The Welcome to another episode of American Hauntings, the podcast dedicated to the history,

hauntings, legends, and lore of America's past. The show is hosted by Cody Beck and Troy Taylor

and we are continuing our third season, which we call Murdered in their beds if you're tuning into the podcast for the first time we recommend going back to episode 36 and start the new season from there it It's the first part in this series

and marks the beginning of the transient butcher's

reign of terror in the Midwest of the early 1900s.

Each episode will not only explore the killer's horrific crimes but will

explore the effect that he had on the small railroad towns of the region

especially the town of Valisca, Iowa. So make sure you stay in plain sight and have a good alibi as you get ready for the next installment of murdered in their beds. The You're going to be. In the early weeks of 1916, it became increasingly apparent to Frank Jones that he would have even more trouble with the upcoming Senate election than he'd had in

1912.

It had been four years since the rumor started claiming that Frank was involved in the more

still injure murders.

Since then, things had gotten worse.

Not only were the rumors still going strong but Detective James Wilkerson was telling anyone

who would listen that he was developing serious evidence against Frank.

In 1912, County Attorney William Radcliffe had considered running against Frank for his Senate seat.

Instead, he ran for another two-year term as county attorney.

In 1916, Frank had a seat on the State Board of Education,

leading many to believe that he would not run for the Senate again.

But he wanted to return to the State Capitol. He simply hadn't made the plan public when Ratcliffe announced that he was going to run

The two men were now headed for a nasty fight in the upcoming primary

It turned out to be a short but hostile campaign.

The local newspapers stopped short of endorsing either candidate, but they gave far

...