Evening star., 1937-02-24
SUSPECT IS HELD
IN NT0RSOSLAY|NGS
MutiIated Body of Woman
Believed Eighth Victim
of Ohio Maniac.
By the Associated Press.

| SoG CLAlNb, TCUl udIy Z3.-bcLcC-
tives on an intensive search for the
sex-crazed maniac blamed for eight
Cleveland torso slayings since Septem-
ber, 1884. questioned a man today
concerning the disappearance Of
twice-married Mrs. Anna Zibert.
After a search of missing persons
hles. police said she was one of two
women most closely resembling the
latest victim-whose nude torso, sew
cred with surgical skill, was found late
yesterday on the Lake Erie shoreline,
on Cleveland's East Side.
No charges had been placed against
the suspect, who knew the woman
| well, detectives said.
The disappearance Of Mrs. Zibert,
missing since January Is, was re-
ported five days later by her father,
Thomas Latkovich. Her physical de-
Scription and the fact that she was
listed as the mother of two children,
police said, closely fitted the descrip-
ton given by Coroner Samuel r..
Gerber.
Woman Of % Also Sought.
Detectives also sought to learn
whether Miss Flavia Pilot. %, who
came here from Canton, Ohio, last
Friday to stay with her brother John.
could be the eighth victim of the mad
slayer
Miss Pilot vanished the next morn
ing. the brother told detectives, after
she was reprimanded for coming to
Cleveland unannounced.
Police Lieut.. William Sargent said
the latest torso apparently had not
been in the water more than a day or
two before it was discovered only
few miles from where Mrs. Zibert,
married a second time four months
ago, lived.
One previous victim was found at
almost the same spot. The mutilated
bodies of five others were left in the
desolate Kingsbury Run section, sew
eral miles away.
The maniac blamed for the eight
slayings can be charged only with
violation of health ordinance, De-
tective Sergt. James Hogan declared
Confession Seen Useless.
Even if the slayer confessed"
Hogan asserted, that wouldn't help
us any. Violation of a health ordi-
nance Is the only charge we could
place against him.
That's fine of $50 and 80 days in
the workhouse."
Although several of the previous
victims were identified Hogan said,
no friends or relatives could be found
who could swear from the witness
stand that the slain persons had once
been living, breathing human beings
in good health"
| For this reason, he said, no mur-
der charges could now be filed, even
if the surgically-skilled maniac were
captured.
He gives US one regularly every
four mon}As," commented Detective
Orley May, veteran Of the police homi-
! eide squad
Coroner Gerber said the latest wom-
an victim was between Is and 35
years old, Of fair complexion and
slight build, weighing about no
pounds, and had been a mother once
possibly twice.
In Desolate Section.
Kingsbury Run, where the mad
killer confined most Of his earlier
activities, Is a desolate section marked
by the slow crawl Of the oil-fllled
waters Of the little creek.
The stream was drained last Fall
when the seventh victim was discov-
cred, but the waters failed to produce
! the mans head and identification was
impossible A hastily called confer
ence Of psychiatrists, chemists, police
officials and crime experts, after
three hours Of debate and conjecture,
brought this statement from Hogan:
We're right where We were the day
the first body was found"
Today. Hogan, chief Of the police
homicide squad, asserted:
I'VE couldn't charge the. slayer with
murder. Pollution of a creek with
human body Is the only charge We
could bring. There isn't any corpus
delicti.
Had mo Legal Identity
1.-THE body of the latest victim, like
the others, had no legal identity. We
can't find any one who would swear
from the witness stand that the slain
persons had once been living"
Asked if, under Ohio law. the slayer
could be indicted for the murder Of
John Doe" because the bodies have
been found, Hogan said:
mo. You can't charge man with
killing John Doe because John Doe
doesn't exist"
There were no known witnesses to
the killings. Most of the victims were
believed to be transients, and efforts
to locate relatives were futile
Discovery Of the latest body by
fireman late yesterday brought to two
the woman victims. The first was
identified as Mrs. Florence Polilla, Al,
who once was arrested in a vice raid.
THE otberc uyora man ~. x,o,,fl,S