The Savannah Axe Murders
If you’ve ever taken a tour in Savannah, you may have heard of the Savannah Axe murders of 1909. On December 10, 1909, three women were attacked and stuck with an axe. The crime occurred at 401 W. Perry St. in the downtown district of Savannah, Georgia. That day Eliza Gribble and her daughter Carrie were found dead in their home. Another woman by the name of Maggie Hunter was also found in terrible shape but survived for three days.
Maggie had just moved into the Gribble house the day before, renting a room from Mrs. Gribble. She was found at the front door with her throat slit and her head badly beaten. The news of the horrific crime quickly spread. Crowds of people began rioting, and Savannahians began collecting suspects.
Though in horrible shape, Maggie had somehow survived the injuries for long enough to tell a pastor at the hospital the name of her attacker. JC Hunter was immediately arrested, and so were two other men by the names of Willie Wallace and John Coker. The men swore their innocence, but JC Hunter was found guilty and sentenced to hang.
All along, though, JC Hunter claimed his innocence. On the day before his arranged execution, the judge switched his sentence to life in prison, and on October 27 of 1923, he was pardoned and set free.
The Gribble House
The Gribble House was torn down in 1944. Today, a warehouse sits in its place, which is rumored to be haunted.
Yes. It’s said that Savannah is a city built on its dead with countless ghost stories and haunted buildings.
The Gribble house was torn down in 1944. A warehouse sits on the site today. The current location is 234 Martin Luther King Junior Boulevard.
Want to know more of Savannah’s haunting history? Check out the eerie tale of the Foley House Inn.
Additional Sources:
- Newspaper article “JC Hunter Must Hang” from The Daily Herald June 23rd, 1910.
- Newspaper article “A Revolting Crime.”
- Hidden History of Savannah (affiliate link) by Brenna and TC Michaels.
Music:
- “Keel” by Edward Karl Hanson https://www.epidemicsound.com/track/sYzSHWKQkq/
- “Flow of the River” by Experia https://www.epidemicsound.com/track/L03cjp3iGF/
- Ghostpocalypse – 6 Crossing the Threshold by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
