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”
Category Archives: Local History
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”
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 McGill Murder
One Night Marauder attack stands out not because it ended in a murder, but because it may have inspired one. Mrs. Mary McGill reported an armed intruder on January 21, 1920. She said her husband, Elijah, worked nights and that her unmarried sister-in-law Annie McGill was visiting from Florence, S.C. The home also included aContinue reading “The McGill Murder”
Bertie Lindsey, Maurice Mays, and the events leading up to the Knoxville Race Riot of 1919
This post was written by contributor Shelby Davidson (MC’21) and edited by N. Locklin. It has been split into two parts due to length and the complexity of the topic. Knoxville generally prided itself on being an accepting and nonviolent area, but with the end of World War I, Black soldiers returning to lives whereContinue reading “Bertie Lindsey, Maurice Mays, and the events leading up to the Knoxville Race Riot of 1919”
Overview of the Night Marauder attacks
Between 1919 and 1926, east Tennessee was terrorized by a serial killer dubbed the “Night Marauder” by the press. Up until 1921, his attacks were focused in and around the city of Knoxville. Most attacks followed the same pattern—the intruder would break into a modest home, one that did not have electricity, and approach aContinue reading “Overview of the Night Marauder attacks”
Introduction to the Project
I had recently published a book, Murder, Justice, and Harmony in an Eighteenth-Century French Village (Routledge, 2019) and was pretty excited to talk about it with my students. The regulars, mostly history majors, heard so much about my work and especially how the histories of emotions, of violence, and of murder had opened my eyesContinue reading “Introduction to the Project”
The Night Marauder Project 