September 28 was the night of another double attack. Servant Gracie Vance and her boyfriend, Orange Washington, became the next victims. The couple had overnight guests that evening. Vance’s employer, William Dunham, was jolted awake by screams coming from the yard. He went outside in time to see one of Vance’s guests struggling with a man. He saw Dunham and ran off. Vance’s lifeless body was found soon after. She had been sexually assaulted and beaten to death with a rock. As for Washington, he was hit with an ax and lived for a short time before he died from his injuries (per American Killers).
The end of the ax-murder spree was a holiday slaughter. In two separate attacks, Eula Phillips and Sue Hancock were killed by the Servant Girl Annihilator on Christmas Eve. The women were both killed by an ax, but there was one variation in the MO that day — Culture Map reports that the women were found by their husbands in their respective backyards. Up until the murders of Phillips and Hancock, all of the confirmed victims had been African American, whereas the final two were white. Neither Phillips nor Hancock were servants, making them the only two who were not attacked in servant’s quarters.
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More than 400 men were questioned as suspects in these horrific murders, but they remain unsolved nearly 150 years later. Modern researchers have their theories on who the responsible party(ies) were, but the cases remain officially cold.
If you or anyone you know has been a victim of sexual assault, help is available. Visit the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network website or contact RAINN’s National Helpline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).
