The Indianapolis Gazette ran the following front-page story on March 19, 1959, which covered several senseless killings at the Creel House.
Transcript[]
3 Dead as Police Probe Deadly Scene Bodies Left Mutilated, Eyeless; Creel Defiant
Local family man, Victor Creel, murdered his wife and two small children Saturday night.
The bodies were discovered early Sunday morning after Creel was found wandering aimlessly along the side of Highway 49, South of Hawkins.
Deputy John Snow from Hawkins Police Department intercepted Creel and made the discovery upon returning him home.
The bodies of three persons have been found inside the home of a 35-year-old Town of Hawkins Roane County family man. Law enforcement officers searching Sundary Morning for signs of foul play found the bodies of Virginia Creel, Edward Creel[1], and Alice Creel strewn about the foyer of the house, six miles from downtown Hawkins.[2]
Sheriff Jack Kaulfield of Roane County and Director Larry Peacefield of the State of Indiana Crime Laboratory kept newsmen from the site Sunday.
Roane County Dist. Atty. Parker Jones said today that Creel had broken his silence that he "might of” killed the victims and admitted to being present when the victims died.
Shortly after 11 o'clock, this morning, Creel was taken from the jails at Hawkins by Jack-
Officers who had been at the scene said these things were among those found at the Creels’ home:
The eyeless, mutilated body of Mrs Creel, "butchered, like you would clean a deer,” according to one law enforcement officer.
The mangled and eyeless bodies of the two young children- Virginia and Edward- laid deflated and bent on the floor of the foyer.
Creel at first told authorities he knew nothing about the things that occurred at his house. He is decribed as 5 feet 10 inches tall, weighing about 158 (?) pounds, with light skin, light brown hair, and “appearing slight and unable to perform basic motor functions”- a condition likely brought on as a result of the psychological consequences of committing the murders, said head psychiatrist at Pennhurst Asylum, Alexis McMurry.
Creel was known around town for his generosity and the Creel Family was regularly seen at Sunday Mass at St. Phillip’s Catholic Church on Sundays.
Which has led many locals to wonder what led Creel to commit such ghastly acts.
A veteran from the second world war, Victor Creel served two tours of duty in Europe and returned home a hero. After moving to-
HOUSE OF HORROR
Here is the house in which the Creels have lived for the past two years where authorities found the remains of Alice, Edward and Virginia Creel – Victor Creel's wife, son and daughter – Early Sunday is what police are calling 'the most grisly act of murder the town of Hawkins has ever seen.'
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Notes[]
↑An Edward Creel is mentioned, rather than Henry Creel - this is almost certainly a production error.
↑The article claims the Creel House is six miles from Downtown Hawkins, which conflicts with what the show otherwise presents.
