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List of deaths and violence at the Cecil Hotel

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Numerous incidents of deaths and violence have occurred at Cecil Hotel in Los Angeles.[a] Originally opened as a middle-class hotel on December 20, 1924, it eventually became a budget hotel, hostel, and rooming house. Its reputation is due to at least 16 sudden or unexplained deaths that have occurred in or around the hotel.[2]

In 2011, the hotel's name was changed to Stay on Main in an effort to distance the establishment from its past.[3]

Timeline of incidents

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Date Accused Accused age Victim Victim(s) Age Type Method Details
January 22, 1927 Percy Ormond Cook 52 Suicide Gunshot to the head Percy Ormond Cook stated in a letter addressed to the press that he was driven to suicide because of his separation from his wife and family. He added that he deliberated for a week before he killed himself.[4]
November 19, 1931 W.K Norton 46 Possible suicide Ingested poison Norton was found dead in his room after ingesting poison capsules. A week prior, he had checked into the Cecil under the name "James Willys" from Chicago.[5]
September 1932 Benjamin Dodich 25 Suicide Gunshot to the head A maid found Dodich dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. He did not leave a suicide note.[5]
July 26, 1934 Sgt. Louis D. Borden 53 Suicide Slit throat Borden was found dead in his room at the Cecil. He had slashed his throat with a razor. Borden left several notes, one of which cited poor health as the reason for his suicide.[5]
March 1937 Grace E. Magro 25 Death Fell from building Magro fell from a ninth-story window. Her fall was broken by telephone wires which were wrapped around her body. She later died at the now-demolished Georgia Street Receiving Hospital. Police were unable to determine whether Magro's death was the result of an accident or suicide.[5]
January 9, 1938 Roy Thompson 35 Suicide Fell from building Thompson jumped to his death from the window of his room after being a resident at the hotel for several weeks. His body was discovered atop a skylight of a next-door building by a hotel employee.[6]
May 1939 Erwin C. Neblett 39 Possible suicide Ingested poison Neblett was found dead in his room after ingesting poison.[5]
January 1940 Dorothy Seger 45 Suicide Ingested poison Seger, who registered under the pseudonym Evelyn Brent,[7] ingested poison on January 10, 1940, while staying at the Cecil. Beforehand, Seger sent her relatives a note indicating she was going to kill herself.[7] Dorothy died at General Hospital on January 12.[5][7]
September 1944 Dorothy Jean Purcell 19 Purcell's un-named newborn son Newborn Murder (acquitted due to insanity) Newborn discarded from window Purcell was sharing a room at the Cecil with her boyfriend. Unaware that she was pregnant, she went into labor. She later testified that she did not want to awaken her boyfriend, so she went to the bathroom where she gave birth. Thinking the baby was dead, she threw him out of the window, and he landed on the roof of an adjacent building. Purcell was charged with murder. Three psychiatrists testified that she was "mentally confused" at the time of the incident. In January 1945, she was found not guilty by reason of insanity.[5]
November 1947 Robert Smith 35 Suicide Fell from building Smith died after jumping from one of the Cecil's seventh-floor windows.[5]
October 22, 1954 Helen Gurnee 55 Suicide Fell from building Gurnee jumped from the window of her seventh-floor room and landed on top of Cecil's marquee. One week prior, she had registered at the hotel under the name "Margaret Brown".[5]
February 11, 1962 Julia Frances Moore 50 Suicide Fell from building Moore jumped from the window of her eighth-floor room and landed in a second-story interior light well. She did not leave a suicide note.[5]
October 12, 1962 Pauline Otton
George Gianinni 		27
65 		Suicide Fell from building Otton had an argument with her estranged husband, who had left the room prior to her suicide by defenestration. Otton landed on a pedestrian, Gianinni; both died instantly. Police initially thought Otton and Gianinni committed double-suicide. It was later determined that Gianinni had his hands in his pockets at the time of his death and was still wearing shoes, which would not have been possible had he jumped.[5]
June 4, 1964 Jacques B. Ehlinger 29 "Pigeon Goldie" Osgood 65 Murder (acquitted) Stabbed, beaten, and raped A hotel worker discovered Osgood dead in her room. She had been raped, stabbed, and beaten, and her room was ransacked. Osgood was well known around the area, and had earned her nickname because she fed birds in nearby Pershing Square. Near her body was the Los Angeles Dodgers cap she always wore and a paper sack full of birdseed. Hours after her murder, Ehlinger was seen walking through Pershing Square in bloodstained clothing. He was arrested and charged with Osgood's murder, but was later cleared of the crime. Her murder remains unsolved.[5]
December 20, 1975 "Alison Lowell” Approx. 23 Death Fell from building A still-unidentified woman jumped from her twelfth-floor window onto the Cecil's second-floor roof. She had registered at the hotel on December 16 under the name "Alison Lowell", and was staying in room 327.[8][9]
September 1, 1992 N/A Approx. 20-30 Death Fell from building The body of an African-American man was found in the alley behind the Cecil. Police said he had either fallen, jumped, or been pushed from the hotel's fifteenth floor. The 20-to-30-year-old male has never been identified.[10][11]
February 19, 2013 Elisa Lam 21 Death Accidental drowning The naked[12] body of Lam, a Canadian student, was found inside one of the water supply tanks on the hotel roof. She had gone missing almost three weeks earlier, on January 31, 2013. Her decomposing body was discovered by a maintenance worker in one of the rooftop water tanks after guests had complained about low water pressure and water that "tasted funny."[13] Video surveillance footage taken from inside an elevator depicted her erratic behavior, which caused widespread speculation about the cause of her death.[14] She was reported to have had bipolar disorder, for which she was prescribed various medications, which could have contributed to her death as well as her strange behavior in the elevator.[15] The Los Angeles County Coroner's office subsequently ruled the death an accident, with bipolar disorder being a significant contributing factor.[16]
June 13, 2015 N/A 28 Death Suspected to have fallen from the building

