Cleveland Torso Murderer

Serial Killer

Victims of the Cleveland Torso Murderer

• Edward Andrassy, approximately 28 or 29 - September 23, 1935 - Kingsbury Run near East 49th Street: Andrassy's remains were discovered at the base of an area commonly called Jackass Hill. He had been decapitated and mutilated. His fingerprints allowed police to identify him. Andrassy had previously worked as a hospital orderly and was known to spend time in Cleveland's downtown entertainment districts. Investigators estimated that he had been killed only several days before his body was found.
• Unidentified male - September 23, 1935 - Kingsbury Run near East 49th Street: Police searching the area around Andrassy discovered another decapitated male victim nearby. He was estimated to be approximately 40 to 45 years old and appeared to have been dead longer than Andrassy. Despite extensive efforts, his identity was never established.
• Florence Genevieve "Flo" Polillo, approximately 42 - January 26, 1936 - East 20th Street near Central Avenue: Portions of Polillo's body were discovered wrapped in newspaper and placed in baskets near the Hart Manufacturing building. Additional remains were recovered on February 7 near Orange Avenue. Her head was never found. Police identified Polillo through fingerprints. She had worked as a waitress and barmaid and was familiar with the area around Cleveland's poorer downtown neighborhoods.
• The "Tattooed Man" - June 5, 1936 - railroad property near East 55th Street and Kingsbury Run: This unidentified man was believed to be in his twenties. He became one of the most recognizable unidentified victims because he had six distinctive tattoos, including a butterfly, a heart and anchor, the comic-strip character Jiggs, the names "Helen and Paul" and the initials "W.C.G." Police created a death mask and displayed information about his tattoos to enormous crowds at the Great Lakes Exposition, but nobody was able to conclusively identify him.
• Unidentified male - July 22, 1936 - Big Creek area of Brooklyn, west of Cleveland: A badly decomposed decapitated man was discovered near a transient camp and railroad tracks. Investigators believed he may have been dead for approximately two months. Blood at the scene suggested that, unlike several other victims, he may have been killed where his remains were found. He was the only victim in the traditional series discovered on Cleveland's West Side.
• Unidentified male - September 10, 1936 - Kingsbury Run near East 37th Street: Portions of another man's body were discovered in the Run, with additional remains recovered from a nearby drainage area. He was believed to be a young or middle-aged adult. The September 10, 1936 discovery date is supported by surviving coroner and police documentation. His identity was never determined.
• Unidentified female - February 23, 1937 - Lake Erie shoreline near East 156th Street: Part of a woman's torso washed ashore near the lakefront. Another portion was recovered several months later near East 30th Street. Her head and extremities were never recovered. The woman was believed to be a young adult, but investigators were unable to establish her identity or precisely determine how she died.
• Unidentified female, tentatively identified as Rose Wallace - June 6, 1937 - beneath the Lorain-Carnegie Bridge: Skeletal remains of a woman were discovered inside a deteriorated burlap sack. Dental work led investigators to believe that the victim might have been 40-year-old Rose Wallace, who had disappeared on August 21, 1936. The identification was never proven conclusively. Because forensic estimates suggested the remains might have been approximately a year old, while Wallace had been missing for about ten months, she is officially considered unidentified despite the strong historical association with Wallace.
• Unidentified male - July 6, 1937 - Cuyahoga River in the Cleveland Flats: Portions of a man's body were discovered in the river near the industrial Flats and Kingsbury Run. Additional remains were recovered during subsequent searches, but his head was never located. Investigators believed the man was approximately in his mid-to-late thirties. Fingerprints were obtained and circulated, including to the FBI, without producing an identification.
• Unidentified female - April 8, 1938 - Cuyahoga River in the Cleveland Flats: The first portion of this victim's remains was discovered in the river. On May 2, additional remains were recovered in burlap sacks near the West 3rd Street Bridge. Her head and arms were never found. Toxicological examination detected morphine in her system, raising questions about whether she had been deliberately drugged before her death or had used the drug independently.
• Unidentified female - August 16, 1938 - East 9th Street lakefront dump: Scrap collectors discovered the dismembered remains of a woman at a dump near the Cleveland lakefront. Her remains had been wrapped in several layers of material. Unlike many earlier victims, investigators recovered her head and hands, but even those identification opportunities failed to reveal who she was.
• Unidentified male - August 16, 1938 - East 9th Street lakefront area: While investigators searched the area surrounding the female victim, they discovered the remains of another person nearby. The male victim had also been decapitated and dismembered. The location was particularly disturbing to authorities because the lakefront dumping area was within sight of Cleveland City Hall, where Safety Director Eliot Ness maintained his office. These August 16 discoveries became the final generally accepted victims in the traditional murder series.

The Lady of the Lake - A Probable Earlier Victim

The Investigation and Eliot Ness

Frank Dolezal

Dr. Francis E. Sweeney

Other Possible Victims and Related Murders

Why the Killer Was Never Identified

Modern DNA Efforts

An Unsolved Chapter in American Criminal History