New Orleans' Serial Killers -- Making the Cut
People love New Orleans. They're simply dying to come here. They come for a slice of the action, to cut loose and have fun. Any way you slice it, when it comes to live music, nostalgic dishes, and festive fun, New Orleans is killing it. It's a town on the cutting edge.
However, New Orleans is no stranger to the occult and the macabre, with fortune tellers and even vampires roaming the streets. The Big Easy also brings in the slayers, slaughterers, and stranglers. The murderers and assassins, stabbers and shooters—not only those who get their fill from just one execution, but repeat offenders.
A serial killer is someone—most commonly, a white male—who murders two or more people at different times. Wiping out a whole bunch at once is a mass murder, not a serial killing.
Serial Killer Numbers
According to some statistics, there are at least 100 serial killers loose in the streets at any time in the U.S.—the country with the most serial killers in the world. And many of them find their way to Louisiana.
Louisiana ranks 13th on the list of states with the most total serial killer victims, with 344. And it has the third-highest number of victims per 100,000, with 7.33.
Here's a look at just a few of New Orleans' many dreadful serial killers.
Blood and All that Jazz: The Axeman of New Orleans
The Axeman went on his killing spree from May 23, 1918, until October 27, 1919, though he may have been responsible for murders as early as 1911. He would break into his victims' homes and attack the unsuspecting inhabitants with an axe or a straight razor—usually slashing their necks or smashing their heads in. He sliced open the throat of one poor soul, named Catherine Maggio, to the point that he nearly cut her head off.
This axe-wielding killer was believed to have had 12 victims, of which exactly half somehow survived his attacks. He apparently had an axe to grind with Italians, since most of his victims were of Italian descent.
New Orleans is the home of jazz, but the Axeman took his love of the music to a whole other level. He thought that jazz was simply a cut above, the best thing since sliced brains. On March 13, 1919, he allegedly sent a letter to the newspaper—with the return address of Hell. The letter stated that he was going to cut loose on another cutting rampage the following week, but for anyone who had jazz music playing in their home, he would cut them some slack and let them live. Jazz filled the city that night, and not a single person was murdered.
The Axeman was never identified, but the prime suspect was a man named Frank "Doc" Mumphrey, who used the pseudonym Leon Joseph Monfre.
Getting Away with Murder: The Storyville Slayer
Perhaps the best-known serial killer of all time, England's Jack the Ripper chose prostitutes as his victims. Whether the Storyville Slayer aimed to follow in Jack's footsteps, or he simply had it in for the ladies of the night, he was also a hooker hitman. Between 1991 and 1996, he killed primarily Black women who he believed were involved in drugs or prostitution.
The Slayer tended to choke or beat his victims to death, often drugging them and forcing them to drown in shallow water, where several of the bodies were discovered. Most of the victims were found face-down and naked in ditches, canals, ponds, or swamps on the Westbank, sometimes buried under garbage and debris.
The 24 horrific New Orleans murders at the hands of the infamous Storyville Slayer remain unsolved, and although at least two suspects were accused, no definite perpetrator was ever established. Most authorities believe that the Storyville slayings may have been the work of more than one man.
The evidence points to Victor Gant, a former NOPD officer, and Russell Ellwood, a taxi driver with a history of drug addiction. However, Gant was only ever found guilty of murdering two women, and Ellwood, despite confessing to multiple murders while in jail, was likewise only charged for the murder of two other women—though he is suspected of killing many more.
On August 13, 1997, a New Orleans man who called himself Clay called into the Howard Stern radio show, claiming to have murdered 12 prostitutes. Live on the air, he revealed some pretty telling details of the Storyville Slayer murders, yet his M.O. didn't fully match up with that of the killer. It was never proven whether he was a suspect or prankster, but either way, he clearly had a lot of time to kill.
Pain in the Neck: The Bayou Strangler
Ronald Joseph Dominque, the killer who earned himself the nickname of "The Bayou Strangler," is a bad dude. His long list of victims makes the other serial killers on this list look like warm-hearted humanitarians that you'd like to invite over for dinner.
From 1997 to 2006 and from Metairie to Terrebonne Parish, Dominique killed an estimated 23 males, ranging in age from 16 to 46. Almost all of his victims were Black, and many were gay—as is Dominique. The Strangler would pick up men at gay bars or on the streets, and he usually preyed on the weak or disadvantaged—alcoholics, drug addicts, hitchhikers, the homeless. He charmed them with alluring promises of everything from drugs to a place to stay to sex with his nonexistent girlfriend. Dominque would then bring his victims home, rape and strangle them to death, and discard their bodies in obscure places, such as dumpsters, canals, and under highway overpasses.
After finally being caught, Dominque was arrested in December of 2006, and in 2008, he was tried in court. The Bayou Strangler was found guilty and is currently serving one of his eight consecutive life sentences, without parole. No one got choked up about this verdict.
New Orleans' Most Notorious Serial Killers
It's clear to see that New Orleans has had its fair share of creeps and killers. Beyond being a city rife with famous ghost stories, New Orleans has a scary history that goes beyond the paranormal. As you should in any big city, keep your head on a swivel if you wish to keep your head as you traverse the Crescent City.
