The Inquest

Peckham testified that she lived directly next-door to the Moore’s and had seen them before they left for church on Saturday evening. She had, however, gone to bed at approximately 8 p.m. and did not see the family return.
According to her testimony, Peckham heard no noises from the house during the night. She was out in her yard hanging her weekly wash between 5 a.m. and 6 a.m. She noticed close to 7 a.m. that the house seemed unusually still.

After attempting to wake the Moore family and finding their doors locked, she let out their chickens and checked on the other live stock. Seeing that they were still tied, she called the home of Ross Moore to ask if there was a reason the family may not have come home. After speaking with Jesse Ross, his wife, she then saw Ed Selley, one of Josiah’s employees enter the barn to feed the horses. Shortly after, Ross arrived and found a key to open the door.

According to Peckham, she stayed on the porch while he looked in the kitchen and then opened the door to the downstairs bedroom. After seeing two bodies and blood-stained sheets, Ross immediately returned to the porch where Mary was waiting to inform her that something awful had happened and instructed her to call the sheriff.

Peckham testified that the doors had been locked with a key and no key was in the lock on the inside of the door.

Ed Selley was an employee of Josiah’s at his farm implement dealership . Selley testified that on Monday morning, June 10th , he had opened the store and received a telephone call from Ross, Josiah’s brother.

Ross Moore asked Selley if he knew where Josiah was and he said no. Selley called the elder Moore’s home to see if he had gone to visit his father. Josiah’s mother told him that he had not been there. Selley then received a call from Mary Peckham who asked him if Josiah was at the store , and that the Moore’s livestock needed tending. Selley then left the store and went to the Moore home where he fed the horses. After returning to the store, he received another call telling him to bring the Marshal to the house quickly.

According to Selley’s testimony, Ross and Peckham entered the house before he returned with the Marshal, Hank Horton. When they arrived, they all re-entered together. After seeing blood on the bed in the downstairs bedroom, Selley left the house. While waiting outside, he met by Josiah’s brother, Harry Moore.

When Marshal Horton came out of the house, he said either somebody dead or had been killed in every bed. At that time, the Marshal locked the house and left the keys with Mary Peckham. He went to call for the coroner and the sheriff . Selley returned to the store to call the John Deere head office in Omaha to alert them of the news.

Selley returned to the house with his father after making the call to Omaha but did not re-enter the home. When questioned at the inquest about possible enemies of Joe Moore, Selley admitted that Joe had mentioned a brother-in-law that could have been a threat. “He (Joe) says, I got a brother-in-law that don’t like me. Said he would get even with me some time.” The brother-in-law that Moore was referring to was Sam Moyer. Selley denied having any other information regarding anyone who would have wanted to murder the Moore family and was excused.

Dr. Cooper was the first physician to arrive at the scene of the crime. Cooper testified that he was called to the Moore home at approximately 8:15 a.m. on June 10th. Marshal Horton entered his office and said “Come with me.” When he asked why, Cooper said Horton appeared frightened and said, “Joe Moore and all his family were murdered in bed.” Cooper accompanied Horton to the house and waited outside while Horton retrieved the keys from the Peckhams. When he returned, Cooper, Horton, another doctor named Hough, and the Presbyterian minister, Mr. Ewing, entered the home together.

According to Cooper, the group stepped into the dining room and then into the first-floor bedroom. “All we could see was an arm of someone sticking from under the edge of the cover with the blood on the pillows. I went over and lifted the covers, and saw what I supposed was a body, some entire stranger, and a mere child at the back of the bed. I did not recognize them at all, neither did any of the people, the others then that were with me, and we merely saw that they were dead, and that there were only two in the bed and then we stepped out into the parlor.”

When they reached the top of the stairs, a lamp sat on the floor. Horton moved the lamp out of their way and they continued into the bedroom. “(The) lamp was sitting at the foot of the bed in our way, so Hank set it to one side to allow ups to pass,” Cooper said. “(Marshal Horton) was ahead of me and he walked around to the corner, to the left hand side of the bed and turned the cover back, and said, ‘Here is Joe.’ I merely glanced over there the first time, as I came up and I saw that Mr. and Mrs. Moore were both dead.”

