The Cecil Hotel And The Dark History That Forever Haunts It

The Cecil Hotel was built in 1924 in Downtown Los Angeles. It was originally created as a fancy hotel, mainly used by business travelers and tourists. However, that all ended five years later when the Great Depression started. This caused the area to be flooded with homeless people, and the hotel deteriorated slowly over the next few decades. It eventually became a budget hotel, a brothel, and a rooming house. But that’s not all this hotel is famous for. It’s also known for its sinister and suspicious body counts. A number of suicides and murders took place within it’s walls, many of them remain an unsolved mystery to this day. Additionally, it was a home to the infamous serial killer Richard Ramirez, along with another lesser known serial killer, Jack Unterwegger. It’s also alleged that the famous Black Dahlia was also seen at the bar inside of the Cecil hotel on the day of her murder. However, there’s no confirmed evidence that this is true. In 2011 part of the hotel was rebranded as “Stay on The Main.” Today the Cecil Hotel is now a housing complex that will give affordable housing to 600 low-income residents. The complex is operated by the Skid Row Housing Trust.

There were seven reported suicides that took place inside the hotel. The first suicide being Percy Ormond Cook, in January 1927. He shot himself in the head in his hotel room due to not being able to make amends with his wife and child. The second suicide was W.K Norton, in November 1931. He ingested poison capsules and was found in his room. Then in September 1932, Benjamin Dodich was found with a self-inflicted gunshot wound to his head. In July 1934, Sgt Louis D. Borden was found with his throat cut, with multiple suicide notes. His main reasoning was due to poor health. The next suicide wasn’t until four years later in January 1938, where Roy Thompson, a United States Marine Corps fireman jumped from the top floor. The next suicide didn’t take place until nine years later in November 1947, when Robert Smith was found dead after leaping out of a window on the seventh floor. In October of 1954, Helen Gurnee leaped out of her window on the seventh floor. Then in February 1962, Julia Frances Moore also leaped out of her window on the eighth floor. Later in October 1962, where Pauline Otton jumped out of her window on the ninth floor, landing on a pedestrian named George Gianinni, killing them both. She leaped from the window after an argument with her estranged husband. In December of 1975, a woman jumped from her window on the twelfth floor. She is still unidentified to this day, but registered for her room under the name “Alison Lowell.” She was staying in room 327. The last death that could’ve possibly been from a suicide happened in September 1992. His body was found in an alley behind the hotel, and police said he could’ve possibly committed suicide, have been pushed off the building, or accidentally fallen. This man was in his 20s-30s, and he has still never been identified.

In September of 1954 the hotels first murder took place. Dorothy Jean Purcell, 19 at the time, gave birth to a baby boy in the bathroom of her room while her boyfriend slept. She claimed that she was unaware of being pregnant and she thought the baby was born a stillborn. Not knowing that the baby was actually still alive, she threw him out the window and he died. She was charged with murder, however it was later acquitted due to insanity. The second murder took place in June 1964, where a maid found a woman named “Pigeon Goldie” Osgood dead in her room. She was raped, beaten, and stabbed. She was 65 years old. The murder remains unsolved.

There have been four more reports of deaths that occurred in the hotel, however whether they were suicides, murders, or accidents remains a mystery. Two people ended up ingesting poison. The first person was Erwin C Neblett, in May 1939. There was no suicide note. The second person was Dorothy Seger, in January 1940. Technically, she did commit suicide, however I suppose it was never labled as a suicide due to the notes she left behind, stating that she was already slowly dying and didn’t want to suffer her sickness any longer. That sickness was never identified. The last death occurred in 2015, an unidentified 28 year old man was found dead outside the hotel. Some assume that he may have committed suicide, but it was concluded that the official cause of death was undetermined.

I left one more death for last because of how well known this case is. The case of Elisa Lam, aged 21, who died in February 2013. This case was labeled as a possible accidental drowning. She was found naked inside one of the water supply tanks on the roof of the hotel, and went missing three weeks before they found her body. A maintenance worker found her after he went to check out the water tank due to tenants complaining about low water pressure and funny tasting water. There was surveillance footage found of her inside of an elevator, just moments before she went missing. Elisa was acting strange, pressing multiple buttons, hiding in the corner of the elevator, and frantically waving her arms. There were wide speculations about what possibly could have caused her death, and some believe that her bi-polar disorder had to do with it. To this day, this case remains unsolved. It’s speculated by hardcore paranormal believers that Elisa Lam could’ve possibly been haunted by the ghosts that were lingering in the hotel, which could possibly explain her strange behavior. It could’ve been that she was afraid of what she was seeing, and maybe they lured her to her death.

There are also people who seem to think that Elisa Lam’s death was somehow connected to the murder of Elizabeth Short, The Black Dahlia. Only reasoning due to both spending time in the same neighborhood in Los Angeles, both being in the hotel just days before their deaths, and both being naked when they were found. Other than that, there’s no hard evidence linking the two cases together. Additionally, Elizabeth Short was killed 66 years before Elisa Lam, which makes the odds of them having the same killer to be very low.

Nonetheless, I hope we can one day find answers for Elisa Lam’s family, and can one day give her the justice that she deserves. Maybe one day we’ll find answers for Elizabeth Short as well.