7 Gripping True Crime Cases That Would Make Great Documentaries

Frank Lloyd Wright might be the most famous architect in modern history, but most people might be unaware of the brutal massacre and destruction of his Wisconsin house on Aug. 15, 1914. Seven people, including three children, were killed by a 30-year-old man who worked with his wife at Taliesin (pronounced Tally-ESS-in). Wright had built the Prairie-style house to share with the woman he loved — the first person to die in the bloodbath.

In a scandal that rocked Chicago, Wright had left his wife and six children to live with Martha “Mamah” Borthwick. The two were having an affair before she and her husband divorced, but Wright’s wife refused to grant him one. He and Borthwick were essentially ostracized by Chicago society, so they moved 200 miles north to Spring Green, Wisconsin, to live openly as a couple.

Wright’s original base was in Chicago, and he was working there the day of the tragedy at Taliesin. Borthwick’s husband was also away on business, so their two children, who lived full-time with their father, were staying at Taliesin.

The siblings, 8-year-old Martha and 11-year-old John, were lunching with their mother on the terrace when the killer struck. Five of Wright’s employees were eating in the inside dining room with one of the men’s 13-year-old son, Ernest.

None of the men heard the screams when Julian Carlton stood behind Borthwick and fatally struck her in the head with a hand ax. He reportedly killed her son, John, next, in the same way. They both died instantly, but Borthwick’s daughter, Martha, ran away. Carlton chased after her and sank the blade three times in the back of the head.

Carlton then went inside, poured gasoline outside the dining room door and lit a match. As fire engulfed the room, one man managed to escape through a window and rolled down a hill to safety. The others followed, but by this time Carlton had run outside and was waiting for them with his ax. He struck them one at a time as they emerged from the window, killing all but one. He then returned to the terrace and poured gasoline on Borthwick and John’s bodies, and on Martha, who was still alive, before setting them on fire.

Carlton’s motive remains unknown. After the murders, he swallowed acid. It ravaged his esophagus, but he lived another six weeks without sharing why he had committed such horrific crimes.

Carlton was Black, and retaliation for a racist confrontation is one of several popular theories suggested by historians to explain his murderous rampage. Several days before the massacre, Carlton was reportedly humiliated after Carlton refused his order to saddle his horse. According to an oral history cited by a Wright biographer, one of the survivors identified him using the n-word. 

Even so, most scholars believe that although the racism Carlton experienced might have been a precipitating factor in the murders, he was more likely suffering from some kind of mental illness or breakdown.

Taliesin was destroyed by the fire, but Wright rebuilt it — and did so again after a second fire a decade later. This one was likely caused by faulty wiring, and no one was injured.

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