Gerber, Dr. Samuel R. Coroner’s Verdict and Testimony on the Body of Frank Dolezal. August 24, 1939. Case no. 49869.
“Transcript of Proceedings Commencing at 10:30 A.M., Saturday, August 26, 1939, before Hon. Samuel R. Gerber, County Coroner, in Relation to Death of Frank Dolezal at County Jail, August 24, 1939.” Includes depositions taken by Cleveland Police Department’s Bureau of Criminal Investigation from individuals in the sheriff’s office and others directly involved with Frank Dolezal’s death.
Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas. Records.
Dolezal, Charles. Suits against Sheriff Martin L. O’Donnell and others. Case nos. 496329 and 496330.
Sweeney, Mary Josephine, née Sokol. Petitions for separation and divorce from Dr. Francis Edward Sweeney. Case nos. 413785 and 445238.
Cuyahoga County Probate Court. Records. Actions against Dr. Francis Edward Sweeney. Civil Appearance Docket no. 250. Case no. 213871.
Federal Bureau of Investigation. Records.
Sweeney, Dr. Francis Edward. File nos. 62–100340–1, September 21, 1953, and 62–100340–2, October 13, 1953.
Sweeney, Martin L. File no. 100–32378–1, July 11, 1944.
Ohio Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Home, Sandusky Ohio. Applications for Admission and other documents relevant to Dr. Francis Edward Sweeney’s residency at the facility.
Personal Papers
Fransen, John (Cleveland Police Force, retired). Dossier on Dr. Francis Edward Sweeney. 1991–1992. Cleveland Police Department.
Lyons, Lawrence J. (Pat). Private papers held by his daughter, Carol Fitzgerald, including investigation notes, unpublished manuscripts on Kingsbury Run murders and his role as investigator, and various pieces of official and personal correspondence.
Merylo, Peter. Private papers held by his daughter Marjorie Merylo Dentz, including his unpublished memoirs, an unpublished manuscript cowritten with Frank Otwell, daily police reports, police reports from other officers, pieces of official and personal correspondence, tip letters, newspaper and magazine articles, various clippings, and photographs.
NEWSPAPERS AND OTHER PUBLISHED MATERIAL
Cleveland News. July–August 1939.
Cleveland Plain Dealer. July–August 1939.
Cleveland Press. July–August 1939.
McGunagle, Fred. “Postcard from the Mad Butcher.” Cleveland Edition (March 9, 1989): 1+.
INDEX
Albrecht, Brian, 136
American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), on Dolezal case, 24, 46, 48
Anatomists, at Pearce’s “torso clinic,” 9
Andrassy, Edward (victim no. 1), 5, 145; activities before death, 21, 35; Dolezal’s possible acquaintance with, 17, 22–23, 31, 35; effects of ordeal on family, 71–73; as only victim with rope burns, 137, 156; problems with Dolezal as killer of, 53–54; Sweeney’s possible acquaintance with, 119, 156–57
Andrassy, Joseph, 35
Antisocial personality disorder, 185–86
Archaki, Al (Alec or Alex), 157
Arraignment, Dolezal’s, 44–45, 49; Brown not available to testify at, 51; void for lack of attorney, 49, 50
Arrest, Dolezal’s, 17, 23; media circus over, 24, 30, 52, 55–56; timing of, 24, 27; torso murders stopping after, 63
Attorneys, for Dolezal, 46, 48, 50
Autopsy: confirming Dolezal’s injuries, 61–62, 84; of Dolezal, 61, 99, 167; Gerber calling Dolezal’s unnecessary, 58, 61; of victim no. 11, 80–81
Badal, James Jessen, 72, 181
Balraj, Elizabeth, 174
Bardsley, Marilyn, 129, 142, 154
