(Mobile Users:. Joe Caruso took my wife. He said they taunted him and said they'd decided to set up 'shop,' which he took to mean prostituting themselves. From a New Orleans prison cell, Henry smoked, attempted to paint, and received curious visitors. Inside, investigators found a blood-soaked mattress in a bedroom, a bathroom cabinet dripping with blood, and among the scattered clothing littering the floor, they found a pair of severed fingers. The murder of 21-year-old actress Gay Gibson on a luxurious cruise ship is one of England's most notorious crimes. Mardi Gras partiers shared whether they feel safe in New Orleans after the city was labeled a murder capital after recording the second-most homicides per capita among major U.S. cities. Except when you actually dig in, you discover that, yeah, she did go to a party after the murder, true, and that's obviously not a great thing. (By Daniel S. Leyer; courtesy of the Vieux Carr Survey). Authorities recovered a gold wedding band buried in a deep gash in Theresas back. Henry began his sentence at Louisiana State Penitentiaryon July 6, 1928. He was sentenced to five years at Folsom Prison for attempted murder and assault with a deadly weapon. Joseph told police he moved out after catching Leonide with another man. One that stands out is "He smoked cigars as he related it, a far off smile in his eyes, looking as little like a murderer as your child that plays with his toys on the kitchen floor; looking, indeed, very much like a child himself, for as he continued to talk, the innocences, the little traits that only a child has, began to show forth, became more and more marked." The appearance of the head of the wife of the defendant . Made with Squarespace. The lady fingers were discovered to have belonged to Theresa Moity, whose missing wedding ring was later retrieved from a gaping wound in her back. The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user. Already jealous and seeing suitors around every corner, he flew into a rage, but vowed to forgive her if she would just be a "good" wife. thump! The sausage ghost legend also takes place on Ursulines Avenue. Responding officers uncovered the full horror of the murder scene: two small traveling trunks packed with the expertly butchered corpses of two young women. He was their landlord and owner of a store on the first floor of the building. The money, the booze, and the passions flowed freely. As reporters and police took stock of the grisly tableau, there was one thing notably missing: Henry Moity. That was the beginning of the end for old Hans. The newspapers focused most of their attention on the victims husbands, whodwelled mainly on the womens alleged infidelities and careless parenting. NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) - A jury in Orleans Parish Criminal Court listened to the chilling 911 tape of a woman just moments before she was brutally murdered in New Orleans East. There was no place like New Orleans in the Roaring 20s. Joseph also told the police that he was sure that it was his brother Henry who committed the murders. The New Orleans Murder Block. Lonie, 28, and Theresa, 25 were sisters from New Iberia. Unable to lay low, Henry once again attacked another young woman. The factory and store were on the first floor, with the living quarters on the second level. Seller of Travel Ref. For their part, Henry and Joseph were odd-jobs men, described by sources as shiftless and perpetually short on the funds needed to support their families. "Shameless!". we took the true crime tour in new orleans and our tour guide was awesome. This tour was great because he didnt focus on the same few stories you hear on yours - he really brought stories to life with his passion and deep background knowledge about NOLA. The property is shown in this 1960s photograph. Theresa and Leonide also worked, expressing frustration at having to manage their children while taking on sewing jobs to bring in necessary cash. Texarkana Moonlight Murders & The New Orleans Trunk Murders Morbid Episode 159 Looks at this! Refresh the page, check Medium. And on November 2, 1927, from behind bars awaiting trial, he is reported by the Times-Picayune to have threatened the man with whom he believed his wife had been unfaithful: If I ever get my hands on that Joe Caruso, Ill chop him up into little pieces, not big pieces like my wife, but little piecesmy God, Ill make him look like something thats been run through a sausage mill!. However, on March 26, 1948, Governor Jimmie Davis signed a pardon, freeing him again. The Trunk Murders and 'Sausage Ghost' of 1920s New Orleans A forgotten crime with all-too memorable details. New Orleans Trunk Murders. Meanwhile, the French Quarter had become increasingly home to working-class residents, thanks to decreasing property values and proximity to employment opportunities. around his boiler vat. (, A circa 1925 image shows the criminal court building at Tulane Avenue and Elk Place. She just relaxed and the blood rushed. Rushing into Leonides bedroom, he struck her as she tumbled from the bed where she had been sleeping. Theresa, however, put up a struggle before succumbing. Morgan Freeman would be terrified. Henry also admitted to the murders being premeditated. We just did the ghost tour with Jonathan, and he was wonderful! . The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network. 