The First Serial Killer?

Blog post week 8
Cassy Rymas
 The torso murders of Cleveland, Ohio. This case is very interesting and a historical case in my field since it was THE FIRST SERIAL KILLER! The killings took place in the 1930s. The first bodies were found in September of 1935, in the Kingsbury Run area. The killings were called the torso murders because the killer beheaded them and sometimes other parts of the body as well. Many of the victims were left unidentified because they were taken for lower parts of society and didn’t have a face. At this time fingerprinting and looking at dental records were impossible.

The scene at the foot of Jackass Hill, September 23, 1935: Edward Andrassy’s headless, emasculated corpse. Photo courtesy of Marjorie Merylo Dentz.

 After more victims showed up of different genders the famous Eliot Ness became involved, as he was Cleveland’s chief of Public Safety. Unfortunately, even with his work, the murders continued. As the years passed more bodies started to pile up. As the possible suspects for the killings stayed very limited. The police hit dead end after dead end. The case broke open when they got the lead on one man who was known for being in the bar often, talking to the few who were identified, and he was known for anger. After hours of questioning, he confessed to one murder. However, before he could be questioned about any other murders, he killed himself. His autopsy showed several broken ribs, that he did not have before going into custody. So his confession was believed to be worthless and thrown out. Back to another dead end, the police went. Ness later pursued a doctor. This doctor had a history of mental illness and before Ness could get anything out of him, he committed himself to a mental hospital. This doctor was now out of reach.

Eliot Ness, Cleveland Chief of Public Safety (AP Photo/The Plain Dealer, File).

Coincidentally, once the doctor was locked up, the murders stopped. The case remained unsolved, with no leads and no justice. Many people in law enforcement are hopeful to opening the cold case and solving it with the new technology available in the 21st century. Until then, we wait.

This case is so fascinating because this was the first serial killer. This makes me wonder, is this man the reason we have them today? Did he spark an idea in crazy people’s minds? Why weren’t there any before him? And if the case happened today, would it be solved? So many people died, yet few were identified, even less were suspects and in the end, no one was found guilty for this awful act.

http://www.clevelandpolicemuseum.org/collections/torso-murders/