Cecil Hotel Strange Deaths: From Dorothy Jean Purcell To Elisa Lam

 

The Cecil Hotel, a once-opulent establishment that opened its doors in 1924 in the skid row area of downtown Los Angeles, stands as a haunting symbol of dark and mysterious events. Initially boasting 700 rooms and an upscale reputation, the hotel's decline saw it transform into a budget motel and later a rooming house infamous for housing undesirables, drug use, and crime. In a bid to shed its dark history, the hotel underwent a name change in 2011, rebranding itself as The Stay on Main. Despite these efforts, the hotel, now repurposed as an affordable housing complex, remains entrenched in a history marked by unexplained deaths and macabre incidents.

The first notable incident occurred on January 22, 1927, when Percy Ormond Cook tragically shot himself while staying at The Cecil Hotel. This bizarre suicide set the stage for a series of more than two dozen unexplained or mysterious deaths and murders that would come to characterize the hotel's dark legacy.

One infamous case involved Dorothy Jean Purcell in September 1944. Pregnant and staying with her husband, Ben Levine, Purcell went into labor without informing him. In an alarming turn of events, she delivered the baby in the hotel bathroom, mistakenly believing the infant was dead. Shockingly, she tossed the baby out of the hotel window, leading to his fatal fall. Charged with murder, Purcell was later found "mentally confused" and deemed not guilty by reason of insanity.

The Cecil Hotel also played a sinister role in the infamous spree of serial killer Richard Ramirez, known as The Night Stalker, during 1988-1989. Ramirez used the hotel as a retreat after committing his heinous acts but never carried out any of his murders on the premises. The hotel's reputation for crime and chaos allowed Ramirez to go about unnoticed, even when covered in blood and walking in his underwear.

In another tragic incident from October 12, 1962, Pauline Otton and her husband, George Gianni, argued in their 9th-floor room. In a moment of desperation, Pauline jumped out of the window, landing on George, who had rushed out of the room just moments earlier. Both lost their lives in this grim event.

One of the most well-known and mysterious cases associated with The Cecil Hotel is that of Elisa Lam. In January 2013, Lam disappeared from her room, and video surveillance captured her acting strangely shortly before her disappearance. Three weeks later, her decomposing body was found in a water heater. The medical examiner ruled her death as an "accidental drowning," closing the case despite the myriad theories that emerged surrounding the circumstances of her demise.

The Cecil Hotel's history is a chilling tapestry of inexplicable events, suicides, and murders. Its attempt at rebranding in 2011 could not erase the dark stain that continues to linger, casting a shadow over the building that was once a symbol of luxury but is now a stark reminder of the haunting mysteries that unfolded within its walls.