Mind of a Serial Killer - SERIAL KILLER: The Mad Butcher of Kingsbury Run Pt. 2

Episode Date: July 2, 2026

Despite years of investigation, the Mad Butcher of Kingsbury Run remained elusive. One promising suspect, slipped through the police's grasp, and an innocent man may have died in custody for a crime he didn't commit. Decades later, the authorities are using DNA technology in hopes of finally identifying the victims.Join Crime House+ to binge a special limited series on Murder: True Crime Stories for America’s 250th: The Crimes That Built America. These are the cases that created the FBI, gave us Miranda rights, sparked criminal profiling, and gave us America’s Most Wanted. Join at crimehouseplus.com or if you’re listening on Apple Podcasts, tap “Try Free” at the top of this show’s page. You’ll also get both parts to every Serial Killers & Murderous Minds case released at once ad-free.🎧 Need More to Binge? Listen to other Crime House Originals Clues, Crimes Of…, Murder True Crime Stories, Crime House 24/7, and more wherever you get your podcasts!Follow me on SocialInstagram: @CrimehouseTikTok: @CrimehouseFacebook: @crimehousestudiosYouTube: @crimehousestudios

Hi listeners, exciting news. Crime House Plus and Murder True Crime Stories are celebrating America's 250th by dropping a four-part limited series on the Crimes That Built America. These are the crimes and cases that gave us Miranda rights, sparked criminal profiling, and a murder that built America's missing children movement. Follow Murder True Crime Stories for a new episode every Monday leading up to July 4th, or you can listen to all of them right now with Crime House Plus. To join, go to Crimehouseplus.com, or if you're listening on Apple Podcasts, tap try free at the top of this show's page.

This is Crimehouse. We've all experienced failure. Maybe when we were younger, we didn't get picked for a team or get a role in the school play. As adults, failure can sting even more, especially if our careers and livelihoods are on the line. Failure is especially brutal when we let others down. In 1930s Cleveland, the police fought tooth and nail for their city and failed miserably. It was their job to catch the notorious Cleveland torso murderer, otherwise known as the Mad Butcher of Kingsbury Run.

But after years of dead ends and fruitless searching, they never brought anyone to justice. Now, decades later, the authorities are trying to write their wrong. If the failures of the past don't come back to home. haunt them. The human mind is powerful. It shapes how we think, feel, love, and hate. But sometimes it drives people to commit the unthinkable. This is serial killers and murderous minds, a crimehouse original. I'm Vanessa Richardson. And I'm forensic psychologist Dr. Tristan Engels. Every Monday and Thursday, we uncover the darkest minds in history, analyzing what makes a killer. Crimehouse exists because of listeners like you. Want even more.

Or join Crimehouse Plus and get both parts of every story dropped on the same Monday, completely ad-free, no waiting three days for part two, plus crimehouse bonus episodes every month. To join, go to CrimehousePlus.com, or if you listen on Apple Podcasts, tap Try Free at the top of the serial killers and murderous minds page. Before we get started, be advised that this episode contains discussion of murder and dismemberment, so please listen with care. Today, we conclude our deep dive into an unidentified murderer known only as the Cleveland torso murderer or the mad butcher of Kingsbury Run. In the 1930s, the torso killer terrorized the city of Cleveland, Ohio. He dismembered and decapitated his victims, creating an impossible puzzle for detectives as they struggled to catch him. As Vanessa goes through the story, I'll be talking about things like why killers dismembered their victims after the fact, how sex can be a factor in dismemberment, and the psychology behind forced or coerced

confessions. And as always, we'll be asking the question, what makes a killer? By September of 36, seven sets of dismembered remains had been found in different parts of Cleveland, Ohio. Five of the victims were men and two were women. The authorities had only been able to identify two people, 29-year-old Edward Andresi and 42-year-old Florence Polillo. Edward had been a hospital orderly who was known for his party lifestyle and womanizing, and Florence was a waitress who had also made a living as a sex worker. It seemed like the killer was targeting vulnerable people. However, due to the levels of dismemberment and decay,

the police were unable to determine more information about the other victims. And while the authorities had long believed multiple killers were at large, they'd recently come to the conclusion that a single person was behind all the murders. With no solid leads, coroner Arthur Pierce had organized a so-called torso clinic, where law enforcement officials created a profile of the killer. Based on the fact that each victim's dismembering wounds had been clean and precise and that their remains had been left in areas inaccessible by vehicle, they believed the killer was a large, strong male who worked with knives.

