Solved Murders - True Crime Stories - The Violent Escape and Hunt for William Harris A Bloody Night in Asheville 1906 #36

Episode Date: August 3, 2025

#horrorstories #reddithorrorstories #ScaryStories #creepypasta #horrortales #historicalcrime #manhunt #violentescape #asheville1906 #bloodynight  In the eerie streets of Asheville, 1906, William Harris’s violent escape triggered a desperate manhunt filled with bloodshed and fear. The night became a chaotic battlefield as townsfolk and lawmen pursued the fugitive through shadows and alleys. This story captures the raw brutality of early 20th-century crime, blending historical facts with chilling narrative to bring to life a night of horror, violence, and relentless pursuit.  horrorstories, reddithorrorstories, scarystories, horrorstory, creepypasta, horrortales, historicalcrime, manhuntstory, violentescape, early1900scrime, bloodynight, ashevillehistory, truecrimehorror, fugitivehunt, brutalcrime, chillinghistorical, terrorinnight, crimeandpunishment, outlawstory, darkpast

This is not my story but I heard it a couple years ago and I wrote it down. Just found that story so here it is and side note, it's insane. Asheville, North Carolina, 1906, William Harris, a relatively unaccomplished but normal young man is walking down the streets of the main downtown area. It was a quiet but still lively afternoon when he came across this beautiful young woman passing him in the street. Harris couldn't pass up the opportunity to talk to her and after some hard. a small talk, he asked her out on a date. This young woman found him charming so agreed and

they met up actually started dating for a few months. It was on one of their dates that both were sitting at a small restaurant but unknown to both, the owner of the established recognized Harris as the man responsible for a few crimes that were scattered around the town. The police were prompt in their arrival and immediately placed him under arrest for extorting several local businesses and their associated owners. The woman had no idea. and as soon as the crimes were explained to her by the officers, she left the restaurant without waiting for Harris and ghosted him. He expected her to visit him when he was locked up in the county jail, but she never did. He wrote her letter occasionally, but when she refused to reply to a

single one of them, his writing became excessive and dangerous, sometimes writing up to six letters every day. Unknown to him, she had received every single one of his letters, but after three months of his excessive and stalker-like tone in his letters she started to feel unsafe so left Asheville to travel out of state to stay with her parents. They had known each other long enough for Harris to know where she lived and where she worked so she didn't feel safe even in her own home. She didn't know when he would be released from jail so for her own safety, she decided to leave, telling only her little sister and her parents when she met up with them. It was a good thing too. A year after Harris was convicted and sentenced to the county jail, his obsession became so strong that he broke out of his jail cell and ran into town.

On the way, he passed a pawn shop, spotting a rifle in the window. His anger got the better of him and he smashed the glass, climbing into the shop to steal the gun, as much ammunition as he could grab, a bottle of hard liquor and a new change of clothes. His prison uniform was left among the broken glass as he climbed back out of the window he marched through the streets, making his way to his now ex-girlfriend's apartment. She wasn't there. He staked out her house for hours, peeking through her windows and under her door, but she wasn't there. Instead, he settled on a new plan, continuing on his way further into the city to find the diner where he knew her sister worked. The little sister, whose name was Pearl, was working as a waitress in a very popular diner which was open long into the night. Harris staked out the business from across the street, waiting hours for Pearl to finish her shift. Meanwhile he was slowly but steadily nursing his liquor, progressively getting more and more drunk with every hour that passed.

When all of the customers had left, Pearl started sweeping the floor but the manager took the broom from her, telling her that he would finish up the last little bit and that she could go home early. She was grateful since she was exhausted and quickly grabbed her coat to leave. She was half walking half jogging back to her apartment since she just wanted to get home as soon as possible but unknown to her, Harris kept close on her tail. He stayed outside as she entered her apartment building, looking up at the windows to see which one illuminated from the oil lamp. To his expectation, two windows on the second story of the building lightly lit up and Harris advanced into the building, gun cocked and loaded. Pearl threw off her work uniform and quickly changed into her nightgown, folding her uniform over the back of the chair while a kettle was heated over an open flame. She was completely prepared to make a cup of tea and then go to bed, but as the kettle started whistling, she faintly heard a hard knock on the door.

She knew that nobody would knock on her door at this ungodly hour if they didn't want trouble, and her boyfriend, who I'll call James, eyed his real name, had a very recognizable knocking pattern so she knew it wasn't him. Instead, he dropped to her hands and knees, looking under the door but the hall was completely unlit so she couldn't see anything. The knocking sounded again and she grabbed the knob, calling out, who is it? No response. She attached the chain on the wall to the door before.

before cracking it open slightly but shrieked as Harris kicked the door handle so hard and so fast that it ripped the chain out of the wall and snapped the bottom hinge on the door. Pearl backed herself as far away as she could, but Harris kept the rifle pointed at her head as he demanded to know where her sister was. Pearl knew exactly where her sister was but in the moment knew that if she told him, he would immediately go and get her. She refused to let that happen so any question he asked, she answered as vaguely as she could, never giving him details if he didn't ask specifically.