From there, Cooper said he immediately went into the south room, and left the others in the room with parents. “I do not know whether any of them come with me to the south room, but I left plenty of them in the north room, while I went to the south room, then we began to count the children.”

When questioned about the condition of the bodies, Cooper admitted that he did not touch the corpses. “The bedding was pretty stiff at the head, and the blood and the brains on the pillow were,” he paused. “…had contracted, as it does when killed, (it) will dry, so that it was perfect jelly at that time, and blood clots were dry.” He estimated that the victims had been dead for at least five to six hours.

Cooper also testified that he smelled no unusual or antiseptic odor in the house and that it seemed that the faces of the victims had been covered after they were murdered. “I saw no clothes sticking into any of the wounds, in my superficial examinations, neither did I see any clothing that had any holes in it, I mean any of the sheets or pillows, nothing had a hole in it.”

Jessie Moore answered the phone when Peckham called on the morning of June 10th to ask if anything had happened to C.C. Moore, Josiah’s father.

Jessie hung up and called Josiah’s store and spoke with Ed Selley. Selley then called her back to tell her that he could not reach anyone at Josiah’s home, and that he was not at his parents or in-laws, either.

She learned about the murders awhile later when a neighbor came by and told her. She also testified that she entered the home later in the day to retrieve family pictures for the press. When questioned about possible enemies of Josiah’s, Jessie had nothing else to add.

Dr. Williams was the second physician to enter the home, and the first to actually examine the victims.

Williams testified that Ed Selley stopped him on the street the morning of June 10th and told him that a doctor was wanted at the Moore home for an examination there. He went on to say that when he arrived at the house, Dr. Cooper and another party he believed was Marshal Horton were coming out onto the porch.

According to Williams, Dr. Cooper and Horton reentered with him. Williams went on to testify that upon entering the home, he smelled no odor of anesthetic, nothing seemed to be out of place and the faces of the bodies remained covered. When asked to describe the position of the bodies,

Williams went on to say that the bed in Joe and Sarah’s room was facing toward the east with their heads to the west. Joe lay on the south side (or left side) of the bed on his back. His left hand was on his chest, “the faces were all beaten in.” Williams testified that Sarah was lying beside Joe.
In the bedroom to the south, “at the left hand, — east side of the room was a cot, and another bed standing there with a little boy in it, he was sleeping on his stomach, and top of his head was all beaten in, (there) was (a) gauze undershirt on top of his head, soaked up with blood. I lifted that off, lifted it off to see which one it was.” It was Paul Moore.

He then described discovering Katherine. “In the bed, angling at the foot of the bed, southeast corner of the room was another bed with a little girl, and her head was all beaten in, and on the top of her bed was a little dress and it was all blood spattered, and I think it was partly curled up over her head.

Finally, he discovered the older boys, Herman and Arthur. “In the bed to the southwest corner of the room were two little boys lying with both of tops of their heds [heads] beaten in, and blood spattered on everything, and blood over the pillows.”

When he entered the downstairs bedroom, Williams said he saw two girls. “From their appearances one was a big woman and a little girl, and that the girl out to the outside of the bed next to the east side, there were in, — head facing to the north, she had evidently moved after having been struck, or had been moved.”

He continued, “The blood was all scattered over the pillows, apparently she had been struck on the head, squirmed down in the bed, perhaps one-third of the way. The left hand was thrown back, (it) was sticking up below the pillow, and her head was all beaten in. I took particular attention to an ax wound, and that the edge had come out on the forehead, so I could see the sharp edge well in the top and side of the head. (With) the little girl, the back of her head was all beaten in.”

Williams said he did not recognize either of the Stillinger girls. Ina looked familiar, “but she was so mutilated that I wasn’t able to identify her at that time.” He said Lena’s head appeared to be covered with a small boy’s grey coat. He noticed clothing on the floor, including underwear, and that their dresses were hanging on the wall or the foot of the bed, and neither had blood on them.”
When questioned about the possibility of a sexual assault on any of the victims, Williams responded to the negative. “I looked to see if there was any possible, might have been, attempted intercourse, or rape, or something, but I did not notice any.”

After testifying that he found no footprints at the scene, Williams was excused.

