They were well respected for being hard workers and very pleasant sort of people. After discovering a pool of blood at her feet, she ran from the apartment screaming and caught the attention of a few neighbors and the police. His early release turned out to be a terrible mistake that nearly cost another young woman her life. The French Quarter of the 1920s was a diverse, working-class neighborhood. Although certainly dead by now, there is no record or obituary I could locate. He also resented his sister-in-law, Leonide, for having what he perceived was a negative influence on his wife. around his boiler vat. At a Los Angeles hotel in 1956, Henry shot his girlfriend Alberta Orange in the chest, puncturing her lung. Henry had begged his way onto the ship using a false name, but the crew recognized his tattoo from the newspaper stories about the crimes. Look at how kind he could be- how tender! The evening before Nettie said she saw Henry, Theresa, Lonie, and the children leave the apartment in good spirits. With jessica arcement, rob barrere, jolene dufrene, nicholas gernon. (, Henry Moity was found guilty and sentenced to concurrent two life terms in prison for the Trunk Murders, but he was given considerable leniency and was able to escape. While it may blend in with its surroundings today, the inside of this place was the site of one of the most gruesome crimes in the history of the city: the Trunk Murders of 1927.Come with me as I take you there and tell the story of this twisted double murder, bore out of a jealous mania held by one man who lived there. 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. Both Joseph and Henry were going from job to job and the family was scraping by financially. By Tuesday November 1, howeverless than a week after the murdersHenry had made a full confession, abandoning his tale of the villain seaman. 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. One of the most extraordinary aspects of the sensational Trunk Murders is how completely they have been forgotten. (Photo: Lauren George). The drink! This story appears on THNOCs tour Danse Macabre: The Nightmare of History, which explores the darker side of New Orleans history. CONTACT US 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. Nettie walked up the stairs to the second floor of the Ursulines address and as she stepped into the Moity family home, her feet were met with blood-stained floors. He predicted Henry would soon return of his own accord, since he had served 16 years of his sentence and had a chance of being pardoned due to temporary insanity (due to his consumption of alcohol) at the time of the killings. 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. Recounted, among other places, in Lyle Saxons collection of Louisiana folk tales, Gumbo Ya-Ya, The Sausage Ghost legend tells of mid-19th-century German immigrants Mr. and Mrs. Hans Muller, who opened a sausage factory on the ground floor of their property at 725 Ursulines Street, just a few doors down from the building where the Moity family lived. Layer by Layer: A Mexico City Culinary Adventure, Sacred Granaries, Kasbahs and Feasts in Morocco, Monster of the Month: The Hopkinsville Goblins, Get Real: Defining Reality With Ashley Christine, How to Grow a Dye Garden With Aaron Sanders Head, Paper Botanicals With Kate Croghan Alarcn, Writing the Food Memoir: A Workshop With Gina Rae La Cerva, Reading the Urban Landscape With Annie Novak, Secret Nun Cookies at Monasterio del Corpus Christi, How a Lone Researcher Faced Down Millions of Army Ants on the March in Ecuador, The Hunt for an Elusive Florida Shipwreck That Killed 41 Enslaved People, Puzzle Monday: Golf, Only Slightly Abstracted. While tour guides repeat tales of New Orleanss more famous criminals, they exclude the murders that the 1927 Times-Picayune proclaimed to be the most brutal committed in New Orleans crime history.. But all was not well in an apartment near the French Quarter. It was the fall of 1927 when housekeeper Nettie Compass entered the apartment on 715 Ursulines Street near downtown New Orleans. Neighbors reported bitter fights over money, constant accusations of infidelity, and wild drinking bouts in the household. Got lucky to score a private tour with Mikko on a Saturday night tour. In a Times-Picayune article, parish coroner Dr. George Roelingnoted the killers skill with a knife at trial, saying, The killer who decapitated Mrs. Henry Moity . She called out for help until two men nearby noticed and alerted the police. In fact, Chicago has earned that spot for eleven years in a row!. Realizing he had the best method of disposal possible, he pushed his wife into the huge meat grinder in their factory. 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. The mystery of the Tamam Shud case: The body found on Somerton Beach, Australia, in December 1948, was never identified. These murders were not the first nor the last to occur on this particular block. The French Quarter of the 1920s is often remembered for the vibrant cultural scene that coalesced around writers such as Sherwood Anderson and Lyle Saxon, and institutions like the Arts and Crafts Club and the Double Dealer literary magazine. The women and children went to bed. Afterward came the grim work of cutting up the bodies, as Henry stuffed the women into the trunks they had packed hours earlier. . Joe Caruso took my wife. 