The Servant Girl Annihilator

"The Servant Girl Annihilator", a.k.a. "The Austin Axe Murderer", is a still-unidentified serial killer and rapist who was active in Austin, Texas during 1884 and 1885.

Case History
In the first months of 1885, a series of brutal attacks began, which targeted female domestic servants. The Annihilator's first canonical victim was Mollie Smith, who was murdered during the night of December 30, 1884, her boyfriend was left severely injured but survived the attack. On March 19 of the next year, Clara Strand and her friend, Christine Martenson were attacked by an unknown individual and were severely wounded, both survived. On May 6, Eliza Shelley, who was the mother of three children at the time of her murder, was attacked and brutally murdered. Days later, Irene Cross was attacked by a man with a knife, she was fatally stabbed by him multiple times and bled to death. On the next month, Clara Dick was found severely injured but survived the attack. The Annihilator's next victims were Rebecca Ramey and her daughter, Mary Ramey, Rebecca survived the attack, but unfortunately lost her daughter to the killer. On September 1885, a man attacked Gracie Vance, Orange Washington and their friends, Lucinda Boddy and Patsey Gibson. Lucinda and Patsey survived the attack but were left severely injured while Gracie and Orange died.

The Annihilator's last known victims were murdered in the same night, Susan Hancock and Eula Philips, Susan had ver head cleaved open while Eula had an axe carved in her head. Eula's husband, James Philips was also attacked but survived.The crime scenes were so bloody that the population began to ask themselves if multiple individuals or members of a gang were commiting the crimes. Bloody axes and sharp objects were often left behind, along with footprints. Several suspects were arrested but police were not able to connect any of them to the murders, which angered the public, detectives were hired to solve the case but no one was able to identify the killer. The killings suddenly stopped after December of 1885, when additional police officers and more professional investigators were hired. Because of the fact that Susan and Eula were white women, the city demanded more attention to the case but despite all the efforts, the killer was never caught and the case went unsolved.

Modus Operandi
The Annihilator's victims were mostly young, African-American women who worked as domestic servants, a common job at the time. They were attacked indoors while asleep on their beds but five of them were dragged outside and killed outdoors. The Annihilator also raped and mutilated his victims, three of them were left mutilated indoors while only one victim was mutilated outdoors. Adding to the brutality of the murders, the killer would insert sharp objects in their ears. The Annihilator would also attack anyone who was present during the murders, including the victim's friends, boyfriends and husbands but sparing children if possible.

Known Victims

 * December 30, 1884: Mollie Smith and Walter Spencer
 * Mollie Smith, 25
 * Walter Spencer, 30
 * 1885
 * March 19: Clara Strand and Christine Martenson
 * May 6: Eliza Shelly, 30
 * May 22: Irene Cross, 33
 * Unspecified date in August: Clara Dick
 * August 30: Rebecca and Mary Ramey
 * Rebecca Ramey, 50
 * Mary Ramey, 11
 * September 28: Gracie Vance, Orange Washington, Lucinda Boddy and Patsey Gibson
 * Gracie Vance, 20
 * Orange Washigton, 25
 * Lucinda Boddy and Patsey Gibson, 17
 * December 24: Susan Hancock, Eula and James Philips
 * Susan Hancock, 41
 * Eula Phillips, 17

Suspects

 * Nathan Elgin
 * 19-year-old African-American cook
 * Worked close to the original crime scenes
 * Had a clubfoot which was similiar to a footprint found at a crime scene
 * Was shot and killed by the police while attempting to assault a girl named Julia with a knife for no apparent reason
 * Maurice the Malaysian Cook
 * Worked at the Pearl House Hotel, which was close to the murders
 * Was a suspect in Eula's murder and left Austin three weeks after her death
 * Was a suspect in the Jack the Ripper murders

On Criminal Minds
The Servant Girl Annihilator is possibly the direct inspiration for serial killer Vincent Rowlings. In both cases, the killers selected their victims before and attacked them in their own homes or workplaces, targeted a specific type of female victim before deviating from it in their final crimes (Vincent killed white women that resembled his mother but later murdered a black woman and finally a black man; the Annihilator killed black women before murdering two white women), stabbed their intended victims several times (although Vincent only delivered a single stab in his final murders), had one unplanned male victim that they eliminated quickly (a robber in Vincent's case; the boyfriend of one of his victims in the Annihilator's), and came in contact with the child of one of their victims but spared said child.