Landers was spending the summer at his mother’s home, just a few houses away from the Moore family. He said he went to bed shortly after 9 p.m. on Sunday.

Shortly before he fell asleep, however, he heard a sound that “impressed” him. It sounded like “like one boy hooting for another on the outside somewhere.” According to Landers, the sound occurred at regular intervals but he didn’t connect it with anything and fell asleep shortly thereafter.

When pressed for a time, Landers settled on approximately 11:00 p.m. He further testified that although he didn’t think anything of it at the time, the next morning when he heard about the murders, it occurred to him that the sounds may have been a woman moaning.

The only strangers Landers admitted to seeing near the Moore home that weekend were wallpaper cleaners that had stopped by his mother’s place at approximately 10:15 Saturday night.

Landers could shed no light on what time the Moore’s may have retired for the evening.

Ross testified that at 8:15 am Sunday morning, Mary Peckham, called him to ask about the health of his parents. She had already spoken to his wife. She remained concerned that the Moore house was so unusually quiet. Concerned, Ross said he walked over to Joe’s store and spoke with Ed Selley who also said that Joe hadn’t been in yet and that yes, he too, found that unusual.

According to Ross, he then went over to the house and checked the barn to see if Joe’s (horse) team was still there. He and Peckham tried rapping on the windows and calling for someone, but the blinds were down and prevented him from seeing into the house.

He then used one his keys to open the door. Ross went on to say that he entered the parlor and noted that at first, nothing looked out of place. It wasn’t until he pushed open the door into the room off the parlor that he saw blood on the sheets. He “did not wait long enough to see anything else” and returned outside and told Peckham to call the Marshal.

When questioned further, Ross could shed no light on any possible suspects and excused.

Also called was Fenwick Moore, another of Joe’s brothers, who lived in Red Oak. Fen also testified that he didn’t know much about Joe’s business affairs and had no idea who would have wanted him dead.

Next up was Marshal Hank Horton who spent very little time on the stand. Horton simply confirmed that he was approached by Selley between 8:15 and 8:30 Monday morning and asked to accompany him to the Moore home. Once there he entered the house with Selley.

Upon seeing the bodies, he immediately went to get Dr. Cooper and reentered the house with Cooper and Dr. Hough. Horton confirmed that there were no unusual odors, the blinds were down and the bodies covered. He was then dismissed.

Also called were John Lee Van Gilder, Josiah’s nephew and Harry Moore, his brother. Although Van Gilder admitted that he had spoken to Joe briefly on Sunday afternoon, he could shed no light on the whereabouts of his father. Although Harry was questioned about Moyer and Van Gilder, like his other brothers, he had almo st no knowledge of Joe’s business or personal affairs and didn’t add anything that hadn’t already been testified to.

Blanche was the eldest of the Stillinger children and sister to victims, Ina and Lena Stillinger. Blanche said Josiah Moore had called her home at 6 pm on Sunday night and asked to speak to her mother. When Blanche told him that her mother was outside, he went on to tell her that the girls were going to church with his family and didn’t want to walk back to their grandmother’s home in the dark. He asked if she thought it would be okay if they stayed with the Moore family overnight. Blanche said she told him that she thought it would be okay if they stayed.

After a few other questions regarding her sister’s ages, Blanche was excused and her father, Joseph Stillinger took her place. After questioning Mr. Stillinger about his hired help and whether or not he knew of anyone who could have committed this crime, the coroner asked if he had called the Moore house on Sunday morning. “My wife did, yes.” he answered. When questioned about the time of the call, Stillinger replied, “I remember she phoned about three different times trying to get (someone in) the house, I did not ask her about the particular time, but she expected the children back just before school time.”

After Stillinger’s testimony, Charles Moore was called. Charles, also one of Joe’s brothers, could not identify the ax believed to be the murder weapon as Joe’s, but did admit that Joe kept one in the coal shed. Charles also testified that he believed it was habit for Joe to lock up the house from the inside when they went to sleep.

“I went there several mornings after the team to go in the country, and of course I always went to the dining room in the front and they would not have left that door open, and I would have to wait until someone came and opened the door. Would lock the rest of the house on the inside and lock that door and keep the key in the inside.”