In 1928, under the advice of a woman named Nellie Noll aka The River Witch of Marietta, John Blymire believed that he had been cursed by Nelson Rehmeyer. Blymire and his accomplices broke into Rehmeyer's home to find his spell book and break the curse. They were unable to find the book, but did find Rehmeyer himself, whom they killed and mutilated in hopes that this would lift the curse. The three men then set fire to the house, hoping to remove remnants of the curse, as well as to destroy evidence of their murder. However, the house did not burn down as they had hoped. This led to many people further believing that Rehmeyer was a witch and that his power prevented the destruction of the house. The resulting trial drew national media attention and became known as the "witchcraft murder." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices