He Made the Maid Do It.

“The Lord told me to kill them all, and I’m glad I got one of them … Why should I be sorry when the Lord told me do it?”

- Mary Kumziak, maid, on killing her employer and attempting to kill the rest of his family, 1924.

The Polish maid appeared to snap early one morning as the family she worked for slept. At 2:30 am, she walked down to the cellar, grabbed an axe, and tip-toed up to the room of George Davey, her employer. Standing over him, she brought the axe down across his throat, killing him nearly instantly. She struck him five times. He managed a brief shout at the first hit, waking his wife and daughter who slept in an adjacent room. His wife, ill, remained in her bed. His daughter entered the room to see what had happened. Kumziak swung at the daughter, grazing her cheek as she fled for help. Davey’s wife was not so lucky. Kumziak struck her throat, chest, and nearly severed her foot.

Police quickly came and subdued the murdered after a lengthy struggle.

“God told me to kill them and I’m not going to run away,” Kumziak told police.