logo
episode-header-image
Nov 2022
1h 8m

Episode 392: The Butcher of Kingsbury Ru...

Morbid Network | Wondery
About this episode

Our second part of The Cleveland Torso Murders is here and though it is the conclusion, we aren't left with comfort. The Butcher takes several more lives but try as the investigators might, they simply were never able to find out his true identity. Have no fear though, DT Alaina gives us THE SUSPECT OF THE CENTURY!


Thank you to the mystical and beautiful David White for research assistance!


Associated Press. 1938. "Find Cleveland Torso Murders Clew a Dud." Chicago Tribune, August 29: 20.

Badal, James J. 2014. In the Wake of the Butcher: Cleveland's Torso Murders. Kent, Ohio: Kent State University Press.

—. 2022. The Kingsbury Run Murders. Accessed October 10, 2022.

Collins, Max Allen, and A. Brad Schwartz. 2020. Eliot Ness and the Mad Butcher. Boston, MA: Mariner Books.

Culley, Jim. n.d. Ness, Eliot. Accessed October 18, 2022.

Lytle, Alea. n.d. Kingsbury Run. Accessed October 12, 2022. https://clevelandhistorical.org/items/show/376.

Plainesville Telegraph. 1934. "Police Seek to Trace Operation as Key to Torso Murder Mystery." Plainesville Telegraph, September 6.

The Boston Globe. 1938. "Fail to Find House of Torso Suspect." The Boston Globe, August 29: 3.

The Cincinatti Post. 1938. "City's New Safety Unit to Find How Cleveland Cut Its Auto Toll." The Cincinatti Post, December 28: 18.

The El Reno Daily Tribune. 1935. "Decapitated Body is Discovered in Ravine." The El Reno Daily Tribune, September 24: 1.

The Orleans Chronicle. 1938. "Crime." The Orleans Chronicle, August 25.

The Toledo News-Bee. 1936. "Head of Torso Believed in Run." The Toledo News-Bee, September 11: 32.

Toledo News-Bee. 1936. "Cleveland Maniac Hnuted in Murders." The Cleveland News-Bee, June 6.

United Press. 1938. "Nine Held as Junkman Gives First Real Clue to Torso Killer." New York Daily News, August 25: 6.

—. 1936. "Mad Butcher's Seventh Victim Found By Boys." The Oklahome News, September 15: 14.

—. 1938. "Ten Mile Area Fails to Reveal Single Clue." The Palm Beach Post, August 27: 3.

—. 1937. "Ninth Torso Found Under Cleveland Bridge." The Toledo News-Bee, June 7.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Up next
Jul 10
Episode 688: The Last Call Killer (Part 2)
Between 1991 and 1993, the dismembered bodies of five gay and bisexual men were discovered in garbage bags along the highway in New York and New Jersey. The cause of the death for each was multiple stab wounds, and each victim had been disarticulated into eight pieces and placed ... Show More
48m 41s
Jul 7
Episode 687: The Last Call Killer (Part 1)
Between 1991 and 1993, the dismembered bodies of five gay and bisexual men were discovered in garbage bags along the highway in New York and New Jersey. The cause of the death for each was multiple stab wounds, and each victim had been disarticulated into eight pieces and placed ... Show More
1h 11m
Jul 3
Episode 686: Glen Helzer and the Children of Thunder (Part 2)
When Ivan and Annette Stineman disappeared from their home in Concord, California in the summer of 2000, it immediately raised red alarmed with those closest to the elderly couple. Those alarms proved to be justified when, a week later, the remains of the Stinemans and three othe ... Show More
41m 5s
Recommended Episodes
Dec 2020
162: Dead Man's Line
On February 8, 1977, 43-year-old Tony Kiritsis walked into the office of mortgage broker Dick Hall and WIRED THE BARREL OF A SAWED OFF SHOT GUN TO HALL’S NECK.  This "dead man's line" meant that if a policeman shot Kiritsis the shotgun would go off and shoot Hall in the head. The ... Show More
53m 54s
Mar 2022
228: Times Square Killer: Part 2
A madman is on the loose. The press is calling him The Torso Killer because of the gruesome headless and handless bodies he leaves behind. And while investigators search for him in New York City, similar murders are discovered across the river in New Jersey. After one woman narro ... Show More
52m 23s
Dec 2022
Episode 215: The hunt for 'The Silver Killer' - the UK's mysterious serial murderer
CHESHIRE, England 1996, Howard Ainsworth violently bludgeoned his wife to death with a hammer before taking his own life. Three years later in the same town, Donald Ward beat his wife to death with a ceramic hot water bottle before using the shards of glass to take his own life. ... Show More
37m 58s
Dec 2020
Unsolved Mysteries Ep 9: Death Row Fugitive
In November, 1965, Lester Eubanks brutally murdered 14 year old Mary-Ellen Deener. He was swiftly convicted of the crime and sentenced to death. However in 1973, he was able to just walk away from his sentence while out of the prison on a shopping trip that had been arranged for ... Show More
51m 15s
Nov 2022
L'Affaire Menendez : des crimes à Beverly Hills • Episode 2 sur 2
Dans la soirée du 21 août 1989, le 911 de Los Angeles reçoit l’appel d’un jeune homme paniqué et en pleurs. Il s’appelle Lyle Menendez, il a 21 ans et il vient de découvrir les corps inertes de ses deux parents. Avec lui se trouve son frère, Erik, âgé seulement de 19 ans. C’est l ... Show More
14m 29s
Nov 2020
157: Son of Sam: Hunt for a Killer
"Go out and kill, commands father Sam. I am here on Earth to create havoc and terror."--letter to cops from The Son of Sam. 1977. In the summer of 1977, a serial killer is targeting young couples. He stalks them late at night. He waits until they get into their car, he shoots, an ... Show More
52m 56s
Jan 2021
163: BTK: A Killer Among Us
From 1974 – 1971, a serial killer tormented the people of Kansas. He called himself BTK, which stood for BIND, TORTURE, KILL. He wanted to incite fear and panic, and so his killings were especially brutal. He taunted police with postcards, letters, and voice messages, but no matt ... Show More
57m 12s
Sep 2020
147: Atlanta Child Murders: Part 1
From 1979 - 1981, a string of murder of black children terrorized the city of Atlanta, igniting terror and frustration from a community that increasingly feels neglected. Is it the work of the KKK or a cold blooded serial killer? After years of dead ends, the police get creative ... Show More
45m 53s
Feb 2022
227: The Times Square Killer (Part 1)
FAM! THIS IS A TWO-PARTER! Part 2 is available RIGHT NOW AND AD-FREE at the $5 level on Patreon as a special bonus. Part 2 will be our regular episode next.   Times Square, 1979: fire fighters and police are called to a low budget motel where a room is on fire. What they find is ... Show More
52m 56s
May 2024
James Fairweather, quinze ans et deux fois meurtrier • Episode 2 sur 2
NOUVEAU - Abonnez-vous à Minuit+ pour profiter de Crimes - Histoires Vraies et de milliers d’histoires vraies sans publicité, d’épisodes en avant-première et en intégralité. Vous aurez accès sans publicité à des dizaines de programmes passionnants comme Espions - Histoires Vraies ... Show More
7m 28s