Between December 1884 and December 1885, six women and a twelve year old girl were found murdered in the small city of Austin, Texas, their bodies mutilated by axes, knives, bricks and even iron rods that had been driven into their ears. At the time, the concept of a serial killer was unknown. Clueless police officers and bumbling private detectives initially made arrests of uneducated young black men. But as the murders continued, panic-stricken citizens began to speculate that a diabolical but brilliant "Midnight Assassin" was on the loose: a man driven to destroy one woman after another in almost...