Mississippi Axe Murders: Tragedy in Water Valley

A Notorious Double Murder Revisited

Οn May 5, 1931, Callie Wiggins rose from her bed, dressed, and--as she had done many times before--headed to 323 Wagner Street in Water Valley to the home of her employers, W.B. and Mamie Wagner. She was planning to cook them a hearty breakfast, but when she entered the house, she found the usually pristine interior in shambles. The smell of blood hung heavy in the air. Then she saw the hardwood floors streaked with gore. When police arrived, they ventured into the carnage to find bloody footprints, signs of an attempted cleanup, and, in the dining room, an axe covered in blood, hair, and bone. Author Mark Neaves revisits the notorious and grisly murders of the richest and most influential couple in a small Mississippi town.