They also believed he lived a room. relatively normal life, but was secretly clinically insane. I just want to make one quick clarification. Psychologists would not use the term clinically insane. Insanity is not a diagnosis, but rather a legal concept. What I think they're really saying here is that they believe the offender appeared outwardly functional, but was potentially suffering from a severe mental illness. Well, we've evolved a lot since the 1930s. Thanks for that clarification. For members of law enforcement, it was a huge step the investigation, but the public wasn't as pleased. The people of Cleveland were outraged at the lack of progress, and when it was time for Arthur to run for his position again, they voted

him out. Dr. Samuel Gerber replaced him. Gerber promised the community he'd do a better job, and in the winter of 1937, he got his first chance to prove himself. On February 23rd, five months after the last victim was found, a local man was walking on the beach of Lake Erie. He was near the exact spot where the very first victim had been found in 1934, and soon it became clear that history was repeating itself, because as he walked, the man discovered a woman's beheaded torso on the beach. When police arrived, they determined that just like the Lady of the Lake, this torso had likely washed ashore. And when Dr. Gerber examined the remains, he said the victim had likely been killed two to four days earlier.

He was unable to decipher the woman's cause of death. However, it was clear she'd been dismembered with a large, heavy knife. And he could tell her heart had stopped beating before her head was removed. Well, that's an important detail because that means that the decapitation was not meant to be done to cause her death. It was meant for another purpose. And we talked about this in episode one with regard to dismemberment and how it can serve practical purposes. It can make a body easier to transport, easier to conceal, and more difficult

to identify. And if this offender is, in fact, carrying victims into areas that cannot be easily reached by vehicle, then dismemberment would certainly make that process a lot easier. At the same time, mutilation is a pattern seen across multiple victims of his. That makes it less likely to be purely practical. Instead, the behavior appears ritualized. He repeats the same. He repeats the same. acts over and over again, which suggests they are serving some psychological purpose in addition to the practical ones. But there is a striking level of organization. The killing has ended, but the offender's behavior had not. So now there's speculation as to whether some of these bodies were killed elsewhere or moved or killed at the scene, but either way, he's remaining with them

or at the scene long enough to make additional decisions and carry out additional actions with their bodies. And that suggests a level of deliberation and behavioral control that's often absent and impulsive or emotionally driven crimes. So whatever his motivations were, this appears to be someone who is comfortable enough to slow down, remain engaged with their victims after their deaths, and complete a very graphic process that requires patients' attention and planning. That does not tell us whether he was severely mentally ill, like experiencing psychosis, for example. But it does suggest that at least during part of the offense, he was purposeful, organized, and capable of carrying out a sequence of actions

that were directed toward a very specific objective. It was a chilling observation, and from there, Dr. Gerber tried something new. He tested the tissue for the presence of toxic substances. Authorities hadn't done this with the previous cases, and Gerber thought it was worth a try, but the results came back negative, which meant investigators still hadn't made any progress. Rather than face more public fury, officials came up with a new plan. To lie.

They told the public that the most recent victim had been found in a completely different area than all the others, and that they didn't think this was the work of the same killer. Unfortunately for them, their plan backfired because public fear skyrocketed at the thought of a copycat. Eventually, the police backtracked and said there was only. one killer. And on top of that, they were powerless to stop the violence. Four months later, in June of 1937, a teenage boy was walking home. As he walked under the Lorraine Carnegie Bridge near Lake Erie, he spotted something in the dirt. It was a human skull with two gold crowns. When the police dug the skull out of the dirt, they discovered a burlap sack containing the

skeletal remains of a torso. The coroner determined, that the saw marks where the victim had been dismembered matched the previous cases, and that this victim had likely been dead for about a year. The authorities didn't think they'd be able to identify the victim, but they made an unexpected breakthrough. They tentatively matched the dental records to a missing woman named Rose Wallace. It's not clear how old Rose was at the time of her death, but just like Florence Polillo, she'd engaged in sex work before she died.

