Torso Killer

GODREKR · #11 ● 09-23-2011, 10:30 PM

The Jist

The TORSO MURDERS, committed between Sept. 1935 and Aug. 1938, were believed to be serial killings. Most of the bodies were discovered in or near the KINGSBURY RUN area--a creek bed that ran from E. 90th St. and Kinsman Rd. SE to the CUYAHOGA RIVER. Body parts of what was thought to be 7 men and 5 women were discovered; most victims were dismembered and all were decapitated. Most of the victims appeared to be transients or derelicts living in shantytowns on the fringes of society. The murderer was never discovered. The first 2 dismembered bodies were found together in Kingsbury Run on 23 Sept. 1935, one of which was later identified by his fingerprints as Edward Andrassey, 29, an orderly at a local hospital. The third victim was Florence Pollilo, found near Orange Ave. 26 Jan 1936. Between June 1936 and Aug. 1938, 9 more bodies were discovered, one of which was identified as Mrs. Rose Wallace. Safety Director ELIOT NESS† immediately ordered the shantytowns of Kingsbury Run burned to the ground, which ended the torso murders.

The similarities in dismemberment, which were carried out with surgical precision, led investigating policemen to surmise that the murders were committed by a single person with significant knowledge of anatomy. Police Lt. Peter Merylo, who worked on the case for 6 years, characterized the killer as coldly efficient and as relentless as an executioner when in the mood to kill. Although Frank Dolezal confessed to the Polillo murder, he hanged himself before he could be tried, and despite intensive police work, there was never sufficient evidence to make a case against any other suspect.

For more info. check these links. The first two are the shortest while the other two are alot more extensive.

Cleveland Torso Murderer-Wiki

Dead Men Do Tell Tales

THE TORSO SLAYER

The Kingsbury Run Murders or Cleveland Torso Murders

This last link was written for Cleveland.com aka Cleveland News, and has most of these pics. Published: Wednesday, November 04, 2009 Updated: Saturday, December 19, 2009

The Torso Murders of the 1930s

GODREKR · #12 ● 09-23-2011, 11:54 PM

Torso Murders Gallery:

1) Cuyahoga County Coroner Samuel Gerber and his assistants sift though dirt where a severed head is found.

2) Torso Murder suspect Frank Dolezal is held in jail following his arrest until he hangs himself in an apparent suicide.

3) Frank Dolezal, confesses to the killings and offers to show police where he had buried body parts. But no remains are found and his confession appears full of holes.

4) Police detective August Nicolaus searches a shack in the Kingsbury Run area of Cleveland.

5) Suspect Frank Dolezal, 52, frequented the same downtown bar as three of the Torso Murder victims.

6) Police remove the body of a Torso Murder victim as a crowd gathers.

7) Cleveland Safety Director Elliot Ness, top right, stands at a Torso Murder crime scene. Police found parts of 12 bodies, but the killer was never caught.

8) Police discovered the body of a Torso Murder victim near Cleveland's lower W. 3rd Street bridge in May 1938.

9) The body of a woman was found partly buried in a dump near Lake Shore Rd. and E. 9th St. The head was severed from the body.

10) A mask is made for a headless victim of the Torso Murders in the mid-1930s.

11) The body of Edward Andrassy is one of two found on Sept. 23, 1935, at the foot of a weedy mound called Jackass Hill. Andrassy, a 28-year-old hospital orderly. had been dead for less than a week. The other body has never been identified.

12) A detective displays knives thought to be used in the Torso Murders.

13) A letter sent to Cleveland's police chief in December 1938, a few months after the last victim is found.

14) Cuyahoga County Coroner Samuel Gerber examines the body of victim 12, the final victim, found on Aug. 17, 1938.

15) Knifes found on one of more than 1,000 suspects police arrested in the Torso Murders investigation.

16) The head of victim 6.

17) Cuyahoga County Coroner Samuel Gerber examines a woman's foot.

18) One of the murder scenes is in the shadow of Cleveland city hall.

