The Lonely Hearts Killer

Hi, I'm Holly. And I'm Hailey. Welcome to Mountain Mysteries, Tales from Appalachia. Hailey, we're back.

We are back. How are you? I am well. How are you?

Um, you know, I'm all right. Yeah, hang in there. Yeah, we're all, we're just all surviving. We're not thriving, but we're surviving.

Uh, and it's December. We made it. We've made it to December. We're so close to Christmas.

We're close to Christmas. We're close to Christmas. We're close to in the semester for my job. Um, I'm excited.

Kids are excited. We're about to start testing, which I don't really have a whole lot to do with, but I know the stress in the air is real. Um, just, yeah. Well, don't tell my son, but he is getting an art easel for Christmas.

Ah, it's so exciting. It's so exciting. I love kids at Christmas. It's really enjoying and exciting.

And I'll tell you, I was talking to my mother today and she's like, what is Santa getting him? And I was like, well, Santa is getting him some shit presents. Not shit presents, but like socks and a bed's red. Right.

Here's why. I don't want to be trumped by Santa. Right. I listen, because I'm Santa.

I'm sorry if I blew this for anybody listening. I mean, if you're under the age of 10, you're not out of here. Yeah. I'm Santa.

I bought these presents with my money. So I want him to be like, my mom's a rock star and Santa's like, okay. I want him to feel that way. Yeah.

And I feel like you always see on Facebook and stuff for encouraging parents to have Santa gifts be like the socks and the things like that, because when the kids go back to school and they're like, oh, I want to say I'm going to bring you and like little Johnny got socks and whatever. And Susie got a new TV and a new laptop and all this stuff. I'm saying I'm like, Susie, more than me. Exactly.

Which is hard to explain to the kid. But also like parent how you feel. Well, and that's definitely how I feel. I feel that Santa is just, you know, he gives him necessities, but I'm the cool one and I win in the end.

Oh my God. All right, Kaylee. Tell me about the story. Yeah.

Let me, I don't know why I thought you were telling the story this week because I have not pulled up a single note. I promise you she has not been drinking. I haven't. I'm still dealing with liver mess.

So, Lex. Gotcha. Liver and a punch. It's somewhere.

It's different. It's just the same. It's trying to best to function in my body. We're working on it.

Okay. We are going to go to my favorite place, West Virginia. Really? Yeah, I can't get out of West Virginia.

We, so okay. We went to West Virginia like two weeks in a row. Yes. And then we took a break and went to Virginia and now we're back.

Back to West Virginia. You see we have this pattern of like Tennessee, Tennessee, Tennessee, Tennessee and then we're like, oh, no, no, no, no, you know. We were in Asheville for a while. But the thing about us is we don't usually talk about where our story, like beforehand.

So this is funny that. Yeah. Every once in a while, like we'll shoot each other in Texas. It's like, hey, I'm going to do this story.

So you know, like if you're researching around the same time, don't take this one. But now we've just both really been into like heavy into West Virginia recently, which is great. So we're going to start out our story in 1893. Oh, wow.

Taking it back. Harry Powers was born in 1893 in Bearta, the Netherlands. I was just assuming as high as you say that I have no idea. Okay.

His birth name was Herm Drenz, but he would later change it to Harry Powers, obviously. He immigrated to the Harry Powers. It kind of sounds funny. Yeah.

Well, I mean, this guy's a character for sure. He immigrated to the US in 1910 to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, but then moved to West Virginia in 1926. All right. Let's talk about this guy.

Okay. In 1927, he married Luella Strathor. She owned a farm and a grocery store, which is like, she was a woman in 1927 in West Virginia. Owned a farm and a grocery store.

I wonder if she had like family money or something and it was like, not saying that she could, you know what I mean. Right. Right. Well, and then I was also thinking like maybe she'd been married before and like her husband or maybe she was just a freaking badass lady who was like, you know what, I'm going to own this grocery store.

No man's going to tell me different. I love that. Well, you know, by 1927, I mean by 1920, she had the right to vote. So times were changing for women.

Yeah. Yeah. Maybe not own farm and grocery store for everybody changing, but like we're getting there. Yeah.

