Athens' history is filled with many horrifying tales of murder and deceit. While we don't have our own Jeffrey Dahmer or Ted Bundy, we do have a few interesting characters. From lovers' quarrels to drive-by shootings to drug-related homicides, Athens area has been home to its fair share of fatal crimes. In the spirit of Halloween, we bring you a sampling of Athens most well-known - and gruesome -murder cases.

The crime of the era

According to Robert L. Daniel's book Athens, Ohio: The Village Years, the most notorious Athens-area crime of the late 1800s was the Christopher Davis case.

Davis, a local mixed-race farm hand, attacked Lucinda Luckey in her home near Albany. He assaulted her, struck her over the head with an axe and fled the scene. Despite the head wound, Luckey made it to a neighbor's house and reported the crime. Davis was then tracked down and put in jail.

At this time racism and lynching were commonplace in America, and Athens was no exception. On November 21, 1881, a mob of citizens broke the jail lock and kidnapped Davis. He was dragged to the South Bridge where he was noosed and thrown over the side. According to local lore, Dr. Lash, the coroner at the time, kept the rope in his office for years to come.

Sunday school slaying

On a cold, windy January night in 1949, Harry Dodds, a 20-year-old New Straitsville man, beat Eleanor Gifford to death with a claw hammer at her home in Athens. Dodds and two accomplices then made off with Gifford's money.

Gifford, a missionary at the Church of the Good Shepherd in Athens, was "a truly dedicated person," according to Paul Brown, the state trooper who solved the case. At the time of the killing, Gifford was holding a delayed Christmas party with some young girls from the Sunday school class she taught at the church.

Ironically, Dodds was also one of Gifford's Sunday school students. Apparently he thought she had a sizable amount of money, which - given her modest salary - was not the case. Dodds was later tried, convicted and sentenced to death by the electric chair.

The strange case of Gene Steeds

Probably the most talked about and shocking Athens murder to this day involves an Ohio University professor by the name of Gene Steeds. In 1961 Steeds was hired by the university to teach in the education department. When Steeds moved to Athens, he and his family were temporarily placed in the president's home until they could find a permanent residence.

Nothing out of the ordinary, right? Wrong. As it turns out, Steeds was estranged from his real wife and kids. The woman he showed up with in Athens was his girlfriend. When his wife did show up, an argument ensued and he proceeded to kill her.

But Steeds didn't murder her with a knife or gun. Instead, he stuffed her in an oil drum, cut holes in the top and dumped her into Dow Lake alive. Dodds was given a life sentence, but years after the crime he escaped from prison and hasn't been seen since.

For more Halloween spookiness, see Halloween horror: A few creepy classics for your viewing terror
and Staking out the haunts.