She was on the verge of tears and so close to having a panic attack, but she knew that her older sister's location was the only leverage she had to stop Harris from shooting her. Unknown to both of them, a third party was in the area, James, Pearl's boyfriend. As he approached the apartment building, he could see that Pearl's oil lamp was still lit so he let himself in, taking note of the deadly silence as he ascended the stairs. A quick wrap of his knuckles on Pearl's apartment door got the attention of both inside, but as Noon answered, James became suspicious.

Why wasn't she answering him? Hey, Pearl. Are you in there? James called through the door, knocking again, this time a little louder, are you okay? No answer. James took the door knob, but as it started to spin, Harris ripped the door open so fast that James didn't even had time to react as the senior grabbed his throat and shoved him against the wall of the hall outside. James choked from the sudden force but completely froze as the end of Harris's rifle was pointed steadily at his face

only a couple inches away from his eyes. I suggest you back off, boy. Harris hissed venomously. James was panting, panicking as his own life was no longer within his control. Over Harris's shoulder, her could see Pearl giving him a pleading look, subtly motioning her hand for him to leave. in the moment he didn't want to leave her on her own with a gun-toating drunk but as said gun was loaded and pointed at his head he didn't feel like he had a choice with the greatest struggle he nodded his head choking out i y y yesser harris pulled the gun away and threw him towards the stairs before retreating back into the apartment james stumbled but he didn't fall and he immediately charged out of the building and into the heart of town towards the police station it took him several minutes but by the time he got there he was panting for breath and about to pass out over the police chief's desk ashville was a relatively small town at the time so there were only five police officers in the entire city only three of which were on duty this night blackstock page and bailey james tried to explain the situation to the best of his ability but page told him to explain it on the way. One mention of Harris's appearance told the chief, Bailey, that it was him and while Page and Blackstock went with James to go help Pearl,

Bailey stayed back to call the county sheriff, who was more prepared to deal with criminals on the run like Harris. Page, Blackstock, and James arrived at the apartment building rode on horseback to the apartment building, and while the two officers marched inside, James stayed back to watch the window from the outside. He was terrified for her. even on the stairs they could hear harris's frustrated yells echoing through the entire hall and both officers drew their guns with blackstock standing in front of the door before sending a powerful knock to echo through the whole building open up harris we know you're in there harris just seated to himself and fired a shot at the door the close range of the bullet caused it to go right through the wood and split into several dozen pieces each striking blackstock's chest like their own individual projectile The officer was struck between his ribs and died before he even hit the ground. Page had seen the writing on the wall and as Harris stepped into the hallway,

both men spotted the other and ducked for cover Harris inside of the apartment again, while Paige was on the stairs. They traded shot for shot, but after half a dozen bullets had flown, Harris got a clean shot to Page's left shoulder, causing him to tumble down the stairs. His free hand came up to stop his arm from bleeding, but the bullet had numbed his entire arm, so he could, even lift his gun to attempt shooting with his dominant hand again. Page felt like he couldn't even get up and truly believe that he was about to die once he

spotted Harris at the top of the stairs, glaring down at him. Page tried to push himself away as Harris descended towards him, but the shooter kept his ammunition handy, simply spitting at the officer's feet before circling around him to march from the building entrance. James recognized the drunk and hit himself in an alleyway between two of the buildings as Harris started down the road. He watched him leave and once he was a few dozen meters away, James charged into the building, immediately spotting Page. He tried to help but Paige just pushed him off, get your girlfriend, take my horse and get out of town. But what about William? Let me worry about Harris, Paige groaned, picking up his gun in his now bloody and non-dominant

right hand, you just get Pearl and get out of town. This is going to get dangerous. James reluctantly complied and races up the stairs, nearly having a panic attack as he spotted the now-drained corpse of Officer Blackstock. He said a quick prayer in his head as he stepped over the blood puddle, finding Pearl tucked away in the corner of her apartment, struggling to breathe as her hands covered her ears. Pearl! Pearl! Look at me! James jumped to her side, grabbing her cheeks, trying to calm her down but she couldn't obey. He hid her face against his chest, refusing to let her look at Blackstock's body as he pulled her to stand,