Definitely. She's doing it. The two met through a lonely hearts advertisement. Oh, that's the sweetest thing.

I love it. Luella had placed one in the paper. Harry responded and the two fell in love. Oh.

Yeah. So sweet. It sure is. Oh no.

It's kind of like those apps. You know, it's like, oh, I went searching for my guy on Craigslist. Yeah. Yeah.

Oh no. So I say this was sarcasm because even though Harry was married, he began to take out his own lonely hearts advertisements. So he married Luella and then just started taking out. Taking out.

Okay. Taking out ads. Looking for hookups or. Right.

Right. Well, yeah. Women wrote in to his ads at a pretty high rate postal records later would show that he was getting about 10 to 20 letters back a day. What did he put like I'm rich in horny or any like what?

What did he put? I don't know. I don't know. Let's see.

Yes. He built a garage where he would respond to these letters. So his wife wouldn't know. Right.

So Luella's you know in the dark, she's running the grocery store in the farm and you know she's got herself this man. But Luella sounds like kind of an independent lady who's just like I don't really need you for anything. Well. Other than the obvious.

So I kind of feel like she and I don't know enough about Luella in her story. But I feel like I could see her being like, yeah, yeah, you go to the garage and you know do your thing. And he was doing something. He's like, oh, I'm going to work on my, my, you know, book.

Yeah. I'm writing the book of my life. Something like that. He's like, dearest Sonia.

I received your letter today and I just want you to know. Yes. I'm available. Yeah.

Yeah. He was doing some shady stuff. Yeah. So he's built this garage which also has like a basement type situation with it.

So he's like dug out this basement. Nope. Built this garage. Nope.

He's out there writing his love letters. He's a greeper. But it wasn't exactly all he was doing in his garage. Oh, God.

All right. So Harry wrote letters using the alias, Cornelius Orvin Peterson. That sounds so fancy. It does.

Did he write it with Quill? I'm probably, I hope so. I hope so too. So he began writing letters to Astra Eacher.

I guess I could say her last name. Astra was a widowed mother of three. She lived in Park Ridge, Illinois. Harry went to visit her and her children.

Greta, Harry and Annabelle, which is kind of a weird coincidence. Yeah. So he went to visit them on June 23, 1931. Harry slash Cornelius and Astra left the home for what was supposed to be like a few days like a romantic getaway type thing.

A friend of the family or a sitter, somebody they hired, I don't know who she was to them, Elizabeth Abernathy to carry the children until she got a letter that said that Cornelius was going to come and get the children to take them back to live with him and Astra. So Elizabeth's thinking like, oh wow, this is like really, you know, progressed. They're probably going to marry. He's going to marry her and he's coming to collect the children and be while she's getting whatever house setup or a apartment or whatever.

He's going to get the kids. How nice. Take them back to live with them. Start this new life.

Yay for Astra. She's widowed. She deserves this. So when you came to get the children, he had one of the kids go to the bank to withdraw money from Astra's account so they could open a new account or they were going to be living.

However, the child came back with no money because the bank said that the signature was forged. Well, and also, you know, who better to send to a bank to withdraw money but a child? Hey, child. Yeah.

Hey, literally child. I don't know how old these kids were but I don't think like very old. Well, if they had to have this babysitter too, you know, it's not like, and it's back in the day where they were like, well, you're 11, you're fine. You can say by yourself for six weeks.

But you know, like these kids were probably younger. So it's like a five year old. Hey, go to the bank and withdraw this money. So it was forged for a signature.

So he clearly, I'm sorry, Cornelius had forged her signature. Right, right, right. So the child came back. No money.

So the signature forged. Cornelius, I'm in the children and then quickly left town because he's like, oh, man, gotta go. He grabs the kid's head thread. There were some neighbors that were a little bit concerned about this sudden disappearance and were like, what's going on?

Why are you just taking these kids? Like, who are you? Yeah. So he, you know, kind of explained the situation and said that they were all going to go on this trip to Europe, actually.

Oh, of course. So don't worry. I got them. We're going to need Astra.

