True Crime
March 21, 2018
After the Bombings, Looking Back at Austin’s First Serial Killer
The Midnight Assassin, who terrorized Austin 138 years ago, also targeted minorities first.
The Midnight Assassin, who terrorized Austin 138 years ago, also targeted minorities first.
An exclusive excerpt from The Midnight Assassin: Panic, Scandal, and the Hunt for America's First Serial Killer reveals a forgotten time in Austin history, when a series of brutal, unsolved slayings terrified officials and left them wondering if a madman was on the loose.
In a year-long spree that began in late 1884, Texas’ first serial killer butchered seven women and one man in Austin. More than a century later questions about his identity and his motive remain unanswered.