The Twisted Tale Of The Cecil Hotel
By Anna Collins
10 months ago
1. The Cecil Hotel opened in 1927
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The Hotel Cecil was under construction for 3 years. The whole purpose of The Cecil Hotel was to be a luxurious hotel for the rich and wealthy, specifically intended for businessmen and women as well as tourists willing to flash the cash. It opened in 1927 in downtown Los Angeles in a very impressive building, with an opulent marble lobby, stained glass windows, and a luxury feel. Although the intentions and the appearance of the hotel were what was intended, the reality was far from it. Some people blame the location of the hotel being near to Skid Row.2. 1927, The first death happened the same year
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The first death happened that very same year that the hotel had opened. The Hotel Cecil had been long awaited, and there was much hype around the grand opening. But it seemed that it was doomed from the off, with a death happening that very same year. It was 1927, January, and a man named Percy Ormond Cook who was staying at the hotel had not managed to reconcile with his estranged family, and so killed himself as a result. He was 52 years old and he became the first tragic death of The Cecil Hotel.3. In 1929, The Great Depression hit the world and The Cecil Hotel
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The next huge misfortune for the hotel was The Great Depression. It was a time of great pain for many people. And, not many businesses managed to survive, especially not businesses that had newly opened and not yet been able to make any profit. So with The Great Depression, the hotel slumped. All of the dreams for the hotel went out of the window. The prices for the rooms hit rock bottom as they had to try and get whatever visitors they possibly could to be able to try and stay afloat through the hard times - but this attracted crime.4. In 1931 - 1934 there were two more suicides
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The Great Depression was a time of massive economic hardship and with this came a severe bout of mental health problems as people struggled to live and survive. Between the years of 1934 and 1937, two more people committed suicide in the hotel. One of the deaths was W.K Norton who died in his hotel room after he ingested lethal poison capsules. One was a man named Benjamin Dodich who used a gun to end his life. And although this was deemed another extremely sad and unfortunate event, nobody saw that this would be the beginning of a very dark and disturbing tale that would happen right at The Cecil Hotel.5. In 1937, another man took his life
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The hotel by this point had already been steeped in death and darkness and then yet another death hit the hotel. The only thing now that The Cecil Hotel was renowned for was tragedy and disturbing tales. In 1937, a man names Sgt. Louis D. Borden also took his own life whilst staying in his hotel room, he was later found by staff. By this point, the hotel had only been open for a few years, and suicide was commonplace here. Not only that but it was also a place full of illicit activity. Crime, prostitution, and drugs were rife here.6. In 1938-39 two people fell from the building
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From 1938 to 1939, another two people died at The Hotel Cecil. One woman named Grace E. Magro and a man named Roy Thompson both fell from the hotel. Magro was just 25 years old and she either fell or jumped from the ninth story of The Hotel Cecil. Roy Thomspm was a United States Marine Corps fireman and he also fell/jumped from his room. Authorities could not find enough evidence as to whether these two people jumped or fell, and so it has never been known although theories suggest that they jumped from the building,7. In 1940, Dorothy Seger drank poison
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In 1940, yet another tragedy and suicide hit The Hotel Cecil. A 45-year-old woman named Dorothy Seger took her own life by drinking poison in the room of her hotel. She was found by hotel staff and taken as quickly as possible to the closest hospital, yet sadly she couldn't be saved and she died from the effects of the poison. She was a teacher, and she had registered at the hotel under the pseudonym Evelyn Brent. She had written a note for her loved ones suggesting what she was going to do, the use of a pseudonym was to stop them from finding her.8. In 1994, A newborn baby was killed
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In 1944 one of the most disturbing things happened at The Hotel Cecil. A woman named Dorothy Jean (19 years old) Purcell had been staying for days at The Hotel Cecil with her partner Ben Levine (38 years old). She woke in the night feeling as though she was giving birth. She didn't wake Levine, she went to the bathroom and gave birth to a baby. She believed that she had delivered a stillborn baby and she threw him out of a window. She was arrested soon after and found not guilty, on the grounds of insanity.9. In 1947-62 three more people jumped from the building
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In the subsequent years, there were a lot more tales of death to follow. In 1947 a man named Robert Smith (aged 35) jumped from the window, as did a woman named Helen Gurnee (55 years old) in 1954. And then a woman named Julia Frances Moore (aged 50) had been staying at the hotel for a few days before jumping from the ninth floor in 1962. Each of these people had a room on a high floor, and some of them were using pseudonyms to disguise their true identities. This was a time of great devastation for the hotel, suicide was rife within the walls of The Hotel Cecil.10. In 1947 The Black Dahlia was last seen near the hotel
