The Cleveland Torso Murderer
If the Great Depression wasn’t doing enough damage to the American psyche at that time, between 1935 and 1938, the citizens of Cleveland, Ohio would have to contend with one of the most brutal serial killers in their midst, The Cleveland Torso Murderer or the Mad Butcher of Kingsbury Run. Although the official number attributed to his spree is twelve, it is believed that his body count could be as high as twenty.
Preying on the poor and homeless, this maniac beheaded and dismembered multiple male and female victims, often dumping their bodies in the impoverished Cleveland neighborhood known as Kingsbury Run. As a result of his twisted modus operandi, many of his victims remain unidentified to this day.
The first confirmed victims were discovered on September 23, 1935. They were Edward Andrassy and an unidentified male. Andrassy’s body was found some 30 feet away from the remains of the unidentified male. Both were castrated, with their heads missing, although their heads would be eventually recovered.
Over the next three years he would continue to collect victims before seemingly disappearing into the night from whence he came. On August 24, 1939, a Cleveland resident named Frank Dolezal, 52, was arrested as a suspect in one of the torso murder victims case, that of Florence Polillo, but strangely, he later died in suspicious circumstances in the Cuyahoga County jail. In 2010, researchers from Cuyahoga Community College released evidence that cleared Dolezal’s name.
Another suspect high on the authorities list was Dr. Francis E. Sweeney, who many believed to be the culprit. Sweeney was personally interviewed by Eliot Ness, of Untouchables fame, who oversaw the official investigation into the killings in his capacity as Cleveland’s Safety Director.
Despite there not being enough evidence to convict Sweeney, many now are convinced of his guilt as after Ness got involved in the case and interviewed the doctor, the killer taunted Ness by placing the remains of two victims in full view of his office in city hall.
