Mystery of the Murdered Evangelist, Detroit: 1929

There was a house on St. Aubin Street in Detroit that was the scene of cult murders and has been deemed a haunted area ever since. The crimes are true which have led to the belief that the neighborhood plot is haunted.

Over the years the exact location of the house has been stated as 3610 St. Aubin Street and has since been torn down. It was indeed a creepy looking house, and there are some images you can see for yourself at the end of this article.

While the house was still standing, witnesses reported seeing a headless man through the top floor windows and hearing sounds of screaming for help, groans, and moaning.

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THE STORY:
Benny Evangelista fancied himself as a cult leader, claiming he could use his mystic powers to heal afflictions. Believing he was a prophet as well, he wrote a book titled The Oldest History of the World: Discovered by Occult Science.

In early July 1929, Benny, his wife Santina and their four children were all viciously murdered with an axe. The bodies were discovered by a neighbor who came over to visit the following day.

When Benny’s remains were found, the body was sitting at his desk with the head almost decapitated and hanging from his neck; other reports say the head was completely severed and placed on the floor. The rest of the family’s bodies were found murdered in their beds.

During the official investigation, detectives came across a bizarre sight in the basement: Benny had made a homemade church with wax human dummies that he hung from the ceiling, arranged to symbolize the celestial order of the planets.

The July 3, 1929 edition of the Associated Press reported, "Sitting before his desk, which also served as an altar, his hands folded as though in prayer, the body of Benny Evangelist, mystic healer and religious fanatic, was found shortly before noon on Wednesday. The head lay on the floor beside the chair. The bodies of his wife and four children found upstairs, their skulls crushed. Police are working on the theory that Evangelist was the victim of a second religious fanatic, It is believed the slayings took place about midnight."

Anxious to find the murderer, many false arrests were made and others looking for attention made false confessions and fed misinformation to authorities. One family acquaintance was found with a bloody knife in his possession but no arrest was made. DUH.

Needless to say, no culprit was ever found and the murders still remain unsolved.

The house at the corner of St. Aubin & Mack streets in Detroit was torn down sometime between 2016-2018. Even so, the property still brings thrillseekers and the curious, believing the property is haunted by none other than Benny himself. It is allegedly the apparition of Benny himself – headless – that still wanders the property.