Professor Emeritus Ed Epperly to give Luther Emeriti Colloquium on Sept. 13

Professor Emeritus Ed Epperly to give Luther Emeriti Colloquium Sept. 13

On June 10, 1912, in the town of Villisca, Iowa, eight residents, including two parents, their four children and two youth visitors, were enigmatically slaughtered. Luther College Professor Emeritus and Villisca historian Edgar Epperly will present a lecture based on the early investigation of the 1912 Villisca axe murders at the emeriti colloquium at 3 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 13, in the Mott Room in Luther’s Dahl Centennial Union.

These events preceded the establishment of the Bureau of Criminal Investigation. One of the key historical consultants on the entire decade of legal trials and investigations, Epperly will share information based on more than 60 years of research.

Following the slaughter of the Moore family and two child houseguests, no convictions were made through the investigation and trials in the subsequent decade. Epperly first explored Villisca during his college years in 1955 and interacted with Dr. Clark Cooper, the physician from the investigation. Epperly soon dove into his research of the archives of Villisca after noticing the significant impact of the murders on the townspeople for several years to follow. Since Epperly’s retirement from Luther in 2000, he consulted for the award-winning documentary “Villisca: Living with a Mystery” in 2004.

A national liberal arts college with an enrollment of 2,050, Luther offers an academic curriculum that leads to the Bachelor of Arts degree in more than 60 majors and pre-professional programs. For more information about Luther visit the college’s website: http://www.luther.edu.