In the final chapter of this three-part series, Time and Tales examines the leading suspects in the Cleveland Torso Murders, including Dr. Francis Sweeney, Frank Dolezal, and Willie Johnson. LaNae and CJ break down Eliot Ness’ investigation into the Mad Butcher of Kingsbury Run, the evidence tied to the murders, the links between victims Florence Polillo and Rose Wallace, theories involving morphine trafficking and organized crime, and why the case remains one of Cleveland’s most infamous unsolved serial killer mysteries.

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Links:

timeandtalespodcast.com

timeandtalespodcast@gmail.com

LaNae's Books: lmriviere.com

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Sources:

Cleveland Police Museum. Torso Murders.

Encyclopedia of Cleveland History. Torso Murders.

Encyclopedia of Cleveland History. Ness, Eliot.

Federal Bureau of Investigation. A Byte Out of History: Eliot Ness and the FBI.

Cleveland Historical. Ness’ Burning of Kingsbury Run.

Collins, Max Allan, and A. Brad Schwartz. Eliot Ness and the Mad Butcher: Hunting America's Deadliest Unidentified Serial Killer at the Dawn of Modern Criminology. William Morrow, 2020.

By August 1938, the Cleveland Torso Murders had left bodies across Kingsbury Run, the Cuyahoga River, the lakefront, and the city’s industrial edges. In this second part, the case escalates when two more victims appear near the East 9th Street lakefront dump, practically under City Hall’s nose, and the pressure on Eliot Ness becomes impossible to ignore.

This episode follows the investigation as it broadens into medical conferences, dead-end suspects, and the growing belief that the killer knew Cleveland’s poorest districts intimately. It also traces Ness’s most infamous response: the Kingsbury Run raid, the burning of the shantytown, and the desperate attempt to disrupt a murderer who always seemed one step ahead.

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Links:

LaNae's Books: lmriviere.com

Request an Episode: timeandtalespodcast@gmail.com

Visit our website: timeandtalespodcast.com

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Collins, Max Allan, and A. Brad Schwartz. Eliot Ness and the Mad Butcher: Hunting America’s Deadliest Unidentified Serial Killer at the Dawn of Modern Criminology. William Morrow, 2021.

“NESS, ELIOT.” Encyclopedia of Cleveland History, Case Western Reserve University.

“TORSO MURDERS.” Encyclopedia of Cleveland History, Case Western Reserve University.

“The Torso Murders.” Cleveland Police Museum.

Schwartz, A. Brad. “How Eliot Ness Wound Up Hunting a Serial Killer in Cleveland.” CrimeReads, 6 Sept. 2022.

Wikipedia

Encyclopedia Britannica

In 1930s Cleveland, bodies began turning up in places most of the city tried not to see: Kingsbury Run, the river flats, rail lines, and waste ground crowded with poverty during the Depression. In this episode, we begin the story of the Cleveland Torso Murders—also known as the Mad Butcher of Kingsbury Run case—and the nightmare that landed on Eliot Ness’s desk when victims started appearing decapitated, dismembered, and, in some cases, never identified at all.

This first part follows the early victims, the panic building around the killings, and the impossible position Ness found himself in: a famous lawman brought in to clean up a city where corruption, class prejudice, and chaos were already working against the investigation. It’s the start of one of the darkest unsolved serial murder cases in American history.

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Check out LaNae's books: lmriviere.com

Request and episode: timeandtalespodcast@gmail.com

Sign up for our newsletter: timeandtalespodcast.com

..............................................

Sources:

Collins, Max Allan, and A. Brad Schwartz. Eliot Ness and the Mad Butcher: Hunting America’s Deadliest Unidentified Serial Killer at the Dawn of Modern Criminology. William Morrow, 2021.

“NESS, ELIOT.” Encyclopedia of Cleveland History, Case Western Reserve University.

“TORSO MURDERS.” Encyclopedia of Cleveland History, Case Western Reserve University.

“The Torso Murders.” Cleveland Police Museum.

Schwartz, A. Brad. “How Eliot Ness Wound Up Hunting a Serial Killer in Cleveland.” CrimeReads, 6 Sept. 2022.