An attempt to find out the details of the mysterious murder of an American family almost ended fatally for a forensic enthusiast. At about one in the morning, while in a mysterious house, supposedly inhabited by ghosts, a man stabbed himself in the chest with a sharp object for no apparent reason.
The 37-year-old ghost hunter, Robert Laursen, decided to spend the night in the most mysterious house in Willisca, Iowa, to try to figure out the details of a shocking crime a century ago.
In 1912, an unknown man, armed with an ax, crept into the house and hacked to death a family of eight - a married couple and six children. The killer was never found. Since then, according to eyewitnesses, the house has experienced repeated paranormal activity, and the infamous Ax Murder House has become a tourist attraction in the city.
Paranormal researcher Robert Lorsen decided that he could shed light on the gruesome murder by spending the night in the house and trying to establish contact with the spirits of the deceased family.
On the night of Friday, November 8, 2014, after midnight, the man was taken to a local hospital with a severe chest wound.
Surgeons have established that Lorsen struck himself with an unknown sharp object. The motive of the act has not yet been clarified. In which part of the house he was at the time of the incident is also unknown. The ghost hunter allegedly had two companions, but their identities are still a mystery to the police.
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Lorsen, who hails from Rhinelander himself, has been sent to Creighton University Medical Center, where doctors are fighting for his life.
The house is a real attraction for tourists. It was brought to the state of 1912, and therefore there is no plumbing or electricity in it. It is now on the National Register of Historic Places.
The news of the incident shocked the owner of the house, 77-year-old Martha Linn.
“I experienced a real shock when I was woken up in the middle of the night and told that someone in the house almost committed suicide,” Martha shared her feelings with the Omaha World-Herald newspaper. "I can't imagine why anyone would do this to themselves."
The house is regularly visited by crime enthusiasts in an attempt to find at least some clue, but nothing like this has happened in 20 years.