The Mystery Of Killer James Dunham 1896

James C. Dunham was a mass murderer who killed his family and two of the hired help back on May 26, 1896. His crime is characterized as "Parricide." I have to admit that I had to look that up since I'd never heard of it before. 

One source defines "Parricide" as "the deliberate killing of one's own father and mother, spouse, children, and/or close relative. However, the term is sometimes used more generally to refer to the intentional killing of a near relative. It is an umbrella term that can be used to refer to acts of matricide and patricide."

As for James C. Dunham, his six victims were his wife, Hattie, 25, her mother, Ada McGlincy, 53, her stepfather, Richard P. McGlincy, 56, her brother, James K. Wells, 22, and two of the hired help, Robert Briscoe, 50, and Minnie Shesler, 28. And no, I cannot imagine what that crime scene must have looked like. While Dunham strangled his wife, he shot her mother, her stepfather, her brother, and two of the hired help with a .38 caliber revolver and a .45 caliber pistol before resorting to using an axe.

Newspapers in 1896 called it "The McGlincy Killing" because one of the victims was Colonel Richard P. McGlincy. He was the killer's stepfather-in-law and one of the town's most respected citizens. For the town of Campbell, in Santa Clara County, California, it was a horror that no one could imagine. 

When the Santa Clara County Sheriff was called to the scene a few miles outside of San Jose on the morning of May 27, 1896, they found Col. McGlincy, three of his family members, a domestic worker, and a ranch hand brutally murdered. While the killer's motive has remained a mystery for well over a hundred years, the identification of the killer was known immediately. 

In fact, a Coroner's jury which investigated the murders took only two days to declare the deaths were committed by ''one James C. Dunham, with malice aforethought.''  

As for the killer's whereabouts, there were multiple reports of James Dunham, Col McGlincy's stepson-in-law, seen on horseback escaping into the hills. Of course, besides the mystery of his motive, something that will forever surround what took place, it's said there's also the mystery of why he spared his infant son's life that day. The boy was only 3 weeks old and was found near his wife's body. 

As for the boy, it is said that he was adopted by relatives in San Francisco and given a new name. It is also said that he later inherited his grandmother's estate. As for his father, it was better for the boy that his father never tried to contact his son.

And as for the killer, I'd like to say he was hunted down and tried and hanged. But I can't because this is one of those stories that have the bad guy, the person doing evil, actually never being made to pay for what he did. It's true. We will never know what sort of evil possessed James Dunham to kill his family because though seen on a horse heading into the hills, there is still the mystery of what happened to Dunham. The fact is that he vanished. He was never apprehended, tried, or made to answer for what he did. 

So now, what would bring a person to kill his or her entire family and a couple of hired help? Well, gossip swirled around the small farming community. And yes, there were all sorts of speculation over what triggered him to do such a thing. But really, no one will ever know Dunham's motives. 

And no, not even what was called the most extensive manhunt in the history of Santa Clara County, California, ever paid off. And even though he was well-known in the community, he escaped and was never found. Actually, as large as the posse was that went after him, the only thing they found was the horse that he used -- but no Dunham.

There are some who say he committed suicide. Others say he starved to death. I read an article that tried to say he became a "madman" that stalked those who traveled alone at night in that area. But, even later after people were trying to say that they found his bones -- bones that turned out to be that of a dead cow -- no one knows what ever happened to him. So who knows, maybe one day someone will find his remains. After all, stranger things have happened.

Tom Correa