Unsolved mystery makes the screen
BEATRICE - Jim Sprague doesn't remember much about the little house where he lived with his family in the early 1940s.
He remembers its narrow staircase.
He remembers his sister once fell out of an upstairs window.
And he also remembers his sister's friends used to inspect the wallpaper in the upstairs bedroom for bloodstains when they came to play.
The little house in Villisca, Iowa, was the scene of a 1912 ax murder of eight people - the family of six who lived in the little white home and two young girls who were staying the night.
Sprague's family didn't live there until 30 years after the murder, but the town, which had about 2,500 residents at the time of the crime, still remembered the killings, committed late one Sunday night.
Friday night, more than 90 years after the murder, it was remembered again.
About 40 people came to a 7 p.m. screening of "Villisca:Living with a Mystery" at the Truman Center on the Southeast Community College Beatrice Campus.
Another showing will be at 3 p.m. today in the Strauss Performing Arts Center at the University of Nebraska at Omaha.
The documentary, which debuted in Des Moines last month, details the night of the murder, the community's frantic search for the killer, the division created when a local businessman and politician became suspects and the division that the murder has continued to create in the town.
Some, like Sprague, who attended the Beatrice showing, had ties to the town where the killings took place.
Others were simply interested in learning about a crime that had occurred more than nine decades ago and remains unsolved.
"I was fascinated with it," said Sprague, who now lives in York with his wife, Carole, who also attended the screening.
Few people talked about the murder when he was growing up in Villisca, he said, so much of what was presented in the documentary was new to him.
In the documentary, old women talked of seeing the Moore family at a Children's Day church service Sunday night, the night of the murder.
They remembered the funeral, held in the city park and attended by 7,500 mourners.
They remembered the bloodhounds, brought to Villisca from Beatrice, more than 150 miles away.
A thousand people followed the then-famous Beatrice Bloodhounds, as they were known, as they followed the scent of the killer, which they lost along the banks of a river outside of town.
The bloodhounds had been used to track the scent of killers in several prominent murder cases, said Kelly Rundle, who wrote, directed, produced and filmed the documentary with his wife, Tammy Rundle.
The bloodhounds have, for the most part, faded from the memories of Beatrice residents - during a discussion that followed the screening, not one single audience member could recall having heard of the famed dogs.
Still, said Tammy Rundle, they wanted to show the film in Beatrice because of the town's connection.
The Rundles began working on the film about 10 years ago, a few years after hearing a historian talk on the crime.
Though Tammy Rundle grew up in Iowa and Kelly Rundle grew up in western Illinois, neither had heard of the murders.
As they began their research, Tammy Rundle said, they learned why.
Many Villisca residents old enough to remember the murders hadn't talked about them in years, if ever.
And their parents had refused to answer questions about the murders, Tammy Rundle said.
The documentary gave them a chance to talk about their memories.
And to learn.
Residents of Villisca, now a town of 1,300, are still divided about the murder.
The murder house has been restored and is now a tourist destination. For years, the ax used to commit the murders, which the killer leaned against a wall in the home before he left, was encased in glass in city hall.
Some Villisca residents still wonder whether it's right to capitalize on the tragedy, Tammy Rundle said.
But the documentary, for the most part, was well-received when it was screened there, she said.
At the very least, it gave Villisca residents something to think about, Kelly Rundle said. The film presents another theory as to who the killer might have been.
Though the Rundles think their theory is a plausible one, they're not entirely convinced.
"Given what's available (as evidence) now, we're not really able to prove anything definitively," he said.
So, the mystery lives on.
Reach Cara Pesek at 473-7361 or cpesek@;journalstar.com.
He remembers its narrow staircase.
He remembers his sister once fell out of an upstairs window.
And he also remembers his sister's friends used to inspect the wallpaper in the upstairs bedroom for bloodstains when they came to play.
The little house in Villisca, Iowa, was the scene of a 1912 ax murder of eight people - the family of six who lived in the little white home and two young girls who were staying the night.
Sprague's family didn't live there until 30 years after the murder, but the town, which had about 2,500 residents at the time of the crime, still remembered the killings, committed late one Sunday night.
Friday night, more than 90 years after the murder, it was remembered again.
About 40 people came to a 7 p.m. screening of "Villisca:Living with a Mystery" at the Truman Center on the Southeast Community College Beatrice Campus.
Another showing will be at 3 p.m. today in the Strauss Performing Arts Center at the University of Nebraska at Omaha.
The documentary, which debuted in Des Moines last month, details the night of the murder, the community's frantic search for the killer, the division created when a local businessman and politician became suspects and the division that the murder has continued to create in the town.
Some, like Sprague, who attended the Beatrice showing, had ties to the town where the killings took place.
Others were simply interested in learning about a crime that had occurred more than nine decades ago and remains unsolved.
"I was fascinated with it," said Sprague, who now lives in York with his wife, Carole, who also attended the screening.
Few people talked about the murder when he was growing up in Villisca, he said, so much of what was presented in the documentary was new to him.
In the documentary, old women talked of seeing the Moore family at a Children's Day church service Sunday night, the night of the murder.
They remembered the funeral, held in the city park and attended by 7,500 mourners.
They remembered the bloodhounds, brought to Villisca from Beatrice, more than 150 miles away.
A thousand people followed the then-famous Beatrice Bloodhounds, as they were known, as they followed the scent of the killer, which they lost along the banks of a river outside of town.
The bloodhounds had been used to track the scent of killers in several prominent murder cases, said Kelly Rundle, who wrote, directed, produced and filmed the documentary with his wife, Tammy Rundle.
The bloodhounds have, for the most part, faded from the memories of Beatrice residents - during a discussion that followed the screening, not one single audience member could recall having heard of the famed dogs.
Still, said Tammy Rundle, they wanted to show the film in Beatrice because of the town's connection.
The Rundles began working on the film about 10 years ago, a few years after hearing a historian talk on the crime.
Though Tammy Rundle grew up in Iowa and Kelly Rundle grew up in western Illinois, neither had heard of the murders.
As they began their research, Tammy Rundle said, they learned why.
Many Villisca residents old enough to remember the murders hadn't talked about them in years, if ever.
And their parents had refused to answer questions about the murders, Tammy Rundle said.
The documentary gave them a chance to talk about their memories.
And to learn.
Residents of Villisca, now a town of 1,300, are still divided about the murder.
The murder house has been restored and is now a tourist destination. For years, the ax used to commit the murders, which the killer leaned against a wall in the home before he left, was encased in glass in city hall.
Some Villisca residents still wonder whether it's right to capitalize on the tragedy, Tammy Rundle said.
But the documentary, for the most part, was well-received when it was screened there, she said.
At the very least, it gave Villisca residents something to think about, Kelly Rundle said. The film presents another theory as to who the killer might have been.
Though the Rundles think their theory is a plausible one, they're not entirely convinced.
"Given what's available (as evidence) now, we're not really able to prove anything definitively," he said.
So, the mystery lives on.
Reach Cara Pesek at 473-7361 or cpesek@;journalstar.com.
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