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. INFAMOUS AMERICA | New Orleans Ep6 "The Trunk Murders" - YouTube INFAMOUS AMERICA presented by Black Barrel Media. Once the police arrived, they found the dismembered bodies of Leonide Moity and her sister-in-law, Theresa Moity, stuffed into trunks in the . At the start of 2023, New Orleans was considered to have the highest murder rate of any large city in the country. Joseph cooperated with the police, telling them that hed been living at his sisters home after hed caught Leonide cheating on him. 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. Love Me Not: The New Orleans Trunk Murders Shockingly Wicked Podcast At the end of the Roaring Twenties, New Orleans was rocked by one of the grizzliest murder scenes the city had ever seen. He also bought a sugar cane machete from the bartender. According to a 1957 letter from a Louisiana State Penitentiary prison warden, Theresa is alleged to have flaunted a ten dollar bill in [Henrys] face and bragged that she could make more in an hour (as a prostitute) then he could in a week., Later that day, Henry returned home to find Theresa and Leonide packing their belongings into two large trunks. The money, the booze, and the passions flowed freely. His 1941 appeal for a pardon was rejected by the governor and in 1944, he briefly escaped from the Louisiana State Penitentiary. thump!" Learn the truth of Mad Madame and of her escape from justice. Henry complained at one reporter. State License Fla. Healys dispatches to area law enforcement described Henry as having dark bushy hair, very dark brown eyes, and tattoo mark on arm, flower with lady face, also nude woman.. It also marks the second annual increase in murders in the city after 2019's 50-year low of 120 murders, which one crime analyst points out was still high for a city the size of New Orleans. The perpetrator was known as the Phantom of Texarkana, although it was never determined that it was one perpetrator. Nettie testified she remembered Henry pulling her aside and whispering not to be scared if she heard the children crying in the early morning. He boarded an Illinois Central train car, like the one seen here, and fled to St. Louis. New Orleans Trunk Murders. When the coroner and Healys female colleague, Gwen, arrived. Joseph told police he had recently moved in with his sister after catching Leonide with another man. It's hard to not take away the sexism and worry about feminism underlying it all. 2004-2023 Cool New Orleans. Both couples and their young children lived in the small apartment. EMAIL SIGN UP In a turn worthy of pulp fiction, a manuscript written in Leonides hand was discovered hidden in the cabinet of her bedroom. Theresa and Leonides personal effects lay strewn among the gore: childrens clothing, unfinished sewing projects, the womens lace garments, silk stockings, and beauty creams. The all-male jury couldn't decide if that was a valid defense or not, and compromised on a verdict of "guilty without capital punishment," rejecting the prosecution's death penalty recommendation. This mode adjusts the website for the convenience of users with visual impairments such as Degrading Eyesight, Tunnel Vision, Cataract, Glaucoma, and others. This mode enables people with epilepsy to use the website safely by eliminating the risk of seizures that result from flashing or blinking animations and risky color combinations. He was enraged after hearing rumors that his wife was planning on running off with Joseph Caruso. Places Henry had worked briefly as a butcher, and the Times-Picayune gleefully pointed out that the manner in which the two bodies of the women were mutilated and dismembered indicated a man familiar with this trade. Radio dispatches alerted departing steamer ships to be on the lookout for a stowaway passenger answering to Henrys description: tattooed and, according to the newspaper, singularly hairy., The room which shares a wall adjacent to crime scene. Dr. George Roeling, the Orleans Parish Coroner, told reporters that the killer or killers bludgeoned the women with a lead Billy club, before using a machete to decapitate them and amputate their arms and legs. (New Orleans Item 11/06/1927). Henry had previously been a butcher before landing in New Orleans, so the method and motive all lined up perfectly to convict in court. These murders were not the first nor the last to occur on this particular block. Readers of TTAG know all how Murder City, USA gained its moniker. But she was 21, abused by her husband, violently, repeatedly, and in public, including earlier the day of the murder. Look, said Gwen, holding up these objects. To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Artists, writers, and partisans of the bohemian lifestyle were drawn to the lower rents and old-world aesthetic of the Vieux Carr. Read about how William Dorr crossed the country to commit a remarkable murder. 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. While the story of Henry Moity came to an end in 1957, the peculiar circumstances of the murder lives through the urban legend of the Sausage Ghost of Ursulines Street. I would recommend this True Murder tour to ANY crime doc fanatic (as I am), especially with Jonathan. Neighbors reported bitter fights over money, constant accusations of infidelity, and wild drinking bouts in the household. In his confession Henry detailed his motives for the killings, while also insisting that his mind had been warped by alcohol. In the summer of 1944, Louisiana State Penitentiary inmate number 18038, a trustee on a routine run to the Angola post office, flagged down a taxicab. (A bloodstained rejection slip was also found at the crime scene). The California court sentenced the Louisiana man to five years in Folsom Prison, unaware