19) County Coroner Samuel Gerber and Cleveland Police detectives search among the rocks of the lakefront for remains of victims of the Torso Murderer, 1938.

20) San Francisco Chronicle - AUGUST 17, 1938.

21) Ellensburg Daily Record - Apr 8, 1938

GODREKR · #13 ● 09-24-2011, 01:07 AM

Kingsbury Run Murders Gallery:

From The Cleveland Police Museum

1) Kingsbury Run Murders display in side the Cleveland Police Museum.

2) Florence Polillo, Circa 1934.
The Cleveland Police mug shot of Florence Polillo; victim No. 3 of the Torso murderer, is the only known photograph of her. Florence Polillo was identified by the fingerprints of her right hand. She was known to the Cleveland Police as a waitress and prostitute.

The lower half of her torso, two thighs, a right arm and hand were found behind the Hart Manufacturing Plant at 2315 East 20th, frozen, wrapped in newspaper and stuffed into two half-bushel baskets. Her head was never found.

Gift of Patrick Lyons

3) Rose Wallace, 1939
Rose Wallace was tentatively identified as victim number 8 of the Cleveland Torso Murderer. This sketch of Ms. Wallace, drawn by Michael Nevin, is based on a lost newspaper photograph.

Although Coroner Gerber never agreed with the identification, Mrs. Wallace's gold dental work was identified by a young African American man in April of 1938, who claimed to be her son. No positive identification of victim No. 8 was ever made.

Gift of Dr. James J. Badal

4) Edward W. Andrassy, 1931
Cleveland Police Department mug-shot photograph of Edward W. Andrassy, the first offical victim of the Torso murderer to be identified. Andrassy's mutilated corpse was found at the foot of Jackass Hill. September 23, 1935. He was identified by the Bureau of Criminal identification by his fingerprints.

Andrassy had been arrested many times for drunkenness, brawling and carrying a concealed weapon. He was know to haunt the rougher areas around Kingsbury Run and had no steady job.

Gift of Patrick Lyons

5) Torso Murder Death Mask
This image of Florence Polillo, Torso Murderer Victim Number Three, was made by the CPD Bureau of Criminal Identification in an effort to identify her body. She was eventually identified by the fingerprints of her right hand which were on file with the Cleveland Police Department. Florence's head was never found.

Gift of the Cleveland Police Department

6) Torso Murder Death Mask
This likeness of Edward W. Andrassy, Torso Murder Victim Number Two, was made by the technicians in the CPD Bureau of Criminal Identification, of plaster and paper, using a mug-shot photograph of the victim as a guide. Andrassy was identified by his fingerprints which were on file with the Cleveland Police Department.

Gift of the Cleveland Police Department

7) Torso Murder Report
Crime report displayed at the Cleveland Police Museum.

8) Torso Slayer
The Cleveland Plain Dealer. Does Torso Slayer Resemble Bluebeards Of Past? Torso Murderer death masks on display at the Cleveland Police Museum.

9) Torso Murder Death Mask
This Plaster likeness of the Eighth Victim of the Torso Murderer was constructed from a casting of her skull. She was eventually identified as Rose Wallace, by her son, who recognized the gold dental work recovered with her skeleton.

Gift of the Cleveland Police

10) Torso Murder Death Mask
This plaster casting "death mask" of the head of Torso Victim Number Four, was made in an effort by the CPD to identify him. This likeness was displayed at the Great Lakes Exposition of 1936-37 with the hope that one of the more than a million visitors could identify the victim. He remains unidentified to this day.

Gift of the Cleveland Police Department

11) Torso Murder Death Mask
This image of Florence Polillo, Torso Murderer Victim Number Three, was made by the CPD Bureau of Criminal Identification in an effort to identify her body. She was eventually identified by the fingerprints of her right hand which were on file with the Cleveland Police Department. Florence's head was never found.

Gift of the Cleveland Police Department

12) Death Mask Display
Torso Murder death mask display at the Cleveland Police Museum.