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Jan. 7th, 2004 11:25 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rain_gryphonI bought a book the other day about the Cleveland Torso Murders. Those who
know me are aware that I have a taste for accounts of lurid crimes, ideally
those which are unsolved. The Torso Murders certainly qualify as lurid.
For those who're unaware, the Torso Murderer's victims began turning up in
Cleveland in 1935. The last one seems to have been in 1950. They're
unusually gruesome murders, in that the killer apparently slew his victims
by neatly and expertly cutting their heads off. It's like something from
a 1930s horror movie.
One of the intriguing aspects of the Torso murders is that many of the
victims' heads were never found. Somewhere in Cleveland, hidden in a dark
recess in some abandoned building, or shallowly buried in ground
that's since become a public park, the murderer's grisly collection may be
waiting to be found. It's remotely possible as well that the killer is
still alive. Some old recluse may be sitting in his house in Cleveland
tonight, with the shades drawn tight, admiring his trophies and reliving
his youth...
If there's a shortcoming to this volume, it's that he's chosen to address
the mystery in the context of Cleveland history, and doesn't do much
exploration of the plausible idea that the Newcastle and 'Black Dahlia'
murders may have been the work of the same villain. Still, it's an
excellent book within the limitations of its scope, well-written and
researched.
For those who're interested, it's "In the Wake of the Butcher", by James
Jessen Badal. Kent State University Press. ISBN 0-87338-689-2.
know me are aware that I have a taste for accounts of lurid crimes, ideally
those which are unsolved. The Torso Murders certainly qualify as lurid.
For those who're unaware, the Torso Murderer's victims began turning up in
Cleveland in 1935. The last one seems to have been in 1950. They're
unusually gruesome murders, in that the killer apparently slew his victims
by neatly and expertly cutting their heads off. It's like something from
a 1930s horror movie.
One of the intriguing aspects of the Torso murders is that many of the
victims' heads were never found. Somewhere in Cleveland, hidden in a dark
recess in some abandoned building, or shallowly buried in ground
that's since become a public park, the murderer's grisly collection may be
waiting to be found. It's remotely possible as well that the killer is
still alive. Some old recluse may be sitting in his house in Cleveland
tonight, with the shades drawn tight, admiring his trophies and reliving
his youth...
If there's a shortcoming to this volume, it's that he's chosen to address
the mystery in the context of Cleveland history, and doesn't do much
exploration of the plausible idea that the Newcastle and 'Black Dahlia'
murders may have been the work of the same villain. Still, it's an
excellent book within the limitations of its scope, well-written and
researched.
For those who're interested, it's "In the Wake of the Butcher", by James
Jessen Badal. Kent State University Press. ISBN 0-87338-689-2.
