America's First Serial Killer

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America's First Serial Killer
For a servant girl working in Austin, Texas, the Christmas Season was a time of pleasure in a life of so few. Mollie Smith, 25, worked in the home of her White employers and lived with a male companion in a small house behind the employer’s home. Christmas had passed and it was New Year’s Eve, the last day of 1884 and the last day in the life of Mollie Smith!
Mollie was found the next day, in the snow, near the outhouse behind 901 Pecan Street, which today is 6th Street, the center of Austin’s music scene. She had been raped and her face was badly disfigured by a beating. An implement of some sort, possibly an axe, had been brutally driven through her skull!
Almost immediately the Austin Police Department began to question suspects. Questioning in those days sometimes involved a certain amount of physical abuse, in an effort to find the truth. As a result of the questioning, many people were arrested for the crime, but the evidence was always insufficient to achieve a conviction for Mollie’s death.
On May 6, 1885, Eliza Shelly would become the second known victim. Eliza was a cook for Dr. L.B. Johnson. Eliza was found with her night dress arranged in a manner that suggested she had been raped after her death. Her body was found at the corner of San Jacinto and Cypress Streets.
Three weeks after Eliza Shelly was murdered, Irene Cross was brutally murdered with a knife. According to an eyewitness who spoke to Irene shortly before her death, she looked as if she’d been scalped.
In August of 1885, Rebecca Ramey was knocked unconscious while she slept in her bed. Her eleven year old daughter, Mary, became the next victim. She was dragged into a wash house and stabbed through the ear with what was believed to have been an iron rod. She was raped by the assailant.
With the hideous murder of little eleven year old Mary Ramey, the citizens of Austin became quite vocal in their protest to the police department.
In the pre-dawn hours of September 27, 1885, Mr. W.B. Dunham was awakened by a noise coming from the servants’ quarters, located behind his home on Guadalupe Street. It sounded like glass breaking, then a woman screaming. Mr. Dunham armed himself and opened the door to see a woman, Lucinda Boddy, fighting with a man in the dark at his gate. He immediately lowered the gun at them and told them to stop making all the noise. The woman ran toward Mr. Dunham, explaining that everybody in the cabin was dead and the man she was fighting with was the killer! The accused man quickly ran toward a big thicket located near the Dunham home. Mr. Dunham awoke several neighbors to assist in pursuing the man, but he got away. Lucinda lived with a man named Orange Washington, his wife, Gracie Vance and a woman named Patsie Gibson.
All evidence indicated that the murderer entered the building through an open window. Before anyone awoke, he struck each of them violently with an axe. He grabbed Gracie Vance and pulled her across a vacant lot to a stable. There were indications in the stable that Gracie awoke and in spite of her severe injury put up a great struggle with him. Unfortunately, the murderer battered her head with a brick that was covered with blood and was found at the scene. While she lingered between life and death, the criminal raped her. Nearby, a saddled horse was found, tied to a tree.
While Gracie was being killed, Lucinda Boddy had regained enough strength to light a lamp in the building. The assailant saw the lamp and returned immediately to the building. Upon seeing him, Lucinda screamed and then fled. The man crashed through a window to put out the light, then started chasing Lucinda. This was the noise that awoke Mr. Dunham. Gracie Vance was found dead in the stable. Orange Washington died the next morning.
Famed short story writer and Austin resident, O Henry (author of Ransom of Red Chief) was credited with giving the killer his name, The Servant Girl Annihilator. All the victims had been Black women, who worked as servants. This one characteristic gave a sense of security to the White community, feeling that their women were safe. But, that security was about to be shattered.
On Christmas Eve, Sue Hancock, a White lady was found by her husband lying in the backyard. Her head had been split open, apparently with an axe and a metal rod driven through her ear into her brain, just as had been done to Mary Ramey. This occurred at a location that is today near 98 San Jacinto Boulevard along Town Lake. The Four Seasons Hotel occupies the property in modern times.
The body of Eula Phillips was found about an hour later in the wealthiest neighborhood in Austin. It was in an unlit alley behind her father-in-law’s home, where she, her husband and son lived. Her skull had been split by an axe and heavy timbers were placed on her arms, apparently to minimize resistance during the attack. Her husband, James Phillips was found lying in their bed, nearly unconscious with a severe split in the back of his head. Their son was next to him, unharmed. James was found first, then following the trail of blood, Eula was discovered. She had also been raped.
As a safety measure, the city had moonlight towers installed in the downtown area to brighten the streets.
After almost a year of mayhem in Austin, the murders came to an end. It is not known who was responsible for them or what compelled them to stop. The killer was never caught.
The Servant Girl Annihilator was the first documented serial killer in the US, possibly the world.
Three years later, the world would begin to hear horror stories of a killer dubbed Jack the Ripper in London. Many believed the Servant Girl Annihilator and Jack the Ripper were the same person.
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© Copyright 2007 Wilson Jay