Serial offenders often select victims based on some combination of availability, desirability, and vulnerability. Availability refers to their opportunity. They look for people whose lifestyle, routine, or circumstances make them accessible. Desirability refers to whether characteristics fit the offender's psychological needs, fantasies, or preferences. And vulnerability refers to how susceptible someone is to being approached, manipulated, controlled, or victimized. That can include factors like age, intoxication, social isolation, physical stature, or lack of social support. Sex workers are often considered a vulnerable population because their work often requires meeting strangers in private settings. They also face significant social stigma, and unfortunately, their disappearances are not always investigated with the same urgency as others.

But this offender was not targeting only sex workers. he was targeting men as well. Edward Andressee, for example, was known to frequent bars, had prior arrests, and appears to have been living a fairly unstable lifestyle from what we know. So when I look across these victims, assuming they're all connected, the strongest pattern is vulnerability. What we see repeatedly are people living on the margins of society during the Great Depression. These are individuals who are transient, socially isolated, economically disadvantaged,

or otherwise less protected than the average citizen at that time. The fact that both men and women are represented in his victim pool makes it harder to argue that the offender was focused on a single demographic group like sex workers alone. By targeting vulnerable people, do you think that indicates anything about how he views himself? Well, potentially, yes. Individuals who lack empathy, like serial offenders, often target vulnerable people to establish dominance or control. Rather than risking rejection, resistance, or failure, they select victims

who are easier to approach and overpower. And it can in certain cases reflect how they view other people too. So for example, if they're frequently targeting individuals who are marginalized or overlooked by society, which is frequently the case, it can suggest that they see those individuals as expendable or less valuable and therefore less likely to generate consequences for them. And there are more examples, of course, but the point is it can tell you how they view themselves and how they view themselves in relation to the people that they target. The authorities were grateful for any possible pattern they could identify, and a month later, the killer gave them a brand new layer to their existing profile. On July 6, 1937,

a male torso was found floating in the Cuyahoga River. About an hour later, the men the man's arms and legs were also found floating nearby. During the autopsy, Dr. Gerber noted that the cuts were consistent with what they'd seen before, but this time the killer had done something new. He'd removed everything from the man's abdomen. He'd even opened the chest cavity and removed his heart. To detectives, this was a clear sign that the killer was becoming more violent and brutal. Soon the public and press were in a frenzy, and not just in Cleveland,

A national magazine called Official Detective Stories offered a $5,000 reward for information that led to the killer, provided the magazine got exclusive rights to the informant story. Tips flooded in, but the magazine quickly realized that most were shams from people who just wanted the money. At the same time, the authorities were also getting about 50 leads a day, and none of them were going anywhere either. Some people are always going to be motivated by opportunity, especially, where money is involved. But even when there is no reward, there's still often a surgeon tips. So it's not always just about the money. This is a very scary situation and fear changes how people interpret information. If there is a serial killer operating in your community, you're going to become

hypervigilant and attuned to every aspect of your environment in ways that you weren't before. There's also a psychological tendency to search for patterns and explanations when we feel threatened. people begin connecting unrelated events and convincing themselves that something they witnessed months ago might be relevant to the case. Most of the time, they're not intentionally misleading investigators. They genuinely believe that they might have useful information and they desperately want to put an end to this fear and regain control or certainty. And then, of course, there are a small number of people who do want attention or recognition or just be part of this notorious case. We still see that today. It still happens quite frequently.

But overall, the vast majority of tips in high-profile investigations do tend to come from people who genuinely believe that they're helping, even if what they're reporting ultimately is unrelated. Though, of course, there are people, like I said, who are always going to be motivated by opportunity, especially when money's involved. Does a high volume of tips tend to help or hurt an investigation? So nowadays, even when tons of tips are coming in, what patterns do investigators look for to determine what's probably legit and what's most likely not helpful? How do they know? So yeah, it can be both. A single tip can solve a case. But a flood of tips can also bog down the tip line with false leads and speculation. And because of that, they have to do a lot of filtering and use a lot of discernment. And to do that, they look for patterns. They're going to put much more weight on reports that come in detailing the same person or the same location. or the same vehicle that come from multiple people rather than single reports of possible one-off events. So they're also looking for information that can be verified

