On the evening of June 9th, 1912, Josiah and Sarah Moore walked their four children home from a Children's Day program at the Presbyterian church in Villisca, Iowa. Two young sisters, Lena and Ina Stillinger, had been invited to stay the night. By the next morning all eight of them had been murdered with an axe in their beds while the small southwestern Iowa town slept, in what became known as the Villisca axe murders. Josiah ran the local farm implement dealership and Sarah had organized the church program that evening; the Moore children were 11, 10, 7 and 5. There was no forced entry, nothing of value taken, and no one who heard a sound. In Part 1 of Murder: True Crime Stories, host Carter Roy introduces the Moore family and the town where they were among the best known names, the night eight people were killed behind unlocked doors, and the crime scene that curious neighbors walked through for more than a day before the bodies were removed. Please note, this episode contains descriptions of extreme violence and may not be suitable for all audiences.

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