Some might have qualms about spending a night at a haunted house, where a family and their friends were murdered 100 years ago; but not Eric Whitney of Falcon, Colo. When he won an overnight stay at the Villisca Ax Murder House in Villisca, Iowa, he jumped at the chance.On June 9, 1912, Josiah Moore, his wife, Sarah; their four children ñ Herman, Katherine, Boyd and Paul; and Katherineís friends, Ina May and Lena Stillinger, were all bludgeoned to death with an ax in the middle of the night, according to the official Web site at http://villiscaiowa.com.The victims were found June 10 after a neighbor, Mary Peckham, noticed something amiss at the house. She called Mooreís brother Ross, who used his spare key to enter the house.He called the sheriff, and chaos ensued in the town. People came to the site of the murders in great numbers, destroying much of the evidence. Numerous suspects were rounded up, but none were indicted, and the case remains unsolved.In 1994, Darwin and Martha Linn purchased the house and returned it to its original condition from 1912. The Linns had the house placed on the National Registrar of Historic Places and began offering tours. The house is said to be a site for paranormal activity, attracting paranormal researchers from across the country.To recognize the 100th anniversary of the brutal murders, the haunted house sponsored a drawing for an overnight stay, which usually costs a minimum of $400 for up to six people.Whitney, who said he used to live in a haunted house, entered the drawing when he and his business partner, Kirlyn Fouts, visited Foutsí son in August 2011. ìHe (Fouts’ son) had mentioned there was this house where this horrible murder had happened,î Whitney said. ìThere’s a museum there that goes along with the house, and while we were there we decided to sign up for the overnight stay for the 100th anniversary. They had been collecting tickets for it for three years.îThe drawing took place Jan. 1. On Jan. 6, Whitney got the call that he had won. ìIt was cool that I only went there once and I was chosen,î he said.Initially, Whitney said he was supposed to meet a film crew to document any paranormal activity, but the crew never showed so one of the neighbors, John Houser, stayed with him at the house.The overnight stay kicked off with a tour of the house, which started at 5 p.m. ìWhile we were doing the tour, I sat down in the parlor,î he said. ìThey (the Linns) keep these balls on the floor because they said the kids’ spirits like to play with them. I decided to test that theory. I sat down and rolled the ball straight out about 3 feet, and it rolled straight back to me. The house is all original wood floors and they’re uneven. There’s no way the ball could’ve rolled back over the bumps and cracks. I did it again and the ball did the same thing. I think I had some kind of connection with the kids’ spirits there.îWhitney said that while the night he spent in the house was generally quiet, he captured some unusual things on a digital recorder. ìWe would take the recorder and we would ask a question, pause and wait for a response, then ask some more questions,î he said. ìThen, we would listen to the playback. We’ve got what sounds like little girls screaming, or maybe playing. We’ve got definite words like ìyesísî that absolutely made sense with what we asked.îIn addition to the digital recorder, Whitney said he used a device that measures magnetic energy. Negative energy turned the lights on the device red and positive energy turned the lights green, he said. ìInitially, we walked through the whole house, and the lights stayed green,î Whitney said. ìAt around 9:45 p.m., we noticed the thing turned to red. I put it on the Bible and it turned green; and, when I picked it up, it went red again and stayed red.îAccording to the Web site, the Moore family and the Stillinger girls returned from a church function about 9:45 p.m. It is speculated the killer was inside the house awaiting them.ìAbout 1:30 a.m. June 10, we noticed the magnetic device turned back to green,î Whitney said. ìWe’re thinking that the murderer was there from about 9:45 p.m. until about 1:30 a.m., then left early in the morning.ìI thoroughly felt and thought through this whole experience that Mr. Moore’s ex-business partner, Frank Jones, hired somebody to kill them,î Whitney said.Moore was employed by Jones at the Jones Store for many years until they parted ways. Moore opened his own implement store and took with him the lucrative John Deere contract. It was also rumored that Moore had an affair with Jonesí wife. Jones was one of the suspects never convicted.Whitney, owner of A+ Tobacco in Falcon, said he would definitely like another chance to visit the Villisca Ax Murder House and possibly stay the night ñ but not alone.
