E7 : Jake Bird AKA The Tacoma Axe Killer

Jake Bird was born in Louisiana, in what he described as a town with no post office, and he claimed that he could not remember it. He confessed to being involved in or committing 44 murders. He was apprehended on October 30, 1947 and hanged at the Washington State Penitentiary in Walla Walla.

Up until the 1970s Bird was considered the most prolific serial killer in the history of the United States. But what he is most known for is his hex. (WTF ???)

STATS

12 to 46 victims

Victims were mostly white ladies

Characteristics: rape- robberies

method: beating with an axe or hatchet or stabbing with a knife

Span of Crimes 1930s to 1947

States: Florida, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Wisconsin, Washington

He was apprehended 10/30/47 in Washington State (in a very dramatic fashion)

The Hex victims

Edward D. Hodge, Pierce County Superior Court Judge, age 69, died January 1, 1948.
Joseph E. Karpach, Pierce County Under-sheriff, age 46, died April 5, 1948.
George L. Harrigan, Pierce County court reporter, age 69, died June 11, 1948.
Sherman W. Lyons, Tacoma Police Detective Lieutenant, age 46, died October 28, 1948.
James W. Selden, Bird’s defense attorney, age 76, died on November 26, 1948.

TIP: How Not To Get Murdered :

Lock your Doors

Signage

Home Security System: https://simplisafe.com/

Miscellaneous

Anthony Ray Hinton is an African American man from Alabama who was held on the state’s death row for 28 years after being wrongly convicted of the murders of two restaurant workers in Birmingham, Alabama in 1985. This was done with the help of the Equal Justice Initiative and his attorney Bryan Stevenson

https://eji.org/anthony-ray-hinton-exonerated-from-alabama-death-row

He wrote a book about it. It is called “The Sun Does Shine”.

Lynching Memorial https://museumandmemorial.eji.org/

Bryan A. Stevenson is an American lawyer, social justice activist, founder and executive director of the Equal Justice Initiative, and a clinical professor at New York University School of Law. https://eji.org/bryan-stevenson