Even if most of Knoxville was no longer interested in the Night Marauder, he did not need to terrorize the whole city to achieve his aims. He really only needed his victims to be terrified. His next attack, however, would revive the city’s attention while also traumatizing the only witness for the rest of herContinue reading “The Purpose of Terror”
Author Archives: Nancy Locklin
The World Goes On
If there was tension in Knoxville after the Night Marauder attacks in May 1921, you couldn’t tell so from the Knoxville Sentinel. As in all good urban papers, every issue included a mix of international, national, and local news alongside advice and pop culture gossip. There was a good amount of farm-related news, acknowledging thatContinue reading “The World Goes On”
Changing the Pattern or Inspiring Copycats?
In preparation for a case in Blount County in 1924, a private investigator attempted to create the definitive list of every Night Marauder attack since 1919. We have alluded to him before, especially when the original reports of an incident did not line up with what witnesses later told the P.I. In some of theseContinue reading “Changing the Pattern or Inspiring Copycats?”
The Lull Between Storms
The situation in Knoxville was getting too hot for the Night Marauder. If the city truly had become, as the papers reported, an “armed camp”, it would explain why three months passed before another attack was attempted. In September, KPD had begun their dragnet of the streets each night and special detachments of night PatrolmenContinue reading “The Lull Between Storms”
Southern Honor Culture: The Backdrop of the Night Marauder Mystery
This post was written by contributor Eleanor Forester (MC’21). The post was edited by N. Locklin. In her study on the culture of violence and homicide in the US South, Pauline Grosjean of the University of New South Wales reported that there is a correlation in regions with a large percentage of Scots Irish ancestryContinue reading “Southern Honor Culture: The Backdrop of the Night Marauder Mystery”
Police Desperate After Triple Event
Exactly six weeks after the intruder accosted Maude Maples and then killed Lula Robinson while assaulting her sister-in-law, the killer struck again. Many elements were the same—it was the early hours of a Tuesday in Knoxville when an intruder entered a home and attempted to assault a sleeping young woman. On September 21, 1920, atContinue reading “Police Desperate After Triple Event”
Profiling the Night Marauder
This post was written by contributor Cooper Lawson (MC’21). The post was edited by N. Locklin. In the 1920s, there lived a monster that brought terror to Knox and Blount Counties at night. This criminal was blamed for a long list of break-ins, sexual assaults, physical assaults, attempted homicides, and homicides that have left hisContinue reading “Profiling the Night Marauder”
Making the List
It should come as no surprise that the defense team for Maurice Mays, facing the death penalty after having been charged with the murder of Bertie Lindsey, pulled out all the stops. The crucial evidence, that the assaults and murders kept happening even as Mays was incarcerated, never made it to the jury’s ears. ThatContinue reading “Making the List”
What Makes a Murderer?
This post was written by contributor Riley Cook (MC’23). The post was edited by N. Locklin. Over 3,000 serial killers have been identified in America since 1900. Approximately 10,000 lives were taken as a result of their actions. There are an estimated thirty serial killers operating every year in the United States. What makes aContinue reading “What Makes a Murderer?”
The Fiend Becomes a Monster
While Elijah McGill faced trial for the murder of his wife, the Night Marauder went on a rampage. Over the course of the summer of 1920, several women in Knoxville were attacked easily as their doors and windows were left open to let in the cool night air. Circumstances, however, would lead the marauder toContinue reading “The Fiend Becomes a Monster”
The Night Marauder Project 