America’s First Serial Killer? The Austin Servant Girl Murders, 1885

Send us Fan MailBetween 1884 and 1885, a shadowy figure terrorized the city, breaking into homes, dragging women from their beds, and leaving behind scenes so brutal that even hardened reporters became physically ill. The press dubbed him the Servant Girl Annihilator—some later called him the Midnight Assassin or even speculated he was Jack the Ripper before London.In this two-part special, we peel back the layers of history: the booming city of Austin in the 1880s, the gruesome series of axe murders that left eight dead and eight injured, the suspects who stood trial, and the theories that still linger nearly 140 years later. Was the killer a local cook with a violent streak? A transient who slipped away to Europe? Or a murderer whose crimes connect Texas to one of the most infamous cases in history?Join Arlene and Leah as we explore one of America’s earliest and most chilling serial murder cases—a story of terror, hysteria, and mystery that remains unsolved to this day.Capital Murder: The Servant Girl Annihilator’s Reign of TerrorRevisiting the Austin Axe MurdersAutopsy Report for Susan Hancock (1885)New Documents Reveal Details in Servant Girl MurdersAustin’s Servant Girl Annihilator: A Chilling Tale of HorrorThe Axe Murderer Who Killed Servants—and Was Never CaughtHell Broke LooseThe Midnight AssassinServant Girl Annihilator Terrorized Austin in the 1880sThe Servant Girl AnnihilatorThe Servant Girl MurdersThe Axeman of Austin1885 Newspaper Archives on the Austin Axe MurdersServant Girl Murders Virtual CemeteryJack the Ripper: Historical OverviewSupport Box in the Basement & Our Causes Leon Laurales: Website & GoFundMe Follow us on Facebook & Instagram Donate to Seasons of JusticeListen to Darkcast Network Shows Join Uncovered.com Donate to Project Cold Case