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. Severed fingers on the floor. The building at 715 Ursulines Street still stands today, in a block that has been the site of more than one gruesome crime. Learn history of a murder and see the spot where they made their plans. Then, Henry really went to work, beheading and cutting the women to pieces, stuffing them into the trunks they meant to leave with. In the mid 1800s, Hans Mueller immigrated to the United States from Germany with his wife. When she threatened to fire the younger woman, Mueller murdered his wife to keep his mistress. In speaking with the police he also said If I ever get my hands on that Joe Caruso, Ill chop him up into little pieces, not big pieces like my wife, but little pieces, he told police. But all was not well in an apartment near the French Quarter. He was a free man for 2 years before the police in California found out his true identity and returned him to the Louisiana prison system. From there he caught the Illinois Central Panama Limited en route to Chicago. Though the legacy of Henrys crime may persist in another local legend: the Sausage Ghost. Recounted in the 1945 Louisiana folklore collection, Gumbo Ya-Ya, the tale tells of a woman murdered by her butcher husband and turned intoyou guessed itsausages, to be sold to unsuspecting customers on Ursulines Avenue. Leonide is believed to have written the story before moving from New Iberia. You'll see where it all happened, understand the history behind it, and how the echoes of gruesome crimes still cry out. 2023 The Arena Media Brands, LLC and respective content providers on this website. EMAIL SIGN UP Dave did an amazing job. One night as she was sweeping up the floors he came behind her and strangled her to death. This story appears on THNOCs tour Danse Macabre: The Nightmare of History, which explores the darker side of New Orleans history. 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. By the 1920s the neighborhood, especially in the areas closer to Esplanade Avenue, was heavily populated by first- and second-generation Sicilians, who joined the racially and ethnically diversecommunity. HOURS "She's a good time girl!" Henry was tried separately for each murder and found guilty. She was beautiful. In his 1976 memoir, Healy described their discovery: We found red stains on the floor and saw a large trunk in a bedroom, partially open. (, The building at 715 Ursulines Street still stands today, in a block that has been the site of more than one gruesome crime. Eventually, Mueller began to have an affair with the woman which made his wife angry. CONTACT US INFAMOUS AMERICA | New Orleans Ep6 "The Trunk Murders" - YouTube INFAMOUS AMERICA presented by Black Barrel Media. New Orleans French Quarter, at the corner of Ursuline Avenue and Royal Street. I'd recommend this tour for anyone looking for a singular tour experience! Return Details: 1100 Royal St, New Orleans, LA 70116, USA. You can also read more true crime cases that take place in New Orleans by checking out my previous blog posts. The answer involves pseudoscience, politics, and a burglary at a windmill. David was the most incredible tour guide! 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. 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. The limited information about Theresa Moity and her sister-in-law, Leonide Moity, comes primarily from the testimonies of those involved in the investigation and the tabloid-style press coverage. George Provosty, then superintendent of prison camps in Louisiana, seemed unconcerned. Henry began his sentence at Louisiana State Penitentiary on July 6, 1928. But she was 21, abused by her husband, violently, repeatedly, and in public, including earlier the day of the murder. "We're taking . From the time the Moitys moved in, Theresa and Caruso were pretty thick, Henry claimed in his confession to the District Attorney. New Orleans Woman's Brother Accused of Murdering Her Crime New Orleans Woman Found Dead in Car Trunk Was Allegedly Murdered by Her Brother The brother of a missing New Orleans woman. