New ownership for Villisca Axe Murder House

The Villisca Axe Murder House is under new ownership, but much remains the same.
In January, prior owner Martha Linn sold the home to U.S. Ghost Adventures, an organization which also owns such historic locations as the Lizzie Borden House in Fall River, Mass.
The house has two tour guides, Iowans Johnny Houser and Emily Campbell, who was born and raised in Villisca. Houser is a long-time associate of the house, having started working with prior owner Darwin Linn who purchased the home in 1994. When Darwin passed in July, 2011, Houser worked for Martha and remains as a guide under the new ownership. Houser said it was a mutually beneficial arrangement.
“Lance Zaal, who owns U.S. Ghost Adventures, would come down and go out to dinner with Martha. They just struck up a friendship. He was close with his grandma. I think Martha reminded him of his grandma. He’d visit, and then one day in October of last year he made her an offer to buy the property. She decided it was time for her to retire and spend time with her grandchildren and stuff like that. In January, he took over,” Houser explained.
At the time of the sale, Houser said a lot of people were worried about changes to the house, but he said that wasn’t really the case.
“The changes that were made were good, because we used to have all kinds of period items in the house that people would leave, and we thought, yeah, it’s kind of neat, they’re gifts. But then you walk in, and there’s a room full of dollar store bouncy balls and toys, and it just kind of took away from what it is, so we wanted to get all the modern stuff out and just keep it time period, guides wearing period attire, and create an atmosphere where you walk back in time,” commented Houser. “We do have a bit of modern stuff. We finally have a cash register that can accept cards. We used a shoebox for transactions for about two decades. I was glad for that change, because not everyone carries cash all the time.”
Another change is the hours of operation. Houser said the hpuse used to be open from March until the first of November.
“We were trying to do tours in about three hours under our prior time frame. When you had 180 people waiting, and you could only tour with about 15 people at a time, you were doing 15 minute tours. There would be people that came at one that wouldn’t get a tour, so I suggested longer hours. We’re now open year round, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., and on weekends from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. And you’d be surprised, we’ve had people who have booked overnight stays in January, even when the weather was 20 degrees, so the new hours have been popular,” stated Houser.
The house is also available for overnight stays on most nights other than major holidays such as Thanksgiving or Christmas.
Houser said he was drawn to the opportunity to work at the house and with Darwin Linn because of a fascination with history and true crime.
“I’m not one of these true crime guys that think killers are cool. It’s sad that there’s a group of people that think that. For me, it’s human behavior. What made Ed Gein decide to do what he did? Or Jeffrey Dahmer? That started when I was in fifth grade, I read a book called “A Child Called It.” This David Peltzer, horribly abused as a kid. It’s a true story. And I put that book down, and I’m like, this guy didn’t kill a bunch of people. If anyone had the reason to, this poor kid did, and he’s fine. So what makes people do that? What’s the tip? Is it mental illness? Is it upbringing? Is it abuse? Is it all of that? But then, Ted Bundy had a great childhood, great parents. Why did he? So human behavior really interests me in history. I’ve been to Gettysburg, Salem, Plantations, Trail of Tears, Alamo, Mount Rushmore. It’s all surrounded by terrible tragedy. All of history is built on tragedy. Hitchcock House, Underground Railroad. But you’ve got tp remember this stuff. You’ve got to remember history, even if it’s unpleasant to talk about, or we’re going to repeat it,” Houser advised. “That’s what got me involved, just love of history, love of true crime, and this story, six little kids lost their life, and you just don’t mess with little kids, ever, you know, but they didn’t have the chance to laugh and play and fall in love and have their own kids, like, they were robbed of basic human happiness, and that’s what’s kept me here this whole time, is like, they need to be kept alive in story, if anything, and I was shocked at how many people didn’t know the real story.”
While in recent years, the house has become a regular location of choice for paranormal investigators, Houser said that wasn’t Linn’s intent.