Beaufait, Doris O’Donnell, 168–69
Beaufait, Howard, 37–38, 168–69
Beck, Paul, 42, 47, 55
Black Dahlia murder, torso murders not linked to, 124, 136–37
Blood: amount expected in killing place, 49–50; in Dolezal’s apartment, 30–31, 35, 37, 48–49; found on knives borrowed by mysterious “Frank,” 21
Bodies, of Mad Butcher victims: already embalmed, 81, 158; arrangement of, 5–6, 54, 161; disposal of, in Dolezal’s confessions, 32–34, 42, 45; locations of, 4–6, 10, 120; photos of, 70; transportation of, 54, 161. See also Victims
Brewer, Nelson J., 156
Brodowski, Dave, 97, 99
Brown, Harry S., 43, 51–52, 89, 149–50; interrogating Dolezal, 32, 84–85
Brown, Tom, 81, 134, 139–40
Buebe, Winifred Merylo, 71, 165
Bugliosi, Vincent, 126
Bumgarner, Ray Q., 157
Burns, Archie, 87–88, 104–5
Burton, Harold, 8; collaborating with Sweeney for VA hospital, 144, 153; Dolezal case and, 56, 146; on Ness heading murder case, 10, 15; politics and administration of, 7, 115, 146; in theories of cover-up of torso murderer, 127–28
Burtt, Earl, 88–89
Burtt, Willard, 88–89
Byers, Edgar S., 49
The Cases That Haunt Us (Douglas), 126
Chamberlin, Robert, 135
Charges, against Dolezal: held without, 43, 46; only manslaughter of Polillo, 51, 165
Chase, Russell W., 46
Chazin, B. J., 122–23
City Hospital, Sweeney in, 155–56, 186
Civil liberties/due process: Dolezal’s violated, 42–43, 45–46, 50, 79, 164; interrogation of Sweeney violating, 141; right to have attorney at arraignment, 48–49, 50
Cleveland, 116; crime in, 7, 14–15; effects of Depression in, 15, 23, 118; negative publicity from murders, 14–15; Ness leaving, 161, 166; politics in, 6, 115
Cleveland Crime Commission, 60, 146–47
Cleveland Hotel, secret interrogations of Sweeney in, 140–42, 144, 154, 158–59
Cleveland Police Historical Society Museum, 69–70, 137–39
Condon, George, 135–36
Confessions, Dolezal’s, 24, 42, 48; about Polillo, 32–36; discrepancies in, 35–36, 165; legitimacy of, 43, 52; Merylo on, 45, 165; obtained by beatings, 47–48, 94, 128, 150; retracting, 47
Conspiracy theories: about torso murders, 127–29, 150–54; attractiveness of, 126; death of Sweeney’s brother in, 171–72; difficulty keeping secret, 126; grains of truth in, 128–29
Cornwell, Patricia, 97, 107–8
Coroner’s office, 39, 81; documentation of Dolezal’s death in, 60, 74, 75–77, 99; Gerber representing, 79, 166. See also Gerber, Samuel R.; Pearce, A. J.
Cowles, David, 62, 81, 129, 139, 158; on Ness giving Sweeney lie detector test, 140–42; secrecy around suspicions about Sweeney, 154, 169; on Sweeney as Ness’s secret suspect, 132–35, 140, 144
Crawford, Hugh, 59, 85; on cutting Dolezal’s body down, 104–5, 148; in events around Dolezal’s death, 87–89, 104
Crime, in Cleveland, 7–8, 14–15
Crime scenes, of torso murders, 5
Crumpton, Adam, 175
Cullitan, Frank T., 147
Cuyahoga County, 6–7, 79
Cuyahoga County Commissioners, sheriff’s department vs., 149–50
Cuyahoga County Jail, 4, 83, 88–89, 146, 150
Cuyahoga River, bodies dumped in, 6
Danaceau, Saul S., 90–94
Day, Frank S., 50