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes. Be careful. Follow us on social media to add even more wonder to your day. Look at how kind he could be- how tender! Pictures of him with his sainted mother and father in jail, not to mention him cuddling his children. The dramatic surge of murders left the city with 265 murders in 2022,. Henry was already suspicious of Theresas infidelity, but her running away with someone pushed him too far. In june 2015, the first 48 made local headlines when attorneys for a new orleans murder suspect accused the show's producers of withholding footage they said could. Consider supporting our work by becoming a member for as little as $5 a month. Theresa and Leonides personal effects lay strewn among the gore: childrens clothing, unfinished sewing projects, the womens lace garments, silk stockings, and beauty creams. Our planet is pockmarked with the scars of these extraterrestrial visitors. The rent was always late, there wasn't enough food, and things were getting dire. Rumors started to spread, as no one had seen his wife in some days. 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. Described as a 'tenement,' 'squalid,' and 'nearly without furniture,' at around 1,000 square feet, it wasn't a comfortable life. Dr Marys Monkey How The Unsolved Murder Of A tor A Secret Laboratory In New Orleans And Cancer Causing Monkey Viruses Are Linked To Lee Harvey Assassination And Emerging Global Epidemics is available in our book collection an online access to it is set as public so you can download it instantly. The description given by Dr. George Roeling (the Orleans Parish Coroner at the time) confirmed the brutality of the scene. Youll find out in a moment how this tragedy got its grisly nickname, and how it inspired a famous New Orleans urban legend. But all was not well in an apartment near the French Quarter. No purchase necessary. She was supposed to be cleaning the home of the two Moity women and their husbands, Henry and Joseph Moity, but instead she stumbled into a horrible crime scene. (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. The Texarkana Moonlight Murders were a series of unsolved murders and other violent crimes in 1946. Thayon Samson was . It was the fall of 1927 when housekeeper Nettie Compass entered the apartment on 715 Ursulines Street near downtown New Orleans. When Nettie Compass entered the second-floor apartment at 715 Ursulines Street on October 27, 1927, she stopped dead in her tracks when her eyes fell on traces of blood right outside the residence. It was the fall of 1927 when housekeeper Nettie Compass entered the apartment on 715 Ursulines Street near downtown New Orleans. . Listen to the story of The New Orleans Murder Block. Call Us, Text Us, or Live Chat to speak with a Destination Specialist by Jackson Square Cat August 28, 2016 New Orleans' French Quarter, at the. He was caught when a customer bit into a sausage and found a golden wedding ring and to this day, there are rumors of a ghostly woman who haunts Ursulines Street seeking revenge. (Photo: 9 Incredible Meteorite Craters That Look Straight Out of 'Deep Impact', The Married Woman Who Kept Her Lover in the Attic, Sydneys Jazz Age Criminal Queens Ruled the Streets With Razors. On the way home from their outing, a local busybody made a casual comment to Theresa, implying that there were rumors she was going to run off with Caruso that night. The drink! The in-person tour is on hiatus, but THNOC's Visitor Services department produced a new series of videos based on the stories. Sausage Man/Hans Muller House New Orleans, LA (Wheres the Beef? indicated that it had been skillfully removed Before coming to New Orleans, Henry had worked as a butchers assistant in New Iberia. In 1957, he died of a stroke in Californias Folsom Prison, where he is buried. His early release turned out to be a terrible mistake that nearly cost another young woman her life. Joseph told police he had recently moved in with his sister after catching Leonide with another man. A gold bracelet still hung delicately from the wrist of an arm, now unburdened of its owner. Not so fast! knew enough not to try to cut through the bone, but to cut through the joint. Eventually identifying the man, the authorities returned him to Angola. Rife with grammatical errors, its thinly veiled autobiographical story cautioned young girls to be careful, for marriage is a life sentence. The rejection slip from her submission to a popular confessions magazine lay in a pool of her own blood. ). You lived on the second floor," I wanted to scream. If you are Playing the Game, the answer is elementary. The two murders were tried separately by different judges. Lonie and Theresa were not shy about how disappointed they were in their marriages. I would