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William C. Irwin
at his arraignment -
The Des Moines Register -
April 13, 1946 |
We'll never know what William Correll Irwin was thinking on the morning of April 8, 1946 or what voices he may have heard in his head but it's a fact that on that day he used a mattock pickax to brutally murder his 63-year-old mother Mary, his 38-year-old wife (of 17 years) Edith and two of his three sons, John, aged 7, and Henry, aged 4.
The weapon had a 6 foot long handle and the blade measured 12 to 14 inches.
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Des Moines Tribune -
April 8, 1946
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Eldest son Billy, aged 11, had the good fortune to have left the house earlier in the morning to attend a special concert performance given by the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra at the Shrine Auditorium for Des Moines school children or he most likely would have met the same fate.
William Irwin must have felt himself slipping into madness because only 4 days earlier (April 4th), citing a "nervous condition," he'd requested an indefinite leave of absence from his job as a linotype operator at The Des Moines Register and Tribune company. William had been working there since November 6, 1938.
According to family members, William had been unnerved by a near accident about a week before. He had been preparing to board a city bus and a passing automobile drove so close to him that he was forced to jump on the car's running board to avoid being mowed down. Now continually nervous, William would tell people "My time has come."
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family photo -
reprinted from
The Waterloo Daily Courier -
April 8, 1946
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One day before slaughtering 4 members of his family, William was acting so irrationally that Edith phoned her in-laws. Brother James and mother Mary came over to talk to William and urged him to seek help. James would later say William was "talking out of his mind and was extremely nervous but (he) definitely was not violent." This family intervention lasted until 3 AM with William taking a break around midnight. He went for a walk to clear his head; it was later revealed William had returned to the typesetting room at his job where he spent an hour chatting with coworkers.
The family was right to worry about William. He had previously suffered a nervous breakdown, in March 1937, while working in Chicago and had spent 2 months in an asylum. The treatment had done him a world of good, or so it seemed. Perhaps all he needed was another sabbatical.
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Des Moines Register -
April 9, 1946 |
James returned to his own home convinced that his now-slumbering brother posed no threat to the family and everyone was relieved that William had agreed to see a psychiatrist of James' choosing. William's mother Mary was less sure about her son's mental state so she slept over.
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Des Moines Register -
April 9, 1946 |
The following morning Mary was helping William get the garden ready for the spring plantings. The Irwins' neighbor, a Mr. H.W. Lane, stopped over at 7:30 AM and he would later tell police that William seemed fine. "He was joking and seemed very pleasant." William introduced his mother to Mr. Lane and had promised to bring over some of his home-grown rhubarb.
At 8 AM, James received an urgent phone call from Edith. "Bill wants to see a doctor right away. He says 'I know I'm sick.'"
At 8:15 AM, William walked over to the Lane household with the rhubarb. Mrs. Lane would recall that "he seemed all right at the time."
Within a half hour of this visit, Mrs. Lane's nephew Loring Larsen was likewise working in his family's yard when he heard screaming coming from the Irwin house. He ran over to see what the trouble was. The bodies of Mary, Edith and 4-year-old Henry were already sprawled out on the lawn. William brandished the pickax, told Larsen to "get the hell out of here" then delivered a deadly blow to the head of his 7-year-old son John. William retreated into his house, grabbed a shotgun and a box of shells. William shot the family's Irish Setter and waited on the porch for the police to come, as he knew they would.
Mrs. Lane was frantically trying to contact the police but she had trouble getting through because her party line was busy. Imagine her terror and frustration as she could clearly hear the children yelling "Daddy, don't." Police logged the call in at 8:42 AM. Mrs. Lane reported Irwin had killed his wife and was chasing the others around the yard trying to kill them too. Mrs. Lane, unable to think of the Irwin's address gave police her own address instead.
(Follow along with the map)
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Google Maps used to
pinpoint key locations |
As Officers William Thacker and Ed McCarthy responded to 103 Kirkwood Avenue they drove south on Union Street and passed the Irwin household. When they were within range, William fired five shotgun rounds at the squad car, hitting the left front windshield and door. Twenty shotgun pellets were imbedded in the vehicle but neither officer was injured. They abandoned the car and took refuge behind an vacant store on the corner of Union and Kirkwood, directly across from the Irwin house.
