Atlanta Ripper First Two Victims

First Two Victims Claimed by Atlanta Ripper.
Most articles and books on the Atlanta Ripper claim he killed his first victim in January 1911. but I found articles suggesting a serial killer back in 1909. This article from the Atlanta Georgian, dated February 22, 1909

On February 22, 1909, the Journal also published an account of this murder. There are some differences between the two with the Georgian claiming that two boys discovered the body while the Journal claims that three boys had found the body. More importantly, the Georgian claims that the woman died from blunt force trauma whereas the Journal says that she was strangled. The other difference is that one of the Georgian places the victim's age as being around twenty, whereas the Journal puts it around 15.

Later this victim was identified as Marie Gilliard. This article is from the Atlanta Georgian, dated February 26, 1909

On March 8, 1909, the Georgian published an article about the discovery of another body not far from where Marie was. The article states that the police believed a serial killer was active in Atlanta. The newspaper also states that the police believe that this murderer was a black man.

 

The Atlanta Journal also published an article on these murders. The Journal and the Georgian contradict each other. The Georgian claims that the time distance between the two discoveries was a week, but the Journal headline incorrectly says that the bodies were found two months apart. In the body of the text, the Journal correctly states that two weeks passed between the discovery of the bodies. The Georgian claims that both women were found buried in a dumping ground, a few feet apart, with one foot sticking from the ground. The Journal claims that one woman (Marie Gilliard) was discovered buried under trash in the dumping ground and the other was buried in the woods a hundred yards away. 

The Atlanta Constitution also published an article on these murders, but their article didn't mention anything about the possibility of a serial killer.