"Murder leaves the idea of murder hanging in the air."

Recalling the era of the serial killer in South Louisiana

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From 1910–1924, at least three of the nation’s most notorious serial killers roamed the streets and swamps of Louisiana, committing unimaginable acts of brutality, seemingly at random. 

In our 2022 Myths & Legends issue, we’ve taken a closer look at these historic serial killers and their lingering legacies, preserved so sensationally in news articles, investigative research, songs, and the killers’ own confessions. 

One remains nameless. 

One sold his tell-all memoir at his own hanging. 

And one, despite her remarkable confession, may not actually have killed anyone at all.  

All three wrought absolute havoc upon communities across this region, revealing shades of evil we’d prefer to imagine incompatible with the human person.  

And all three of them linger—in generational trauma, in the folklore passed down through the ages, in the way blood stains history, refusing to be scrubbed out.  

Read the stories of the Axeman of New Orleans, Euzebe Vidrine, and Clementine Barnabet in this October issue, here. You can also listen to the writers of these stories discuss their research and process in our True Crime episode of our podcast DETOURS.