A Father's Demon Deed.

Illustrated Police News, February 8, 1879.

O.P. Hull, a well-to-do farmer, lived with his wife and six children near the village of Wassonville, Iowa. Mr. Hull was a kind father and affectionate husband who was adored by his family. He especially doted on his attractive and popular 19-year-old daughter, Emma. Her comfort and happiness were foremost in his mind. He would leave nothing undone to benefit his daughter, but his attachment to Emma was so strong that her absence from home, for any reason, would worry his mind terribly.

On January 23, 1879, Emma and other members of the family were out attending a “spelling-school.”  Emma’s absence on this night gave her father more than usual anxiety. Mr. Hull was already in bed when they returned. He rose, dressed, and greeted his family. Soon after, they all retired, noticing nothing unusual.

What happened next was best described by the Chicago Daily Tribune:

It appears that, about 1 o’clock, the father arose, procured an ax, went to the bed where his daughter was asleep, and in a moment of temporary insanity, we must conclude, reached over two smaller children, and sent the ax with a terrible blow through the brains of his darling child, splitting her head almost in two from the lower part of the ear across the top of the head, so causing instant death.

He left the room. A younger daughter ran to her mother and said that something was the matter with Emma. The mother went into the bedroom and screamed at the sight of Emma lying in a pool of blood. 

Mr. Hull reentered the room and, realizing the true state of affairs, exclaimed, “Oh, mother.” He raised a revolver to his head, fired the pistol, and fell to the floor a corpse.

“The cause of this unfortunate affair will, perhaps, never be known,” said the Tribune.

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Sources: 

“A Father's Demon Deed,” Illustrated Police News, February 8, 1879.
“Horrible,” Public ledger., January 25, 1879.
“Horrible Domestic Tragedy,” Chicago Daily Tribune., January 26, 1879.
“Shocking Crime,” New York Herald, January 26, 1879.