of the concurrent life sentences a New Orleans court handed down two decades earlier. After getting out of prison, Henry moved to California in hopes of restarting his life. Writing the Food Memoir: A Workshop With Gina Rae La Cerva. It was fun walking around at night while seeing where some of these crime scenes took place. One of the most amazing instances is above, "How Jealousy Turned a Devoted Husband Into a Demon," but there are many more. She had barely set foot inside before encountering traces of blood. At a Los Angeles hotel in 1956, Henry shot his girlfriend Alberta Orange in the chest, puncturing her lung. My tour guide was very personable, and I really enjoyed listening to the true crime stories that happened here. According to the nonpartisan watchdog Metropolitan Crime Commission, the city recorded 280 murders in New Orleans in 2022, the highest number of killings in a single year since 1996. Note: This article contains detailed and graphic depictions of violent crime. Memory of his crime survives in part due to the themes this true story shares with a popular French Quarter ghost story. The answer involves pseudoscience, politics, and a burglary at a windmill. Written locally, but syndicated nationwide. At the end of the Roaring Twenties, New Orleans was rocked by one of the grizzliest murder scenes the city had ever seen. The frantic cleaning lady was soon joined by two insurance men who were conveniently nearby and who, in turn, tipped off local reporter, George William Healy. Guess it was only my luck to be happy like this, so I warn others not to take the same risk., One line, a piece of advice imparted by her father, haunts her story: Be careful, for marriage is a life sentence.. Following the trial, Dr. Roeling told a Times-Picayune reporter, The killer who decapitated the Moity women knew enough not to try and cut through the bone, but to cut through the joint. An enraged Henry began drinking, interrupting his bender to purchase the murder weapon. Wonderful tour! Pictures of him with his sainted mother and father in jail, not to mention him cuddling his children. 715 Ursulines Avenue was the home of the Moity brothers, their wives, and children. Upon. MURDER SUSPECT SEIZED WITH HOSTAGE; Buried Body Discovered . Had a great time with David. Then he cut up the bodies, stuffed them in the trunks, and left the house. Confirmation will be received at time of booking, Operates in all weather conditions, please dress appropriately, This tour/activity will have a maximum of 30 travelers, Face masks required for travelers in public areas, Face masks required for guides in public areas, Hand sanitizer available to travelers and staff, Social distancing enforced throughout experience, Contactless payments for gratuities and add-ons. Winner will be selected at random on 04/01/2023. 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. (Mobile Users:. He then fled into the swamps. The property is shown in this 1960s photograph. In 1959, as Jimmie Davis campaigned to regain the governors seat, a reporter asked him why he paroled the man responsible for two horrendous homicides. NEW ORLEANS | "The Trunk Murders" from Infamous America on Podchaser, aired Wednesday, 24th August 2022. Lessons from History is a platform for writers who share ideas and inspirational stories from world history. Joseph also told the police that he was sure that it was his brother Henry who committed the murders. . They let him aboard anyway, but once they saw his distinctive naked lady tattoo, they subdued him and waited for the police. Their Trunk Murders, a forgotten chapter of the citys lively history, involved clandestine streetcar flirtations, severed fingers, and the possible emergence of a sausage ghost.. Two years later, a police officer in St. Louis, Missouri, stopped the escaped convict for suspicious behavior. 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. Discovered in a cabinet in her bedroom, its believed to be a thinly veiled autobiographical account that she had tried to publish in a popular womens magazine. 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. HubPages is a registered trademark of The Arena Platform, Inc. Other product and company names shown may be trademarks of their respective owners. This article talks about who she was before being remembered as just a murder victim. This unusual method of stowing the bodies is where the story gets its name. The newspapers focused most of their attention on the victims husbands, whodwelled mainly on the womens alleged infidelities and careless parenting. Available now through most major bookstores and Amazon. It was the fall of 1927 when housekeeper Nettie Compass entered the apartment on 715 Ursulines Street near downtown New Orleans. In October 1927, in the French Quarter of New Orleans, Louisiana, housekeeper Nettie Compass walked into the apartment she was supposed to clean and found it covered in blood. The rent was always late, there wasn't enough food, and things were getting dire. Henry had begged his way onto the ship using a false name, but the crew recognized his tattoo from the newspaper stories about the crimes. When night fell over the quarter, the Moity women and children retired to their beds while Henry paced restlessly, drinking and contemplating the hidden cane knife. Ill make him look like something thats been run through a sausage mill. The French Quarter of the 1920s was a diverse, working-class neighborhood. Her ghost is said to have haunted the shop until Muller went insane. 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