Midnight Assassin True Crime Walking Tour in Austin

Travelers start outside the Driskill, a grand hotel built by cattleman Jesse Driskill that opened in 1886, the year after the murders. Here they start the audio and hear an introduction to Austin in the 1880s, a fast-growing frontier capital, and to the killer the press called the Midnight Assassin.

This corner was once East Cedar Street, where 11-year-old Mary Ramey was attacked in August 1885. Travelers stand near the site and hear how the attacks were reported at the time and how fear spread across the city. The original buildings are gone, and the area is now part of modern downtown.

One block south, on what was then East Cypress Street, Eliza Shelley was killed in May 1885. Travelers hear how the early victims were mostly Black women working as domestic servants, and how the city’s response was slow until the attacks reached wealthier households.

Cesar Chavez Street was once Water Street. Here, on Christmas Eve 1885, Susan Hancock was attacked in her home, on the same night as another killing across town. Travelers learn how that night set off panic, curfews, and armed patrols in Austin.

Travelers walk north up Congress Avenue toward the Capitol, Austin’s main street then and now. The audio covers the suspects, the arrests, and the theories about the killer, including the speculation, still popular today, that he later became London’s Jack the Ripper.

West 8th Street was once Hickory Street. Eula Phillips was killed near here on Christmas Eve 1885. Travelers hear about the trial that followed and why the case was never solved.

Travelers see one of Austin’s historic Moonlight Towers, built in 1894–1895 and among the few of its kind still standing anywhere. The audio explains the popular legend that the towers were put up because of the murders, and why historians doubt it, since they came about ten years later.

The Capitol was under construction during the murders. Travelers see the building from the grounds and hear how the attacks hurt Austin’s image as a modern state capital. The grounds and building are open to the public.

Travelers finish back on 6th Street, which was Pecan Street in 1884. The first victim, Mollie Smith, was killed further west on this street in December 1884. The audio closes with the open question of who the killer was.