I got my estate overseas. And then we're going to go on a European getaway. Yes. So that was kind of what the neighbors were told and what they believed.

So we're going to move on a little bit. Harry then begins writing letters and courting a Dorothy Pressler, Limke. Dorothy Pressler, Limke. Why does everyone have three names?

I don't know. They just all, they all just really like... Holly, Torrington, Smythe. That's what you want to be called.

Yes. All right. I'm just going to say only one of those is your real name. Holly, who's calling me Holly, Torrington, Smythe.

Holly, Torrington, Smythe. Okay. Thank you. All right.

She was from... Dorothy Pressler, Limke, was from Northboro, Massachusetts. She had responded to one of Harry's lonely heart's ads. Harry then went and brought Dorothy to Iowa to marry her and convinced her to take out $4,000 from her bank account.

Harry told her that he was going to send her belongings to Iowa from Massachusetts, Massachusetts to Iowa, where he claimed to be living at the time. So he's like, yeah, yeah, we're going to get the money out. We're going to send all your belongings back to Iowa. We'll go to Iowa, get married, and live our life.

However, he actually sent them to the address of Cornelius Peterson of Fairmount, West Virginia. Of course he did. Dorothy then disappeared. Of course he did.

So? But Holly, Torrington, Smythe is still here. Still here. Apparently.

Okay. And he's got the money. He's not for me now and her belongings and all this. Do we find out what happened to after its kids?

Yes. Okay. We're going to get there. Okay.

In August of 1931, the police begin to investigate disappearances of Astra, Eager, and her children. Because they're like, this is weird. Neighbors are like this is weird. They started by looking into Cornelius Lachary.

Yeah. When neighbors reported that he was cleaning out Astra's house. So, and I'm sure he was just like, yeah, I'm coming to get her stuff because she's now living with me back in wherever he said he was living at the time. Everybody's curious to say like, why wouldn't she come back to go through her stuff as opposed to her new husband who doesn't know what he's looking for?

Well, maybe she's keeping the kids and he's coming up here to do her solid. Thanks. So, they kind of have this idea that this guy is from West Virginia. You know, they know the town.

I think he had said, you know, that's where he lived before he got smart and said he lived in Iowa. The West Virginia police are being asked by, you know, the police that were investigating Astra's appearance. You know, hey, do you know this Cornelius guy? Like, who is he?

And they're like, we have no one by that name here. We don't know who that is. We don't know Cornelius. And they're like, well, here's the description.

And they're like, huh, that guy sounds like this guy Harry Powers. Why don't we check him out? So, they do. They go to the house where they found love letters that he had written.

They also found some love letters at Astra's house, which led them to a quiet del West Virginia, where a Pearson was living as Harry Powers, still with his wife, Luella. So, everybody's there. West Virginia, Illinois, we're all there. Police.

Harry gets arrested as his house is searched. Check the barn. Yeah. So, they go look at this garage.

Well, this is weird. Why does he have this garage? Why does he have the underneath? Yeah.

Why is this a thing? While there, police found four rooms under the garage. Of course. So, we go down there and we search in the rooms.

In the rooms they found, bloody clothing, hair, a burned bank book, and a small bloody footprint of a child. So, not great. People in the town then began to arrive to watch the investigation, I guess, in whatever year it says the 1930s, there wasn't a whole lot to do. So, if there was a police investigation, everybody just piled up and decided we're going to go staying on the front lawn and watch.

Okay. We have times really changed that. Yeah. We still do that.

We still do the travel doors. Or, you know, exactly what pops across our phone, you know, the updates. Right. But, no, I mean, we still do this.

Yes. And there was a lot going on in the 30s. People were in a great depression, so they needed all the... You know, the distraction.

Exactly. They're like a murder, you say. Oh, the weird four bedroom situation underneath a garage. Hey, are you say a child's bloody footprint?

Yikes. Um, while, you know, everybody's arrived on this front lawn, the yard, turns in the yard. They're somewhere. They're on a larn.

They're on a larn. They're on a frat. Larn. Larn.

I was always hanging out, watching some investigation. A 15-year-old told the sheriff that he had recently held Terry dig a ditch on the property. No, it's not good. Why Harry got this 15-year-old?

