The first suspect was a man named Joseph Momfre that was shot to death in Los Angeles in December 1920 by the widow of Mike Pepitone, the Axeman's last known victim. Mrs Pepitone told the police that Joseph was the man she had seen who had killed her husband, Mike Pepitone. Police found what had been said by Mrs Pepitone seems to fit the evidence found because Joseph had been in and out of the prison and during the Axeman attack, Joseph was free. However, there was no evidence that Joseph was the Axeman. Thus, Mrs Pepitone received 10 years in prison for murdering Joseph Momfre.
A picture of Joseph Mumfre
Another suspect to be identified to be Axeman were Frank Jordano and Lorlando Jordano. They were accused by Mrs Cortimiglia of being the Axeman who had attacked her husband, her baby and herself. However, she then admitted to the police that she had lied because she wanted to get rid of her competitors in business. Thus, Frank and Lorlando Jordano were released from the prison.
Esther copied her mother who killed a man in 1899 whose daughter was a playmate of Jenny Albano, Ester's older sister. The two girls had quarreled, the parents became involved. The man was invited over, then shot in the back of head at close range 4 or 5 times. She claimed he was a Black Hander who hounded and threatened her family and tried to force his way in late at night when she was all alone, so she shot him. Next morning headlines hailed her as a plucky housewife who had stood up to the man.
ReplyDeleteThis is really interesting and I've never found any documentation of this. Do you have any link to docs you could send my way? I'd love to learn more.
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