So-called “Mad Butcher” terrorizes Cleveland

The dismembered body of Florence Polillo is found in a basket and several burlap sacks in Cleveland. The 42-year-old woman was the third victim in 18 months to be found dismembered with precision. It sparked a panic in Cleveland, where the unknown murderer was dubbed the “Mad Butcher.”

In June 1936, another head, and later a headless body, turned up and police were unable to identify the victim. Even when a replica mask of the victim’s face was displayed at the Great LakesExposition, the victim remained a mystery, while the Mad Butcher continued killing.

By the summer of 1938, with the body count into double digits, the Cleveland police were desperate to find the Mad Butcher. One suspect, an actual butcher named Frank Dolezal, was interrogated for 40 straight hours until he confessed to killing Florence Polillo. However, he subsequently changed his story many times and killed himself in his cell before his guilt could be determined.

In reality, though, few authorities believed Dolezal was actually the killer—it is believed that the real suspect was relatively prominent and politically connected, and as a result the police department trumped up the case against Dolezal. All official police records of the matter have been destroyed.

The Mad Butcher’s attack stopped in Cleveland after the Dolezal’s suicide.

Victims of The Mad Butcher

Because most of the victims were hobos or prostitutes there is little information about them, in
fact only two victims were positively identified. In fact a reason that most victims could not be identified is because many bodies were not found up to several months after their death.
Another reason is the fact that many of the bodies were heavily mutilated or decapitated that dissuaded anyone from identifying them. One victim was described as being a white man between 25 and 30 years old, medium height and muscular build with traces of light brown hair on his body.

The two victims that were identified included Edward Andrassy, a smalltime hood, and Florence Polillo, a 41-year old prostitute. There is very little Polillo them except that they never did find her head. (Unsolved Mysteries) Andrassy on the other hand had a little more info as he had a minor run in with the law for carrying a concealed weapon. He also was known to live around Kingsbury Run and was often seen drunk and getting into fights. There is dispute over the possible identity of another victim in which dental records indicate one of the vicitms was a Mrs. Rose Wallace. She had washed ashore near Lake Erie, killed sometime in 1936.