz in their homes. Criminologists Colin and Damon Wilson hypothesize that the Axeman killed male victims only when they obstructed his attempts to murder women, supported by cases in which the woman of the household was murdered but not the man. Some crime analysts have suggested that the killings were related to sex, and that the murderer was perhaps a sadist specifically seeking female victims. Many media outlets sensationalized this aspect of the crimes, even suggesting Mafia involvement despite lack of evidence. The majority of the Axeman's victims were Italian immigrants or Italian-Americans, leading many to believe that the crimes were ethnically motivated. The crimes were not motivated by robbery, and the perpetrator never removed items from his victims' homes. The intruder then attacked one or more of the residents with either an axe or straight razor. In most cases, a panel on a back door of a home was removed by a chisel, which along with the panel was left on the floor near the door. This leaves the possibility open that the killings were racially motivated, but as the killer was never caught, this was never conclusively proven.Īs the killer's epithet implies, the victims usually were attacked with an axe, which often belonged to the victims themselves.
He mainly targeted Italian immigrants and Italian-Americans. The Axeman was never identified, and the murders remain unsolved.
Press reports during the height of public panic about the killings mentioned similar murders as early as 1911, but recent researchers have called these reports into question. The Axeman of New Orleans was an unidentified American serial killer active in New Orleans, Louisiana, and surrounding communities, including Gretna, from May 1918 to October 1919.
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