The Axman Came from Hell and Other Southern True Crime Stories
My special guest tonight is true crime author Keven McQueen, known for his gripping work on historical murders, unsolved crimes, and America’s darkest forgotten stories. In his latest book, he uncovers a chilling series of ax murders and brutal killings that shook communities from Texas to West Virginia. This exploration of axe-wielding killers, 19th-century crime sprees, and early American serial killers sheds new light on some of the most disturbing cases buried in true crime history.
We dive into the terrifying saga of the 1880s Austin killer — often considered one of the first recorded serial killers in the United States — whose ax murders set a grim template for the violent crimes and mysterious patterns that would follow in later decades. Keven also examines the shocking 1890s Atlanta boardinghouse murders, where a resident turned on his fellow boarders in a deadly rampage, revealing how everyday settings once became the backdrop for horrific acts of violence.
Blending historical true crime, Victorian-era murder cases, forensic history, criminal psychology, early serial killer behavior, and investigative storytelling, Keven McQueen brings forgotten crimes back to life without sensationalism — focusing instead on their cultural importance and the haunting questions that still linger. If you’re fascinated by axe murders, unsolved mysteries, historical homicides, 1800s crime history, or the evolution of serial killers in America, this episode will keep you spellbound from beginning to end.
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Start your free seven-day trial and unlock this episode plus hundreds more, all ad-free when you become a Mysterian on Patreon. Were the crimes committed by people that knew each other?
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Was it between, you know, like friends, family, or was it stranger-on-stranger type murders happening back then?
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It seems like most of them, at least the ones that were solved, really were cases where the victims and the murderers knew each other.
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And you do occasionally see a very rare serial killer case going even back to the 19th century, but they're pretty rare.
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And for many, many years, the assumption detectives would make would be if there was a murder victim, it was almost always a friend or a family member.
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And all you had to do was closely examine people who knew the victim and you'd eventually find the killer.
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And generally that seemed to work, at least, you know, until about the 1970s or so when there was an explosion in serial killing.
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