and that aligns with known evidence that the public may not have as well. It does take a lot of time and a lot of manpower. That's how they're able to determine what's actually worth looking into. Well, unfortunately, in this case, police had nothing solid to land on, which meant the nightmare continued. On March 17, 1938, a woman was at her home in Sandusky, about 60 miles west of Cleveland, when her dog emerged from the woods carrying a severed human leg with the foot still attached. The woman quickly notified the police, and when the coroner examined the leg,

he determined it had belonged to a woman and had likely been in the woods for about two months. Not only that, but the dismembering wound was the cleanest he'd ever seen. He believed a surgical saw had been used, and that this was the work of a professional. Authorities in Sandusky became worried that the Cleveland torso murderer was branching into their area, so they called in the Cleveland Police for help, who shared their existing profile. And soon, law enforcement officials made a huge realization. The man they were looking for may have been right under their noses all along. In March of 1938, an 11th set of remains were found in Sandusky, Ohio, 60 miles from Cleveland.

When the authorities brought in Cleveland law enforcement for help, they shared their criminal profile of the mad butcher, and that's when a light bulb went off. It's not clear what exactly sparked their epiphany, but it's possible that when the investigators put their heads together, they realized there might be another element to the killer's profile, that he was a vagrant, possibly mixed up with the area's unhoused community. That's a bit of a leap. Targeting a particular group does not automatically mean the offender belongs to that group. It may tell us where he was finding and selecting vulnerable victims,

but not necessarily who he was. This aligns with what we talked about in episode one. In their eyes, it would explain not only why the killer had struck in a new area, but how he'd crossed paths with a partygoer and a small-time criminal like Edward Andresi, as well as women who engaged in sex work like Florence Polillo and Rose Wallace. The only problem for them was many law enforcement officials still believed the killer was a highly trained surgeon, which seemed to go against this new notion. Once again, the investigation was at a standstill.

Safety director Elliot Ness racked his brain for a possible explanation. He poured through old witness interviews and tips trying to identify some sort of pattern, anything to explain how a surgeon could end up running with a more rough-in-tum. And that's that personal bias we talked about, because they're not able to consider the fact that perhaps a surgeon is somebody who also enjoys the company of perhaps sex workers or rough and tumble crowds. Those two things can also be true. Suddenly something dawned on him. As Ness flipped through the documents on his desk, he realized there was someone who fit that profile to a T. 44-year-old Dr. Francis Sweeney. Dr. Sweeney was a wealthy and well-connected surgeon,

but his life was troubled. He was a World War I veteran, and after serving overseas, he developed serious mental health issues. He struggled with alcohol and barbiturates, and by 1934, his behavior had become so violent and erratic that his wife left him. After being kicked out of his house, Sweeney had spent time at a veteran's facility,

which was located just three miles from where the most recent set of remains had been found. Police had no grounds to arrest Sweeney just yet, but they decided to keep a closer eye on him, hoping to catch him in the midst of a criminal act. To try and prevent Sweeney from catching wind and outsmarting them, Ness concealed the fact that he was a suspect and the authorities didn't inform the public or press of this new development. And in many of their records, they referred to Sweeney as

Dr. X. However, despite their efforts, the police couldn't prevent more deaths. On April 8th, 1938, a severed human leg was found near the Cuyahoga River in Cleveland. Coroner Samuel Gerber noted that the precise saw marks matched earlier victims, except this time they seemed a little more rushed as though the killer had been in a hurry. Then one month later, a thigh, foot, and severed torso, believed to be from the same victim, were found in the river. This time, Dr. Gerber discovered something new. All along, he'd been testing for the presence of toxic substances, but none of the prior victims showed any signs of it until now.

The most recent set of remains tested positive for enough morphine to render someone unconscious and possibly even kill them. If this was the first time the offender used morphine, there are several possible explanations. He may have been adapting his methods, becoming more efficient, or looking for a way to gain greater control over his victims.

That's very common in serial offending. And sedating them can do that. And even more so if he needed to do this in a hurry, which they suspect was the case here, that would make sense. But I think the more important point is that the first seven victims were not screened for toxins by Dr. Pierce.

