Cleveland Torso Murderer

Not to be confused with Richard Cottingham, also known as The Torso Killer and Times Square Torso Ripper.
The Cleveland Torso Murderer
An exposition dedicated to the Cleveland Torso Murderer at the Cleveland Police Museum (from left to right: Death masks of the victims Edward Andrassy, Florence Genevieve Polillo, "The Tattooed Man", and Jane Doe II).
Other namesThe Mad Butcher of Kingsbury Run
Details
Victims13–20+
Span of crimes
September 5, 1934 – August 16, 1938
CountryUnited States
State(s)Ohio, possibly Pennsylvania and California
Date apprehended
Never apprehended

The Cleveland Torso Murderer, also known as the Mad Butcher of Kingsbury Run, was an unidentified serial killer who was active in Cleveland, Ohio, United States, in the 1930s. The killings were characterized by the dismemberment of thirteen known victims and the disposal of their remains in the impoverished neighborhood of Kingsbury Run.[1] Most victims came from an area east of Kingsbury Run called "The Roaring Third" or "Hobo Jungle", known for its bars, gambling dens, brothels and vagrants. Despite an investigation of the murders, which at one time was led by famed lawman Eliot Ness, the murderer was never apprehended.[2] In 2024, the Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner's Office teamed up with the DNA Doe Project to exhume some of the victims and use investigative genetic genealogy to identify them.[3]

  1. ^ VanTassel, David D.; Grabowski, John J.; Schill, Megan (2020) [1987]. "Torso Murders". In Stavish, Mary B.; VanTassel, David D.; Grabowski, John J. (eds.). Encyclopedia of Cleveland History. Public Safety (3rd ed.). Cleveland, Ohio: Case Western Reserve University. Retrieved 7 September 2021.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference deroos was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ "Exhumation of Cleveland Torso Killer's unidentified victims now underway". cleveland19.com. 2024-08-09.