You're okay. You're safe. She was completely traumatized by the situation and couldn't even control her emotions. James forced his hands over her eyes as he directed her out of the apartment and onto the stairs. She never saw Blackstock's body, but she knew what happened. Only once they reached the bottom of the stairs did he realize that Page was gone with both of the the horses still tied up outside. James tried not to think about it, helping Pearl onto one of the horses before jumping on himself, and riding both of them out of town to safety. Now Page had seen which direction Harris went and struggled to follow. His entire left arm was covered in blood and leaving long steady drips on the dirt road. At the sight, he was lightheaded but he couldn't afford to admit that. Harris was drunk, armed, and based on his previous threats against Pearl and

James, he was a danger to everyone still on the streets. Page kept his grip as firm as he could on his gun as he quickly patrolled the street that Harris had left on. It didn't take long since Harris had been thrown into such an uncontrollable rage that he shot at anything that so much has moved. He shot at flags, wind chimes, other people a businessman, a garbage boy finishing his shift, and a lawyer. This lawyer was a particularly interesting case since he was carrying a half-dollar coin in

his coat pocket and when the bullet struck the coin, it ricocheted up and shot vertically through the man's skull. Like many of Harris's victims, he was dead before he hit the ground. Harris was thirsting for blood and because of his spontaneous firing of his gun, the shots echoed across the entire town. It didn't make it hard for Page to find him but after seeing some of the murder victims in the streets, he didn't take the risk. Page found himself on same street as Harris and several hundred meters ahead, Harris stumbled forward like a zombie, his back to the officer. Page raised his gun, his non-dominant right hand shaking as he aimed at the back of the man's head, bang. It missed. Harris spun back, the end of the gun flying wildly as he held it in one hand,

shooting back at him Paige jumped behind one of the intersection buildings, avoiding the bullet to the head by only a few inches. He was panting as his shaking hand struggled to reload his revolver and he forced his nerves aside as he jumped back around the corner. Harris had taken off running in the opposite direction. Page cursed to himself and changed after him, firing repeatedly but a combination of blood loss and terror prevented a single one from hitting the murderer. He was scared for his life, but Harris was headed towards the town square the heart of all nightlife for miles around. If Harris made it there and started shooting, it would be a bloodbath.

Page's lungs burned as he tried to catch up, but in an instant, Harris spun back again, firing a single shot at him. Page tried to shield himself behind a wooden light post, but the bullet from the rifle was so powerful that it completely shattered the wood and struck Page on the side of his chest. The bullet went straight through his ribs and into his heart, painting the small snowy powder red as he fell against the road. Harris just continued towards the town center, leaving Paige to bleed out, with his last few seconds of consciousness enveloped in the knowledge that he had failed to stop this killer.

Luckily for the locals in the town square, the continuous gunshots getting progressively closer and closer to them had caused all of the local business owners and staffed the rally their customers and friends inside. The lanterns were blown out, all doors were locked, and the terrified people peeked through the windows out into the opening. Harris took his time walking to the center of the town square, swaying on his feet as his grip on the gun remained firm. He scanned the entire opening, not seeing a single person and everyone hidden shrunk away from the windows as Harris screamed out with such animosity that some of the locals believed he had gone completely mad. I will call myself the devil when walking among you. Harris's scream echoed through the entire area, where are you?

Not a single person who heard him dared to come out. At the lack of a response, Harris took his time in leaving, disappearing into the night. Meanwhile, the police chief, Bailey, had long finished his call to the sheriff who was now on his way. Bailey scouted the entire city trying to figure out where the gunshots were coming from, but as he had not heard Harris's threat or anything further, Bailey recalled the directions James had given to Pearl's apartment address, and kept his own gun drawn as he sprinted as fast as he could to the residence. The sight of the spare horse worried him as he saw it from afar, and he didn't hesitate as he barged through the lobby door. The sight of blood at the bottom the stairs almost missed him but as he stepped in it, he realized what it was.

Bailey prayed that his partners and his friends were okay, but as he climbed the stairs to see Blackstock's body, Bailey was thrown into a rage of his own. His lips furled as he left the scene alone, jumping down the stairs and out of the lobby door, grabbing the horse and riding further down the road to find several of the bodies of Harris's victims. These were people he knew. These were people he had met before and was acquainted with. He knew their families, where they lived, where they worked. So with each body he found, he felt Harris's chances for mercy slipping further and further away. It was the sight of the garbage boy, Ben Addison, that locked that chance away forever. He was a child, only 17 at the time and as soon as that sight had locked itself into his mind,

Bailey checked to make sure that his gun was full-loaded before pulling back the hammer. Bailey galloped full speed into the town square, trying to find out where he had gone but with so many diverging streets, it was impossible to know. One of the shop owners stepped out, calling, Bailey. What's going on? Get every man, woman, and child who owns a gun. I need you help. Bailey snapped the reins and took off to look for Harris again, but his order did not fall on deaf ears. Almost every local who was carrying a gun immediately gathered in the square again, some of which were children younger than ten and some which were older that 70.