Because 15-year-olds are really bad at keeping secrets? Yeah. I don't know. But he got the 15-year-old, tub and dig the ditch.

And then the 15-year-old's like, yo, I held this guy and build a ditch. That might be something you want to look at. The sheriff's like, absolutely, let's do that right now. So they go to the ditch, which had been filled in.

And they re-digged up the ditch. And the ditch. They found the bodies of Astra Eacher, her three children, and Dorothy Limke. He just threw them all in there.

The sheriff's in the ditch. I wonder if he kept them each in separate rooms and killed them individually. I told them not to leave. Like, there were four rooms.

Did they autopsy and find out what caused a death? They sure did. Yes, let's get into that. All right, autopsy results showed that Astra and her two daughters Greta and Annabelle, they had all been strangled to death.

Astra's son Harry had had his head beaten in with a hammer. It's just really awful. Dorothy had also been strangled. And the belt that he used to strangle her with was still wrapped around her neck.

So he just threw her in there, built it all. That he was strangled. It's a real sick bastard. Yeah, it's real bad.

All right, they found love letters in the trunk of Harry's car. He had written to several more women with the intent of stealing their money and killing them. How they got all that out of a letter I'll never know. But I'm assuming that that's, you know, that's fair to say.

After his arrest, Harry was photographed with two black eyes. They were allegedly from falling down a staircase here in Washington. Falling down the stairs. I just got two black eyes.

We fell down the stairs during questioning. I don't know about, you know, police procedure in the 1930s. But I don't think, like, while I'm imagining we're questioning assessments, I'm thinking we're in like a little room. Maybe there's like a two-way mirror.

There's the table, metal table with the metal chairs. I'm not feeling like a staircase is usually involved. Yeah, I think that what happened is we're going to get you to confess and we're going to use whatever force we need to. And if we have to blacken your eyes, little buddy, we're going to do it.

Or you killed three children. I don't care what you're confessing. I'm punching you in the face. Yeah.

Kind of thing. So that happens, which, you know, is not great, but I'm also like not that mad about it. No. But I like how he's like faking it.

Like, I don't know. I fell down the stairs. Like a battered white, like, why is he protecting them? I don't, I don't think he said that.

Oh, oh, to cover. When he was photographed with the black eyes, why does he have black eyes? I'm like, oh, he fell down the stairs. Gotcha.

Gotcha. Yeah. So I think that's kind of where we were going with that. Okay, sorry.

Yeah, because if you look at pictures of him, you can see like very clearly he's got like swollen up. I'm going to look that up now. Yeah, I can go that. It's pretty intense.

On September 20th, 1931, a lynch mob. Oh, okay. It's important to take Harry from the jail. So they were like not having either.

They were all about the throwing him downstairs and they said, let's do one further and we're going to go and get him, which is terrifying. Yeah. The mob had to be dispersed with fire hoses and tear gas. Geez, which is kind of, you know, crazy.

Harry was then moved and taken to one of our favorite places, West Virginia State Penitentiary. Yeah. In Moundsville, West Virginia. So you spent some time there, hung out while they, you know.

Started getting ready for this trial. Speaking of his trial, it lasted five days and it had to be held at a local opera house due to the large number of spectators in attendance. So instead of the local courthouse where they were like, you know, cabin the spectators, they said, you know what, let's just move the Saturday Opera House. We want to get as many people in as possible.

Maybe sell tickets. Oh, yeah. Charge. Yeah.

Which I kind of wonder like, I mean, obviously nothing about this is super ethical. No. Like, I wonder how they set that up. Did they have to like, because you know, like in the courtroom, you have your witness box and you're where the jurors sit and all that.

Did they like to put that on the stage? I don't know. Maybe. You know how they have like a pit where the orchestra isn't everything, you know, all of a sudden, like there's an opera going that night.

So, what? What? The court is going on. It's not quite just happening right now.

Not tonight, not now. Oh, okay. All right, everybody, come back. Take five.

Come back in. Come back in. Oh, you want to watch a murder trial? Sure.

Yeah. I googled and creepy. Yes. He got beaten up right now.

