0:04 [SPEAKER_00]: a fog-laden keen-sbury run, in the air thick with mystery, as the city of Cleveland sleeps unknowingly. 0:14 [SPEAKER_00]: It's here, in the shadowy gully, that a gruesome discovery was made. 0:20 [SPEAKER_00]: One that would start a series of horrifying finds 0:31 [SPEAKER_00]: Welcome back friend to hometown history. 0:34 [SPEAKER_00]: Today's episode takes us to the year 1934 when Cleveland was at the center of a series of brutal killings. 0:43 [SPEAKER_00]: And yet the identity of the murderer remains cloaked and darkness, much like the night skies under which the bodies were found. 0:53 [SPEAKER_00]: This is the case of the Cleveland torso murderer, also known as the Mad Butcher of Kingsbury Run. 1:05 [SPEAKER_00]: As we discussed, this started in the year 1934, and until 1938, almost five years later, a dark shadow loomed over the Kingsbury Run area in Cleveland, Ohio, 1:20 [SPEAKER_00]: to set the scene, Kingsbury Run was a bleak and dangerous place at the time, heavily populated by the poor and characterized by harsh-living conditions. 1:32 [SPEAKER_00]: It was called a hobo jungle because of its reputation as a haven for transients and those living on the margins of society during the 1930s. 1:44 [SPEAKER_00]: So this area was located near somewhat disreputable spots, 1:49 [SPEAKER_00]: Some known for bars, gambling dens, and brothels, and all of that sounds like a serial killer's ideal hunting ground, and that's exactly what it became. 2:06 [SPEAKER_00]: The first discovery was made on September 5, 1934, on the shores of Lake Eury, where 2:20 [SPEAKER_00]: all that remained were parts of her torso and thighs, and to add to the grim details, or head was never recovered. 2:29 [SPEAKER_00]: The condition of her skin, red and leathery, suggested the use of a chemical preservative. 2:37 [SPEAKER_00]: As horrifying as the nature of this body was, Cleveland law enforcement was not ready for what this discovery was going to lead to. 2:47 [SPEAKER_00]: Even though there was a long cooling off period after this, another discovery was made a year later, on September 23rd, 1935. 2:59 [SPEAKER_00]: Near King's Berry Run, at the base of a place named Jackass Hill, laid the body of a 28-year-old male. 3:08 [SPEAKER_00]: It was identified as Edward and Rossi, a hospital orderly who was known to frequent the 3:18 [SPEAKER_00]: And Rossi's body was found naked, completely drained of blood, and emasculated, with visible rope burns on his wrists. 3:28 [SPEAKER_00]: And this time the cooling off period was not that long. 3:33 [SPEAKER_00]: Either he was getting bolder, or just more bloodthirsty. 3:38 [SPEAKER_00]: on the same day, a few yards away, police discovered another body, a decapitated and emasculated male around 40 years old, also preserved with chemicals. 3:51 [SPEAKER_00]: By this time the police knew that these were not unrelated crimes, and that they had an act of serial killer in Cleveland. 4:03 [SPEAKER_00]: Then around 4 months later, on January 26th, 1936, another body was discovered. 4:13 [SPEAKER_00]: Florence Palolo, a part-time bar made in sex worker, was the next victim. 4:20 [SPEAKER_00]: Her remains were crotesically packaged in newspaper, and placed inside half-bushal baskets, 4:32 [SPEAKER_00]: a place too busy to be the scene of the murder. 4:37 [SPEAKER_00]: It was now becoming clear that the killer was growing bolder with each murder, and that was a cause of concern, adding to Cleveland pleases troubles. 4:48 [SPEAKER_00]: Later on June 5, 1936, the severed head of an unidentified male was found wrapped in trousers in King's Berry Run. 5:00 [SPEAKER_00]: The rest of his body was located nearby the following day, dumped rather audaciously in front of the nickel plate railroad police building. 5:11 [SPEAKER_00]: Just a month later, on July 22nd, 1936, in a secluded area near Clinton Road, a decomposing body of a man around 40 years old was discovered. 5:25 [SPEAKER_00]: Apparently he had been dead for two months already, and his body, just lay there, waiting to be found and identified. 5:35 [SPEAKER_00]: Unfortunately, he became yet another John Doe. 5:39 [SPEAKER_00]: But there was something unusual about this murder. 5:44 [SPEAKER_00]: There was blood on the ground where it was discovered, something that was not consistent 5:53 [SPEAKER_00]: The presence of blood indicated that this victim was killed right there, probably in a heated moment instead of the pre-plant nature of the last few murders. 