[Unresolved Murder] The Hill Ax Murders of Ardenwald - 1911
Dec 1, 2019 23:33:50 GMT
wanton87 likes this
Post by hi224 on Dec 1, 2019 23:33:50 GMT
The Hill family were brutally axed to death in June of 1911 in the suburb (now neighborhood) of Ardenwald.
The victims:
William Hill -34 - worked as a pipe fitter for the Portland Gas Company. His family were originally from Minnesota but relocated to Snohomish county which is presumably where he met Ruth when she worked as a milliner. By his neighbor's accounts he was a hard worker who kept to himself.
Ruth Hill - 33 - (née Cowing) previously married to a newspaper man who relocated to Salt Lake City. She was a former society girl that had purchased a plot in the new development. Her father and brother were both prominent lawyers in Portland. The day of the murder she had gone to consult with her father and seemed upset.
Philip Rintoul - 9 - Ruth's oldest child from her first marriage to James Philip Rintoul
Dorothy Rintoul - 4 - Ruth's daughter from her first marriage
On the night of June 9th, 1911 all members if the Hill/Rintoul family were killed. According to a neighbor account of when his dog barked it happened around midnight. They were all bludgeoned to death with an ax taken from a different neighbor. All accounts say Dorothy Rintoul was sexually assaulted and others say both her and her mother. Whether or not Ruth was sexually assaulted her body was lain on top of her husband's, face up, by the killer.
The family were living in a temporary cabin on the land that only had two rooms. A common living space which included a kitchen and living room and a bedroom where the adults slept. The killer hung clothes over the windows and used the basin in the kitchen area to clean up. Before that he left bloody hand prints on Dorothy's body.
They were discovered the morning of June 10th by a neighbor who realized she hadn't seen William leave for work that morning.
The location:
Ardenwald was a land claim that had only just started selling off plats. They did have neighbors, the most notable being Nathan Harvey, his wife Ida and two children Corwin and Mary. The Harvey family owned a large nursery adjacent to the Hill property. (The Harvey nursery was located on present day Harvey Street in Milwaukie, Oregon.)
Ardenwald also had its own tram stop that William used for his commute.
Their property was also adjacent to Johnson Creek and Scot's Woods. Scot's Woods is no more but Johnson Creek is still a wetlands area. In 1911 it would have been heavily forested.
The investigation:
The case was investigated by a recently elected Milwaukie sheriff named Mass and a well known private investigator named LL Levings. Later a self proclaimed criminologist named George Thatcher would insert himself with his own theories.
They questioned all the neighbors but they never got a description of any suspicious persons in the area besides the usual. They brought out bloodhounds who just ran in a circle around the property. They did eventually come up with some suspects.
The suspects:
Richard Holmberg
At first two young transients claimed someone who was reportedly holding them hostage as sex slaves was the culprit. They had made camp near the house and could point out some details to the investigators but their theory was later debunked after a police officer at the local jail overheard them trying to keep their stories straight. The boys were locked up on unrelated charges and their alleged captor was captured himself in The Dalles.
Frederick Alexander/Edward Ramsey
A "jungle man" who lured children to his camp, he was Thatcher's favorite suspect. (Jungle man, I'm pretty sure, refers to someone who lives in the forest and isn't a racial comparison or epithet)
William Riggin
Confessed in 1918 but was later found to be mentally incompetent so his admissions weren't credible to law enforcement
Nathan Harvey:
Nathan Harvey was the suspect that was taken to trial in a different county in 1912 for the murders. It was reported he had argued with at least William and possibly Ruth Hill recently about property boundaries. Nathan's family also had a history of violence where his brother killed his mother and drowned himself in the Willamette river. There was also a different murder on his property in the nursery area of Mamie Welch by Charles Wilson.
He was eventually found not guilty of the murders. And Ruth's brother wasn't charged with "accidentally" shooting him.
I think it's worth mentioning that while he doesn't appear in any of the reports of the time Nathan's son Corwin ended up having issues with pedophilia and statutory rape later on, even doing time in Oregon and California. But his preferences tended towards older boys according to his criminal records.
The accepted theory is the murder was executed by Nathan Harvey but they were unable to convict for whatever reason. Any trial records have not been digitized so I haven't been able to find out much about what went on.
The Harvey family had influence at the time but so did the Cowings. Portland was also a deeply corrupt place where a vice report produced by Levings claimed there were only 5 reputable hotels in the entire city. The rest of it was full of prostitutes, drunks, sailors and drunken sailors. It's entirely probable that juries could have been bought. Harvey did try and sue one of the Portland papers for their coverage of the trial but was unsuccessful.
Misc:
There were some confessions that came in the form of notes in bottles found on the banks of the Willamette river but they were disregarded as a likely hoax.
Other theories:
This case has shown up alongside the Villisca ax murders and others related to the killer on the train. But there's one important part of the MO that doesn't appear in the Ardenwald case and there's no indication of sexual assault on young girls in the train murders.
Since the murders were more than 100 years ago it's unlikely they will ever be solved. But I do have a little bit of hope that there's a family legend about a black sheep that might connect the dots.
Getting the axe
The man from the train
Murder & Mayem in Portland, Oregon
Why Some Men Kill: or Murder Mysteries Revealed
Oregon Daily Journal unfortunately glitching really annoyingly right now so I can't directly link to the issues. Suffice to say it was the talk of Oregon in June 1911.