recommend this True Murder tour to ANY crime doc fanatic (as I am), especially with Jonathan. On March 26, 1948, Governor Jimmie Davis signed the pardon. After Joseph left the apartment both sisters brought men to the apartment when Henry was out. Like Atlas Obscura and get our latest and greatest stories in your Facebook feed. A pair of gruesome murders in the French Quarter, remembered as the New Orleans Trunk Murders, was one of the most violent crimes in 1920s New Orleans. Limbs eternally akimbo and packed into their respective trunks, they would dance the Charleston no more. A butcher by trade, Mueller established a sausage factory at 725 Ursaline Avenue. On the afternoon of Thursday, October 27, 1927, Nettie Compass entered the second-floor apartment at 715 Ursulines Street to do some cleaning. Panicked, Nettie ran out of the apartment, screaming, prompting two men in the street to join her while another ran for the police. Ill make him look like something thats been run through a sausage mill. In an alcohol-induced rage, he killed his wife Theresa for a suspected affair, her neglect of motherly duties, and her plans to leave him and their children. Nettie testified that she remembered Henry pulling her aside and whispering not to be scared if Nettie and her family heard the children crying in the early morning. In reality, the French Quarter was still a principally working-class neighborhood, much as it had been since the late 19th century. In 1927, Theresa and Leonide shared a crowded existence with their husbandsbrothers Henry and Josephand Theresa and Henrys three small children in the second-floor rooms of 715 Ursulines Avenue. Anyone with more information may call the homicide unit at (504) 658-5300 or Crimestoppers of Greater New Orleans Inc. anonymously at (504) 822-1111. The property is shown in this 1960s photograph. He tells a story reallllly well and it wasnt boring at all! Despite their poverty, the author writes of living happily with her husband and their young children in her small hometown. However, a butcher at a New Iberia sausage factory told the reporter that the Moity brother who worked for him was named Joseph. Lonie had even written a book. He isolated her from her friends and familyall classic signs of abuse we recognize today. Police were on the look for Henry and found that he had taken the children to a family members house and had gone to a boarding house. They had even been seen in town walking together and holding hands. Henry died of a stroke in 1957 while serving his term at Folsom. When he returned home and found the women already asleep, trunks packed for the next day, he knew they truly meant to leave. A great experience and tour all around! Description It wasnt long before the families fell apart in the most dramatic way possible: a double homicide. Saturday Aug 27, 2022 Love Me Not: The New Orleans Trunk Murders (LIVE FROM TCPF) Likes Share At the end of the Roaring Twenties, New Orleans was rocked by one of the grizzliest murder scenes the city had ever seen. The ensuing manhunt led through swamps and shipboards before a bedraggled Henry was pulled from nearby Bayou Lafourche. Hawaiis Native-Language Newspaper Archive, 'Discovering' Mexico's Monarch Butterfly Migration, The Real Story Behind George Washington's Dentures, See the Mysterious Horned Helmet of Henry VIII. The infamous New Orleans trunk murders The Sausage Ghost Legend Lyle Saxon, renowned author and collector of Louisiana folklore, included a very short piece about Hans Muller in Gumbo YaYa, telling of how he and his (unnamed) wife ran a successful sausage business. Then he saw the bloody ghost of his wife, with her head crushed to a pulp, coming toward him. On a Thursday, October 27, 1927, Housekeeper Nettie Compass entered the second-floor apartment at 715 Ursulines Street in New Orleans and stepped into a pool of blood. Douglas J. Back in the 1800s, a young German couple, Mr. and Mrs. Hans Mueller, opened a sausage factory in New Orleans. State License Fla. His 1941 appeal for a pardon was rejected by the governor and in 1944, he briefly escaped from the Louisiana State Penitentiary. Discovery The victims of the "Trunk Murders" were discovered October 27, 1927, at 715 Ursulines Street. Stop At: Omni Royal Orleans, 621 St Louis St, New Orleans, LA 70130, USA, See where a murderer committed suicide and hear the story behind it, Stop At: Jackson Square, 615 Pere Antoine Alley, New Orleans, LA 70116-3234. Henry stayed up, stewing about his wifes infidelity until his mind boiled over into rage. Dolly Oesterreich, her "Bat Man," and one of the strangest sex scandals ever. The site of more than one gruesome crime was sure that it was the of! 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