Post by beemaster on Oct 16, 2015 20:16:50 GMT
I don't think it's possible for 1 killer to go on such spree for decades in different areas. Quite a few cases weren't really similar to the Cleveland murders. Sure some of the PA murders might be committed by the butcher, mostly the 1940 ones but I'm not sure.
I suspect you're referring to cases from the 1920's. I am not. There simply isn't enough surviving evidence in those cases to either connect or exclude from later cases. What little data we do have indicates that these cases largey lack the known hallmarks of the butcher. There is a lot of exaggeration and misinformation floating around relating to these earlier cases, and I think that's part of why they get throw in with the murders from 1934 forward. Personally, I don't think those cases are connected to the butcher (or to each other, even) in all likelihood, but the best way to characterize these would be "data deficient."
I'm strictly speaking of murders from 1934-1950. It's not that wide of a time frame, nor a particularly enormous geographic area. I'm considering Cleveland from 1934-38 and then again in 1950, New Castle, PA and Youngstown, OH from 1936-1940, and Pittsburgh, PA from 1941-42. These cases all happened along a single rail corridor, all except the 1950 Robert Robertson case occurred over an 8 year period, the victimology is eerily consistent, and the disposal of victims is remarkably similar among this group. Would it help us understand each other better if I broke down what I'm referring to down to a case-by-case synopsis?
Andrassy did struggle but it looks like that was when he was being killed, if he had struggle before he was bound, there would have been more injuries on his body.
That is correct. I guess we simply misunderstood what the other meant by "struggle". He was likely incapacitated before he was bound (he may have been drugged, drunk, had a weapon drawn on him, etc.) and only started struggling after becoming aware what was about to happen to him. He may have even been struggling while still unconscious, at least that's the scenario I prefer to imagine. It's simply too nightmarish to believe that the killer waited for him to regain consciousness to witness his own murder and possibly his own castration as well.
I don't think the "doctor" was Sweeney for sure. But if the tale was real, that "doctor" almost certainly was the butcher.
Not necessarily. Weirdos of all types abound, particularly in large metropolitan areas. In any serious case study of high profile serial cases (and particularly in this one), there are multiple instances of police chasing red herrings in the form of weirdos, perverts, sex offenders, psychopaths, or mentally ill individuals who ultimately have nothing to do with the case at hand. The story is tantalizing, and I do think that's how the butcher likely took advantage of at least some of his victims, but we have to be cautious about giving too much weight to that particular individual (if he indeed existed) being responsible for the torso murders. The police investigated such a large number of weirdos, perverts, violent criminals, and strange doctors that we shouldn't give at least equal weight to the idea that this individual (again, if he existed) may have simply fallen into this group.
As a matter of facts, this is one of the more interesting side effects of a high profile serial case that spans virtually any type of crime. If you have a serial burglar terrorizing an area, the intensity of the investigation tends to ferret out a number of other, unrelated burglars, thieves, and similar offenders. In cases of serial rapists and/or murderers, you tend to see more aggressive pursuit of unrelated murders and rapes, often resulting in a high rate of convictions. Authorities are so desperate to catch THE offender(s) that they leave no stone unturned and, in so doing, catch a number of other, unrelated offenders. I'm not sure if there's a name for this phenomenon, but it's an interesting one, for sure.