Private Location - Case #42

Case #42 - No photos taken, Newspaper articles included

Date: June 5, 2004

Time: 5:00pm - 8:30p.m.

Location: Miami Co., KS (Paola)

Brenda, Dee Ann, Misty, Joyce, John, Mark T.

Joe & Stacy Pate of Movie Memories

MPR felt compelled to go to Paola to investigate the murders there after a series of coincidences seem to lead them in that direction. Movie Memories, who is the production company filming the video "Villisca-The Untold Story" was hired to film a dance recital in Paola on the weekend of June 4, 5 and 6^th. This weekend happened to be the anniversary of the Paola murders. Checking with MPR team members, the only date that everyone was available happened to fall on June 5, the date the murders occurred so it was decided that we would all visit Paola on this anniversary night.

Due to weather conditions and the fact that the original house was no longer standing, no formal investigation was conducted. No pictures or video were collected. Team psychics, Misty and Joyce were given no details about the murders other than having a vague idea that the Paola murders may have been committed by the same person as the Villisca ones.

Misty was incredibly accurate in her accounts of the Paola murders even down to the injuries and type of murder weapon that was used. During Misty's reading, Mansfield was her contact and the reading she gave was based upon his participation and the events leading up to it.

According to Misty, Mansfield offered his services to Rollin Hudson after overhearing a conversation about his desire to get rid of his wife. The reason given by Rollin was that he felt his wife was unfaithful. Once plans were made, Rollin changed his mind and tried to call off the murder. This placed Mansfield in a vulnerable position. Not only did Rollin have evidence that Mansfield was available for this type of service, but also because Mansfield was about to go to Villisca to do a job there. Rollin knew too much which created a problem for Mansfield, so he decided that Rollin had to die along with his wife in order to protect his identity.

Joyce's reading was conducted with Anna Hudson, the victim. According to Anna, she had information concerning dirty politics. There are several possibilities here. First of all, Rollin's father was very politically connected in Ohio and may have ordered his son to take his wife out of state due to some political turmoil she may have been causing in Ohio. It's also possible that Anna may have been involved with a political figure in Ohio and knew something that could be used as blackmail. A statement made by Rollin to one of his neighbors may be a clue to this possible scenario. The Miami Republican gave this account of a conversation between Rollin and a neighbor: "G. W. Coe relates a conversation he had with Hudson while Hudson and his wife were separated the last time, at which time Hudson said he would send his wife home if he dared. He was afraid to send her, however, he said, or to go himself, and said he would rather be dead than in such trouble. Then he took a letter from his pocket and said if Coe knew what it contained he would sympathize with him. He also told Coe that he had caught his wife with another man three times." Why would Rollin be afraid to send his wife home or go there himself unless something had happened in Ohio which forced them to leave the state? What trouble was Rollin referring to?

We know that Rollin hired Mansfield giving him the impression that his wife was unfaithful. Mansfield would not have necessarily known about any political motives if Rollin did not share this information with him. Anna seemed to indicate that there were some problems involving politics in either Ohio or Paola, which she felt were important enough to share with Joyce. Not knowing about Rollin's attempt to have her killed, she may have thought the murders were politically motivated. The only person who would have known both parts of this story would have been Rollin himself. He made no attempt to converse with either of our psychics.

MPR feels that the affinity letter was an effort to fool law enforcement into looking into false leads. The letter and the train ticket registration from Wyoming, all seemed to be an effort to frame Roy Adams for the murders. The case was closed within two weeks after law enforcement decided that the murders were committed by the "axe man" who was randomly killing families throughout the Rocky Mountain and Central states. It is MPR's opinion that since the murderer had specifically asked about the whereabouts of the Hudson's, that the murders were not a random killing. So why was law enforcement so willing to accept this hasty conclusion without doing further investigations into who might have had a reason to kill the Hudson's? Perhaps further investigation into the "trouble in Ohio" may have revealed some answers. MPR feels that the case was prematurely closed and that there may be a reason behind that.

MPR has developed a theory which may uncover a common thread between all the victims of the axe murders committed in 1911 and 1912. Further research into the other ax murders is continuing. Stay tuned for those newspaper accounts.

PSYCHIC READINGS

Misty's Reading, Paola KS

Joyce's Reading, Paola KS

NEWSPAPER ARTICLES

Murderer Came In The Night  (Western Spirit, June 14, 1912)

Found The Affinity Letter?  (Western Spirit, June 14, 1912)  

Fiendish Double Murder  (Miami Republican, June 14, 1912) 

No Clew To Hudson Murder  (Western Spirit, June 21, 1912)