The Servant Girl Annihilator

Between 1884 and 1885, a serial killer terrorized Austin, Texas, murdering eight people — mostly female domestic servants — with an axe in their beds. The crimes predated Jack the Ripper by three years, leading some criminologists to suggest the two cases may be connected. Despite extensive investigation and multiple arrests, no one was ever convicted. The killer's identity remains unknown and the nickname was coined by writer William Sydney Porter, later known as O. Henry.