The Ghastly Cleveland Torso Murders

- This week on Buzzfeed Unsolved we investigate the Cleveland Torso Killer, one of the most gruesome serial killers of all time. - That's a great achievement. -He is not the most definitely, but I will say that he is one of the most. I'm sure he's on the top step. He's not a shining badge of honor on anyone's part. - It seems like you're impressed. -He doesn't impress me, the things he did were nice, for lack of a better term, disgusting-Wonderful? - Rough. - Okay what you say. Between 1934 and 1938 in Cleveland Ohio, near Kingsbury Run, 13 people, including six women and seven men, were murdered by a serial killer.

Of those 13, only three were identified. And almost all of them were homeless or sex workers. All of the victims were decapitated and, in some cases, the head was never found. -He just killed anyone. You'll also see that he also killed people of all ages, as if this guy just didn't give a shit. - It's just death. - The killer often dismembered the body through the

torso

. And in no case was a completely intact body found. These gruesome tendencies earned the killer the name Cleveland Torso Killer or Mad Butcher of Kingsbury Run. Here's some background on Kingsbury Run.

In the 1930s, Cleveland's Kingsbury Run was a desolate and dangerous place, where many poor people lived in terrible conditions. Sometimes called date, hobo jungle, end of date. Just east of Kingsbury Run was a sketchy area called Roaring Third, known for its bars, gambling dens, and brothels. - I like that, I like that place. - The roaring third? - Yeah! - Is that a place you would frequent in the past? - I would be there! - You would be dead. - He has... - He would look at you, look at those long limbs and say: Oh man, I have some big decorations to make here. - Bars, gambling dens and brothels. - Yes. - Now, nowadays, nowadays, I've said this before, but we have a lot of entertainment at our disposal.

I have YouTube, I have my Playstation and that's pretty much it. But back then, there wasn't much to entertain him, so he was probably in a bar, a gambling den, or a brothel every night of the week. - So this is part of the recurring theme that you've had throughout the show, where if there were no modern devices you would be, - A crazy psychopath. -He would be a monster. Yes. - With the scene set, let's jump to the timeline of the

murders

. On September 5, 1934, the first victim, an unidentified woman in her 30s, was found on the shores of Lake Eerie.

All she found was part of her

torso

, thighs and other parts of her body. But without a head. Her skin was leathery and red from a chemical preservative. On September 23, 1935, the second victim, a 28-year-old man named Edward Andrassy, ​​was found near Kingsbury Run, at the base of Jackass Hill. - (giggles) - Actually, that's what it's called. I know that was going to get some kind of laugh. - Stinks. - So get it. - Stinks. - just get it out of the way. - It sucks to die like this. - At the base of Jackass Hill? - Yes, where did they find it?

Oh, the Jackass Hill base, that's not funny. - I'm sure they left that out of the eulogy. - Why call it, I guess at some point there were donkeys or a donkey? - Andrassy was a hospital nurse and a regular at the Roaring Third. His body was bled, naked and castrated. He with rope he burns on the wrists. That same day, the third victim was found nearby. An unidentified 40-year-old man, who was also decapitated and castrated. The body also had the same chemical preservative from the first murder. On January 26, 1936, the fourth victim, a woman named Florence Polillo, was found wrapped in newspapers inside half-bushel baskets next to the Hart Manufacturing building.

Polillo was a sex worker, waitress and waitress who lived on Roaring Third. She is getting bolder with the places where she dumps the bodies. The first was a lake, the second was on the side of the hill, the third was near the hill, and now this one, in front of a real workplace. - Yeah. - In, you know, a metropolitan area. On June 5, 1936, the head of the fifth victim, an unidentified man, was found wrapped in pants at Kingsbury Run, the rest of the body was found the next day in an even more daring location. In front of the Nickel Plate railway police building.

So once again, she's climbing. - Yes. One of the saddest parts for me is that many of these bodies were not identified. - Yes. - Because I'm always of the opinion that once I'm dead, you can do whatever you want with my body. Throw it on the street and let the dogs eat it. But at least I want people to look at my body and say, yeah, that's Shane, that was Shane, who they're devouring right now. - That's Shane in that basset hound's mouth. - Fire him, whatever, say your kind words about him. -He would be a happy dog, he is a big ass bone.