They were examined for other things like slaked lime, but toxicology was not conducted. So we don't actually know whether this is a new behavior or a newly discovered piece of evidence. Those are two very different things. Sometimes an investigation uncovers a new fact about an offender and it creates the appearance that the offender changed

when reality investigators simply learned something they didn't know before. That distinction actually is very significant and matters a lot when it comes to profiling or understanding the investigation. The use of morphine seemed to bolster the idea that the killer was a surgeon. Elliot Ness believed only a doctor would have access to the drug, which meant Dr. Francis Sweeney was looking like a more viable suspect. Still, the authorities had to tread carefully. They didn't want Sweeney to catch onto them,

and if they failed again, they didn't want the public to know about it. Unfortunately, as Ness scaled up the surveillance on Sweeney, the press somehow found out, and they published story. about it. Even though the press didn't name Sweeney, they described the criminal profile in detail. Sure enough, Sweeney himself read the story and knew instantly that police were eyeing him. However, rather than get angry or defend himself, he decided to have a little fun. Once, while walking down the street, he realized an officer was following him, so he stopped and introduced

himself, blowing the officer's cover in the process. Another time, Sweeney was riding a streetcar when he realized an officer was also on board. So he jumped off and ran in the other direction, blowing that officer's cover as well. After that, Sweeney immediately called the police station and smugly told them what he'd just done. He said the officers they were sending after him were worthless, but that if police wanted to try again the next day,

he'd be at a local department store around 2 p.m. It's not clear if any officers went to the store, but they did seem to make contact with the killer in other ways. Both the police and Elliot Ness received letters signed by the killer mocking the investigation. One letter contained articles about the murders labeled, quote, for my file. Ness also received a photo of a tree that said, Dig Here. Unwilling to leave anything to chance, Ness ordered officers to dig up that area, but they didn't find anything. Similar to the police tips that we talked about earlier, we don't know for sure that these letters are, in fact,

from the actual killer, but assuming that they are, because that would also not be unusual, then one possible explanation is that this is confidence. By this point, he's been operating for years without being caught, and he has been committing very serious crimes, crimes that require a lot of physical strength to carry out and dispose of without being seen, and repeatedly getting away with that can create a sense of superiority or invincibility. He likely thinks that he can outsmart investigators. He also seems to have sadistic tendencies, and with that often comes pleasure in tormenting or taunting others, and that includes law enforcement. The Golden State Killer is an example of that, and so is the Zodiac Killer. And in most cases, they don't start taunting law enforcement right away.

They do it when they feel safest and most confident, and that comes with time. Of course, another possibility is that the letters have nothing to do with the murders at all. That's why investigators have to evaluate the content very carefully. By late May of 1938, Ness was done playing games the killer's way. It was time to get that ball back in his own court. Ness ordered police to grab Sweeney off the street and bring him in for questioning, but not to the police station. Instead, he reserved a hotel room so they could interrogate him privately.

They could keep him there as long as they wanted without anyone knowing and hopefully wear him down. Soon, Sweenie was in the room with detectives, but eliciting a confession would prove more challenging than they'd hoped. Instead of cracking under pressure, Sweeney seemed to enjoy it. He not only denied being the killer, but his responses were intentionally vague, and his smug attitude frustrated the police. Eventually, Ness forced Sweeney to undergo a polygraph test. The results suggested he was lying, and the polygraph expert believed he was the killer. However, lie detector results were inadmissible in court, so authorities were at a loss.

had to let Sweeney go. Investigators felt it was only a matter of time before they unearthed another murder, and they had a nagging feeling that the next time it happened, the killer would taunt them again. Three months later, they were proven right. On August 16, 1938, three men were scavening a dump site when they stumbled upon human remains. Police arrived to find a woman's torso, two thighs, and her severed head,

all wrapped in paper. Later, that same day, a second set of male bones were found in the same dump site, which happened to be visible from Elliott Ness's office window at City Hall. It sent a chill down the authority's spines, especially since the public didn't know about Dr. Sweeney's interrogation. The timing is what makes this difficult to ignore. Just three months earlier, after police had interrogated Dr. Sweeney and released him, the two sets of remains appear in a vocation that,

