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The '''Cleveland Torso Murderer''' was an unidentified serial killer active in the Cleveland, Ohio area in the early 20th century. The official toll of the murderer, also known as the "Mad Butcher of Kingsbury Run" was 12, killed between 1935 to 1938, but some believe that there may have been as many as forty victims in the Cleveland, Pittsburgh, and Youngstown, Ohio area between the 1920s and the 1950s. Two strong candidates for addition to the list of those killed are the unknown victim nicknamed the "Lady of the Lake", found on September 5, 1934, and Robert Robertson, found on July 22, 1950. The victims were usually drifters whose identities were never learned, although there are several exceptions to this (victims #2, #3 and #8 were identified as Edward Andrassy, Flo Polillo and possibly Rose Wallace, respectively). Invariably, all the victims, male and female, appeared to be from the lower classes of society - easy prey in Depression-era Cleveland. The Torso Murderer always beheaded and often dismembered his victims, sometimes also cutting the torso in half. Most of the male victims were castrated, and some victims showed evidence of chemical treatment of their bodies. Many of the victims were found a considerable period after their deaths, sometimes a year or more, which made identification nearly impossible, especially since the heads were often not found. On August 24, 1939, Frank Dolezal, a suspect in the Torso murders, died under suspicious circumstances in the Cuyahoga County Jail. He was discovered to have six broken ribs, injuries his friends say he did not have when arrested by the County Sheriff several months before. Most researchers believe that there exists no evidence that Dolezal was involved in the murders, although at one time he admitted killing Flo Polillo in self defense. He recanted that confession, saying he had been beaten until he confessed. He is often called the 13th victim of the Torso Murderer. Eliot Ness was the Public Safety Director of Cleveland during the period of "official" murders. Failure to apprehend the murderer was perhaps the major failure of his tenure and is thought by many to be a contributor to his declining status in later years. Some have called Ness the 14th victim of the Torso Murderer. The 1947 murder of The Black Dahlia by an unknown perpetrator in Los Angeles bears distinct similarities, as well as some significant differences, when compared to the Torso Murder's work. Most researchers familiar with both crimes do not feel that the same person was at work, but Elizabeth Short's murderer might have copied aspects of the Cleveland crimes. One Dahlia suspect, Jack Wilson, is known to have lived in Cleveland during the murders and had talked of viewing the death mask of victim #4, the unknown "tattooed man". == References == *James Jessen Badal; In the Wake of the Butcher: Cleveland's Torso Murders; The Kent State University Press; ISBN 0-87338-689-2 (paperback, 2001) *John Stark Bellamy II; The Maniac in the Bushes and More Tales of Cleveland Woe; Gray and Company, Publishers; ISBN 1-886228-19-1 (paperback, 1997) *Steven Nickel; Torso: Eliot Ness and the Search for a Psychopathic Killer; John F Blair Publishers; ISBN 0-895-87246-3 (paperback, 2001) == External links == *Cleveland Police Historical Society and Museum *The Kingsbury Run Murders * Serial Killer Crime Index * Letter C