HauntBound archive · catalog record
Reported phenomena — as catalogued
Site of Carbondale's unsolved 1928 double murder of a former mayor and his wife
601 W. Main Street, Carbondale, IL 62901
Research updated June 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
Free
Private residence; exterior viewing only from public sidewalk
Access
Wheelchair OK
Street-level exterior viewing; sidewalk access
Equipment
Photos OK
Unsolved Prohibition-Era Double Murder · Carbondale Political History · Illinois True Crime
J. Chas Hundley had served as mayor of Carbondale, Illinois before retiring to private life in the 1920s. On December 12, 1928, he and his wife Luella were shot and killed inside their home at 601 W. Main Street. The circumstances placed the crime squarely in the Prohibition era: the Carbondale Times' 2020 retrospective documents that the leading suspect was Hundley's own son, who was allegedly involved in a bootlegging ring operating in the area.
No charges were ever filed. The son was never prosecuted, and the official case was never closed with a conviction. The murders became a fixture of local criminal history — a double killing in a prominent household that was swallowed by the era's entanglements of alcohol, family, and political connection without resolution.
Troy Taylor, who has documented Illinois crime and paranormal history extensively, covered the Hundley murders in his American Hauntings series, confirming the basic facts of the shooting and the prohibition-era context. The Illinois Haunted Houses database notes the home previously operated as a bed and breakfast at some point in its later history, which brought the crime history to wider attention. The property is a private residence as of recent documentation.
Sources
The haunting tradition at the Hundley House centers on physical residue and ambient disturbance rather than full apparitions. The porch swing moving without a discernible cause is the most frequently cited phenomenon — multiple local accounts describe it moving rhythmically on still days. Inside, the kitchen produces unexplained sounds: clattering cookware with no one present.
The most concrete detail is the bullet hole in the back staircase, which witnesses over the decades have reported is still visible. Its presence in a residential structure more than ninety years after the murders gives the location a physical anchor that goes beyond atmospheric lore.
The Carbondale Times' 2020 retrospective, written nearly a century after the killings, noted that the house continues to fascinate local residents and history enthusiasts. The combination of a genuine unsolved double murder, a prominent victim, and a Prohibition-era criminal connection makes the house one of the more substantiated true-crime sites in southern Illinois.
The Hundley House can be viewed from the public sidewalk on W. Main Street. The 1928 double murder of former Carbondale mayor J. Chas Hundley and his wife Luella occurred inside the home; the crime was never prosecuted. Local accounts describe a porch swing that moves without wind and sounds from the kitchen. The bullet hole in the back staircase has been cited in multiple local press accounts.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
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