On the afternoon of Thursday, October 27, 1927, Nettie Compass entered the second-floor apartment at 715 Ursulines Street to do some cleaning. The story goes that Hans Muller killed his wife, and, to hide his crime, made sausages out of her body and served them out of his butcher shop for weeksonly to be found out after a customer bit into a piece of Mrs. Mullers wedding ring. Blood-soaked mattresses where the victims had lain. Discovery The victims of the "Trunk Murders" were discovered October 27, 1927, at 715 Ursulines Street. In the summer of 1944, Louisiana State Penitentiary inmate number 18038, a trustee on a routine run to the Angola post office, flagged down a taxicab. This is our very first virtual live show from July 23, 2020 held at AS220 in Providence RI. George Provosty, then superintendent of prison camps in Louisiana, seemed unconcerned. You'll see where it all happened, understand the history behind it, and how the echoes of gruesome crimes still cry out. Throughout his trial and imprisonment, he insisted that he still loved his wife, even claiming to be married in the 1940 US Census, years after her death. The Historic New Orleans Collections Williams Research Center. Then, Henry really went to work, beheading and cutting the women to pieces, stuffing them into the trunks they meant to leave with. Resting on the torso was a bloodied cane knife, of the type used on sugar plantations. Since divorce was unheard of during this time, his only option of getting out of the marriage was to murder his wife. Join us today as we record LIVE from the True Crime Podcast Festival in Dallas, TX, with Briana taking us through the case and touching on some of the hot button topics of the time. Yet she concludes with an ominous warning, Now to you readers, young girls especially . It being a difficult trade, his wife had become a crone before her time, and Hans' eye was turned by a young girl. She was found guilty and died in prison in 1959, two years after Henry Moity had struck again. He started seeing his wife coming out of the sausage grinder, and after a customer reported to the police they'd found a bit of wedding ring in their dinner, Hans was carted off to an insane asylum to live out the rest of his life. Next, he attacked his sister-in-law, who he blamed in part for his wifes behavior. He also believed that Leonide had been a negative influence on his wife so he killed her as well. The man hired the driver to drop him one hundred miles away at the train station in Hammond, Louisiana. Made with Squarespace. Two days after the murders, Henry found the Gem, a small freight boat running through Bayou Lafourche, but the crew had seen the news, which was nationwide by then, and were suspicious. According to the nonpartisan watchdog Metropolitan Crime Commission, the city recorded 280 murders in New Orleans in 2022, the highest number of killings in a single year since 1996. Right: Later in life, Henry Moity made news again, when he was found in St. Louis after escaping prison. There was no place like New Orleans in the Roaring 20s. (By Daniel S. Leyer; courtesy of the Vieux Carr Survey). Alaina covers the Texarkana Moonlight Murders and goes over all the fine details with her 1940's magnifying glass! The manhunt for the other husband, Henry, began and he was found two days later while trying to make his getaway on a freight ship. The city recorded the most homicides per capita among major U.S. cities in September, but Jackson, Mississippi, unseated it as the murder capital by the end of the year. Follow us on social media to add even more wonder to your day. "She wears that FUR everywhere!" Listen to the story of The New Orleans Murder Block. According to some stories, Mueller hired a young woman, a much younger and very attractive woman, to assist his wife with the day-to-day duties of running the household. New Orleans Trunk Murders. However, on March 26, 1948, Governor Jimmie Davis signed a pardon, freeing him again. This mode adjusts the website for the convenience of users with visual impairments such as Degrading Eyesight, Tunnel Vision, Cataract, Glaucoma, and others. Henry told a tale of a Norwegian sailor who had made him watch while the sailor did the butchering of the woman, but the story quickly fell apart and Henry admitted to what he'd done. An enraged Henry began drinking, interrupting his bender to purchase the murder weapon. Meanwhile, the French Quarter had become increasingly home to working-class residents, thanks to decreasing property values and proximity to employment opportunities. 2023 Atlas Obscura. The parole board insisted, saying they should never have convicted him by reason of insanity.. Call Us, Text Us, or Live Chat to speak with a Destination Specialist Mikko was a great guide and answered some follow up questions I had and suggested some podcasts that referenced some of the stories he told. "Right now our mayor doesn't love New Orleans so the citizens and the residents stood up," Eileen Carter, vice chair of the No LaToya recall campaign, told Fox News. Two years later in 1946, Henry was stopped for suspicious behavior by police in St. Louis, Missouri. One night as she was sweeping up the floors he came behind her and strangled her to death. There's no way to really paraphrase this next bit, so: "One night, soon after, he heard a "thump! They had been drawn to the city by the call of promise and opportunity, but the move wasnt all it was cracked up to be. Like Atlas Obscura and get our latest and greatest stories in your Facebook feed. Had a great time with David. Henry had worked briefly as a butcher, and the Times-Picayune gleefully pointed out that the manner in which the two bodies of the women were mutilated and dismembered indicated a man familiar with this trade. Radio dispatches alerted departing steamer ships to be on the lookout for a stowaway passenger answering to Henrys description: tattooed and, according to the newspaper, singularly hairy., The room which shares a wall adjacent to crime scene. Although certainly dead by now, there is no record or obituary I could locate. (A bloodstained rejection slip was also found at the crime scene). Nettie testified she remembered Henry pulling her aside and whispering not to be scared if she heard the children crying in the early morning. Youll find out in a moment how this tragedy got its grisly nickname, and how it inspired a famous New Orleans urban legend. There was no place like New Orleans in the Roaring 20s. Joseph told police he had recently moved in with his sister after catching Leonide with another man. New Orleans recorded 266 homicides in 2022 a 116% increase from 2019, according to the New Orleans City Council crime database. This article talks about who she was before being remembered as just a murder victim. Leonides husband, Joseph, turned himself in that evening. Both couples and their young children lived in the small apartment. Our planet is pockmarked with the scars of these extraterrestrial visitors. Henry scooped up his kids, hailed a cab and dropped them with his sister without a word about what had happened. Morgan Freeman would be terrified. Between 1920 and 1945, only 1.3 percent of local killers slaughtered their victims with axes or machetes, and no other New Orleans killer hacked off his victims' heads and limbs. All rights reserved. NEW ORLEANS . His 1941 appeal for a pardon was rejected by the governor and in 1944, he briefly escaped from the Louisiana State Penitentiary. The two murders were tried separately by different judges. And then one night Theresa flashed a $5 bill (worth about $70 today) at her husband, telling him she knew how to make more money than he ever could, insinuating she was flirting with other men to gain their favor and money. Dave did an amazing job. In October 1927, in the French Quarter of New Orleans, Louisiana, housekeeper Nettie Compass walked into the apartment she was supposed to clean and found it covered in blood. This story appears on THNOCs tour Danse Macabre: The Nightmare of History, which explores the darker side of New Orleans history. After separating from her husband, Joseph, Leonide continued to live with Henry and Theresa, and Henry fretted over her influence on his wife. 715 Ursulines Avenue was the home of the Moity brothers, their wives, and children. When the Folsom Prison inmate died in 1957, word reached Louisiana. . They had even been seen in town walking together and holding hands. However, 20 years before the publication of his book, the infamous New Orleans trunk murders became a national sensation, and, as is so often the case, it was more compelling than the fiction it was spun into. . Two days later, Saturday, October 29, crew members from the freighter Gem delivered Henry Moity to the Lafourche Parish Sheriffs Office. Dave easily shared his knowledge and love of true crime with us. Why is Everyone Fighting Over the Skull of 'Brigand Villella'? Allows using the site with your screen-reader. She told her husband to leave so he had, taking the kids with him to his parents back in New Iberia (about 130 miles away). Upon the gruesome discovery of the two murdered women, New Orleans Superintendent of Police Thomas Healey set about locating the husbands. Henrys past employment as a butchers assistant was a key point in his two trials. The true story of Britain's notorious Chocolate Cream Killer. Henry said his wife, Theresa, threatened to leave him, invoking his vengeance over her infidelities and neglect of the children. MURDER SUSPECT SEIZED WITH HOSTAGE; Buried Body Discovered . Wonderful tour! Henry had previously been a butcher before landing in New Orleans, so the method and motive all lined up perfectly to convict in court. This was a very enjoyable tour for me. It is not often that we bring heavily covered cases to the podcast but even if you have heard this ca. Allegedly, a customer found a gold ring in the sausage and reported it to the police, who made a visit to Muellers sausage factory. Before the womens dispatch and disassembly, there were whispers of their familiarity with men other than their husbands. please think ahead of you and do not make the mistake Ive made, because it does not always turn out the right way, you can still be disappointed. In 1927 Henry and Theresa lived at 715 Ursulines with his brother Joseph and his wife Leonide, plus their combined five children. When she threatened to fire the younger woman, Mueller murdered his wife to keep his mistress. very informative and theatrical. When I pulled up the trunk lid, a womans body, arms, and legs severed from the torso, was exposed. Theresa's wedding ring was mashed into a gash in her back. Orleans Parish Coroner Dr. George Roeling determined that the killer had first bludgeoned the women with a lead billy club, before decapitating them with a machete and amputating their arms and legs. (Photo: Lauren George), On Wednesday October 26, things had come to a head in the Moity household when Theresa and Leonide revealed their plans to move out. But all was not well in an apartment near the French Quarter. He was the poor man who'd been driven to this. A natural story teller he portrayed his stories well. Her calls for help attracted the attention of two men nearby, who called the police. The perpetrator, dubbed, "The Axeman," busted down the doors of people's homes and, in some cases, slaughtered whole families with his axe. It was a smaller group than other tours we saw and very entertaining! Before coming to New Orleans, police believed, Henry had worked as a butchers assistant. Yet violent crime continued to soar across . The description given by Dr. George Roeling (the Orleans Parish Coroner at the time) confirmed the brutality of the scene. Im an introvert but willing to discuss history anytime. (, The victims of the Trunk Murders were discovered October 27, 1927, at 715 Ursulines Street. While the story of Henry Moity came to an end in 1957, the peculiar circumstances of the murder lives through the urban legend of the Sausage Ghost of Ursulines Street. Special thank you to our sponsors for this episode: Violet and Suds - Get 20% off your order using our code, WICKED20. 1100 Royal St, New Orleans, LA 70116, USA Open in Google Maps End of tour is near this location. This story is usually included in The Historic New Orleans Collections Danse Macabre: The Nightmare of History, a tour that explores the darker aspects of the city'shistory. Eventually identifying the man, the authorities returned him to Angola. It was the fall of 1927 when housekeeper Nettie Compass entered the apartment on 715 Ursulines Street near downtown New Orleans. The women and children went to bed. Return Details: 1100 Royal St, New Orleans, LA 70116, USA. Carjackings . 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