Yeah, he started. Yeah. So several witnesses testified to the evidence that was found in the home. Witnesses also testified that they had seen Harry with the victims and that, you know, he had picked up their luggage or sent a luggage or whatever.

So, the people had seen him with these people. Harry also testified in his own defense. Not really sure what his defense was, but he didn't testify. On October 12th of 1921, 1931, Harry Powers was sentenced to death.

He was hanged on March 18th of 1932. According to a newspaper article, this kind of interesting quote just really shows the, you know, the vibe that was going on in the town. Moundsville had taken on a holiday festival appearance in preparation for the execution of the man who's crying and started the world. Outside the prison, the crowd gathered along the curves.

Automobiles were lined up for blocks. Mm. I don't like it. No, I mean, I think it's one thing to attend the trial, but it is another thing for a hanging.

But that was so commonplace that people, I mean, even years prior to this, people would come and watch an execution. Was it that common in the 30s? I think it was still common. I mean, even, you know, even locally though, you know, in our area, I think 1932 was the last hanging and everybody in town came to it.

I mean, it was just, it was what you did. Yeah. I mean, it seems barbaric to come to you, you know, nowadays when we think about it, but even as much as the 30s, they were still doing it. Right.

Well, I mean, and, you know, blackouts were lynched and everything else up until the, you know, 60s and, you know, 60s. Yeah, even in the 60s. 60s and the 60s. Well, I mean, that's, you know, and something to note here is that, you know, the crime happened in July of 19 crimes happened in July of 1931 and he was executed in March of 32.

So we're talking months like, yeah, this is a fast for eight months, eight months after his crime, he was like, yep, guilty, you know, hang on, yeah, yeah, and nowadays it's like people sit on, well, in states that still have the death penalty. I said on death roof or like the average is 12 years. Yeah. Something like that.

Like that's the average. What do I happen to his wife? Yeah, I talk now. I'm sorry.

I'm sorry when they went to talk to her. Was she like, I'm sorry. He said, what? What did she say?

What? He did what? He did, huh? What?

What? What? Rooms. Yeah.

I've been shocking. Yeah. I'm sure. I mean, like, and she's just trying to live her life and run the Scurgery Store and farm and well, and then even like, you know, after his conviction and death, how do you live in the community because you're the woman whose husband was a horrible monster, you know, do people feel sympathy for her or do they try and, you know, shun her out of town?

I would hope sympathy. I would hope so, but I don't know. I don't know. I mean, people who come, you know, in droves to watch a trial and an execution probably aren't as kind to the wife.

They're probably like, oh, she knew or I don't know. Yeah. I'm sure. So, while only five victims were found and identified, some believe that there were many more.

I bet you. Police estimated that before his death in 1931, Harry could have killed up to 50 other victims. Wow, which is kind of crazy. Yeah.

I don't think that he killed that many people. I think just due to the fact that he was bearing the bodies on his property, like, they weren't super well hidden or disposed of. I think if he had been doing this, I was getting away with it for so long. Well, and there's even a quote here I found that says, according to him, he says, you got me on five.

He reminded his jailers what good would 50 more do. Yeah. Okay. But that also leads you to believe that there are plenty more out there.

There are, which was, but was that also a could that have been employed to, like, hey, maybe don't kill me? Could be. You mean me alive because I've got more info. Seems like they didn't care.

Right. They're like, you know what? Bye. You know, we've got a plea bargain or something on.

Yeah. You know, like, okay, we'll take it off the table if he shows the body. Right. Right.

The bodies. And that's, you know, that's the... I'm only right, scalar. You know, they also refer to him as, I was looking at it.

The mail order Bluebeard. Yeah. And he was actually, he may be considered one of West Virginia's, if not the first one of the first serial killers in West Virginia. Look at the picture of him, you guys.

He's a creepo. He's a creepo. Yeah, he's kind of the worst. He's kind of the worst.

He's kind of the worst. So that's my story this week. Wow. That is a really neat story.

I think I've never heard of that. You find cool ones. This one just kind of came up. It's been, uh, it was interesting.

