Cleveland butcher: biography, interesting facts

If you believe in police statistics, an enormous number of crimes are revealed each year, and those responsible are punished for their actions. But in fact, not all criminal cases are possible to unravel. The Cleveland butcher is an unknown killer who committed his crimes in the city of Cleveland (Ohio, USA). Despite the large number of victims and the startling cruelty, the perpetrator was never found.

Why the Cleveland butcher?

In the 30s of last century, a small and quiet town of Cleveland in Ohio was shocked by a series of horrific murders. In the most unexpected places in this locality, the corpses of people were severely mutilated, and the identities of many of them were never established. The unknown murderer dismembered the bodies of the victims, chopped off his head. According to experts, often these manipulations the criminal did during the lifetime of the unfortunate. In the course of the investigation, the killer was nicknamed the Cleveland butcher. Journalists who covered the story in the media often called him also the Mad Butcher of Kingsbury-Run and the Cleveland dismemberment. The county police literally lost their way, searching for an unknown maniac. However, due to the difficulties associated with the identification of victims, and the lack of evidence, the identity of the killer has never been established. Officially, 12 episodes of murders are included in the case, which, in the opinion of the police, are committed by one criminal. But there is reason to believe that there were in fact more victims.

Unexplained violence

Despite the fact that among all the "recognized" victims of the butcher only three were identified, the investigators engaged in this case are sure that the murderer dealt exclusively with not the most prosperous members of the society. Probably, the criminal "went out" to his terrible hunt for Cleveland Flats, an area where poor workers and other members of the lower strata of society lived. Cut off limbs and heads, causing grave injuries and causing various injuries - all this got up with their victims a maniac (Cleveland butcher). The photo of found corpses can not be viewed without shudder even today, after so many years. Often, experts detected on the bodies traces of exposure to aggressive chemicals, many male victims lacked genitalia. Why the unknown murderer exhibited such cruelty will remain a mystery. But even in our time the old-timers of Cleveland remember all this nightmare of the 30s.

First victims

According to the official version, the Cleveland butcher killed 12 people, of which only three could be identified. In the materials of the investigation file, each victim has his own serial number. For convenience, the unidentified men with whom the killer was dealt with are denoted as John Doe, and the women are Jane Doe. The nightmare in Cleveland began on September 23, 1935. On that day, the first corpse of a man was found, which he could not identify (John Doe). The forensic medical experts concluded that the unfortunate man was killed several weeks before the discovery. On the same day a corpse was found nearby, which it was possible to identify, and then another one, a few months later. At that time, the first rumors spread that a Cleveland butcher was operating in the city. Photos of the victims are studied in detail, as well as the bodies themselves, but there are no unambiguous clues and versions of the investigation. On June 5, 1936, a fourth corpse was found, which was designated in official documents as John Doe-2 (it did not turn out to establish the identity). On the body of the deceased were tattoos, and the police asked the staff of the morgue to make a death mask. But even despite all these measures, the victim was never identified.

Identified Victims

On September 23, 1935 (the day of the discovery of the very first corpse), only 10 meters from victim No. 1, the mutilated body of Edward W. Andressey was found. The victim was killed 3-4 days before the discovery. The third victim was found in the very center of Cleveland on January 26, 1936. This is the first woman killed by a maniac, and her personality was established - she was Florence Janivieva Polillo. Very often, to the list of identified victims, add a woman, found the eighth in a row. In investigative materials, she appears immediately under two designations: Jane Doe-2 or Rose Wallace. This woman disappeared 10 months before the discovery of the corpse (June 6, 1937). In this case, experts who studied the body, argue that, according to some signs, it can be assumed that the murder occurred more than a year ago. To determine the identity of the deceased, a dental examination was conducted, but its results can not be considered 100% accurate, since the doctor who was following Roses teeth died several years earlier.

The murders continue!

