Between May 1918 and October 1919, someone attacked sleeping households in and around New Orleans with an axe or a razor, usually after chiseling out a back-door panel. Most targets were Italian immigrants. A letter promised to spare any house playing jazz. The attacker was never identified.
The Axeman case is as much a history of a city's fear as a murder mystery. The documented attacks are few, the suspects were mostly arrested on weak grounds, and a famous letter may be a hoax. The honest answer is that nobody knows.
Editorial assessment of public sources, not a finding of fact. Nobody named here has been charged unless this page says so.
Dates come from period newspapers as summarized by later authors. The exact victim count is disputed.
Italian grocer Joseph Maggio and his wife are attacked in their home. Joseph dies. A bloody razor found at the scene belongs to his brother Andrew.
The couple are attacked. Lowe is left partly paralyzed. Besumer is later charged with murder and acquitted on May 1, 1919.
Anna Schneider survives and recalls nothing. Joseph Romano dies two days after his attack.
Mary Cortimiglia is killed and her parents are injured. A father and son are later convicted on a false accusation.
A letter published in the press, signed as from the killer, says he will spare any house where jazz is playing on a certain night. Many New Orleans homes host jazz that night, and no murders are reported.
Both survive attacks with no memory of them.
Mike Pepitone is killed in what is generally considered the last Axeman attack.
Several men are arrested and released. The Jordanos, father and son, are convicted and later freed when Rosie Cortimiglia admits she falsely accused them.
The documented victims were mostly working-class households, many of them Italian-American.
Italian grocer attacked with his wife Catherine on May 23, 1918. A razor belonging to his brother was found at the scene.
Attacked in the same assault as her husband.
Attacked June 27, 1918 with Louis Besumer; left partly paralyzed.
Attacked Aug 5, 1918; recalled nothing.
Attacked Aug 10, 1918; died two days later.
Killed March 10, 1919 in Gretna; her parents were injured.
Attacked in Aug and Sept 1919; both survived with no memory of the attacks.
Killed Oct 27, 1919, the last attack generally attributed to the Axeman.
We found no photos for any victim, free or otherwise, so silhouettes are shown. Descendants or others who want a photo added, changed, or removed can use the contact form at the bottom of this page. The list shows the best-documented victims, not a complete count, which sources put at 6 to 17 killed.
Very little physical evidence survives in public records.
| Item | What is known | Disputed or unknown |
|---|---|---|
| Chiseled door panel | In several attacks, a panel of the back door was chiseled out to reach the lock. | Whether the method really linked all attacks is based on press accounts. |
| The weapons | An axe (often the household's own) or a straight razor. | The bloody razor at the first scene belonged to a family member. |
| The jazz letter | Dated March 13, 1919. It promised to spare homes where jazz was playing at 12:15 a.m. on March 19. | Authorship unknown; many believe it was a hoax. Sources differ on the publication date (March 13, 14, or 16). |
| Victim accounts | Several survivors remembered nothing. | Statements were taken and printed in the press; reliability varies. |
| The "1911 killings" | Ex-detective John Dantonio linked earlier attacks to the Axeman. | Researchers question whether the 1911 reports are accurate. |
The record is mostly newspapers. The famous letter is reprinted widely; the original is not publicly located.
| Document | Holder | What it shows | Access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Historical news articles: the Axeman's letter (St. Tammany Parish Library) | St. Tammany Parish Library | A guide to finding the March 1919 letter in the Times-Picayune archive. We did not open the page. | Quoted in news |
| Times-Picayune, March 1919 (NewsBank archive) | Times-Picayune; library subscriptions | The letter, dated March 13, 1919, promised to spare homes where jazz was playing at 12:15 a.m. on March 19. Accounts differ on the publication date (March 13, 14, or 16). | Request needed |
| New Orleans Police and Orleans Parish court files, 1918–1920 | City and parish archives | Arrest and trial records for Besumer, the Jordanos, and others. We did not find them online. | Not located |
| Chronicling America | Library of Congress | Free scans of historic newspapers. We did not confirm whether 1919 New Orleans papers are included. | Online, free |
Access labels: Online, free = we could open it. Fan-hosted copy = a private researcher posted scans; originals are held by the named agency, and we cannot vouch for completeness. Quoted in news = reporters read it; we did not see the document itself. Request needed = held by an agency or court. Withheld = the holder has not released it. We cannot reach non-public records, and we do not try to.