On July 22, 1936, the sixth victim, an unidentified 40-year-old man, was found in the woods near Clinton Road. The man had been dead for two months. A noteworthy observation was the blood on the ground, suggesting that he had been killed at the location and not dumped there, as the other body sites indicate. - So this is someone who's just wandering around and gets caught. - Well, what interests me about this is that everyone else has been dismembered in a medically efficient way. Probably done after death. This is one that seems to have been done in the heat of the moment.

Which to me means this isn't the same guy, or since he obviously is the same guy, he's getting anxious, he's losing control, he doesn't care anymore, and he's starting to do things that aren't so premeditated. On September 10, 1936, the seventh victim, an unidentified man, was found near the railroad tracks at Kingsbury Run, having been murdered by decapitation. In a way that the coroner noted was certain, in one fell swoop, implying that the killer was both brazen and educated in human anatomy. - This is disgusting, but I think it's hard to cut off a head. - Apparently it's a bit difficult. -Yes.-And there was a case, in which someone took them, I don't remember which royal he was, he was a British royal. - Yes. - It took five hits.

Also, another thing, you're a little bit alive. I was reading this recorded case of a guy who saw someone's head cut off by the guillotine. He said as his head turned and he saw the boy's eyes. -Did he blink? -He blinked and saw recognition in her eyes when he said his name. -Wasn't there an old story about someone who, for scientific reasons, told the executed person to blink as much as he could? - Oh, look, that's great. - Yes, that's great. - But if you were a piece of shit your whole life and you were executed because you were a horrible person, the contract you could make... - You could do this for science. - A solid one on the way out. - For the man of science, give us a little something. - It would be better not to blink, but if they said, would you give us a... - A wink? (laughs) - Because your vocal cords are gone, right, but you could wink. - I mean, I guess it depends, if they did it, I would ask them to cut it right below the vocal cords, so I could turn around and say, ♪ Hello my baby, hello ♪ (laughs) - At this point, a lot of local newspapers reported on the wave of

murders

almost daily, and yet there were no suspects or leads.

Unsurprisingly, this placed considerable pressure on the investigating authorities. Detectives Peter Merylo and Martin Zelewski alone interviewed more than 1,500 people. Here's even a photo of Detective Merylo undercover as a homeless man. - That's the most cartoonish homeless guy I've ever seen. -It's the best (laughs)-he looked like he was watching Bugs Bunny cartoons, in which Bugs Bunny was on the railroad. And I said, yeah, that'll do. - Do you think he has a couple of PB Js in that little bag there? - Probably. - Maybe this is accurate to the time. - I don't think it was. - So you think he was like, I bet this is what homeless people look like, and he came out and said, Jesus Christ, I don't look anything like them. - Probably.

Probably real people who looked like real human beings and then this guy walked up like he walked off the set of Warner Brothers. - Going back to the timeline, on February 23, 1937, parts of the eighth victim, an unidentified woman in her 20s, were found on the coast east of Brahtenahl. On June 5, 1937, the ninth victim, determined to be a woman named Rose Wallace, was found under the Lorain-Carnegie Bridge. Her remains were nothing more than a skull and a bag of bones. On July 6, 1937, the tenth victim, an unidentified man in his 30s, was found in the Cuyahoga River. They ripped out his heart and gutted his abdominal area.

The proximity of murders is starting to decrease here. - However, he was able to enjoy the 4th of July, which is my favorite holiday. - I guess so. - I think it's fun, it's a good vacation. - Yes, I guess if I had to choose between being killed on July 3rd or July 6th, I would choose July 6th. - There is always a positive side, that's what I say. - With a belly full of hot dogs and beer. - Yes. - In April/May 1938, parts of the eleventh victim, an unidentified woman, were found in the Cuyahoga River.

Interestingly, this was the first time a victim had drugs in her system. This left authorities wondering if the drugs were recreational or used to prevent him from moving. Perhaps this helps explain why the Stokes were so confident and so absolute. - Why didn't they move? - Because they didn't move. - Hmm. - And the only reason I bring this up is because drugs may be involved in one of the main suspects in the case, later. - Well. It's pretty horrible to imagine that you are drugged and can only move your eyes. Have you ever had that?