The fifth victim of the Cleveland butcher was found in Brooklyn. The corpse, discovered on July 22, 1936, in addition to the serial number 5, was nicknamed John Doe-3. The next in the terrible list of the killer was also a man whose identity could not be established. It was discovered on September 10, 1936, is designated in the materials of the investigation file as John Doe-4. The ninth victim of the serial killer - again a man, was found on July 6, 1937 in the river Kayahoga. Personality is not established, the case is introduced as John Doe-5. April 8, 1938 in the same river was found the body of a disfigured woman, which also failed to identify - Jane Doe-3. The eleventh in the list of the murderer was another unknown female representative, identified in the investigation materials as Jane Dow-4, was found on August 16, 1938. On the same day, right next to the body of a woman, the body of a man was found, John Doe-6 - it was not possible to identify the deceased. On this official list of victims Cleveland dismemberment ends, but it should be noted that in the district of the body killed and mutilated in this way, people were found both earlier and later of this high-profile case.

Possible victims

On September 5, 1934, on the shore of Lake Lake Erie, a dead woman was found, which was quickly named posthumously by the romantic nickname Lady Lake. The identity of the dead could not be established, since the corpse was too much disfigured, and the killer was not found. According to many experts, this is the first victim of the list of the Kivlendian butcher. On July 1, 1936, the body of an unknown man was found in a shopping car in New Castle, Pennsylvania. And in 1940, they found three decapitated bodies right next to McKee's Rocks, Pennsylvania. Interestingly, they were also in the shopping cars. Another headless man in Cleveland was discovered in 1950, his identity is set - Robert Robertson. The Cleveland butcher of his victim always dismembered, often cut off his head. It is interesting that the decapitated corpses in Pennsylvania were found in swamps in the 1920s.

Course of investigation

The Cleveland butcher's case was dealt with by Eliot Ness, at that time - the head of the security service of Klivend. Detective was a real professional in his field and had a number of significant professional achievements in the past. However, even such a specialist could not understand the chain of sinister killers and find out who is the criminal, better known as the Cleveland butcher. The biography of the maniac was replenished with new victims, the murders ceased, then several corpses were found again. With all this, the investigation practically stood still. And yet, during the investigation, two people were included in the number of suspects. However, their involvement in the murders could not be proved. The very same Eliot Ness completed his career detective after this high-profile case.

Suspect No. 1: Frank Dolezel

On suspicion of the murder of Florence Polillo August 24, 1939 was arrested Frank Dolezel - a man who lived in Cleveland. During the interrogations, he confessed to committing the crime, but later refused his testimony and said that they were literally "beaten out" of him by police. Then the unexpected happened: Frank Dolezel died in his cell under obscure circumstances. The official cause of death - suicide - is questioned, since numerous injuries were found on the body of the deceased, including broken ribs.

Suspect No. 2: Francis E. Sweeney

Dr. Francis E. Sweeney became the second and most important suspect in this high-profile case. During the Second World War, he was at the front, saving lives of the wounded, successfully conducting operations. In the field, the vision of the police fell in 1938, after the discovery of the next victims of the Cleveland maniac. Francis E. Sweeney passed two examinations on a polygraph, and experts came to the conclusion that he is a murderer. Interrogations with the suspect were conducted personally by Detective E. Ness. However, due to a number of reasons, it was not possible to prove the guilt of F. E. Sweeney, and the doctor voluntarily went to long-term treatment. In 1964, the suspect died in one of the hospitals of Daytona.

Maniac Cleveland butcher: interesting facts and the use of his image in contemporary art

Tragic stories from real life often inspire creative people. Based on the real Cleveland nightmare, Brian Michael Bendis, with the help of several other authors, created a comic book published in Image Comics under the sonorous name "Torso". Director David Fincher is known for having made a feature film based on a real story about the serial killer of the Zodiac. He wanted to dedicate a ribbon like that and a butcher from Cleveland. But to date, this idea is not implemented. However, in the film "Seven Psychopaths" in the episode, the Cleveland butcher is mentioned. The photo of the actor in the image of this character is too much like the photographs of Francis Sweeney. In the David Fincher film "Seven" the name of the main negative character, serial maniac - John Doe. It is believed that in 1938, his last murder was the Cleveland butcher. Ohio, however, still for a long time shook all sorts of rumors and legends about the brutal murderer. This character frightened the children, and if any of the good citizens disappeared, the public immediately prepared to find a new decapitated body. But today the nightmare is in the past, and people remember it infrequently. Let's hope that our contemporaries really can not be afraid of the next return of the dismemberer from Cleveland.