Micajah "Big" Harpe, born Joshua Harper (before 1768 – August 24, 1799), and Wiley "Little" Harpe, born William Harper (before 1770 – February 8, 1804), were American murderers, highwaymen and river pirates who operated in Tennessee, Kentucky, Illinois and Mississippi in the late 18th century. They are often considered the earliest documented serial killers in United States history.
Loyal to the British Crown during the American Revolution, the Harpes became outlaws after the war and began robbing and killing settlers in the remote frontier west of the Appalachian Mountains. They are believed to have killed 39 people, and possibly as many as 50. As the Harpes' crimes gained notoriety, vigilante groups formed to avenge their victims, and they were eventually tracked down and executed around the turn of the century. Their savagery has since entered American folklore, appearing to have been motivated more by blood lust than financial gain.
Though many accounts identify the two as "brothers", it is also possible they were first cousins, named Joshua and William Harper, who emigrated from Scotland in 1759 or 1760. According to this theory, their fathers were brothers John and William Harper, who settled in Orange County, North Carolina, between 1761 and 1763. Like many Scottish settlers of the American colonies, the Harpers were Calvinists and avowed Tories loyal to the king.
Sometime during 1797, the Harpes began a vicious crime spree through Tennessee, Kentucky, and Illinois. The Harpes later confessed to the killings of a confirmed thirty-nine people, but the estimated combined total, including unknown victims, may number more than fifty. They are alleged to have butchered anyone at the slightest provocation, regardless of age, including babies.
In 1797, while the two were living near Knoxville, Tennessee, the Harpes were driven out of town upon being charged with stealing pigs and horses. They were also accused of murdering a local man named Johnson, whose body was found in a river, covered in urine, with his chest cut open and filled with stones. This weighing-down became a signature corpse-disposal method seen in the Harpes' serial killings.