Where people talk about this case online, and how to read it.
| Platform | Live search | What you tend to find |
|---|---|---|
| Google: Reddit | site:reddit.com search | Public Reddit threads that Google has indexed, including old discussions. |
| Google: X and Twitter | X and Twitter posts | Public posts and profiles that appear in search results. |
| Google: Facebook | Public Facebook pages and posts | Only public pages and groups that Google can see. Private groups never appear. |
| Google: Instagram and TikTok | Instagram and TikTok | Public posts, memorials, and videos. |
| Google: forums | Forums and message boards | Long-running true-crime forums. |
| Google News | Latest news | Newest reporting, which is usually more reliable than posts. |
| Search Reddit | Long discussion threads and theories, often by amateur researchers. No sign-in needed to read. | |
| X (Twitter) | Search X | Short posts, news links, and anniversary notes. May require sign-in. |
| Search Facebook | Public groups and family or community pages. Requires sign-in. | |
| Search #axemanofneworleans | Memorial and true-crime posts. Requires sign-in. | |
| YouTube | Search YouTube | Documentaries, news clips, and interviews. Quality varies widely. |
Be careful with online theories. Naming a private person as a suspect can harm an innocent family, and many "identifications" on forums have been wrong. Our own tools could not read these platforms: Reddit blocks automated access, and the others require an account. The Google searches above work from your browser. To get new public mentions by email, make a free Google Alert for the case name in quotation marks.
What local and national reports say, and when we last checked for a solution.
| Date | Outlet | What it reported | Link |
|---|---|---|---|
| March 1919 | |||
| Times-Picayune | |||
| The "jazz letter" (not available to our tools; see Public documents). | |||
| Read | |||
| Current | |||
| Wikipedia | |||
| Summary of the attacks, suspects, and disputes. | |||
| Read |
Status is re-checked on a regular schedule. If you know of a development we missed, use the clue form near the top of this page or the contact form, and include a link.
Several men were arrested; none were proven. The Mafia theory was press-driven.
Why named: Brother of the first victim, and the chief suspect early on, because a razor belonging to him was found at the scene.
Against: Released for lack of evidence.
Why named: A grocer attacked in June 1918 who was later charged with murder after accusations.
Against: Acquitted on May 1, 1919.
Why named: A father and son convicted in the Cortimiglia attack.
Against: Freed after Rosie Cortimiglia admitted she had falsely accused them.
Why named: Arrested during the investigation.
Against: Released; no evidence tied them to the attacks.
Why named: Named by scholar Richard Warner as the chief suspect. A jazz business he ran reportedly boomed after the city was pressured to hire jazz bands.
Against: The theory rests on timing and circumstance. No physical evidence is cited.
Where a card shows a silhouette, we found no photo. Descendants or others who want a photo added, changed, or removed can use the contact form at the bottom of this page.
No suspect has been proven. The most developed modern theory comes from a scholar who studied the jazz letter and the city's music scene.
| Claim | Source | Status | Our rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mumphrey and Monfre are the same man | Richard Warner | Not independently confirmed in what we reviewed. | Weak |
| His business gained from the jazz publicity | Richard Warner | Circumstantial. | Weak |
| He committed the attacks | Richard Warner | No physical evidence; a motive theory. | Weak |
The jazz-promotion motive is the most interesting idea in the case, but it explains the letter, not the killings. We put the chance Mumphrey was the Axeman at roughly 8%. The chance that the jazz letter itself was a hoax or press invention is higher, roughly 50%.
Editorial judgment, not statistics.