Coverage of the Nathan Harvey arrest
A report on Portland by LL Levings in 1913
State v Harvey Corwin
Edit:
Clippings from the Oregonian regarding the murder, Nathan Harvey trial, tale of the boys, mentions of society appearances by Ruth etc
The victims:
William Hill -34 - worked as a pipe fitter for the Portland Gas Company. His family were originally from Minnesota but relocated to Snohomish county which is presumably where he met Ruth when she worked as a milliner. By his neighbor's accounts he was a hard worker who kept to himself.
Ruth Hill - 33 - (née Cowing) previously married to a newspaper man who relocated to Salt Lake City. She was a former society girl that had purchased a plot in the new development. Her father and brother were both prominent lawyers in Portland. The day of the murder she had gone to consult with her father and seemed upset.
Philip Rintoul - 9 - Ruth's oldest child from her first marriage to James Philip Rintoul
Dorothy Rintoul - 4 - Ruth's daughter from her first marriage
On the night of June 9th, 1911 all members if the Hill/Rintoul family were killed. According to a neighbor account of when his dog barked it happened around midnight. They were all bludgeoned to death with an ax taken from a different neighbor. All accounts say Dorothy Rintoul was sexually assaulted and others say both her and her mother. Whether or not Ruth was sexually assaulted her body was lain on top of her husband's, face up, by the killer.
The family were living in a temporary cabin on the land that only had two rooms. A common living space which included a kitchen and living room and a bedroom where the adults slept. The killer hung clothes over the windows and used the basin in the kitchen area to clean up. Before that he left bloody hand prints on Dorothy's body.
They were discovered the morning of June 10th by a neighbor who realized she hadn't seen William leave for work that morning.
The location:
Ardenwald was a land claim that had only just started selling off plats. They did have neighbors, the most notable being Nathan Harvey, his wife Ida and two children Corwin and Mary. The Harvey family owned a large nursery adjacent to the Hill property. (The Harvey nursery was located on present day Harvey Street in Milwaukie, Oregon.)
Ardenwald also had its own tram stop that William used for his commute.
Their property was also adjacent to Johnson Creek and Scot's Woods. Scot's Woods is no more but Johnson Creek is still a wetlands area. In 1911 it would have been heavily forested.
The investigation:
The case was investigated by a recently elected Milwaukie sheriff named Mass and a well known private investigator named LL Levings. Later a self proclaimed criminologist named George Thatcher would insert himself with his own theories.
They questioned all the neighbors but they never got a description of any suspicious persons in the area besides the usual. They brought out bloodhounds who just ran in a circle around the property. They did eventually come up with some suspects.
The suspects:
Richard Holmberg
At first two young transients claimed someone who was reportedly holding them hostage as sex slaves was the culprit. They had made camp near the house and could point out some details to the investigators but their theory was later debunked after a police officer at the local jail overheard them trying to keep their stories straight. The boys were locked up on unrelated charges and their alleged captor was captured himself in The Dalles.
Frederick Alexander/Edward Ramsey
A "jungle man" who lured children to his camp, he was Thatcher's favorite suspect. (Jungle man, I'm pretty sure, refers to someone who lives in the forest and isn't a racial comparison or epithet)
William Riggin
Confessed in 1918 but was later found to be mentally incompetent so his admissions weren't credible to law enforcement
Nathan Harvey:
Nathan Harvey was the suspect that was taken to trial in a different county in 1912 for the murders. It was reported he had argued with at least William and possibly Ruth Hill recently about property boundaries. Nathan's family also had a history of violence where his brother killed his mother and drowned himself in the Willamette river. There was also a different murder on his property in the nursery area of Mamie Welch by Charles Wilson.
He was eventually found not guilty of the murders. And Ruth's brother wasn't charged with "accidentally" shooting him.
I think it's worth mentioning that while he doesn't appear in any of the reports of the time Nathan's son Corwin ended up having issues with pedophilia and statutory rape later on, even doing time in Oregon and California. But his preferences tended towards older boys according to his criminal records.
The accepted theory is the murder was executed by Nathan Harvey but they were unable to convict for whatever reason. Any trial records have not been digitized so I haven't been able to find out much about what went on.
The Harvey family had influence at the time but so did the Cowings. Portland was also a deeply corrupt place where a vice report produced by Levings claimed there were only 5 reputable hotels in the entire city. The rest of it was full of prostitutes, drunks, sailors and drunken sailors. It's entirely probable that juries could have been bought. Harvey did try and sue one of the Portland papers for their coverage of the trial but was unsuccessful.
Misc:
There were some confessions that came in the form of notes in bottles found on the banks of the Willamette river but they were disregarded as a likely hoax.
Other theories:
This case has shown up alongside the Villisca ax murders and others related to the killer on the train. But there's one important part of the MO that doesn't appear in the Ardenwald case and there's no indication of sexual assault on young girls in the train murders.
Since the murders were more than 100 years ago it's unlikely they will ever be solved. But I do have a little bit of hope that there's a family legend about a black sheep that might connect the dots.
Getting the axe
The man from the train
Murder & Mayem in Portland, Oregon
Why Some Men Kill: or Murder Mysteries Revealed
Oregon Daily Journal unfortunately glitching really annoyingly right now so I can't directly link to the issues. Suffice to say it was the talk of Oregon in June 1911.
Coverage of the Nathan Harvey arrest
A report on Portland by LL Levings in 1913
State v Harvey Corwin
Edit:
Clippings from the Oregonian regarding the murder, Nathan Harvey trial, tale of the boys, mentions of society appearances by Ruth etc