They discovered the 19-year-old lying unconscious on her bed, suffering from a severe head injury and missing several teeth. He was charged with murder, and served nine months in prison before being acquitted on May 1, 1919, after a ten-minute jury deliberation.

They didn't fit neatly into the "white or black" categories and were willing to do jobs that whites weren't. The assailant was fleeing the scene as they arrived, yet the girls were able to distinguish that he was a dark-skinned, heavy-set man, who wore a dark suit and slouched hat.I shall leave no clue except my bloody axe, besmeared with blood and brains of he whom I have sent below to keep me company. The Mobster’s Lament’ was featured as one of the ‘Books of the Year’ by both The Times and The i newspapers, and was also The Times’ Book of the Month. Nothing had been taken from the home, yet, once again, a panel on the back door of the home had been chiseled away.

The Axeman’s fondness for writing to the press about his exploits earned him another name, “America’s own Bayou Jack the Ripper. Wild speculation ensued with everyone from demons in hell to the Italian mafia being suspected of the crimes. The windows and doors of the apartment appear to have not been forced open, and authorities came to the conclusion that the woman was most likely attacked with a lamp that had been on a nearby table. After the truth of her marital status was revealed publicly, Lowe told reporters from the Times-Picayune that she would no longer aid the police in their investigation, as she suspected that it had been Chief Mooney who first informed the press of the scandal.Steve Boca, a grocer, was attacked in his bedroom as he slept by an axe-wielding intruder on August 10, 1919. The Times-Picayune sensationalized Lowe and her outspoken nature upon discovering that she was not the wife of Besumer, but his mistress.