Don't you like when the ones just come to you, you know, without having to really, just, like, this is it? This is interesting. This is it? All right.

So, for those of you who want to tell us more, give us your feedback, please feel free to do so. You can reach out to us via email at mountainmysteries.abolatchin and gmail.com. You can find us on Facebook at Mountain Mysteries, Tales from Appalachia. Also, check us out on Instagram at mountainmysteries.abolatchin.com.

And last but not least, for a good time, check us out on patreon.com. . Hailey, got a shout out? Sure.

Let's do Rosedale, Virginia. All right. Rosedale, Virginia. So, lovely.

Hailey, be careful who you marry. I know you've got that farm and property and your Lonely Hearts Club. Be careful of what ads I respond to. You know, as I scour the newspaper, looking for a man, I'll make sure I avoid anybody named Courtney, like serial killers, I guess.

I don't know. And then scour the newspaper. Okay, we get the newspaper anymore. It's like, does anybody get the newspaper except, like, if you get it on your phone or something, but, you know, I was looking through the newspaper and I found your ads.

Classified, yeah, into... I think I might still get the paper. I'm like, I can work, but I think it comes to my house. Look at the ads, though.

It says something like, into S&M and light, you know, smacking, I don't know. She says what her ad says. She's like, no one has responded yet. I have waited till Cornelius and I have not heard anything.

Oh my god. Not mean that's your thing, then. The good news is they don't want you for your money because you don't have any. That's also true.

So, you know, we know that's not the reason. I mean, they're not killing me for my money. No. No.

Maybe they're killing you softly with their song. Killing me softly with his song. I don't know. I don't know.

I would love to see what your ad would be like. Love walks in the woods at midnight. No. It doesn't love that.

It doesn't love that. It doesn't love that. It loves not leaving its house. It loves blankets.

It's blankets and candles. Oh, that's romantic. Yeah. Sentive candles, you know, I live with a dog, so, you know, she's smelly sometimes.

You have just totally marred the whole. You change the romantic vibe all the time, because now you got a stinky dog in it. I was stinky dog. I come home from work and I immediately change into the most disgusting pair of sweat fans and sweat shirt I can find.

The bra immediately comes off, not in a sexy way. And I use so I can put on at least three day old sweat shirt. And then it's a kind of pile up on my couch and watch whatever true crime documentary I can find. So, that's your thing.

Hit me up. Wow. I'm a real catch. So romantic.

Yeah. I can't cook. I can cook. Really bad at cooking.

Not great at cleaning. Do love to do laundry though. Interesting. I could use you.

Yeah. I do love laundry. Hate dishes. Not loving dusting.

Does anybody really love dusting? I don't think so. I don't think so. Nobody loves dust.

Dusting is one of those things that I just put off, but I love other sorts of cleaning. You know, I know. I know. You do like to clean.

I do not. I'm a clean resident. How's my bad at? I don't know.

This is not just a tack, Haley. I do have good personal hygiene. I do have a solid cell. I do shower regularly.

I may not always look like it or my three day old sweatpants may not always smell like it. I do have a bed regularly and brush my teeth. Don't shake regularly. This is getting better and better.

It's just really somebody is really gonna. Are you paying by the word or the letter here? This is how I'm feeling like this is getting super expensive. I'm gonna have the emails rolling in.

The good news is this is at the end and I'll be getting it. Oh, everybody already turned the clock. Yeah. It's you two fans.

You're still here. That's what you get. Yeah. Yeah.

Do know that we record this podcast usually in our sweat clothes. Oh, yeah. I'm in this one shirt that has at least three stains on it currently. I'm wearing an old shirt from work and sweatpants.

I got some leggings. I do have cat hair on them. I somehow put one shoe back on and I have one shoe off. I have slippers on and I've got a blanket.

Oh, that's so creepy. Oh, what are they wearing? Well, there you go. This is what we're wearing.

So, yeah. We just kind of keep that 65 going. I did brush my hair once today. Glad you did.

I got stuck in the rain. So anyway, well, this was a delightful story. Not really, but you know what I'm saying. So catch us next week when we have some more delight coming your way.

We'll see you next week. Bye. Bye.