visible from Elliott Ness's office. If the offender knew that, any reasonable person would wonder whether that was an intended message, especially when you consider that Elliot had also been receiving letters mocking the investigation as well. That combination is pretty strong. And when you consider the broader pattern that we've seen from this offender, this really fits. I mean, he left remains in baskets for the community to find right after they started to believe that Edward, the lady in the lake and the unnamed man were killed in a love triangle gone wrong. I mean, he's potentially posed bodies, he's mutilated genitalia. It does seem plausible that he enjoys communicating and taunting. So if he did indeed intentionally put these remains here because it was

meant to further taunt Elliot Ness, then that indicates he's getting even more confident and risk adverse by the day. So in this case, in your professional opinion, do you think it was purely coincidental or could it suggest that Sweeney was the killer? It could absolutely have been purely coincidental. Let's be honest. We simply don't know. And if investigators knew for certain that the location was meant as a message, they likely would have had much stronger evidence of a suspect than they did. But what I'm actually struck by is investigators seem to have largely zeroed in on Dr. Sweeney because they believe he fits the profile they developed. He's a physician. He has a troubled history. He He has substance use issues.

He has a history of instability. He's the only physician that they think could do something like this based on the biases they have. So in many ways, he checks the boxes that they've created. But they seem to have become attached to him as a suspect. And when that happens, there's always a risk of tunnel vision. Are they looking for other suspects? Or are they just continuing to look for reasons that he is their suspect? Because that means they might overlook other.

real possibilities in the process. I mean, could Sweeney be the killer? Absolutely. He raises legitimate concerns, but it is also possible that he was just a troubled physician who enjoyed provoking law enforcement once he realized that he was under suspicion. His behavior toward police is certainly unusual, but it's also not uncommon and it's not proof of murder. People who have had a long history of conflict with authority figures can become cynical, defiant, and provocative when they interact with them. I see it quite frequently in my practice. So to me, it sounds like he just fits a theory they have.

I don't see any direct evidence linking him to anything. And I all understand why investigators focused on Sweeney. I just think there's a real risk if they're only focused on him. Two days later, the frustrated safety director ordered a raid on what he felt was the killer's victim supply, the homeless encampments located in Kingsbury Run. Once the areas were empty, he had them burned to the ground, a move that drew significant public criticism. A week later, on August 25th, Dr. Francis Sweeney checked back into the mental health facility

at the Veterans' Home in Sandusky. It's not clear if he chose to return, or if Ness burning down the encampments had anything to do with it. But even with Sweeney off the streets, the story was far from over, because some shocking new developments would soon come to light, leading to even more jaw-dropping twists in the case. By August of 1938, the authorities had discovered 13 sets of remains, six women and seven men, not including the victim in Sandusky,

and only three had been positively identified. Then, after Elliot Ness burned down the homeless encampments in Kingsbury Run, his top suspect, Dr. Francis Sweeney, checked into a mental health facility. But the investigators knew better than to think the violence was over. So even though Cleveland police weren't able to turn up new leads of their own, the Cuyahoga County Sheriff hired a private detective named Pat Lyons to continue the investigation on a smaller scale. Lyons started from scratch.

He operated under the theory that the three identified victims, Edward Andresi, Florence Polillo, and Rose Wallace, had known each other when they were alive. Lyons thought that if he spoke to their mutual acquaintances, he might uncover something. The Cleveland police had already tried this tactic, and it led them nowhere, but Lyons felt it was worth another try.

From a psychological standpoint, there are good reasons to re-interview witnesses, even when they've already been questioned. Memory is generally most accurate closest to an event, but that doesn't mean the first interview captures everything away. knows. Sometimes investigators simply just have better questions later. A witness who wasn't asked about a particular person, location, or time frame the first time might now have useful information about that or new information needs to be run by those witnesses for the first time, a second time

around. I mean, people also do not store memories like video recordings. Memory is reconstructive. Certain details may become easier to access when a person is asked to think about the event in a different way or is prompted with different contextual cues. And a new investigator can provide a different approach that taps into that. At the same time, there are definitely risks. As time passes, memories can fade or be influenced by conversations, media coverage, and other outside information. And repeatedly asking questions can cause memory contamination too. So there are pros and there are cons to everything. It's just really about how you approach it. Lyons' idea proved to be a good one.

