Lemoyne Butcher

Overview-
The Lemoyne Butcher was a mass murderer and swamp folk of the Lemoyne swamps in 1908.

Over 125 murders across the Lemoyne and Saint-Denis are attributed to the Lemoyne Butcher, but it is unknown how many where actually done.

Murders began in the spring of 1908, and didn't end until the beginning of fall that year. At the beginning the murders were unconnected, usually determined as animal attacks. but by July the connections where made after several murders were done in precisely the same way. Bounties had been posted offering $500 rewards (and by fall, over $1.000) and bounty hunters were entering the swamps in search.

The Lemoyne butcher was never caught, and bones of lost bounty hunters are still found today.

Mythology-
The Lemoyne butcher caused an uproar in Sant-Denis and surrounding areas.

"People are scared to enter the swamps and an air of uneas fill the streets."-Saint-Denis times August 7th 1908

Modern-day retellings of the story include mystical powers of the Butcher. Such as the ability to vanish into a dark cloud of smoke and the ability to freeze even the most masculine men with fear. While these accounts are more likely than nott, exaggerated at best, it shows the power the Butcher had over the local population.

The Lemoyne Butcher is regarded as one of the most popular tales from the American South.

Skepticism-
Many skeptics have shown issues with the reports of the time. As mass hysteria ensued, many deaths even natural seemed to be placed on the Butcher. Even ones who seemed to have been done by the butcher later that year could have been done by copycats looking for fame.

Even the only photo of the Lemoyne Butcher, despite being widely regarded as real, has been criticized for its lack of evidence.