Death, Dolezal’s, 60; brother’s lawsuit for not preventing suicide, 148–49; death of Sweeney’s brother soon after, 171–72; difficulties in reinterpreting, 102, 108, 168; dilemma over handling of discrepancies in suicide story, 95–96, 168; discrepancies in cutting body down, 88, 91, 104–5, 148; discrepancies in suicide story, 57–60, 103–4; discrepancies in time of, 83–84, 89, 148; events leading to, 83; forensic experts investigating, 96–97, 99–108; Gerber’s conclusions about, 63, 166–67, 174; inquest into, 62–63, 87–89, 103–4; marks inconsistent with explanation, 75–76, 104, 108, 148; method of, 77, 77–78, 80, 87, 100; as murder in conspiracy theories, 127–28, 151–54; as murder vs. suicide, 108, 147–51; mysterious twine in, 77–78, 91, 105–6, 148; officials’ response to reinvestigation of suicide, 79, 147–48; photos of corpse, 60, 74, 91, 168; police depositions taken at
time of, 3, 60, 81–82; reactions to, 60–61, 165–66; ruled suicide, 57, 63, 166–67; as suicide, 57–58, 60; suicide method questioned, 76–77, 77–78, 91, 102, 108; suicide questioned, 58–59; suicide reexamined through photos of corpse, 74–76, 76; suicide verdict left unchallenged, 79, 174; suspicions of murder in, 63–64, 67, 95–96, 170; time of hanging and dying, 90–91, 104, 148; timing of, 147–48, 150, 152
Decapitations, as signature in torso murders, 9, 50, 137, 175–79
Delany, Oscar and Agnes, 88–89
Democratic Party, in Cuyahoga County, 6–8, 115, 143
Dentz, Marjorie Merylo, 73
Depression, Cleveland in, 6–8, 15, 23, 118
Dirkmaat, Dennis C., 105; on discrepancies around Dolezal’s death, 103–6, 167; head of applied forensic sciences department, 100–101
“A Discussion of the So-Called Torso Cases” (Lyons), 19
Dismemberment, in torso murders: Dolezal and, 32–34, 53; by one or more killers, 36; skill in, 9, 53, 55, 161
Dolezal, Al, on Nigrins, 176–78
Dolezal, Charles (Karel), 45, 61, 84; lawsuits on brother’s behalf, 24–25, 79, 99, 147–49, 172–73; relations with brother, 13–14, 46, 47; wedding photo of, 14, 69
Dolezal, Frank, 14, 22; apartment of, 23, 37, 38, 48, 53–54; arraignments of, 44–45, 49, 50–51; arrest of, 11, 23–24, 27, 63, 144–47; autopsy of, 61–62, 74, 167–68; background of, 12–13, 17–18, 22–2 3, 31, 52–53; Beaufait’s interview with, 37–38; blood in apartment of, 30–31, 34, 37, 48–49; burial of, 63; charges against, 44–45, 51, 56–57; confusion of, 38, 86; defense team for, 46, 50; discrepancies in case against, 32, 35, 165; exhumation of body rejected, 102; guilt vs. innocence of, 52, 67–69, 108, 169–70; injuries attributed to suicide attempts, 40, 84; injuries in inquest records, 63, 83, 168; injuries of, 40, 42; inquest into death of, 62–63, 168; interrogations and injuries of, 47–48, 85–86; interrogations of, 17–18, 32, 34, 79; isolation of jail cell, 88; Jones’s story of attack by, 38–39, 94; knowledge of victims, 22–23, 31–32, 35; lie detector test, 40–41, 55; Lyons and, 21–24, 144; Martin Sweeney’s silence about, 169–70; media coverage of, 33, 36, 41, 42–43, 45–46, 48, 53; media coverage of arrest of, 24, 30, 53, 55–56; mental condition of, 38, 55, 59, 83, 85–86, 168; Merylo on, 44–45, 165; mistreatment of, 41, 46–48, 55, 60–61, 63, 102–3; Ness on, 134, 164; not expected to walk out of jail, 59, 151; nothing like profile of killer from torso clinic, 53–54; O’Donnell on, 36, 146, 169–70; personality of, 21–22, 54, 70; photos of, 69, 71; politics over arrest of, 27, 146; poor command of English, 32–33, 37, 39–40; possibly causing death, 150; press questioning treatment of, 41–43; relations with family, 13–14, 42, 70; rumored to have killed sister and nephew, 39, 175–79; sheriff blocking insanity defense, 42–43; story by roommate of, 37; suicide attempts, 39–41, 47, 55, 58–59, 83–84; surveillance of, 18, 21–22; testimony about mistreatment of, 42, 48, 62, 93–95, 151; weakness of case against, 30–31, 108, 165. See also Confessions, Dolezal’s; Death, Dolezal’s