New witness statements eventually led him and his team to a dive bar near Kingsbury Run where Edward, Florence, and Rose all used to hang out. Some regulars there told investigators about a man named Frank Dolazol, who also frequented the bar. According to rumor, 52-year-old Dolazol owned an arsenal of butcher knives, and whenever he got into a dispute with someone, he'd threatened them with his blades. As Lyons looked into Frank Dolazol more, he learned he'd previously worked in a slaughterhouse and used to live in an apartment near the manufacturing plant where Florence's remains had been found.

Even though Dolazol had a much smaller stature than the authorities expected from the killer, a lot of things about him aligned with the profile. Because of this, Lions obtained a warrant to search Dolazol's old apartment, and once he and his team stepped inside, they were stunned. They found large, dark stains on the bathroom floor and in the tub, which were later confirmed to be blood. That was enough to warrant Dolazol's arrest, and on July 5, 1939, officers tracked him down and brought him into custody. Over the next two days, investigators denied him food or rest and questioned him nonstop. Finally, on July 7, authorities made an announcement.

Frank Dolosol had confessed to the murder of Florence Polilo. Everything you just described, the sleep deprivation, starvation, and that prolonged interrogation are all risk factors for false confessions. When people are exhausted, their judgment, memory, concentration, and decision-making become impaired. At that point, the goal is relief. And in a situation like that, relief would mean agreeing with investigators and confessing to acts they may, may not have committed. The worst part about this is that once a confession is obtained under these conditions, its validity becomes scrutinized. So even if Dolazol was guilty, can you honestly say that confession is reliable? Especially if there is nothing else to it. Did he give information only

investigators had? Did the blood test positive for human blood or Florence's in particular? He worked in a slaughterhouse. Could it have been animal blood? Is there anything else? about his confession that could have made it more reliable. Because without that, this confession doesn't seem like one that wouldn't be questioned or scrutinized on the stand. The people of Cleveland had been waiting so long for answers, they seemed willing to believe the story police told. According to them, Doleazal said that on the Friday evening

before Florence's remains were found, the two had been drinking together at his apartment. Apparently, Florence tried to steal money from him, they got into a fight. Dolazol said Florence attacked him with a butcher knife and he hit her in self-defense, which caused her to fall and hit her head on the bathtub. Dolazol believed she was dead, so he hoisted her entire body into the tub, then cut off her head and limbs. Afterward, he put her limbs and torso into two baskets and left them outside the manufacturing plant nearby. When investigators asked Dolazol what he'd done with Florence's head, he told him,

them he'd tossed it into Lake Erie. And once Dolazol was officially charged with Florence's murder, more evidence against him came to light. Police found more suspicious stains on the walls and floor of his old apartment, and his former neighbors claimed they'd seen him not only with Florence, but with Edward Andresi and Rose Wallace on separate occasions. After that, the press started claiming that Dolazol had confessed to all three murders, even though that wasn't true, but the authorities authorities didn't correct them. They were confident that they'd find hard evidence linking Dolazol to Edward and Rose's deaths as well. As far as they were concerned, they'd caught the mad butcher. I can understand why everyone was so interested in Dolazol. There are certainly some similarities

between his confession and aspects of the murders. The post-mortem mutilation he described was consistent. Some of the disposal methods he mentioned appeared very similar, leaving the limbs and torso and baskets was what really made by eyebrows raise. And his work history also likely gave them a plausible explanation for how he may have acquired certain skills or anatomical knowledge and slaked lime, for example. But I think perhaps the more important factor is that everyone was desperate for answers. By this point, the murders had been terrorizing Cleveland for years. The public was frightened. The press was demanding results, and results sell newspapers. Police had devoted a lot of resources to the investigation but have no arrest. That is a lot of pressure.

They are desperate to solve this. And the problem is that a need for closure and the evidence are not the same thing. Sometimes the person who best explains the story is not actually the person who committed the crime. That's why investigators have to be especially careful in cases like this because your desire for answers cannot exceed the evidence they have or that's where they risk their credibility and the investigation. When the media draws its own conclusions, how does that affect public perception of the murders and the investigation? The public doesn't have access to evidence. They aren't on the scene and they're not able to interview investigators. They don't have that level of clearance. So we rely on journalists to tell us what happened and what it all means.

