ramonmercado
CyberPunk
- Joined
- Aug 19, 2003
- Messages
- 53,879
- Location
- Eblana
I hadn't heard of this prolific serial killer before.
William Frederick Jahns, better known as Frank Romandorf, or the Maple Falls Monster, was a German-born serial killer who traveled the world, living in Rio de Janeiro, South Africa, Hong Kong, Australia, and Asia Minor before coming to the United States and settling in Maple Falls, Washington sometime during the winter of 1903 or 1904.
It wasn’t long before people started disappearing.
Fred Helms was the first. Hired by Frank in 1905, Fred had some land that Frank coveted, and it wasn’t long before he conveniently vanished. No one saw him after that, and it was years before friends and family learned his fate.
Next was Jack Green, who was hired by Frank and shortly after threatened legal action against his son, Ed Romandorf, claiming Ed pushed him against a saw. Green went as far as to tell the sheriff that he intended to press charges against Ed for attempted murder. He went to talk to Frank about the incident and was never seen again.
In the fall of 1906, Frank Romandorf and his neighbor James Logan disappeared during a severe storm. At first, area residents suspected they’d been killed during the storm, but when they searched Logan’s property and discovered his horse dead from a gunshot, they began to suspect foul play. Soon after, the postmaster received a letter, presumably from Logan, requesting that his mail be forwarded to Hoboken, New Jersey. Then James Logan allegedly sold his Maple Falls farm for five thousand dollars. The impression was that Logan was still alive and living elsewhere. ...
Frank eventually admitted to everything, adding that he had killed many more people in countries from Canada to Africa. South African authorities confirmed this when they identified Romandorf as the suspect who, years earlier, murdered eight men and stole eighty-five thousand dollars worth of diamonds. They knew him as William Jahns and had tracked him to New Orleans before losing the trail. ...
https://crimereads.com/the-monsters-of-maple-falls/
William Frederick Jahns, better known as Frank Romandorf, or the Maple Falls Monster, was a German-born serial killer who traveled the world, living in Rio de Janeiro, South Africa, Hong Kong, Australia, and Asia Minor before coming to the United States and settling in Maple Falls, Washington sometime during the winter of 1903 or 1904.
It wasn’t long before people started disappearing.
Fred Helms was the first. Hired by Frank in 1905, Fred had some land that Frank coveted, and it wasn’t long before he conveniently vanished. No one saw him after that, and it was years before friends and family learned his fate.
Next was Jack Green, who was hired by Frank and shortly after threatened legal action against his son, Ed Romandorf, claiming Ed pushed him against a saw. Green went as far as to tell the sheriff that he intended to press charges against Ed for attempted murder. He went to talk to Frank about the incident and was never seen again.
In the fall of 1906, Frank Romandorf and his neighbor James Logan disappeared during a severe storm. At first, area residents suspected they’d been killed during the storm, but when they searched Logan’s property and discovered his horse dead from a gunshot, they began to suspect foul play. Soon after, the postmaster received a letter, presumably from Logan, requesting that his mail be forwarded to Hoboken, New Jersey. Then James Logan allegedly sold his Maple Falls farm for five thousand dollars. The impression was that Logan was still alive and living elsewhere. ...
Frank eventually admitted to everything, adding that he had killed many more people in countries from Canada to Africa. South African authorities confirmed this when they identified Romandorf as the suspect who, years earlier, murdered eight men and stole eighty-five thousand dollars worth of diamonds. They knew him as William Jahns and had tracked him to New Orleans before losing the trail. ...
https://crimereads.com/the-monsters-of-maple-falls/
