The Axeman of New Orleans: The Jazz-Loving Serial Killer Who Terrorized a City
A City Gripped by Fear
In the sweltering summer of 1918, New Orleans was already a city of contrasts. Jazz poured out of the French Quarter, bringing joy to some while poverty and crime weighed heavy on others. It was during this time that an unseen terror began to stalk the streets — slipping silently into homes at night and leaving behind bloody, horrifying scenes.
For nearly two years, the people of New Orleans lived under the shadow of his axe, never knowing when he might strike next. Whispers grew that he was more than a killer — that something supernatural walked the streets at night, feeding on fear. It was a belief only strengthened by the strange letter that would later seal his place in legend.
The Victims
The Axeman’s first known attack occurred on May 22, 1918, when Joseph and Catherine Maggio, an Italian-American couple, were found in their home with their throats slit and their skulls crushed. A panel had been removed from their door, suggesting the killer had carefully planned his entry. Catherine died instantly, but Joseph lingered for a few minutes, unable to explain what had happened before succumbing to his wounds.
Over the next year, the Axeman continued to target victims, most often Italian grocers and their families.
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August 1918 – Anna Schneider, eight months pregnant, was attacked in her sleep. She survived despite severe injuries, and later gave birth to a healthy baby girl.
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August 1918 – Joseph Romano, an elderly grocer, was struck in the head with an axe. He managed to stagger into another room before collapsing. His nieces described the attacker as a tall, dark-skinned man in a slouched hat, though their account was never verified.
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March 1919 – The Cortimiglia family was attacked in their home. Charles Cortimiglia survived, but his wife Rosie and their two-year-old daughter Mary did not. Neighbors described a horrifying scene — blood, splintered wood, and the sound of Charles screaming for help in the night.
While these cases became the most infamous, they weren’t the only ones. Historians generally attribute around a dozen attacks in total to the Axeman between May 1918 and October 1919. Not all of his victims died — some survived their injuries, others may have been wrongly linked — but the pattern of door panels chiseled away, families attacked in their beds, and axes left behind was consistent enough that police and newspapers considered them the work of the same killer.
The exact number remains debated, but the string of at least 12 attacks is what cemented the Axeman as one of America’s most terrifying unsolved killers.
The Infamous Letter
The case might have remained simply one of unsolved murder sprees — terrifying, but not legendary — if not for the bizarre twist that came in March 1919.
The Times-Picayune received a letter, allegedly from the Axeman himself. Dated March 13, 1919, it was printed in full, and its contents shocked the city.
In it, the writer claimed to be no ordinary killer:
“I am not a human being, but a spirit and a demon from the hottest hell.”
He mocked the police, boasting that they would never catch him. And then came his chilling promise:
“At 12:15 (earthly time) on next Tuesday night, I am going to pass over New Orleans. In my infinite mercy, I am going to make a little proposition to you people. Here it is: I am very fond of jazz music, and I swear by all the devils in the nether regions that every person shall be spared in whose home a jazz band is in full swing at the time I have just mentioned. If everyone has a jazz band going, well, then so much the better for you people. One thing is certain, and that is that some of your people who do not jazz it out on that specific Tuesday night will get the axe.”
The Axeman had turned murder into a game.
A Night of Jazz
On the night of March 19, 1919, New Orleans came alive with music. Families gathered around phonographs, playing records as loudly as they could. Dance halls filled to overflowing, bands set up on street corners, and jazz echoed through the city until dawn.
The newspapers reported that every corner of New Orleans rang with music that night — and as promised, no one was killed.
The Axeman vanished shortly afterward, as suddenly as he had appeared.
Was He Ever Caught?
Despite multiple suspects, the Axeman’s identity was never confirmed.
Some believed he was linked to the Mafia, specifically targeting Italian grocers who had refused protection payments. Others thought he might be a deranged local man — perhaps someone with a grudge or a history of mental illness. Police arrested suspects, but none were convicted.
A popular theory is that he was a copycat of earlier “axe men” murders that had occurred in Louisiana and Texas in the years prior. A string of similar attacks had plagued the Gulf Coast, targeting families in their beds at night, and the New Orleans Axeman may have been inspired by those earlier crimes.
Survivors and Eyewitness Accounts
While many of the Axeman’s victims perished, several survived their encounters, offering chilling glimpses into his presence:
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Anna Schneider described waking up to a “shadowy figure” standing over her before the blows fell.
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The Romano nieces swore they saw the man flee — a tall figure in a hat and dark clothes — though in the panic their details conflicted.
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Charles Cortimiglia, though badly injured, remembered his wife’s last moments and never forgave himself for being unable to protect her and their child.
The fear was so great that some families began staying awake all night, armed and ready, terrified the Axeman would come for them next.
Folklore vs. Fact
Over time, the Axeman became larger than life. His supposed supernatural claims in the letter — calling himself a demon — blurred the line between fact and legend. Some New Orleanians began to believe he truly was not human, but something darker, feeding on blood and fear.
Musicians embraced the legend as well. The story inspired the jazz tune “The Mysterious Axeman’s Jazz (Don’t Scare Me Papa),” recorded in 1919. Decades later, his tale was retold in books, films, and even American Horror Story: Coven, where he appeared as a vengeful spirit tied to the city.
Similar Legends
The Axeman of New Orleans was not the first — and certainly not the last — mysterious killer to enter folklore. Across the world, unsolved cases with bizarre details have taken on lives of their own, becoming part of urban legend just as the Axeman did.
Jack the Ripper (London, 1888)
Perhaps the most infamous unsolved murderer of all time, Jack the Ripper stalked London’s Whitechapel district in the late 1800s. Like the Axeman, he taunted police with letters, some signed “From Hell.” His victims were women, often sex workers, and his crimes shocked Victorian society with their brutality. The similarities are striking: both killers thrived on fear, both mocked the authorities, and both disappeared without ever being caught. Theories abound, but Jack’s identity — like the Axeman’s — remains a mystery.
The Servant Girl Annihilator (Austin, Texas, 1884–1885)
Decades before the Axeman, Austin, Texas, was terrorized by a shadowy figure the newspapers dubbed the Servant Girl Annihilator. He crept into homes at night and attacked women, sometimes dragging them into yards before killing them with an axe or sharp object. The city lived in fear, and like the Axeman’s case, suspects were arrested but never convicted. Some historians even speculate that the Annihilator moved on — and could have later become Jack the Ripper. The idea of a traveling killer, shifting identities and striking in different cities, mirrors the theories about the Axeman possibly being part of a wider pattern of axe murders across the South.
The Cleveland Torso Murderer (Ohio, 1930s)
In the 1930s, Cleveland faced its own reign of terror with a killer known as the Torso Murderer. His victims were dismembered and scattered across the city, often left in public places. While his methods were different from the Axeman’s, the climate of fear was the same. Both killers left behind no clear motive, no solid evidence, and no confirmed identity. To this day, Cleveland locals whisper about the Torso Murderer the same way New Orleanians whisper about the Axeman.
Why the Legend Endures
The Axeman’s reign of terror lasted less than two years, but his story has never faded. He has become a permanent part of New Orleans folklore — a ghost who walks the French Quarter on jazz-filled nights, a demon who feeds on fear, or simply a man who hid behind myth to magnify his terror.
Today, ghost tours still whisper his story, and jazz musicians nod to the strange night when music was said to save a city.
Like all the best urban legends, the Axeman lives in the space between truth and myth — where history ends, and the story keeps going.
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