6:04 [SPEAKER_00]: More and more bodies were discovered in the months following, mostly left unidentified and in similar conditions. 6:14 [SPEAKER_00]: All of the bodies that were found shared several similarities, the kind that marked the 6:22 [SPEAKER_00]: All the victims were decapitated, and many were also dismembered, with their heads often not recovered. 6:30 [SPEAKER_00]: In several cases, the bodies have been treated with a chemical preservative that left the skin with a leathery and red appearance. 6:39 [SPEAKER_00]: The male victims were mostly imasculated, in addition to the other mutilations, which meant 6:51 [SPEAKER_00]: Adding to that, most of the bodies were found completely drained of blood. 6:57 [SPEAKER_00]: All of these consistencies across the cases indicated a kind of methodical approach by the killer, which meant he planned all of this, and most likely was enjoying it in his own sick way. 7:13 [SPEAKER_00]: And that reflected in the number of victims, 7:17 [SPEAKER_00]: By May 1938, the official count reached 11, when parts of an unidentified woman were pulled from the Kaya-Hoga River. 7:28 [SPEAKER_00]: This was the first time traces of drugs were found in the victim's system. 7:33 [SPEAKER_00]: What she said dated before the murder, or had she already been a habitual user, who knows. 7:46 [SPEAKER_00]: not just the number of murders, but the nature of these crimes, so motivated by seething hatred. 7:55 [SPEAKER_00]: It didn't help that the newspapers wouldn't stop fear-mongering, making Cleveland police's job even harder. 8:04 [SPEAKER_00]: They were already working at Max Capacity, with all of the police's focus being on this mad butcher. 8:12 [SPEAKER_00]: But even after months of investigation, there were no concrete leads to be followed. 8:19 [SPEAKER_00]: Detectives Peter Merrillow, in Martin Zeloski, were deeply involved in the investigation and conducted extensive interviews, speaking with over 1500 people and their efforts to identify the killer. 8:34 [SPEAKER_00]: It is even considered that Detective Merrillow went undercover as a vagrant to help speed up the process of gathering information related to the murders. 8:46 [SPEAKER_00]: Even after that, there was no real progress being made. 8:50 [SPEAKER_00]: So in the hope of improving the quality of the investigation, Mayor Harold Burton invited 9:04 [SPEAKER_00]: Nebula little context as to why specifically, Eliot Nass was invited in. 9:10 [SPEAKER_00]: Over time, Eliot Nass had built a strong reputation for his long-forcement career and accomplishments. 9:18 [SPEAKER_00]: He was best known for his leadership of the Untouchables, which was basically the team that helped bring down the gangster, Al Capone in Chicago. 9:29 [SPEAKER_00]: By aggressively targeting his illegal alcohol operations, 9:34 [SPEAKER_00]: Ness also had a history of fighting against corruption, taking on both the Mayfield Road Mob and corrupt policemen, as well as tackling criminal activities and labor unions. 9:48 [SPEAKER_00]: So these achievements made him a prominent figure and law enforcement, leading Mayor Harold Burton to invite him in. 9:58 [SPEAKER_00]: Now since he had such an excellent record, there was a great deal of pressure on him to identify the Cleveland towards our murderer, as quickly as possible. 10:09 [SPEAKER_00]: As the investigation moved on, two main suspects emerged, each with intriguing connections to the case. 10:17 [SPEAKER_00]: The first suspect was Frank Dollazol, a 52-year-old bricklayer who had personal connections 10:26 [SPEAKER_00]: Dolas all had lived with Florence, Paolo, one of the identified victims, and was also acquainted with Edward Andrecy, and Rose Wallace, both victims of the murderer. 10:39 [SPEAKER_00]: Considering the fact that he knew the few victims that the police were able to identify, he was arrested and interrogated, crazy thing is, soon after his arrest, Dolas all confessed 10:55 [SPEAKER_00]: but that was not it. 10:56 [SPEAKER_00]: He later recanted this statement, claiming that he had been coerced through physical violence. 11:03 [SPEAKER_00]: And apparently, his broken ribs, while in custody, were good enough evidence to prove that. 11:10 [SPEAKER_00]: So the circumstances of his confession made the whole investigation and conclusion useless. 11:18 [SPEAKER_00]: But it doesn't end there. 