Step into the haunting corridors of history at the Cecil Hotel, an unassuming brick facade with a century of tales to tell. Behind those walls lies a dark tapestry of crime and mystery. With a chilling connection to some of the city's most infamous criminals, the Cecil Hotel became a focal point in American true-crime lore. Since its opening, the hotel has been a stage for at least 16 sudden or unexplained deaths, weaving an eerie narrative that captures the imagination of those intrigued by the macabre. The tales of violence and tragedy have etched the Cecil Hotel's name into the annals of haunted history.
Step back in time with us as we unveil the chilling timeline of incidents that have shrouded the Cecil Hotel in an air of mystery and tragedy.
November 1931
Manhattan Beach resident W.K. Norton (46 years old) checked into Cecil Hotel under the alias "James Willys" and was found dead in his room after ingesting poison capsules. Possible suicide.
September 1932
A maid discovered the lifeless body Benjamin Dodich (25), with a self-inflicted gunshot wound, leaving behind no suicide note.
July 1934
Former Army Medical Corps Sgt. Louis D. Borden (53) took his own life by slashing his throat with a razor, citing poor health in his farewell notes.
March 1937
Grace E. Magro (25) fell from a ninth-story window. Magro's fall remains a mystery — was it an accident or a deliberate act? Telephone wires wrapped around her body broke her fall, but her fate was sealed at the Georgia Street Receiving Hospital.
May 1939
Navy officer Erwin C. Neblett (39) was discovered dead in his room after ingesting poison, adding another somber chapter to the Cecil Hotel's history. Possible suicide.
January 1940
Teacher Dorothy Seger (45) staying under the pseudonym Evelyn Brent, ingested poison while at Cecil Hotel. Before checking in, Seger sent her relatives a note indicating she was going to end her life. She was reporting “near-death” at the scene and died at General Hospital soon after.
September 1944
Dorothy Jean Purcell (19) unaware of her pregnancy, gave birth in her Cecil Hotel bathroom. Believing the baby was dead, she tossed him out of the window. Charged with murder, she was later acquitted due to insanity.
November 1947
Robert Smith (35) met his end by jumping from the seventh floor of Cecil Hotel, adding another tragic incident to its history.
October 1954
Helen Gurnee (55) a San Francisco stationery firm employee, leaped from her seventh-floor room, landing on Cecil's marquee, just a week after registering under the name "Margaret Brown."
February 1962
Julia Frances Moore (50), jumped from her eighth-floor room, leaving behind no suicide note.
October 1962
Pauline Otton (27) jumped from the ninth floor after an argument with her husband. She landed on pedestrian George Gianinni (65) and both died instantly. As there were no witnesses, police initially thought it was a joint suicide. However, it was soon determined that Gianinni had his hands in his pockets at the time of his death, and he was still wearing shoes. Had he jumped, his shoes would have likely fallen off during the fall or upon impact, and his hands would not have been in his pockets.
June 1964
"Pigeon Goldie" Osgood (65), a retired telephone operator, was found dead in her room, stabbed, beaten, and raped. 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. Jacques B. Ehlinger (29), initially arrested, was later cleared of the crime, leaving Osgood's murder unsolved.
December 1975
An unidentified woman (approx. 23) registering under the fake name of "Alison Lowell" jumped from her twelfth-floor window onto Cecil's second-floor roof.
September 1992
The body of an unidentified African-American man (approx. 20-30) was found in the alley behind Cecil Hotel. Whether he fell, jumped, or was pushed from the 15th floor remains a mystery.
February 2013
The naked body of Elisa Lam (21) was found inside a water tank on the hotel roof. Missing for three weeks, she was discovered after guests complained about water issues. Surveillance footage showed Lam acting strangely in an elevator. Her death, ruled an accidental drowning, sparked numerous theories. This story became the subject of the first season of the Crime Scene docuseries by Netflix “The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel”.
June 2015
The body of a 28-year-old man was found outside the hotel. Speculation arose about suicide, but the cause of death remains undetermined and the man remains unidentified.
As if this were not enough, at least two serial killers have resided at Cecil Hotel. During the 1980s, notorious serial killer Richard Ramirez, known as the "Night Stalker" frequented the skid row area of Los Angeles, and a hotel clerk who reportedly interacted with him claims that he stayed at the Cecil for a few weeks. It is believed that Ramirez carried out most, if not all, of his killing spree while residing there. Allegedly, he would discard his bloodstained clothes in the alley outside the building before ascending the interior stairs to his living quarters, clad only in blood-stained underwear.
In 1991, another serial killer, Austrian Jack Unterweger, chose to stay at the Cecil, possibly inspired by Ramirez's crimes. During his stay, Unterweger strangled and killed at least three prostitutes, offenses for which he was convicted in Austria.
Each incident adds a layer of mystery to the Cecil Hotel's dark history, leaving us to question the forces that have haunted its halls for nearly a century.
In 2011, a symbolic attempt to break free from its ominous past occurred as the hotel rebranded itself as "Stay on Main". During COVID-19 pandemic the hotel was closed and in 2021 inaugurated as an affordable housing complex. However, the ghosts of the past still linger in the shadows, leaving us to ponder the secrets that continue to echo within the walls of the former Cecil Hotel.
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