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Elizabeth Short was 22 years old and an aspiring actress. She became better known as The Black Dahlia after her death. She was so brutally murdered that her death has become one of the most infamous deaths in the entire history of Los Angeles. Her body was discovered, decimated in half, and drained of blood. The mystery remains to this day as to who murdered her and why. The reason she has been linked to The Hotel Cecil is because of its dark history, and the fact she was seen close by near the time of her death.11. In 1962, two people committed suicide by jumping from the building
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Again, in 1962 a 50-year-old woman died after jumping out of the hotel, several stories high. Then, also in 1962, a woman named Pauline Otton had been fighting with her husband named Dewey. She had apparently wanted to 'teach him a lesson' and humped out of her window. She landed on a pedestrian below who was called George Giannini and the two of them were instantly killed. It was another devastating loss of life, and yet another twisted turn in the dark tale of The Hotel Cecil. By this point, the deaths were living up to the reputation of 'Hotel Death' as it had been nicknamed.12. In 1964 There was the brutal murder of Goldie Osgood
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Goldie Osgood had been living at The Hotel Cecil for a while and she had gained a reputation locally as people had come to know her and deemed her very friendly. She would feed the pigeons outside the hotel frequently and she had been named 'Pigeon Goldie'. Then tragedy hit when she was brutally attacked in the daytime in her room. She was sexually assaulted and killed and her attacker was never been discovered. The mystery became one that shrouded the hotel and added even more horror to the already deathly reputation.13. From 1975-1992 two more people died falling from the hotel
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In 1975 a 23-year-old woman checked into the hotel under the name Alison Lowell. She checked in on December 16th, and never left as she jumped from the 12th floor intending to take her own life. Her name wasn't real and her identity had never been discovered. To this day, it remains unknown. And in 1992 the body of a man was found in an alley at the back of the hotel. Police said that he had fallen or jumped or even been pushed from the hotel, and died. But, his identity was also never discovered. He is thought to have been in his early twenties.14. Many of the murders remained unsolved
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Many of the deaths that happened at The Hotel Cecil were never actually solved. There were many cases of incidents where the death could not be determined if it was intentional or accidental, or even foul play. And, the murders in the hotel had still never been solved. This caused a LOT of speculation and theories about the hotel, and it had become a name that was talked about worldwide. There were conspiracies created around all of the mysteries, and people were starting to think that the hotel was doomed.15. In 1985 The Night Stalker stayed here
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Richard Ramirez was one of the worst serial killers the US has ever seen. He became known as The Night Stalker as he stalked Los Angeles, leaving a wake of murder and horror in his wake. Ramirez stayed here during the midst of his killing sprees. According to some sources, he would return to the hotel with blood-stained clothing before heading back to his room. He was convicted of 13 murders, 5 attempted murders. 11 counts of sexual assault, and 14 break-ins. By this point (and even earlier) people only stayed at the hotel when they were desperate.16. He killed 13 people whilst staying here
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Whilst he stayed at The Hotel Cecil he murdered a total of 13 of his victims. He used The Cecil Hotel as his base, because not only did he have nowhere else to go, but the hotel was a cover for his crime. Because crime, violence, and death were commonplace here, nobody noticed what Richard Ramirez was doing. And, even if somebody suspected The Night Stalker, they would not have known the true horrors. He would have blended in with the rest of the illicit activities that were happening at the time, using it as a guise.17. In 1991 serial killer Jack Unterwerger stayed here
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The Night Stalker wasn't the only serial killer to stay at The Hotel Cecil. Jack Unterwerger also stayed at the hotel. Unterwerger had been a criminal and a murderer however he was released after not enough evidence was found. More women started to go missing and so he fled to America. He embellished a façade and a story and ended up working as a journalist alongside the police. But it was all a cover for murders that he continued to commit. He would use the police information to then plan his next murder.18. He murdered three times whilst he stayed here
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During the latter half of his killing spree, he was staying at The Cecil Hotel where he committed a further three murders. He targeted female prostitutes. It is thought that the reason he stayed at The Hotel Cecil was to pay tribute to Richard Ramirez who he knew had stayed, and murdered here. He was eventually found and sentenced, guilty on the count of nine murders. Before he could serve his sentence he took his own life in his cell just hours later. This was now another event that contributed to the notoriety of The Hotel Cecil.19. In 2013 there was the mysterious death of Elisa Lam
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The story of Elisa Lam is one of the most famous stories of The Hotel Cecil. Her death has gained such media traction that it has become a globalized story or tragedy, due to the unusual circumstances surrounding it. She was a Canadian student who stayed at the hotel on 2013, January 31. She was traveling alone and she had intended to stay for four days. But after this time she was nowhere to be found. She had disappeared and hotel staff and police looked for her for days on end, only to eventually find her days later, dead.20. She was found in the water tank