Is that in a movie? - That's in Wolf Creek. -Yes.-A serial killer cuts someone's spinal cord, so he can't move, so he is forced to simply watch what happens to his friend. -But his eyes can move. -But his eyes can move. - That's horrible. - It's pretty scary. As all these horrendous murders continued, Mayor Harold Burton put increasing pressure on the director of security, Eliot Ness, to move forward. You may know Eliot Ness as the famous G Man, who led his illustrious band of untouchables to bust Al Capone's breweries. Other credits on Ness' glowing resume included taking down the Mayfield Road mob, corrupt police and labor gangsters.

Contributing to his status as a police legend. As the city's safety director, Ness was involved with both the fire and police departments and, given his decorated record, Ness ran a serious risk of tarnishing his reputation if he did not make progress in the torso case. . With that in mind, let's look at the last two murders. On August 16, 1938, the twelfth and thirteenth victims, both unidentified, were found in perhaps the most reckless location of all. The bodies were found in plain view of Eliot Ness's office window, a taunt that obviously resonated with Ness. - Oh wow, that's bold. - This damn guy.

You're going to lose control and you're going to retire, right, you know? - Yes. - Everything is great, and in the last section, this piece of shit arrives. - Yes. - and it starts bothering you. He commits some of the most gruesome murders of all time. - Yes. - In your playground. And then he puts it on you and rubs it on your nose. - Yes. - Two days later, on August 18, 1938, at 12:40 a.m., Director Ness and a squad of 35 detectives and police officers raided the homeless jungle of Kingsbury Run. They gathered 63 men and searched the huts for any sign of the killer.

Most notably, in a move that has been criticized, Ness ordered the shacks burned and the displaced people were accused of being homeless, to which they pleaded guilty. Ness's participation in this episode of the investigation has been described as cruel and draconian. - Well. - This, I mean, practically just said: I can't find what's going on in this part of town. Let's burn everything. - It's literally like scorched earth. - It was literally scorched earth. - Yes. - According to James Badal, the most prominent expert in this case, the Ness raid was aimed at protecting bystanders in a strange and backwards way.

Ness wanted to eliminate the group of potential victims, thinking that the killer was targeting bystanders. Which, to be fair, was true. He also wanted the fingerprints of bystanders, in case they were killed later. - It seems like maybe the fingerprint excuse is exactly that, it's just an excuse. When people say, Hey, why are you terrorizing an entire population of people and setting their houses on fire? He suddenly needed to find a reason for it. - He's coming to his senses. - Yes, and come on, fingerprints? It seems like he's just backing away there. - It was like fingerprints. - Fingerprints. - I need fingerprints, that's... - Sure. - Either way, the killings stopped after the raid.

It's debatable whether or not the raid had anything to do with that. Certainly, Ness's brilliant reputation was damaged by this action,and it did not bring investigators any closer to identifying the killer. That said, some consider the case to be unofficially resolved and, furthermore, the solution was reached in part by Ness himself. With that, let's get into the suspects. The first suspect was bricklayer Frank Dolezal. In July 1939, Dolezal was arrested by county sheriff Martin O'Donnell for the murder of Florence Polillo, the fourth victim. In fact, Dolezal had lived with Polillo for a time. Additionally, Dolezal also knew victims Edward Andrassy and Rose Wallace.

After his arrest, Frank Dolezal confessed to having murdered Florence Polillo. However, he later said that he had been beaten and recanted his confession; In fact, Dolezal had suffered six broken ribs while he was in the sheriff's custody. additional castingdoubt about the confession. The confession seemed prepared, as it was a mix of prepackaged details and incomprehensible ramblings. According to case expert James Badal, the lead detective on the case later said in his memoirs: "This is the first time I've ever met someone who confesses to a crime without knowing the details" of it. That he was confessing. " - They probably beat him up. - Hundred percent. - Yes. - And it's very, very sad. -Yes.

It doesn't seem like he knew many people in the camp, I mean, he did, so a lot of these people lived in that neighborhood, -Yes. -Or in the shanty town? -I think what happened is that they saw that he lived with one of the victims. -Yes.-Then they found out that he knew the other two victims who were identified, and they thought, everyone is on top of us right now, a lot of pressure from the mayor, the public is starting to get angry. I think it's time to do the deed. However, Dolezal remained imprisoned for the crime.