11:20 [SPEAKER_00]: He also committed suicide, under dubious circumstances, because he was found hanged on a way that seemed physically impossible, given his height and the height of the hook from which he was hung. 11:32 [SPEAKER_00]: It's worth noting that he was in jail at the time, so maybe he really did hang himself, or it was staged by the inmates, or Warden. 11:47 [SPEAKER_00]: The second suspect was Dr. Francis Sweeney. 11:52 [SPEAKER_00]: Now he was a stronger suspect and there was a number of factors that led to this. 11:58 [SPEAKER_00]: First and foremost, he was a doctor with the medical expertise that could explain the precise anatomical knowledge, obvious in the dismemberments of the victims. 12:09 [SPEAKER_00]: which is one of the major parts of his motorcycle randai, adding to that, Soini had several periods of erratic behavior in alcohol problems during his life, as detailed by his estranged family. 12:26 [SPEAKER_00]: So Ness secretly administered a polygraph test on him, using an early polygraph machine, administered by its inventor. 12:35 [SPEAKER_00]: Now, Soini reportedly failed this test. 12:38 [SPEAKER_00]: which was yet another thing that pointed toward him. 12:42 [SPEAKER_00]: But despite these circumstances, Ness could not move forward with charges due to the lack of concrete evidence, and maybe due to political pressures as well, since Sweeney was related to a local congressman, 12:58 [SPEAKER_00]: So the link of these murders to him could never be definitely proven in court, and that meant the police were back to square one. 13:08 [SPEAKER_00]: The police were clearly struggling as you could guess, identifying the killer was not that easy of a task, and apparently the killer wanted Ness to know that. 13:23 [SPEAKER_00]: On August 16th, 1938, soon after Nest joined the investigation, the final known victims, victims 12th and 13th were found within view of Elliott Nest's office. 13:38 [SPEAKER_00]: A rather grim taunt from the killer to the inability of police to arrest him. 13:45 [SPEAKER_00]: In this taunt was enough to push Nest, a little over the edge. 13:51 [SPEAKER_00]: Nest organized a massive raid on Kingsbury runs Hobo Jungle, where many transients lived. 13:59 [SPEAKER_00]: The type of people that became victims at the hands of this killer. 14:04 [SPEAKER_00]: So it was considered somewhat of a dramatic move. 14:08 [SPEAKER_00]: In the early hours, accompanied by a team of 35 detectives and police officers. 14:14 [SPEAKER_00]: Nest led a sweep of the area, detaining 63 men, 14:20 [SPEAKER_00]: but he did not stop there. 14:22 [SPEAKER_00]: He also ordered the shanty towns, which were the makeshift homes of many homeless people to be burned to the ground. 14:32 [SPEAKER_00]: This decision was heavily criticized because it was seen as a desperate measure to smoke the killer out of their hiding place. 14:41 [SPEAKER_00]: But the collateral damage was far too much. 14:44 [SPEAKER_00]: The objective was reasonable, but the way he was trying to achieve that objective was to extreme. 14:52 [SPEAKER_00]: But here's the thing, it seemed to have worked. 14:58 [SPEAKER_00]: After the raid, the torso murders actually stopped. 15:04 [SPEAKER_00]: Now it is still unclear whether Ness' raid was the reason that no more victims were found, or if there was some other factor of play. 15:14 [SPEAKER_00]: Some people still believe the killer was Dr. Swaney, because the time these murders stopped, also coincided with the time when he voluntarily admitted himself to a mental institution. 15:28 [SPEAKER_00]: But then again, this was never proven. 15:32 [SPEAKER_00]: Whatever the reason, this marked the end of the brutal series of crimes that had haunted Cleveland for almost five years. 15:42 [SPEAKER_00]: And while there was some peace now for the people of Cleveland, the mystery of the identity of the killer still taunted the detectives. 15:53 [SPEAKER_00]: Maybe we just aren't meant to know. 16:03 [SPEAKER_00]: The horror of the torso murders leaves us with many, many questions, but the reality is we're far beyond ever-finding an answer. 16:14 [SPEAKER_00]: It is just another reminder of the depths of human depravity and the limits of justice. 16:21 [SPEAKER_00]: Thanks for listening to Home Town History, and be sure to follow along for more interesting stories from the past.
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