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On February 19 she was finally found after weeks of searching the hotel. But, her body was discovered in the water tank of the hotel. The tank area was closed with an alarm system so that people without specialized access could not enter. Part of the mystery was how she had managed to get there without setting off any alarms. The official cause of Elisa Lam's death was ruled an accidental drowning, although there are ao many theories surrounding this case as it remained very mysterious and eerie.21. The conspiracies and viral footage create even more mystery
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Some time after a video was posted that went viral. It showed Elisa Lam in the elevator displaying very strange behavior. She was looking over her shoulder, and rapidly pressing a variety of buttons. Some claim that this is due to her mental health struggles, having been diagnosed with bipolar disorder. Other people think that Elisa Lam was scared and running away from somebody. The case remains a huge controversy and it is an ongoing debate as there was never a true explanation for her death at The Hotel Cecil.22. In 2014 the Netflix series 'Crime Scene: The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel' is released
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The Hotel Cecil has become a hotspot for media attention and true crime series. So, after the death of Elisa Lam Netflix created a true crime series called 'Crime Scene: The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel'. It didn't just cover the eerie case of Elisa Lam, it also looked at the entire history of the hotel and its sordid past. The hotel already had a reputation, but the case of Elisa Lam threw it into the attention of the public even more and it has remained a talked about topic ever since. Horror fanatics go to visit for these reasons.23. 2007- 2017 The Hotel Manager says that there were 80 deaths
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Between the years of 2007 and 2017 a hotel manager named Amy Price. She revealed that she took the job to try and help with the bookings at the hotel, but what happened was something she wasn't prepared for. She was in charge during the death of Elisa Lam. And, between these years she stated that the hotel saw 80 deaths! Many of these she claimed were suicide. And, these deaths she claimed happened only in her 10 years of working there. She said that the real figure was way more than the real number of deaths ever reported or linked to the hotel.24. In 2015 another unidentified man died here
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The last reported death at The Hotel Cecil happened in 2015. A 28-year-old man was found outside the hotel, dead. His death was ruled as unknown because the cause of his fall couldn't be determined. Some people assume he jumped, others speculate that he had been pushed, and it can also not be ruled out that he accidentally fell from a window. This was the last reported death at The Hotel Cecil, partly because the hotel which had a string of deadly events temporarily closed its doors to the public.25. In 2016 it was renamed 'Stay on Main'
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The Hotel had something happen consistently since it opened to being temporarily shut. It was a place that had been completely shrouded in mystery and horror. It was deemed inevitable that the hotel had to shut and try and leave its dark past behind. Otherwise, it could never recover as a hotel. And so in 2016 it was rebranded and renamed 'Stay on Main' in an attempt to get a new reputation and new customers. But it would take more than this, the building will forever be linked to the horrors that happened here.26. In 2017 it was deemed a landmark
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In fact, in 2017 it was deemed a protected landmark by Los Angeles. The hotel had become a historic figure, a building with stories and it was part of Los Angeles's history. So, The Hotel Cecil will forever be a permanent fixture not only in the memories of people but exactly as it has stood in the city of downtown Los Angeles. And it never manages to rebrand, as its reputation will always follow it and people visit the hotel now due to the gruesome fascination with the horrors that have happened within its walls.27. It closed in 2017 for huge renovations
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In 2017 it closed again. It became clear that the hotel could never operate again (no matter if it had a new name or not) as the hotel it had once intended to be all those years ago when it was first constructed. And so, the hotel needed a new vision entirely. It closed for a few years whilst the renovations happened. It also closed because aside from superstitious people and horror-seeking guests, the hotel could not operate without bookings. It finally reopened in 2022 with 600 rooms! It was going to be made into affordable apartments as part of a homelessness scheme.28. In 2021-2023 the hotel continues to be investigated and have a series made about it
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Does this mean that the hotel has been left alone? No. It remains as popular or more popular than ever with people investigating it for supernatural activity, for true crime shows, and just for individual thrill seekers. It has become one of the most renowned places and landmarks in Los Angeles, for all of the wrong reasons. And, it is actually one of the most visited tourist attractions now as it appeals to the dark tourism sector, with hordes of people wanting to see where the numerous crimes took place.29. In 2023 they created a True Crime Museum
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