People were from every demographic collectively gathered, men, women, elders, children, rich, poor, blacks, whites, immigrants, everyone. Even those who didn't own a gun offered their services at which point locals who lived nearby were quick to lend their own extra weapons. The air was completely silent except for the slight November snowfall but no further shots were fired not by Harris or by Bailey. The police chief didn't return for several minutes and the locals decided to spread out and find this guy, some on horseback but most on foot. With over 100 armed locals searching, it didn't take long to find the bodies of all of the murder victims as well was Page and Blackstock who were lined up with the other deceased in the square. Bailey was found quickly by the locals on horseback and his final order spread like wildfire among the entire population, if you see William Harris, shoot him dead. Despite so many people looking, nobody could find any trace of where Harris had gone to, and it took several hours to find

everything Harris had done, with his raid on the pawn shop being discovered relatively quickly. The surprise on the sheriff's face upon seeing such anarchy could have only been imagined, but as soon as he came across the locals, he was directed to where Bailey was still searching. The police chief filled him in and the sheriff wasted no time in requesting to go the pawn shop so his hound could catch Harris's scent. One of the local men was quick to grab Harris's prison uniform, holding it out for the hound so it could find a scent. It was a very defined and unique scent which caused the dog to immediately take off running,

following the exact same path Harris had taken when going to the town square and while Bailey and the chief followed closely behind, the only locals who were able to keep up were the ones who were also on horseback. The ones on foot followed the sound of the barking as the dog leapt through the town square, still following Harris's trail. The road lead through a neighborhood before parting through a pitch-black open field, lit only by lanterns carried by the locals, the moonlight, and the smallest amount of snow on the crops around them. It was a cotton field, with the skeletons of the shrubs not allowing any cover to someone who was crouching or standing. The dog abruptly stopped and paced on the side of the road, barking into the field.

Bailey and the sheriff knew that Harris was somewhere nearby, but as everyone scanned the field, nobody could see him. Everyone was checking with everyone else to make sure that nobody could see him, but at the dog's barking, a figure stirred far in the distance. As it would turn out, Harris had passed out drunk in the cotton fields which was also also why a shot hadn't been fired in hours. He was physically unconscious but at the dog's barking, the murderer awakened. His hand flicked the barrel of the rifle at the animal, firing but in his current state, the bullet missed. The dog whimpered fearfully and all of the horses

shifted at the noise, some rearing back to throw off their riders. All of them were trying to figure out where he was since none of them could see him laying flat on the ground. Harris couldn't see how many people were on the road, and hearing the dog in the slight chatter, he may have assumed it to be only a few people, so pushed himself to his feet, aiming his rifle straight at Bailey's face. Bailey shot first. As soon as the first gun fired, dozens of enraged and distraught locals open fired on the man, emptying their revolvers, their rifles, their shotguns. In a matter of seconds, the silhouette of Harris's body slumped into the dirt.

Bailey dismissed the locals and sent them home, allowing himself to calm down. A life for a life, or a life for the five that he had taken this night. The sheriff suggested that Bailey stay back while he went to collect the body, but the chief refused, following calmly to retrieve the body. He had been shot so many times that by the time they stood next to the corpse to retrieve it, it had been completely drained of blood and was noticeably lighter than they would have expected someone of Harris's size to be. It was a long, a mournful ride back into town and it took them a long time to ride back as slowly as Bailey wanted to. He had just lost two very good friends and three other familiar, so the reality of the situation was hitting him far harder than the sheriff. Upon reaching the town square, almost everyone who lived nearby had come out to see the murderer and a local doctor came out examining the body.

He had to take notes on how many bullets had struck each part of Harris's body since there were so many holes that it was almost impossible to count them all accurately. The doctor counter more than 300 separate bullet holes across his body, and as the doctor stepped aside, a journalist took a photo of the body for the papers the following day. So many of the locals wanted to leave Harris's body hanging in a square so everyone could see his body but Bailey and the sheriff both refused, leaving the town with Harris's body and a couple of shovel so they could bury him in an unmarked grave outside of town. In the modern day, Harris's originally grave had been found and his remains were relocated to the local cemetery the same cemetery where the

three victims, Blackstock, and Page were also buried. All of their graves are local tourist attractions and this story is only really told in and around Asheville, North Carolina. It's a local legend, and even in the modern day, Harris is not seen as a hero or a vigilante. It can be used to show what teamwork and unity of a community does when trying to deal with a crisis, but in reality there is no specific moral. Harris was just a murderous surprise in an otherwise uneventful year, but his story is crazy to me. The end.