"—" means no public information, not a clean result.
| Person | Opportunity | Physical link | Official outcome |
|---|---|---|---|
| Andrew Maggio | ? razor was his | ? razor at scene | ✗ released |
| Louis Besumer | — | — | ✗ acquitted |
| Jordano father and son | — | — | ✗ freed; accuser recanted |
| Frank "Doc" Mumphrey | ? unknown | — none published | ? theory only |
✗ excluded or contradicted · ✓ supports · ? disputed · — nothing public. No cell is an official finding.
Editorial reading of public records. A working theory, not a finding, and it names no individual.
Judgment, not statistics.
Questions raised by gaps in the public record.
A single table of every attack with its primary source (police report, court file, or newspaper), separating documented attacks from later additions.
Whether the 1911 reports are real, and whether any link exists to the 1918–19 cases.
Who was released from custody shortly before each attack?
Which newspaper received the letter, and whether the original survives.
Mike Pepitone's death in Oct 1919 is the last attack. Details of his household and any suspects are thin.
Why she accused the Jordanos, and who else may have prompted her.
A digitized and indexed set of New Orleans police files and newspapers for 1918–20.
City directories and census records could confirm whether Warner's identification is right.
"Not public" means we could not find a report.
| Item | Tested | Gap |
|---|---|---|
| Physical evidence | Examined by 1918 police. | Whether any survives: unknown. |
| Police files | Created in 1918–19. | Public availability: not confirmed. |
| The jazz letter | Printed in the press. | Original: not located. |
| Victim statements | Printed in newspapers. | Primary records: not public. |
| Tool | What it could do | Status here |
|---|---|---|
| Digitized newspaper search | Compile and date every reported attack. | Available |
| Census / city directory matching | Test the Mumphrey identity. | Available |
| Genetic genealogy | Identify a donor. | No biological evidence known |
| Mapping and geographic profiling | Show clustering of attacks. | Not reported |
In a 1912 case with no biological evidence, researchers turned to newspaper research and patterns. The same approach is the only realistic path here.
The only convictions in the case were later undone when an accuser recanted. Reliable records matter more than confessions.
The record is so thin that the first task is establishing what actually happened.
Case details come from public sources. Confirm in primary records.
| Claim | Source and date | Where it stands |
|---|---|---|
| The killer targeted Italians as part of Mafia business | Press, 1918–19 | No evidence; considered sensationalism. |
| The jazz letter came from the Axeman | Press, March 1919 | Authorship unknown; likely a hoax. |
| The attacks began in 1911 | John Dantonio, ex-detective | Researchers question the 1911 reports. |
| The Jordanos were the killers | Convictions, 1919 | Overturned after the accuser admitted lying. |
| The Axeman killed 17 people | Various | Counts range from 6 to 17; the high count is loosely supported. |
Attacks took place in New Orleans neighborhoods and in nearby Gretna, across the Mississippi River.
We did not confirm exact addresses from sources and show none. Open in maps: New Orleans · Gretna.
| Source | Type | Rating | Use with care because |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1918–20 newspapers (Chronicling America) | Primary press | A− | Contemporary reports contain errors and rumor. |
| Court records | Official | A | Few are readily available online. |
| Wikipedia: Axeman of New Orleans | Tertiary | B | Good summary; some details unsourced. |
| Books and documentaries | Advocacy | D | Often repeat legend as fact. |
Historic files may be in city archives, not an active unit.
Likely holders of period records and newspapers.
Free digitized newspapers: chroniclingamerica.loc.gov.
Under the Louisiana Public Records Law, I request copies of non-exempt records relating to the 1918–1919 attacks attributed to the "Axeman" in New Orleans and Gretna, including police reports and court files. Please send electronic copies. If any part is withheld or unavailable, please identify the reason.
Records this old may be held by archives rather than the police department.
Ordinary families, many of them immigrants, were attacked in their own homes. Their names are often lost behind the legend.
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Every fact on this page comes from one of these. Where they disagree, we say so above.
Names, dates, and counts come from this one article and are as reliable as its sources; we did not check primary newspapers. The 1911 link and the Mumphrey/Monfre identification are unverified. Several legends often repeated online, including a trial of a man called "Mumfre," are not supported by the article we used and are left out.