At that time, more than two dozen passenger and freight trains stopped at the depot each day and the town sported several hotels, restaurants, stores, theaters, and manufacturers. Within this thriving environment lived Josiah B. Moore, one of Villisca's most prominent businessmen. The owner and operator of the Moore Implement Company (a John Deere Company franchise), he was a solid competitor with other area businesses. On December 6, 1899, Josiah married Sarah Montgomery at the home of her parents and the couple would have four children – Herman, Katherine, Boyd and Paul.

“J.B.”, as Josiah was familiarly called, and his wife, Sarah, were well-liked in the community, active in Presbyterian Church, and described as being friendly and helpful to their neighbors. On Sunday, June 9, 1912, the Moore family as well as the Stillinger family attended church. An annual event was also held Sunday evening called the “Children's Day Program,” which had been coordinated by Sarah Moore. That evening, 9 year-old Katherine Moore invited her friends, 12 year-old Lena Stillinger, and her sister, 7 year-old Ina May for a sleepover. The girls accepted and the after the program ended at 9:30 pm, the Moore family, along with the Stillinger sisters, walked home from the church, arriving about 9:45 and 10:00 pm.

The next morning, Moore's neighbor, Mary Peckham, noticed that the Moores were not outside taking care of their regular chores and that the house was unusually still. Between 7:00 and 8:00 am, she knocked on the door but, received no answer. When she tried to open the door, she found it locked. Concerned, she called Josiah's brother, Ross Moore. When Ross Moore arrived, he knocked loudly on the door and shouted, attempting to raise someone inside the house. He then tried to look through the windows but found all of the curtains drawn or the windows covered. He then produced his keys and entered the house, quickly returning to the front porch and instructing Mary Peckham to call the sheriff.

What he had seen was shocking. The entire Joshiah Moore family had been murdered, as well as the two young overnight guests – all bludgeoned with an axe while they slept. In the upstairs master bedroom lay 43 year-old Josiah Moore and 39 year-old Sara Moore, both bludgeoned in the head, their bed linens stained heavily with blood. In the adjacent upstairs bedrooms, were the Moore children, 11 year-old Herman, 10 year-old Mary Katherine, 7 year-old Boyd, and 5 year-old Paul, who had also been bludgeoned in the head while they slept. In the main level guest room, the bodies of Lena Stillinger, age 12 and her sister Ina, age 8, were also found dead, killed in the same manner as the family.