But if they're not reporting the facts of the case, if instead they are drawing conclusions or they're sensationalizing everything for the sake of selling, newspapers or getting high ratings or views, then unfortunately what can happen is the public can erroneously interpret those conclusions as facts. Even opinion pieces that are published are often misinterpreted as factual reporting. We see this happen all the time. And once people form an opinion based on this, they tend to form confirmation biases as a result. So any new information is filtered through that same lens. And that can inflame the public. It can create pressure. out investigators, influence witnesses, and even generate tunnel vision of their own, much like it can for law enforcement.

So there's risks to that as well. Within no time, the story spread nationwide. It seemed like this gruesome chapter in Cleveland's history might finally be over. However, on July 11, 1939, about four days since Dolazol initially confessed, people realized how wrong that was, because an entirely new... mystery began to unfold. That day, Dolazol fully recanted his confession. He claimed the police had forced it out of him through starvation, sleep deprivation, and beatings. He said he'd been in a complete days when he'd told the story of how Florence had died. Despite this, police kept him

in custody, and as his fate remained unclear, Dolazol seemed unable to cope with his situation. On August 24th, he apparently took his own life in his jail cell. To this day, people still debate whether Dolazol actually died by suicide or if someone else killed him. Some believe the authorities wanted to prevent him from revealing the truth of the brutal tactics police had used on him. And there have been other reasons for the speculation too, including the fact that following Dolazol's death, two more murders took place, resembling the killer's MO. The first one occurred about three years after Dolazal died in 1942. In June of that year, the dismembered remains of a woman were found in Kingsbury Run.

The victim was later identified as 20-year-old Marie Wilson. People feared the mad butcher was back. But soon, a man named Willie Johnson confessed to Marie's murder. Willie insisted he wasn't responsible for any of the past torso murders, and forensics backed up his claim. The dismemberment in Marie's case was jagged and rough, not clean like the other victims. Then, on July 22nd, 1950, 12 years since the Mad Butcher's last known crime, a man's torso, arms, and leg were found in a field in Cleveland.

His head was found four days later, and he was identified as 41-year-old Robert Robertson. If any investigators at the time thought that Robertson could have been another of the butcher's victims, they didn't note it in his case file. Instead, they treated the murder as an isolated incident. But Robertson's killer was never found, leaving many to believe that he was actually the Mad Butcher's final victim. In the end, the killer's true identity has never been confirmed. The same is true for 10 of his 13 victims,

whose remains were buried in unmarked graves. Today, authorities in Cuyahoga County are hoping to change that. The medical examiner's office is working to locate the graves and exhum the remains, then collaborate with the DNA Doe Project to hopefully uncover the victim's identities. If it works, they could help bring closure to over a dozen families and give people the chance to remember their lost loved ones. Thanks so much for listening. Come back next time for a deep dive into the mind of another murderer.

Serial Killers and Murderous Minds is a Crimehouse original powered by Pave Studios. Here at Crimehouse, we want to thank each and every one of you for your support. If you like what you heard today, reach out on Instagram at Crimehouse. Don't forget to rate, review, and follow Serial Killers and Murderous Minds wherever you get your podcasts. Your feedback truly makes a difference. And to enhance your listening experience, join Crimehouse Plus and get both parts of every story, dropped on the same Monday, completely ad-free. No waiting three days for part two, plus crimehouse bonus episodes every month.

To join, go to crimehouseplus.com. Or if you listen on Apple Podcasts, tap, try free at the top of the Serial Killers and Murderous Minds page. Serial Killers and Murderous Minds is hosted by me, Vanessa Richardson, and Forensic Psychologist Dr. Tristan Engels, and is a Crimehouse original powered by Pave Studios. This episode was brought to life by the serial killers and murderous minds team Max Cutler, Ron Shapiro, Alex Benadon, Lori Marinelli, Natalie Pritzowski, Sarah Camp, Alyssa Fox, Dana Rossi, Sarah Batchelor, Kaylee Pine, and Carrie Murphy. Thank you for listening.