The 19th century serial killer that targeted sicilian immigrants in new orleans

THE 19TH CENTURY SERIAL KILLER THAT TARGETED SICILIAN IMMIGRANTS IN NEW ORLEANS In New Orleans, between 1918 and 1919, a serial killer would break into homes of Italian groceries, attacking

them and their families while they were sleeping. The grocers often lived in apartments connected to the corner groceries. The killer became known as The Axeman. The Axeman would chisel out

a panel of the door to get inside; then, he would use a weapon, an ax or razor, owned by the victims. He would leave the weapons at the scene. During the first attack, after slitting the

throats of the couple and smashing their heads with the victims’ ax, he changed his clothes, leaving behind his bloody apparel in the home. There were 12 attacks. Six people, women, men, and

children, were killed, and six were severely injured but survived. A letter was sent to the local newspaper saying it was from the Axeman. > Hell, March 13, 1919 >  > Esteemed 

Mortal: >  > They have never caught me and they never will. They have never seen > me, for I am invisible, even as the ether that surrounds your earth. > I am not a human being, 

but a spirit and a demon from the hottest > hell. I am what you Orleanians and your foolish police call the > Axeman. >  > When I see fit, I shall come and claim other victims. I

 alone know > whom they shall be. I shall leave no clue except my bloody axe, > besmeared with blood and brains of he whom I have sent below to keep > me company. >  > If you 

wish you may tell the police to be careful not to rile me. Of > course, I am a reasonable spirit. I take no offense at the way they > have conducted their investigations in the past. 

In fact, they have > been so utterly stupid as to not only amuse me, but His Satanic > Majesty, Francis Josef, etc. But tell them to beware. Let them not > try to discover what I 

am, for it were better that they were never > born than to incur the wrath of the Axeman. I don‘t think there is > any need of such a warning, for I feel sure the police will always

> dodge me, as they have in the past. They are wise and know how to > keep away from all harm. >  > Undoubtedly, you Orleanians think of me as a most horrible murderer, > 

which I am, but I could be much worse if I wanted to. If I wished, I > could pay a visit to your city every night. At will I could slay > thousands of your best citizens, for I am in 

close relationship with > the Angel of Death. >  > Now, to be exact, 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 on Tuesday night (if there be any) will > get the axe. >  > Well, as I am cold and crave the 

warmth of my native Tartarus, and > it is about time I leave your earthly home, I will cease my > discourse. Hoping that thou wilt publish this, that it may go well > with thee, I 

have been, am and will be the worst spirit that ever > existed either in fact or realm of fancy. >  > The Axeman The citizens of New Orleans did, in fact, play jazz. If they were

not able to do so from home, they went to the nearest venue. March 19th just happened to be St. Joseph’s Day. The Italian community honored St. Joseph on this day, a tradition that the

Italian immigrants brought over from Sicily. There was explicit discrimination against the Italian immigrant community during this time. We may never really know what the killer thought as

he was never captured. Some speculated the Axeman was part of the Mafia or The Black Hand. More than likely, it was just another stereotype placed on immigrants whom Anglo-Saxons felt was

threatening their way of life, taking their jobs, not speaking their language, and bringing their customs and cultures. VIGILANTE JUSTICE LYNCHED 11 SICILIAN IMMIGRANTS IN NEW ORLEANS NEW

ORLEANS’ RESIDENTS, POLITICIANS, AND OFFICIALS WERE ALL COMPLICIT medium.com ITALIAN IMMIGRANTS, LYNCHING, AND PREJUDICE THE NATIVISTS medium.com > “Though the Irish had once been the 

main targets of American > nativists, the story of American nativism is one in which the old > immigrants, once objects of hatred, easily become the persecutors of > the new.”_ 

(Serwer)_ One hundred years later, the United States still has people that think their white Anglo race is of a higher superiority. Unfortunately, some of those people have committed

atrocities just as horrendous as the Axeman. On August 3, 2019, a twenty-one-year-old white male named Patrick Crusius killed twenty-three people and injured many more at a Wal-Mart in El

Paso, Texas. The World Population Review states El Paso has the Western Hemisphere’s largest bilingual, binational workforce. The man had written a manifesto he published online twenty

minutes before the shooting. In the manifesto, he rants about a “Hispanic invasion,” “open borders,” and “free healthcare for illegals.” On June 17, 2015, Dylan Roof, a twenty-one-year-old

white male, killed nine African American people at Emanuel African Methodist Church. Before he started shooting, Roof told the participants of the Bible study that African Americans were

“taking over the country.” The United States has a history of nativism, targeting anyone seen as different. When this happens it can give sociopaths the fuel to commit their depraved crimes

against the group targeted. > The more things change the more they stay the same — Jean-Baptiste > Alphonse Karr SOURCES