Dolezal, Joan, 69
Dolezal, Louise Vorell, 13–14, 14, 42, 45, 69
Dolezal family, 63; animosity toward Vorells, 172–74; lack of communication in, 176, 177; memories of Frank in, 70–71; not talking about torso murders, 67–68; responses to death of Frank, 172–73; suffering from torso murder case, 70–71, 96
Dolezal Satterlee, Mary (great-niece), 14, 72, 73; on family’s animosity toward Vorells, 172–73; investigating torso murders, 67, 69–71; missing pieces of family history, 172, 176, 178–79; trying to prove Frank’s innocence, 67–69
Donovan, Dennis, 102, 104, 105, 107
Douglas, John, 126, 132
Due process. See Civil liberties/due process
Ecker, Enrique E., on blood in Dolezal’s apartment, 35, 37, 48–49
Economy, Cleveland’s, 6–7, 15, 23, 118
Edwards, William E.: on Dolezal’s death, 60–63; Jones sisters’ stories and, 91–95; O’Donnell vs., 82, 90, 146–47
English: Charles Dolezal’s poor command of, 90, 173; Frank Dolezal’s poor command of, 32, 37, 39–40
Erasmus V. Raus & Sons funeral home, 158
Exhumation, of Dolezal’s body, 102
Eye problems, Dolezal’s, 13, 21
FBI, 125n. See also Hoover, J. Edgar
Fear, among public, 5, 11
Fierro, Marcella F., 107, 107–8, 148
Fire department, drafted in murder case, 15
The Flats, 5–6. See also Shantytown raids, Ness’s
Forensic psychiatry, 180–92
Forensics, on Dolezal’s death, 96–97, 99–107
Four against the Mob (Ness and Fraley), 113
The Fourteenth Victim (documentary), 75–76
Fraley, Oscar, Ness revealing secret suspect to, 113, 129, 139–40
“Frank,” and Andrassy, 21
Fransen, John, 157; on Kingsbury Run and Black Dahlia murders, 124, 136–37; suspecting Sweeney of torso murders, 124, 125n, 137
Fried, A. V., 83–84, 88–89, 148
Fronek, Emil, 159–60
Gambling, O’Donnell vs. county over, 8, 146–47, 149–50
Geiger, Marge, 107
Gender, of victims, 4–5
Gerber, Samuel R., 8, 51; on beatings of Dolezal, 61–62, 150–51; behavior at inquest, 61, 75, 91–95, 167; calling autopsy of Dolezal unnecessary, 58, 61; in delicate position around Dolezal’s death, 63, 107, 148, 167–68; denying saying torso murderer was alcoholic doctor, 135–36, 169; on dismemberments, 35–36, 55, 161; on Dolezal’s death, 58–59, 80, 166–67; evaluation of conclusions by, 79, 101, 174; O’Donnell’s combativeness with at inquest, 90–91; politics and, 19, 55; pressured to call inquest into Dolezal’s death, 61–62, 78, 82; reputation of, 55, 61, 79–81, 167–68; retirement of, 136; running inquest on Dolezal’s death, 83–84, 86, 90; Sweeney as suspect and, 135, 143, 168–69; in torso murders investigation, 56–57, 129, 143, 166
Gilliespie, John J. (Jack), 22, 23
Goldblatt, Harry, 61
Gongwer, W. Burr, 6–7
Grand Jury, Dolezal case given to, 44, 49, 51–52; likely to collapse, 108, 165; timing of death and, 147–48, 150
Great Lakes Brewing Company, 72–73
Great Lakes Exposition, Cleveland hosting, 5, 14–15
Grossman, Royal, 129, 140, 142, 154, 169
Guilt: Dolezal’s, in theories of cover-up of Sweeney as torso murderer, 128; Dolezal’s death and, 58, 108, 128; Dolezal’s suicide attempts and, 39–40; effects of rumors of murdered sister and nephew on Dolezal’s, 176, 179; insanity defense and, 183–85; no proof of Sweeney’s, 154–55, 161–62
Hare, Robert D., 186
Hertz, David R.: on Dolezal’s beatings, 85; on Dolezal’s death, 60–63; on Dolezal’s defense, 46, 50; on rearraigment of Dolezal, 50–51