Which makes the event that followed even more suspicious. A month later, in August 1939, Dolezal committed suicide in his cell before going to trial. Him hanging from a hook that was five feet seven inches off the ground. The problem with that is that Frank Dolezal was five feet eight inches tall. Logically, how could a person hang on to an object that surpassed him? It seems that logistically it will be impossible for him to hang himself, he would have to... -You can, I don't know, I think it's possible. - I find it suspicious considering the things that preceded it.

They got his confession out of him, maybe they're starting... - oh, I see what you're saying, you're saying the police maybe had done it, oh, it didn't occur to me that the police would... - What I mean It's just that they seem very determined with this particular guy. - Yes. - They beat him up, they got a confession from him, they are starting to think that this will go to trial soon. - Oh, okay, I didn't put that together. - In addition, James Badal interviewed experts in forensic sciences who examined Dolezal's autopsy. The experts concluded that he did not end his own life as they told people.

However, experts do not explicitly say that he was murdered while in prison. Either way, virtually no one believes that Frank Dolezal was the killer. In August 2010, in the presence of Dolezal's family, a marker, purchased by James Badal and his team, was placed on Dolezal's grave, reading "Rest Now." Thus vindicating Dolezal posthumously. In these unresolved episodes it is not often that we have good feelings. And this, let's hold on to this, let's truly savor it. - This is really very nice. - Rest now, that's good. - How nice. The second and final suspect we will discuss today is Dr.

Francis E Sweeney. In the 1970s, Sweeney was discovered to be security director Eliot Ness' secret suspect. Sweeney is also believed to be the killer, according to case expert James Badal, who until 2014 had spent 18 years investigating the murders. Dr Francis E Sweeney fit the profile. He was a doctor and would have had the skill and anatomical knowledge necessary to carry out the murders. Sweeney had also appeared in probate court several times. And his wife noticed his problems with alcoholism. His abuse towards her and her two children, their disappearances for several days and her negligence in her practice.

Shortly after the final murder, Sweeney was admitted to a mental institution, after which the murders stopped. In 1956, Sweeney was diagnosed with schizophrenic. In May 1938, Eliot Ness secretly detained Sweeney and took him to the old Cleveland Hotel. Ness kept Sweeney there for about 10 to 14 days, as it took three days for Sweeney to even sober up. - Just Ness making coffee all the time. Slapping him in the face, - Pitcher of water in the face. - Ticking his feet with some feathers, I don't know. - Miranda Rights were not yet in force. However, this process was still in conflict with the civil liberties rules of the time.

The inventor of the modern polygraph, Leonard Keeler, administered a lie detector test to Sweeney. Which failed twice. Keeler told Ness, "That's your man." He might as well throw my machine out the window "if I say something different." -This makes me wonder if in his mind he thought he was some kind of vigilante justice. You know, because Bruce Wayne was a very successful and very powerful man. - Are you comparing the torso killer to Batman? - I am not. - It sounds like you're comparing the torso killer to Batman. I'm just saying, I think maybe the torso killer thought he... - It's Batman. -He was a Batman type.

Except Batman never cut off anyone's head, that would really ruin him. -Yeah, Batman didn't kill people, he just knocked them out a little. He's not Batman. Ness had to proceed carefully, because Sweeney was a cousin of Congressman Martin L Sweeney. I wonder if this affiliation, along with the arrest, which violates civil liberties, contributed to Ness keeping the lie detector test a secret. Anyway, despite this revelation, Francis Sweeney was released and, less than three months later, the last two torso victims were placed in view of Ness's window. Apparently to make fun of him. Ness would continue to be mocked long after the murders.

In the 1950s, Ness received mocking cards from someone claiming to be Francis Sweeney. And since Sweeney was a secret suspect, I imagine it's likely that the sender was Sweeney. - What do the note cards say? - They almost talk nonsense. - Do they imply that he is the murderer or is he essentially just...? - It's him mocking him, knowing that even if these cards were brought to court, - they wouldn't mean anything. - They wouldn't mean anything, which is even more infuriating. -Yes.-Unfortunately, despite feeling that he had solved the case, Ness did not have enough to take Sweeney to trial.

