By: Kendall Zuniga

On December 31st, 1884, the world was introduced to its first serial killer, The Midnight Assassin. For over a year, a spree of murders was seen unlike anything ever before in the city of Austin, Texas. Seven female residents, including the boyfriend of one of the victims, were all attacked with several weapons including knives, axes, bricks, and iron rods. When police arrived they were appalled by the scene of the crimes. Police brought in bloodhounds to hopefully track any clues that could help lead them to the perpetrator of the crimes, sadly, they couldn’t find any leads. Private detectives were even hired, hoping that they could solve the case of the crimes, yet again, they found no leads. 

Most of his victims were found to be predominantly young African American and white women.  Although many African American suspects were accused of such crimes, police would find that they were all not guilty and were let go. Even a candidate running for mayor was an accused suspect but was ultimately found not guilty. Many theories would be tossed and thrown around but, none of them could ever be proven correct. 

During this time, the phrase “serial killer” didn’t exist, FBI agents who specialized in behavioral science, crime scene studies, creating profiles for serial killers, and the FBI in general didn’t exist. 

The Midnight Assassin was never caught and had left the community apprehensive about the safety of their own homes, never knowing if he would return. 140 years after the murders, we still have no clue who exactly took away innocent lives that day in December.