George Hassell: The Family Axeman

Episode of Morbid · July 23, 2026 · 56 min

Morbid hosts Alaina Urquhart and Ash Kelley recount the life and crimes of George Hassell, who murdered two families in California and Texas before his 1928 execution.

Summary

After opening banter about their messy recording studio, Mercury retrograde and their anger at the Boston Celtics trading Jaylen Brown, Alaina Urquhart narrated the case of George Hassell, known as the "family axeman," drawing heavily on the research of historian Michael Roth. She traced Hassell's early life in Texas and Oklahoma, his 1907 embezzlement conviction and time on a brutal Texas prison farm, his rehiring by cotton company owner Sid Ross, his marriage to 15-year-old Minnie Laughlin, and his repeated cons, desertions and unverifiable claims of military service. Urquhart stressed that most of Hassell's biography rests on his own self-serving and unreliable accounts.

Urquhart described Hassell's relationship with Marie Vogel, their move to California, and the 1917 disappearance of Marie and three children in Whittier, whom Hassell later confessed to strangling and burying. She then recounted his fathering a child with his teenage niece Nora, the suspicious mule-kick death of his brother Tom, and his marriage to Tom's widow Susan, who had eight children. In December 1926 in Farwell, Texas, Hassell killed Susan and eight of her children with a hammer, strangulation, an axe and a shotgun, burying them in a trench he had dug weeks earlier, then later killed eldest son Alton.

The hosts described how neighbors' suspicions, contradictory stories and an auction of the family's belongings led Sheriff James Martin and county attorney J.D. Thomas to question Hassell, who then stabbed himself superficially. After the bodies were exhumed, Hassell confessed to 13 murders, was found sane, convicted on nine counts and executed in the electric chair. Both hosts repeatedly criticized his passive, blame-shifting language. The episode closed with Ash Kelley's fun fact about wombats producing cube-shaped feces.

Chapters

  1. 0:00

    Pod lab mess and Mercury retrograde

    The hosts describe their cluttered studio full of snacks and blame their recent mood on Mercury retrograde.

  2. 4:03

    Celtics frustration

    The hosts vent about the Celtics trading Jaylen Brown and earlier departures of Kristaps Porziņģis and Jrue Holiday.

  3. 5:12

    Introducing the family axeman

    Urquhart introduces George Hassell with a trigger warning and the hosts joke about the nickname and Widow's Bay.

  4. 6:37

    Early life, theft and prison farm

    Hassell's childhood, his embezzlement from Sid Ross's cotton company, and his harsh imprisonment on a Texas work farm are recounted.

  5. 13:42

    Minnie Laughlin and Delbert

    Hassell marries 15-year-old Minnie, fathers Delbert, commits check fraud, deserts the Navy and blames Minnie's rejection for his violence.

  6. 20:59

    Marie Vogel and the California murders

    Hassell brings Marie Vogel and three children to California, runs the badger game, and strangles them in Whittier in 1917.

  7. 28:09

    Nora, Tom and Susan Hassell

    Hassell impregnates his niece, his brother Tom dies suspiciously, and he marries Tom's widow Susan and moves the family to Farwell, Texas.

  8. 33:23

    The Farwell murders

    Hassell digs a trench, then in December 1926 kills Susan and eight children, later shooting eldest son Alton.

  9. 42:29

    Suspicion, self-stabbing and discovery

    Contradictory stories and an auction draw scrutiny, Hassell stabs himself, and searchers exhume nine bodies from the trench.

  10. 49:52

    Confession, trial and execution

    Hassell confesses to 13 murders, is found sane, convicted on nine counts and executed in the electric chair.

  11. Linked moment · 53:13Skip to 53:13 using a listen link in the info box.

    53:13

    Wombat fun fact and sign-off

    Kelley shares a fact about wombats' cube-shaped feces before the hosts sign off to clean the studio.

People

In the conversation

  • Alaina UrquhartCo-host of Morbid, autopsy technician and author of the Butcher novels
  • Ash KelleyCo-host of the true crime podcast Morbid

Discussed

  • George HassellAmerican murderer executed in Texas for killing his wife and stepchildren in 1926
  • Michael RothHistorian who researched George Hassell's life and crimes
  • Sid RossTexas cotton company owner who employed and was robbed by Hassell
  • Minnie LaughlinHassell's first wife, married at age 15
  • Delbert LaughlinHassell's son, who wrote a 1964 letter describing his father's attempts on his life
  • Marie VogelBoarding-house owner killed by Hassell with three children in California in 1917
  • Susan HassellWidow of Tom Hassell who married George and was murdered by him in 1926
  • Tom HassellGeorge Hassell's brother, who died after reportedly being kicked by a mule
  • James MartinSheriff who investigated the disappearance of the Hassell family
  • J.D. ThomasCounty attorney who questioned Hassell
  • Jaylen BrownBoston Celtics guard-forward at the center of the hosts' first-team All-NBA case

Topics

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From the publisher

On the evening of December 24, 1926, a farmer in Farwell, Texas, called the sheriff to report that his neighbor, George Hassell, had been acting very strangely in recent days and he had been telling conflicting stories about the whereabouts of his family, who had been missing for several days. When the sheriff arrived at the Hassell farm, he began questioning George about where his family had gone, but mid conversation, Hassell removed a pocket knife from his pocket and stabbed himself three times in the chest. Hassell was taken to the hospital, where he was not expected to survive, but against the odds, George pulled through. With no option for escape and having given law enforcement good reason to suspect him in the disappearance of his family, George began confessing to multiple murders. At first, it was assumed he had flown into a rage and murdered his family a week earlier, but the more Hassell talked, the clearer it became that George Hassell violent and murderous behavior went well beyond the walls of his home in Farwell.

Summary, chapters and key points were generated from the episode transcript on September 30, 2026. Quotes are checked word for word against the transcript.

Categories: True Crime·History