However, the case against Sweeney does not end there. In 1938, a homeless man named Emile Fronek told authorities that in 1934 a doctor tried to drug him. He recalled that the office was somewhere between East 50th and East 55th on Broadway Street. Unfortunately, when authorities brought Fronek to Broadway, he couldn't find anything that looked like a doctor's office, and from then on, his story was dismissed as irrelevant. However, more than 70 years later, case expert James Badal discovered that Francis Sweeney practiced medicine in a modest-looking building on the corner of Broadway and Purshing Avenue. This building closely matches the place where Fronek remembers being drugged.

It is in this building that Badal believed Sweeney may have drugged Fronek and other victims. However, the torso killer murders would have resulted in a large amount of blood evidence. So how could Sweeney have carried out those murders in these offices without eventually being caught? - Spread out tarps and just bang. - Because I imagine it would be quite difficult to explain this. I know this looks bad. - He has a cold. (Laughter) - The answer may lie with David Cowles, the head of the Bureau of Scientific Identification, who was interviewed by the Cleveland Police Historical Society in 1983.

Cowles suggests that Sweeney may have had a deal with a entertainment company. funeral That he could perform surgery on unclaimed bodies at the funeral home's funeral home. If this is true, a funeral home would work very well as a way to get rid of blood evidence. This arrangement, however, seems possible, since right next to Sweeney's office was a funeral home; In fact, the funeral home had a concrete ramp located behind the building, which conveniently led to the company's facilities. Both Sweeney's doctor's office and the funeral home are a short drive from where the September 1935 victims were found, which was not far from Roaring Third.

In Badal's opinion, Sweeney could have visited bars near the city center to lure people back to his office with promises of alcohol or drugs. - He just reached an agreement with them: yes, you can work with our corpses, but then he would bring some of his own. - I think that's what happened. - I see well. -He snuck into some, you know, some of his. -Some of his own sinful collections. -He was getting some of the choices from his own critics. - Yes. - Badal, with the help of the great-nephew of one of Francis Sweeney's colleagues, was able to use photographs and diagrams to compare the killer's torso and Sweeney's movements.

Badal calls the results "creepy as hell." All of this information allowed Badal to conclude that Sweeney was indeed the murderer, although Badal warns: "I think I put together a pretty good circumstantial case, I realize that the case couldn't be taken to court," and Ness realized "He says at the time that he couldn't take it to court." - It's crazy that all he had to do was follow the rules and there's a good chance he gathered some legitimate evidence on the guy, or at least... - The thing is, all he had was that Sweeney fit the bill. profile, right? . - Yes. - But that's no reason to get a search warrant for someone or bring someone in. - No. - I don't know what the rules are, about when you can arrest someone, or even subject them to something.

Like a lie detector test. -Yes.-I imagine that it was not enough for him to do it when he did it. - Yes. - Or never. Sweeney would have to make a public slip. However, there is some criticism of Sweeney's explanation, with police and crime journalist Doris O'Donnell believing that someone at the funeral home would have noticed something strange was going on. O'Donnell may be biased, however, as his uncle was the sheriff who arrested the controversial suspect, Frank Dolezal, in 1939. I think it's like one of those things where you wouldn't even dare dream that someone would use this like a place to kill people. - Good. - Because you're close to death all the time, all you see are dead bodies, which makes you think they're going to say oh, I wonder if someone is using this to kill people.

Even Badal acknowledges that the doctor's office could only have been used for the first murders, before colleagues became suspicious. He does not know where the murders that followed occurred. Others, including lead detective Peter Merylo, believe the torso murders were committed by the same person who committed the murders in New Castle, Pennsylvania. Detective Merylo deemed Sweeney too overweight to make the round-trip train trip between New Castle and Cleveland. Which consequently led Merylo to rule out Sweeney as a suspect. But, to be fair, Merylo had also been kept in the dark about Sweeney's secret interrogation and lie detector test.

I, for my part, will go on record saying that I believe it is him. - I'll take the risk too. Great job Ryan! - That's the best I can give. - Yes, very good, I guess I shouldn't say great job Ryan, because you didn't solve... - I didn't do anything, James Badal did. - Yes. - Anyway, Francis Sweeney remains, for the most part, the most popular suspect. In the case of Eliot Ness and James Badal, they believe he is not just a suspect, but the murderer. However, we may never be able to definitively prove it. And for now, the case officially remains unsolved.