The Man From The Train

The Man From The Train is an early American (and possibly German) serial killer active from 1898 to 1912. During those years, it is estimated that The Man From The Train murdered between 50 and 100 people.

Book

This article takes it's name from a book entitled The Man From The Train which was written by baseball historian Bill James. The only reason why I ever picked this book up is because I happened to be reading something about sabermetrics and somebody told me that Bill had written a book about a serial killer.

Murders

Ranging from the United State's East Coast to deep in the Mid-West, quite a few murders occurred that had very much in common. Because the FBI did not exist, and because there was no such thing as "intra-department cooperation," information was not shared between law enforcement entities.

Common Evidence

• Murders were all committed with household items found by the killer on the property of the victim.
• Murders usually happened withing walking distance from a train track, train station, or train yard.
• Murders were almost universally committed with an axe.
• Murders happened to whole families that usually had young daughters.
• Initially, murders were covered up by buring the family home down.
• Later, no attempts were made to cover evidence, but homes were "sealed" shut by wedging doors closed, blankets placed over windows, and bodies hidden under household items.
• Women murder victims were molested post-mortem.
• The blunt end of an axe was used most of the time.
• The sharp end of the axe was used for troublesome victims.
• When an axe was not used, heavy tools belonging to the home owner were used.

References

The Man From The Train is a STUB, scrub... n0s3y|afk has abandoned the internet. YOU need to add content in her place.