Hogan, James, 136
Hoover, J. Edgar, 162, 188–89
Identification, of victims, 5, 120
In the Wake of the Butcher (Badal), 67, 72, 75
Inquest, into Dolezal’s death, 62–63, 78–79, 102, 166; Brown’s testimony at, 84–85, 89; dilemma over handling of discrepancies and suspicions, 86, 89, 95–96, 167–68; discrepancies in, 82–83, 85–86, 88–89, 103–4, 148; forensics experts examining, 99; Gerber leaving photos and full record of, 74, 81–82, 99, 167–68; Gerber not pointing out discrepancies at, 84, 91, 167; Jones sisters’ testimony at, 91–95, 167–68; O’Donnell present through all testimony at, 89–90, 167; pressure on Gerber about, 82, 90–91, 167; scheduling of, 82, 107; suicide story at, 86–89
Insanity defense, 42–43, 183–85
Intelligence, of Mad Butcher, 54
Interrogations: of Dolezal, 32, 33–34, 37, 79, 84–85; of Sweeney, 140–42, 144, 158–59
Irish immigrants, in Cleveland, 116
Jack the Ripper case, 97, 162
Jail. See Cuyahoga County Jail
Johnson, Tom, 6
Johnson, Tomi (Andrassy’s granddaughter), 72
Jones, Li
llian: story of attack by Dolezal, 38–39, 94; testifying about Dolezal’s mistreatment, 91–95, 151, 167–68
Jones, Ruby Lee, testifying about Dolezal’s mistreatment, 93–95, 151, 167–68
Keeler, Leonard: giving Sweeney lie detector test, 140, 144, 154; perfection of lie detector by, 40
Kent, K. S., 42
Kerr, David, 136
Kiersner, Harold, 37
Kilbane, Michael F., 32, 39
Killing place, in torso murders, 159–60; amount of blood expected in, 49; Dolezal’s apartment unlikely as, 49–50, 54; Lyons brothers searching for, 19–20; Ness searching for, 20–21, 31, 120, 159; in profile from “torso clinic,” 9–10
Kingsbury Run, 6, 174; killer’s familiarity with, 5, 9; Lyons brothers searching for killing space around, 19–20; Ness’s shantytown raids in, 10–11, 120, 159
Kmieck, Anne, 70
Knives: borrowed by mysterious “Frank,” 21; Dolezal borrowing from neighbor, 31
Kovacic, Edward, 136
Kovacic, Victor, 55
Krial, Catherine (Kate), 87–88, 104
Lady of the Lake, 4, 145, 155
Lake Erie, bodies dumped in, 4, 6
Lausche, Frank D., 149–50
Law enforcement agencies, 15, 24; laxity of rules governing, 34–35, 141; politics among, 19, 164–65. See also Police Department, Cleveland; Sheriff’s department
Lawsuits, Dolezal’s, on brother’s behalf, 24–25, 79, 99, 147–49, 172–73
Lie detector tests, 47; of Dolezal, 24, 35, 40–41, 44, 55; limited availability of, 114; requirements that subject be rested and calm, 55; of Sweeney, 113–14, 140–42, 144, 152, 154
Limber, James M., 137–39
Lindsay, S. C., 42
Location, of bodies, 10, 53–54
Lyons, Carol, 71
Lyons, G. V.: finding blood in Dolezal’s apartment, 30–31, 35, 49; investigating murders with brother, 19–20
Lyons, Lawrence J. (Pat), 22, 44, 93; accused of being drunk, 25–28; Charles Dolezal’s lawsuit against, 25, 148–49, 173; contradictory portrayals of, 26, 28; on Dolezal not guilty of all torso murders, 57; on Dolezal not walking out of jail, 151; on Dolezal’s confessions, 32; effects of torso case on daughters of, 71; investigating torso murders, 18–19, 32, 147; investigation leading to Dolezal, 20–24, 144; memoirs on torso murders, 99; Merrills and, 25–26; Merylo’s relations with, 26–27; on rumors that Dolezal killed sister and nephew, 175–76; searching for killing space, 19–20; sheriff’s department and, 20, 145, 151
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