Five-year-old Geraldine Nelson was on her way to Washington School at that moment and had the misfortune of getting caught in the crossfire. William Irwin was shooting at the police but he hit Geraldine in the abdomen. Despite the injury, Geraldine ran home.
Officer McCarthy returned fire with his own shotgun but it was Officer Thacker, armed with a .44 caliber handgun, who managed to hit Irwin once in the right leg, above the knee. Now wounded, Irwin ran towards the back of his house. McCarthy and Thacker pursued and Irwin stopped. He threw down his weapon and begged them to kill him. It was then that Irwin recognized Thacker, a friend for more than 20 years, and he apologized to Thacker for shooting at him. "If I'd known it was you I wouldn't have shot."
All of the injured and dead were transported to Broadlawns General Hospital. John and Henry died en route. Mary and Edith were already dead. Cause of death for all four were "punctured craniums."
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Des Moines Register -
April 9, 1946 |
Fortunately, the wound to Geraldine Nelson was not too serious (perhaps her heavy coat saved her) and she was giving interviews to the press the next day. Geraldine seemed most understanding and commented that "he was shooting at the police. He didn't mean to shoot me."
The wound to William's leg was not life-threatening either but it would be a long time in healing.
William was placed in a padded cell, nude except for his bandages and a strait jacket. He complained that he had missed breakfast and was hungry.
When eldest son Billy returned home from what might have been a fun day out with classmates he learned that his mother, grandmother and 2 brothers were all dead and his father was responsible.
Once in custody, William had moments of clarity when realized what he had done and he would weep uncontrollably but there were just as many hours spent staring off into space, jumping up and down or laughing his head off.
When Detective Chief Paul Castelline asked William why had killed his family he told them he "had an impulse. God told me to kill my family. Now I've done everything in the book." Castelline asked William if he was crazy and the response was "I must be. Don't what I done prove it?"
On April 10, 1946, all four of the Irwins were laid to rest in a single ceremony. They were buried in the Laurel Hill Cemetery located in southeast Des Moines. Billy Irwin was staying with his paternal grandfather, the equally affected Valter Irwin.
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| Des Moines Register - April 12, 1946 |
Neighbors remained stunned by this violence. The Irwins were a good, solid, loving family and their home was quiet and well cared for. According to the Des Moines Register, "William had won the admiration of the entire block for his solicitude in caring for his wife during a long illness some time ago." While I'm not sure what this "illness" is, William and Edith had both suffered when their daughter Sharon died on June 10, 1939; she was only 8-years-old. The death certificate lists the principal cause of death as pneumonia but it also indicates Sharon had measles, strep and a congenital heart disease.
At his arraignment on April 13, 1946, William Irwin, still wearing the strait-jacket, appeared completely detached. According to The Des Moines Register, Irwin "seemed to give no indication that he either understood the proceedings or realized the extent of this crimes. Once or twice, his head thrown back, he laughed out loud, even though nobody had spoken to him."
Since William's sanity was most certain in question, the district attorney's office only charged him with the first degree murder of his wife. More charges would follow, if necessary. Irwin offered no plea and his court-appointed attorney Ted Haines, as per William's desire, asked that his client be confined to the Anamosa Reformatory's Insane Ward until the case came to trial.
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Des Moines Tribune -
April 8, 1946
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At the Grand Jury hearing, Police Officer George Cessna testified that Irwin had said he was in the front garden with his mother
when the woman pointed to a bush and asked that William look at it to. William felt that his mother was insinuating that he was as yellow as that bush and it was then that he had an overwhelming desire to kill her but it passed and he went back to his hoeing. A moment or two later the "voice of God or Jesus told me to kill her."
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Des Moines Tribune -
April 8, 1946 |
Cessna also testified that Irwin said "women were more or less to blame for the evils and conditions of the world today." Irwin had further explained that he killed his sons "so that he could raise them the way he wanted to."
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Des Moines Tribune -
May 16, 1946 |
If that latter line of thinking sounds crazy, it's because Irwin was crazy. On May 15, 1946, William Irwin was declared insane and a danger to society. He was to be held in the Anamosa Reformatory's Insane Ward "until he becomes sane."
That day never came. On November 13, 1949, William Correll Irwin wrapped one end his shirt around his neck, the other around a cell bar and he hanged himself. He was 45-years-old. He is also buried in the Laurel Hill Cemetery.
The surviving member of the family, Billy graduated high school, enlisted in the Air Force and is, I believe, still alive.
