Villisca, Iowa
Early 1900s Midwestern Town, [Around 2500 People]
Josiah Moore (One of Villisca's most prominent businessmen), his wife Sarah, and his 4 children: Herman (11), Katherine (10), Boyd (7), & Paul (5).
Lena (12) & Ina (8)
Everything is quiet. He goes to the downstairs bedroom to check and see what's going on. In there, he sees 2 figures covered with a sheet & blood on the bed frame. Terrified, Ross runs out of the house. He tells the neighbor that 'something awful had happened' & asks her to call the sheriff. While she does this, Ross calls Ed (an employee of the Moore family) & tells him something has happened at the house and asks for him to come over. Ed arrives at 8:30 AM.
Ross asks Ed to go inside the house to see if its any worse than the 2 bodies he has already discovered. Ed goes in to check, and comes back to say that there's somebody murdered in every bedroom. He also said that he may have found the murder weapon as well; an axe, partially cleaned, was left lying against a wall in the downstairs bedroom.
Dr. Cooper was the first physician to arrive at the scene. He couldn't recognize any of the victims because of how badly mutilated their faces were.