Pennsylvania Decapitation Murders

During the late 1920’s, an unknown suspect murdered and decapitated various victims throughout New Castle and Pittsburgh Pennsylvania. On October 6, 1925, a young man's headless corpse was discovered in a rural swamp area between New Castle and West Pittsburgh. The corpse was nude and, upon further examination, investigators concluded that the man had been dead for several weeks. The head was nowhere to be found upon the initial search of the crime scene. On October 8, 1925, the young man's head was discovered. Due to sketchy reports from the time period, it is unknown exactly where the head was found.

On October 17, 1925, another headless male skeleton was discovered in the swamp, which was then dubbed the murder swamp. Upon examination of the skeleton, investigators concluded the victim had been dead for at least a year.

On October 19, 1925, the skull of the second victim was discovered along with that of a female skull. The remainder of the female victim's skeleton was never found. Based on the condition of her skull, investigators also determined that she had been dead for at least a year.

After the latest discovery, no other bodies turned up for at least another decade. On October 13, 1939, yet another headless corpse was discovered in the swamp. Littering the crime scene was month-old newspapers from a Youngstown, Ohio newspaper. On October 18, 1939, the head belonging to the latest corpse was discovered in an abandoned railroad boxcar.

This case has remained unsolved for the past 70 years. Some individuals, as mentioned in Michael Newton’s book, “Hunting Humans” feel that the "Mad Butcher of Kingsbury Run" was responsible for these crimes. Was it possible that the ‘Mad Butcher’ started out in Pennsylvania before moving on to Cleveland, Ohio where he murdered at least 16 individuals between 1934 and 1939? Considering neither case has ever been solved, and so much time has elapsed, it seems as though we may never know.

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