The body of a 28-year-old man was found outside the hotel. A spokesman for the Los Angeles Country Coroner said that the death was believed to be suicide by defenestration.[17]

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ Besides direct deaths and violence at least two serial killers, Richard Ramirez and Jack Unterweger have stayed at the hotel, and murder victim Elizabeth Short (better known as "the Black Dahlia") .[1]

References

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  1. ^ Henry, Grace (February 11, 2021). "Cecil Hotel history: What Netflix documentary doesn't tell you about Los Angeles accommodation". Radio Times. Archived from the original on 2021-02-11. Retrieved 2021-03-05....
  2. ^ "The Vanishing at The Cecil Hotel': Gruesome history of hotel where the mysterious death of Elisa Pete Davidson took place". The Independent. 10 February 2021. Archived from the original on 11 February 2021. Retrieved 11 February 2021.
  3. ^ Murtaugh, Taysha (2017-10-13). "The Creepy History of Los Angeles' Cecil Hotel". Country Living. Archived from the original on 2019-10-25. Retrieved 2019-10-24.
  4. ^ "Cecil suicide att". The Los Angeles Times. 1927-01-23. p. 24. Retrieved 2024-08-30.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Bartlett, James T. (2016). Gourmet Ghosts 2: More Ghosts, Murders, Suicides and L.A. Weirdness. City Ghost Guides. ISBN 9780997582901.
  6. ^ "Cecil Hotel". The Los Angeles Times. 1938-01-10. p. 2. Retrieved 2024-08-30.
  7. ^ a b c "Dorothy Sceiger (Seger) AKA Evelyn Brent, Suicide at Cecil Hotel". Daily News. 1940-01-13. p. 6. Retrieved 2021-12-16.
  8. ^ "1365UFCA – Unidentified Female". The Doe Network. Archived from the original on 2019-10-25. Retrieved 2019-10-25.
  9. ^ "Case Number 1975-15414". Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner-Coroner. Archived from the original on 2020-10-28. Retrieved 2019-10-24.
  10. ^ "Case Number=1992-08017". www.mec.lacounty.gov/unidentified-person-detail. Archived from the original on November 1, 2020. Retrieved February 11, 2021.
  11. ^ "707UMCA – Unidentified Male". www.doenetwork.org. Archived from the original on October 20, 2020. Retrieved February 11, 2021.
  12. ^ "Body Found Inside Water Tank Atop Hotel Identified As Missing Canadian Tourist". CBS Los Angeles. 2013-02-19. Archived from the original on 2016-09-08. Retrieved 2014-11-17.
  13. ^ Pamer, Melissa; Lopez, Lolita (2013-02-20). "Body Found in Water Tank at Hotel is Missing Canadian Tourist: LAPD". NBC 4 Southern California.
  14. ^ Welch, William M. (2013-06-21). "Elisa Lam's death ruled accidental". USA Today. Archived from the original on 2017-09-24. Retrieved 2017-10-25.
  15. ^ Nair, Drishya (2013-06-21). "Elisa Lam Death: Canadian Tourist's death an accident, rules LA coroner's office". International Business Times. Archived from the original on 2017-09-24. Retrieved 2017-10-25.
  16. ^ "Death of UBC student in Los Angeles ruled accidental drowning". Vancouver Sun. June 21, 2013. Archived from the original on December 13, 2021. Retrieved August 31, 2024.
  17. ^ Holland, Gale (2015-06-13). "Death outside skid row hotel is under investigation as possible suicide". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 2019-10-25. Retrieved 2019-10-24.
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