“When I came, there was no ghost stuff happening, and then people asked to stay the night, and Darwin asked why? Paranormal investigating. He asked me, what in the world’s a paranormal? He agreed to let them start coming, I asked him why he said yes. He told me that when you get old, sometimes it’s just more fun to say yes, and he let some people come investigate, and that night, half the town was in the yard, and they’re wondering what’s going on, what are they doing. In a weird way, it brought the town together to this place, and that’s what started the overnights, then here come all the TV shows, and all this stuff, and it just exploded into what it is,” Houser stated.
Also, Houser made it clear that while the house is under new ownership, it is not being advertised as a haunted house attraction.
“First and foremost, it’s a historic landmark. Half of our crowds are true crime enthusiasts, history buffs, ghost hunting people. You know, it’s just a mix of everything. And most of the ghost hunting people have lost someone in their life, and they’re just looking for some glimpse of something. We had a guy here lost his grandma, and he’s been searching. He’s heartbroken, sad, looking for a glimpse of something to prove there’s an afterlife. And he’s just on his own quest to do that. I hosted a group of Girl Scouts getting their forensics badges down here. We’ve gotten forensics groups, Supreme Court judges, law enforcement classes, that’ll come and look at the weird crime scene and try and analyze why the killer covered the mirrors and why the killer did this and why they did that,” said Houser.
As for Campbell, she shared what drew her to being a guide for the house.
“I have lived in town basically my whole life. I, after graduation, I moved up to Council Bluffs, Omaha area, and I went to culinary school. Then I had my daughter last year, ended up moving back to town, and I knew I didn’t want to work as a cook anymore. I was just like going to stay at home with my baby for a while, but then I got  bored. And so I started working and that’s where I ended up meeting Johnny. And this was kind of like when the transition was getting ready to start. It would have been last October. He was originally looking for a housekeeper, and eventually it turned into me asking him a million questions. The more time I spent at the house, I just got more and more interested and obsessed with the case. Eventually it turned into me being a full-time tour guide, which I love. I’ve lived here my whole life, but now I’m grown up and I can appreciate the town’s history a lot more. There’s nowhere else I would want to like raise my daughter. I love my job. I love the community,” Campbell said.
Houser praised Campbell, saying she’s been a blessing because of how passionate she is about the home’s history.
“I found somebody that’s so passionate about the story and I’ll listen to her do tours, and I’m like, oh, I forgot about that. I didn’t know that, you know? So she’s been awesome, for sure,” Houser commented.
To take a tour of the home, the cost is $20 per person. As for an overnight stay, Houser said the rates vary depending on if the group is staying in one room or wishes to have the entire home to themselves for the night. For colder months, overnight visitors are encouraged to bring a coat, as the home has no modern plumbing, and the bathroom is in a building adjoining the house.
In addition to the house, Houser and Campbell are available to give tours of the cemetery or some of the locations the Moore family visited on that fateful night. Also, there is some new merchandise for visitors to check out.
“Darwin wanted merchandise, he just couldn’t afford it. Martha came in and looked, and she’s said, Darwin would have loved this, he would have loved to have that, and he would have loved this. So the changes that have happened have all been positive. And I know Darwin would have appreciated it. There’s been modern things, but it’s just for our convenience and your convenience. The house and the history, it’s still the same,” Houser advised.
Campbell said she and Houser have put lots of effort into the house to respect the Moore family
“People that came here 10 years ago are talking about how it looks different, but it’s still same story, everything like that. We’ve put up wallpaper now. It’s different, but it’s also accurate. That’s what was there when it happened. I do believe these are all things that Darwin wanted to do, to make it look exactly how it did when the family lived here, when they walked in, not saying like everything, when they walked in. Also, we want to let people know that as tragic as it is, we’re not glorifying the tragedy. We don’t include ghost information on the tours. Our main intention is to honor my hometown’s history, the history of the Moores, their story, their house, things like that. I would love for more local people to come here and just educate themselves about what happened here. Take the tour, see what it’s all about,” explained Campbell.
For more information or to book a tour, visit murderhouse.com/?fbclid=IwY2xjawFz0SpleHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHd_ecIw5zNQvy_lZ6dvvmQr5FXOXMQ3Jeny4MUFl4gLE6txuRzi2QQ0XZA_aem_qf44-zAZzlukYFopaSpolw, or usghostadventures.com. The facebook page for the home is facebook.com/VilliscaAxeMHouse.